What did you do in the garden today?

[MotherofOrpies]

I went down to the garden...in the rain...because I couldn't wait. Not bad! Sweet, blessed rain! This is the first rain we've had since the 5.5 inches over 3 weeks ago. We needed it really badly.
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While I was down there, I saw this.... These are fall items I'm hoping to squeeze in before it gets too cold. Mostly green beans, spaghetti squash, a little watermelon, and some Sugar pie pumpkin. Carrots too but I haven't seen them sprout yet. Now I'm REALLY going to need to be diligent about the squash bugs...


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I also noticed the chokeberries have changed color. This is a year old plant. Not sure when you are supposed to harvest them... I planted them as a backup to the blueberries since my plants all died last year except 1.

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ETA - since we got all this rain, I'm DEFINITELY going to have to spray for fungus. I've been battling septoria leaf spot on EVERYTHING all year. It has nearly decimated my strawberries and raspberries.

Chokecherries are ripe when they are a deep plum color, I hope you know they are quite sour? We only used them to make jellies or juice ( boiled, with apple juice)

 

[Sally PB]

7 more quarts of tomatoes just came out of the canner. And one jar lid just plipped. Gotta love the sound of a jar sealing!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Chokecherries are ripe when they are a deep plum color, I hope you know they are quite sour? We only used them to make jellies or juice ( boiled, with apple juice)

So these are ripe then, right? I don't mind the sourness. I planted them to make pies, jellies, dried fruit, and maybe wine.

 

[igorsMistress]

@Acre4Me - would you mind sharing the names of the 2 that you grew that don't need pollination? I was considering skipping cukes next year, but I would think about doing those under netting. Did you like the taste of both of them? I so love the Suyo's...

& I can't believe you still have JB! We got swarmed all at once but they were gone quickly, quicker than I ever remember them going. But the new traps I bought worked really well too.

@igorsMistress I can't believe how far you've come with the garden. It was a barren desert when you started & now it's gorgeous & lush!

Thanks Sueby Still a work in progress but it has come a long way!

 

[igorsMistress]

very nice! All your hard work is paying off!

Thanks, it’s coming along. Kinda hard to kill most of those plants lol

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Clifford's final pupae phase is when they drop to the ground, burrow in, turn to goo and eventually turn to a moth. THey don't cocoon like a butterfly. So when he stops to go to ground. I'll put him back outside. We'll never see him turn, burrow out, and fly away.
DH wanted me to just chuck him.
I told him, "did you MISS the part where we NAMED HIM?!?!?"
Now he's a protected species!

Ummmm, you need to create a bio dome with a soil base so we can watch. lol

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Fair warning, there are some seeds in those pellets.

I used an entire bag in the garden. They're pressed so the seeds don't survive I guess.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

You've come so far, how come you don't just give him a pot of dirt?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

LOL. I may just DO that. He can overwinter in the seed shed

YES!!!

 

[NewBoots]

Come be my neighbor! You can grow all the zucchini you want and I would be happy to help you eat it! lol!

No you don't, I'm trying to get everyone to move here!

I told him, "did you MISS the part where we NAMED HIM?!?!?"
Now he's a protected species!

Exactly why I'm careful about naming the chickens and rabbits.

Now I am anxious to get down to the garden to see how much we got... Extended forecast is calling for more this weekend.

I'm so jealous! Grats on your rain!

Also, some honey that was from 2006, nothing wrong with it except it had crystallized. Stirred it good and used it to make a marinade with olive oil, vinegar and tahini, for roasted veggie and shrimp kebabs. Delicious!

I love crystalized honey, it's like candy. And that marinade sounds yummy, mind sharing the exact recipe?

I've frozen both cooked fritters and batter. Both turned out good, but I had better results from freezing the batter - thawed out cooked fritters were not as crispy as belly-fried fritters from thawed batter.

Thanks, I've salted and drained the grated zucchini so far but I will freeze some batter and par cook some fritters and freeze those as well.

I went down to the garden...in the rain...because I couldn't wait. Not bad! Sweet, blessed rain! This is the first rain we've had since the 5.5 inches over 3 weeks ago. We needed it really badly.

That's great! We've just had light sprinkles or mists some evenings and no realrain.

7 more quarts of tomatoes just came out of the canner. And one jar lid just plipped. Gotta love the sound of a jar sealing!

That's great and yup, that POP from a sealed lid is like kiss from the canning spirits.

@igorsMistress, your garden looks awesome! It's sure come along and so quickly. Super job, I hope you're as proud of it as you should be.

Got part of the yard mowed and trimmed but, due to fire regulations, we can't use the mower after 1pm, so time to remove the new blackberries that have slipped through the fence from next door and trim the grass from the fence. I've processed the zucchini and picked the cucumbers for pickling, and the tomato plants have slowed their growth and the tomatoes themselves are growing now like crazy.