What did you do in the garden today?

Anyone ever grown broccolini? I bought a couple of plants from Lowes about a month ago. They are planted in the hoop house. I can't seem to keep them from bolting. I know that broccoli flowers are edible and even taste like broccoli.... but I've been trying to get these plants to actually look like this:



But I can't get it to look that "beefy." Instead they are super leggy with only a few sprouts which ultimately flower instead of getting "beefier." Does that makes sense? lol...

BirdsBeesTrees said:

Better off getting a horse for transportation.

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Or a bicycle.

TJAnonymous said:

Anyone ever grown broccolini?

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I planted it. It never came up. Maybe a vole went down the line and ate every seed? The beets and broccoli never came up either. Not a one.

I planted 2 hills of butternut squash plants yesterday. Last night, something ate most of the leaves off. I covered what was left with chicken wire. DH and I are discussing improving our fence. Since the gardens are big, it will be a significant investment, I'm sure.

We did get 25 10' posts from where he works. So we have those, which is a good start. And some chainlink fence, though not enough. Another good start. enough good starts, and we'll get to the finish.

TJAnonymous said:

Anyone ever grown broccolini? I bought a couple of plants from Lowes about a month ago. They are planted in the hoop house. I can't seem to keep them from bolting. I know that broccoli flowers are edible and even taste like broccoli.... but I've been trying to get these plants to actually look like this:

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But I can't get it to look that "beefy." Instead they are super leggy with only a few sprouts which ultimately flower instead of getting "beefier." Does that makes sense? lol...

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Yes, the first ones almost look like broccoli, then everything else is mostly stem. The good news is, I love tender broccoli stems and once the aphids/loopers attack, cut off the infested florets and keep eating the stems. I had broccolini from November till I got sick of picking it in January. Now I want some again, ha.

Sueby said:

I don't remember. But here it is. DH just swapped in an aluminum Chevy small block & it's not quite finished yet, shouldn't be much longer.
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'77 Maybe? 73+ for sure but I'm a little rusty on gens.

All right. Watered, fed chickens, pulled weeds. Put some "Black Kow" composted manure on the top of the garden bed, did not get to mulch. By then I was hot, miserable, and found out after the fact that the bag of composted manure had been peed on by a cat earlier this morning. Now I gotta do laundry to get my favorite pair of jeans back.

Also the "timers" were up on both kids. Crawler wanted fed and a nap, and threenager wanted the air conditioning and a snack, lol.

TJAnonymous said:

That's when I learned that North Korea actually has 2 satellites positioned over the US that could deliver an EMP at any time they choose.

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To be more accurate, NK has two "Earth observation" and UHF radio broadcast satellites (KMS-3 and KMS-4) in orbit that could be used as EMP attack platforms if they were so equipped, but there is no evidence (at least not made public) that they possess such equipment. Furthermore, they're not "positioned" over the U.S., but are in polar orbits that periodically take them over the U.S., as well as most of the rest of the globe. For instance, as I type this KMS-4 is presently over the southern part of the Indian Ocean, headed north toward India (https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=41332). It completes one full orbit over both poles once every ~93-94 minutes.

Don't get me wrong, there's at least a fair chance that these satellites have been weaponized and it certainly wouldn't surprise me to eventually learn that they are, but it's not accurate to say that we know they are, or that they're parked over the U.S.

Intended to get the raised beds assembled but it rained all morning. Glad I mowed and set up the quail pens yesterday. Very difficult to predict when it will actually rain here with rain in the forecast every day yet not a drop many of those days.

WthrLady said:

This gave me a chuckle

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I married a cheddarhead (34 years ago), so Charlie Berens' channel is frequently playing via the YouTube app on our living room TV. I spent a year in WI so I appreciate how accurate his caricatures can be.

I did a huge amount of research on EMPs a few years back. Interestingly, it would do the most damage to long distance power. So power lines, potentially the electrical in buildings, other large applications would be damaged or destroyed. The scientific implication is that small items, like phones, computers, and even cars would still be functional. But with no grid that wouldn't help most people.

Don't know if the data is still the same now. It's been some years.

vall said:

Yes, the first ones almost look like broccoli, then everything else is mostly stem. The good news is, I love tender broccoli stems and once the aphids/loopers attack, cut off the infested florets and keep eating the stems. I had broccolini from November till I got sick of picking it in January. Now I want some again, ha.

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Mine are growing inside my hoop house so no cabbage loopers. And so far (knock on wood) the aphids are too busy attacking my tomatoes to notice the broccolini. Right now I've just got leggy stems with sparse florets that flower almost a day later. I was hoping for beefier stems with more florets. Oh well, I guess I'll just make due.

TJAnonymous said:

Anyone ever grown broccolini? I bought a couple of plants from Lowes about a month ago. They are planted in the hoop house. I can't seem to keep them from bolting. I know that broccoli flowers are edible and even taste like broccoli.... but I've been trying to get these plants to actually look like this:

View attachment 3132213

But I can't get it to look that "beefy." Instead they are super leggy with only a few sprouts which ultimately flower instead of getting "beefier." Does that makes sense? lol...

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Bolting is likely controlled by length of day . July or later planting will likely do better .