What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Thank you @Wee Farmer Sarah, that looks fantastic with the lemon! I will try that recipe with the next batch & report back.

@Acre4Me the melon is making my mouth water!

Penny how's your blood pressure? Did they check you for vertigo? That can be a nasty business and you don't need a fall so be careful please!

That is a very good point. I have always had super low blood pressure & I assume that is my problem too, I've never done well in the sun or the heat.

Good morning gardeners. I went to let the flock out and didn't drip sweat while I filled the waterers, amazing. It's cloudy and while not cool, it's tolerable. The ants bit the dust, yay! I walked through the yard in bare feet without issue so the pups will be ok. It turns out there were 3 separate plants in the pot of plumbago but I got them planted and gave them some Jobes. Last night I soaked the xeriscape garden and marked out where I want to plant the hopseed bush and sage. I hope the sage is the pink variety, I don't have anything pink in that bed yet.

I have a question about growing lettuce. I've grown the heads but never loose leaf. If you cut the leaves at the soil surface do they continue to grow or is that leaf done because you cut it?

Lettuce - I grow only loose leaf & in the beginning I pick just the outside leaves (so the oldest leaves) & it continues to grow. But I plant so much that when it's really going good I just cut the whole plant down at the soil, sometimes it will start growing again, but not all do & it doesn't do well after that.

 

[Sueby]

@Acre4Me - I was reading last night about starting cukes later for the beetles, I think I will try that next year. I'm thinking of buying starts from a farm instead of sowing seeds directly. Maybe that will help. They also said to plant a couple sacrifices early, just for the bugs but that makes no sense to me - you'd still have bugs! & I'm sure they don't stick just to the one plant you grow for them.

I think I'm going to throw a couple seeds in the ground today & see if I can get anything from them. Why not I guess.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Well I was kind of hoping all those cabbage worms / flies would follow the cabbage to the compost pile. I forget who posted about canning potatoes. Sorry I went back a few pages, but couldn’t find it. If you have the freezer space, freeze your potatoes rather than canning. You can pre cook your potatoes such as fries or just cubes then freeze. Just a thought.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thank you @Wee Farmer Sarah, that looks fantastic with the lemon! I will try that recipe with the next batch & report back.

@Acre4Me the melon is making my mouth water!


That is a very good point. I have always had super low blood pressure & I assume that is my problem too, I've never done well in the sun or the heat.


Lettuce - I grow only loose leaf & in the beginning I pick just the outside leaves (so the oldest leaves) & it continues to grow. But I plant so much that when it's really going good I just cut the whole plant down at the soil, sometimes it will start growing again, but not all do & it doesn't do well after that.

Thanks Sueby!

 

[Compost King]

today I just pulled up my squash plants, They were healthy, not even a hint of powdery mildew or any afflictions at all. However I felt they were not producing enough to justify the space they were taking up and I have to prep for the fall garden. Growing Bok Choy, maybe some swiss Chard.

 

[Acre4Me]

@Acre4Me - I was reading last night about starting cukes later for the beetles, I think I will try that next year. I'm thinking of buying starts from a farm instead of sowing seeds directly. Maybe that will help. They also said to plant a couple sacrifices early, just for the bugs but that makes no sense to me - you'd still have bugs! & I'm sure they don't stick just to the one plant you grow for them.

I think I'm going to throw a couple seeds in the ground today & see if I can get anything from them. Why not I guess.

I planted a few seeds of 2 types of cukes a few days ago. No trellising right now, maybe I can manage something. Hoping they are BUG-FREE this go-round!

 

[Acre4Me]

Well I was kind of hoping all those cabbage worms / flies would follow the cabbage to the compost pile. I forget who posted about canning potatoes. Sorry I went back a few pages, but couldn’t find it. If you have the freezer space, freeze your potatoes rather than canning. You can pre cook your potatoes such as fries or just cubes then freeze. Just a thought.

We still have the irritating white cabbage moths flying around....go away already! Time to spray another dose of Bt on the tomatoes and the cabbage types.

 

[Acre4Me]

today I just pulled up my squash plants, They were healthy, not even a hint of powdery mildew or any afflictions at all. However I felt they were not producing enough to justify the space they were taking up and I have to prep for the fall garden. Growing Bok Choy, maybe some swiss Chard.

They sure take up some space! This year the Butternut squash (one plant) has produced 6 (yes, six!) butternuts and has one more green one enlarging itself like crazy! This one is trellised. I have another butternut variety that is looking sickly, sprawled everywhere (including the trellis, the raised bed, and the ground in all directions), but not a single squash . We have just one summer squash plant that is very vigorous - it has produced a second main branch! It goes in spurts, with a few ripe within a few days, then nothing ready for 1-2 weeks, repeat. However, this bed is soooo overgrown! Squash is a space hog!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I may have to trellis my butternut squash plants. I only have 3 , I thought were the smaller variety but these have overgrown a 4 x 8 bed and I keep training them around but they are just huge and sprawling everywhere. I’m hoping to get a better crop of them this year.

 

[Compost King]

If I fertilized I might get enough yield to justify the space yellow squash take up, not that I do not have plenty of Nutrients in the soil, my raised beds are 100% Chicken compost and the plants thrive in it. I also had Pollination issues that a little more labor in the garden might fix. Hand Pollenating just wasn't on my schedule this year. I got enough squash for a couple of meals, I love to bake it with butter, cheese peppers and spices and what ever else I pull out of the garden the day I harvest the squash. Most people like fried but I found squash does so much better baked with cheese than fried with breading. Less carbs when I bake with cheese too. I also need to learn to plant squash outside of my raised beds, it will grow just about anywhere. Maybe stick it in the front yard since my neighbors already know I do all sorts of crazy wannabe farming things on my tiny city lot. I need to save the raised beds for crops that produce more food per square foot. I actually only planted squash because a flood wiped out my bean crop and I wanted something that would germinate easily.