What did you do in the garden today?

[Swiss]

Yes.

So I'm 99% sure they're grapes!

That Mehalela sounds delicious.

I think the cooking term is "medallions" ..but that's French, LOL>


Oh man, before I started with raised beds, I think 3/4 of my time spent gardening was digging out grass, and I got SO sick of it.
If you're going to leave it until fall anyway, you might consider setting out cardboard over the area you're preparing, and keep it in place with something heavy. It will kill all that grass and make your work in the fall so much easier.

I had that thought because I have a bunch of cardboard in the garage, but apparently forgot it almost immediately... I should have done that, THEN covered it with the compost... I just put some old hairy vetch seeds down, too. Well....I can always lay the cardboard on top of the vetch if it doesn't end up germinating, or if the grass starts to get out of control again (which I'm sure it will after the nice compost I just laid on top of it).

I don't know definitively about the grape vines, but I've never seen one kill a tree in the way English ivy can. I don't think the tendrils turn into trucks that grow and choke.

If they are wild grapevines, I have many of those here. They are not worth cultivating as far as I've been able to tell. I've never seen a grape on any of them. But perhaps cultivation could change that?

Love that you found some wild dewberries!

It's not an ivy. From what I have researched, it's either grape, moonseed, or porcelain berry. I wrote down all the differences last year or the year before, so I'll have to reread that. In satellite pictures that are quite old that area kind of looks like it may have been a garden of some sort... If I can get it to produce fruit, we will be that much closer to an answer. It's actually flowering this year, so fingers crossed! I should get some pictures of all of it to see what you all think!

 

[TJAnonymous]

On another blackberry note. I don't like the bitter quality that plagues so many blackberries, and I find that the wild ones tend to be more bitter. But a couple of years ago I decided to tend to some of the wild ones as a test. So many friends said that they get sweet berries from the wild ones. So I fertilized them, watered them, and gave them the same treatment as my Doyle Thornless.

They were still bitter.
On the other hand, I've been struggling with bitter domesticated berries also.
I planted two new varieties this year in the hope of getting something sweeter, Columbia Giant and Prime Ark Freedom Thornless.

Strange... Wonder if it's something in your water or soil making them bitter? Both my wild blackberries and my thornless are sweet. However our wild raspberries are bitter.

 

[karenerwin]

@Smokerbill the problem you are describing sons like the problem I am having too. Last fall my son and his family were here visiting and the 3 boys and the daughter -in-law all decided to help me out and take leaves and put them in my garden and my raised bed. The leaves were probably 3 ft thick! Needless to say they did not compost down over the winter. When I planted my starts and seeds this year I’m having the same problems that you are. A couple of plants are doing great but most of them are just not thriving. I am thinking that the ones that aren’t thriving are the ones planted in a very thick area that is not composted. The ones that are doing great are the ones that were planted deep enough that they made it into actual dirt.

 

[saysfaa]

Has anyone ever used rooting compound? ..

Yes. In a plant propagation class in college and a few other times. I've seen it used more oft than used it myself. It made an obvious difference. What do you want to know?

 

[Smokerbill]

So I'm 99% sure they're grapes!

I had that thought because I have a bunch of cardboard in the garage, but apparently forgot it almost immediately... I should have done that, THEN covered it with the compost... I just put some old hairy vetch seeds down, too. Well....I can always lay the cardboard on top of the vetch if it doesn't end up germinating, or if the grass starts to get out of control again (which I'm sure it will after the nice compost I just laid on top of it).

It's not an ivy. From what I have researched, it's either grape, moonseed, or porcelain berry. I wrote down all the differences last year or the year before, so I'll have to reread that. In satellite pictures that are quite old that area kind of looks like it may have been a garden of some sort... If I can get it to produce fruit, we will be that much closer to an answer. It's actually flowering this year, so fingers crossed! I should get some pictures of all of it to see what you all think!

After you take a picture drop it into BING image search, and you might learn what it is that way. I did that with a flower growing on my place that I wanted to know what it was. And it worked! Can't remember what it was off the top of my head, though.

 

[Paz]

What is lemon salt?

The recipe sounds interesting!

I'm impressed with your English, by the way. 3rd (!) language.

It’s this sour powder one uses to clean the tea pot.

 

[Smokerbill]

@Smokerbill the problem you are describing sons like the problem I am having too. Last fall my son and his family were here visiting and the 3 boys and the daughter -in-law all decided to help me out and take leaves and put them in my garden and my raised bed. The leaves were probably 3 ft thick! Needless to say they did not compost down over the winter. When I planted my starts and seeds this year I’m having the same problems that you are. A couple of plants are doing great but most of them are just not thriving. I am thinking that the ones that aren’t thriving are the ones planted in a very thick area that is not composted. The ones that are doing great are the ones that were planted deep enough that they made it into actual dirt.

Yep. Too much organic material can be a bad thing, too. When I originally filled the beds with dirt I mixed in quite a bit of compost into it, so it was already amended with organic matter.

Topping it off with another thick layer of the leaves and partially composted tree trunk probably overloaded the top layer with too much.

Excerpt from article,
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-news/compost-and-soil-organic-matter-more-merrier

(SOM = soil organic matter)

However, when organisms decompose SOM, they transform the organic N into ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-), the inorganic chemical forms that plants take up.


When plant roots are exposed to too much ammonium, the plants can be burned or even killed. It’s more common that applying unfinished compost or raw manure (particularly poultry manure) will lead to ammonium damage in plants, but ammonium released from very high levels of SOM can also damage plants, as was observed in an Oregon State University study of urban gardens.

That's why I decided to go ahead and do a test and strip off the top few inches from the bed. The soil at that level looked a lot more like "dirt", but it was still dark and rich looking. Just have to wait and see how the seeds react when they sprout.

If that's the solution I'll just pile of the stuff I removed somewhere out of the way and let it continue to compost down, and add small amounts back to the garden someday if needed.

 

[chickengr]

off to plant more azuki beans.

 

[Sally PB]

The battle has begun.... Need to go pick up traps tomorrow. Suggestions?

About a month to Japanese Beetles here. Free chicken food!

When I was seven we moved to the Connecticut shoreline. When first dug my mom's vegetable garden was mainly sand. She got into organic gardening and started adding vegetable matter to the soil. She'd dig a hole and bury potato peelings, trimmings, whatever she could add. By the time we moved some 7 years later the vegetable garden was gorgeous loam. She never had a compost pile, but just kept adding to the soil.

My neighbor did that in Virginia clay. Her neighbor down there couldn't believe the difference over one winter!

Yes. In a plant propagation class in college and a few other times. I've seen it used more oft than used it myself. It made an obvious difference. What do you want to know?

Will rooting compound help my sweet potato slips root faster? I've read that they don't "need" rooting compound, but I feel like I got cheated out of precious time. I need every day I can get for them to grow some tubers this time.

I grew a different variety under different soil conditions, and got zilch. I'm hoping the sandy soil will make a difference.

 

[Sueby]

Oh my gosh, so many quotes saved up! LOL.

The assorted"fencing" on top is to keep critters (feral cats, squirrels, etc) from digging.

That is my life!

My sweet potato slips should have arrived last Thursday. They didn't. UPS said there was an "exception," that my address was wrong. It wasn't.

Friday, The UPS truck was in view so, I met it at the end of my driveway. Driver looked, but couldn't find my package. "It was supposed to be here yesterday. It's live plants." "So sorry, lady, I don't have it." (Said with a poop eating grin.) I was home the entire day.

Another email said there was another "exception:" "Delivery attempted at 5:40 Friday pm." Oh, no, there most certainly was not. I'm at the end of a dead end road. Nobody came to my house after the drive who said, "So sorry, lady, I don't have it." (With poop eating grin.) I'm wondering (betting actually) that he found the package and reported that he "attempted delivery."

Next and last (3rd, according to UPS) try will be "next business day," ie, Monday, tomorrow. My plants will have been on a (hot) truck for 5 days.

I am SOOOOOOOOOO mad at UPS. If I get a bunch of dead sweet potato slips, this is entirely on them. If they are returned to sender, I will be emailing the place I bought them from (who is not the supplier, but she should still know what is going on) and tell her what happened.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

That's how my USPS is - they are awful. We sat one day waiting for a delivery (we have informed delivery so know whats coming), watched her drive right by & not stop! DH got in his car & chased her down. We will put the flag up to send something out, she stops, delivers the mail, puts the flag down & never takes our outgoing! But I'm glad you finally got them.

Sounds like a very practical solution.

A Few years ago, Dear Wife had some eggplants growing in containers out on our deck. The squirrels ate all the eggplants long before they had a chance to grow to full size and ripen. After that, I got some 4-foot-tall chicken wire, made a wrap around each container, and used some thin wire to close the tops. No more thieving squirrels stealing the eggplants! Last year we had a bumper crop of container eggplants out on the deck.

View attachment 3530092

Notice that I made the wire cage quite a bit larger than the container. That allows the eggplant to grow and fill out during the summer. So far, that setup has been enough to keep the squirrels out and the eggplants safe inside the cage. In the winter, I can fold the wire cages flat for storage.

I already had the chicken wire, but I think each cage used about 6 feet of 4-foot-tall chicken wire in case you want to get an estimate of how much it might cost to make your own. I just used some old thin wire I had laying around the garage to close the top of the cage, but a person could easily use cable ties as well. Only took me a few minutes to make each cage.

Dear Wife loves those chicken wire cages!

She is not so fond of the squirrels trying to steal her eggplants.

Again, my life! I have wire around my echinacea & dahlias even.

You're welcome! I've been doing it my whole life and didn't know it was weird until last year when someone asked me what I was doing.

Funny, I have always done this too. Especially when canning pickles.

on the watering project.

The barrels didn't work. I fussed with them for a while but I no longer think it will matter even if I get them. The gophers are eating the leaves off. I gave the survivors as much chance as I could.

So I think it's either the groundhog or the rabbits eating everything of mine (that I now have wrapped in wire). At least my critter isn't venturing into the garden, sorry you lost your plants. If you put wire around them they may grow back.

Has anyone ever used rooting compound? DH wants to make cuttings of his favorite trees, so he bought some. I thought I might use some on my sweet potato slips, as they are literally just stem cuttings. The leaves that were on the ends are crispy, but the stems are pliable. I have them sitting in a glass of water over night. Then try some rooting compound on them and plant them in small cups for a few days, before I put them in the garden.

I know the last time I bought slips, they had roots on them. I feel like I've lost about 2 weeks worth of growing season with these.

I used it trying to root some fig trees years ago & they never rooted so I'm no help! But I know the professionals use it so it must work.

Yes, all the time.
However, I stink at getting things to root, so I have no good advice.
Someday I hope to be able to make a good go of it.

Exactly, lol.

The battle has begun.... Need to go pick up traps tomorrow. Suggestions?

View attachment 3530588

Oh no, that means they'll be here soon! This is what I use & they work REALLY well. You need to place them properly depending on wind & stuff. I still pick them off the garden plants, but I catch hundreds & hundreds in the traps.

https://a.co/d/bvrqocq