What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

Try growing them [cucumbers] under insect netting if you are able.

No, I think it was rabbits that ate my tender young cucumber vines. They never grew enough to bear fruit. Next year I think I will plant the cucumbers in raised beds with a pallet wood trellis to grow up on.

We used to have neighborhood dogs that kept down the rabbit population. Those neighbors are gone with their dogs. Now, I can go outside in the evening and count 5 or 6 rabbits without getting off our front deck. More in the backyard, I'm sure.

The rabbits don't seem to bother my plants in the 16-inch-high raised beds. I have never needed any insect netting for my plants, where I live. But I have made a number of chicken wire cages to keep squirrels out of the gardens (they love young eggplant).

 

[gtaus]

Our cucumbers grow up a fence. The fence is used early in the season to trellis the peas. When the peas are finished, one of the peas fences is moved to the cucumber row (hopefully before the cucumbers start spreading!). That said, I think this was the worst year we've ever had with our cucumbers. This has been a bad year for our tomatoes too. We've had a few disappointments with this year's garden.

Can a person grow peas early in the year up a trellis, and then plant cucumbers later in the same location for that trellis? Would the peas be all done before the cucumbers overtake the peas? That is what would work better for me.

 

[fuzzi]

And if you save your own seed, you find out the next year if it's any good. If not...

So next year, I'll plant some of my saved tomato seed and try some new varieties. I'm sticking with Hungarian Heart, Amish Paste, Ace 55, and Italian Heirloom (all my saved seeds). Skipping Cherokee Purple and Mortgage Lifter.

I liked Russian Big Roma. I think I'll order that again (and save some seed) and try the German Johnson. And some cherry tomatoes too. Maybe Super Sauce too.

I bought German Johnson plants this year. They weren't as productive as the plum tomatoes but still gave me some nice beefsteak type fruits.

 

[fuzzi]

G’morning gardeners. One more brutal day of heat and then we cool down for the long weekend. The kids are getting outside to pull weeds and straighten up some, that’s all for me in the garden for now. Might get hubs to start taking apart the old garden so I can get the ground leveled for the raised beds too. Whether any more than that gets done soon depends on the heat. I’ve had heat exhaustion a few times and the more it happens, the easier it gets it seems. Trying to be careful with that, it’s not a great feeling.

I don't want heat exhaustion again, either. During summer heat I make myself go inside to take breaks, I wear a light colored, wide brimmed hat, and I constantly drink water. If I overdo I go inside, sit down, and put an ice pack behind my neck. THAT cools me down quickly.

 

[gtaus]

Well that is the chipper [SunJoe] I bought. I have a four sided diamond sharpener that might do the sharpening if not Jocko in Longville Mn is my go to up north.

I have nothing but good things to say about the SunJoe customer service and them standing behind their products as to warranty. The housing on my first chipper cracked and was constantly jamming up. They sent me out a replacement chipper under warranty and paid for the return shipping of the broken chipper. In addition, they threw in some extra blades after I contacted them. I got my original replacement blades order placed on backorder for months, so when they got some in inventory, they sent me a couple sets of blades for free. So, I have no complaints about the SunJoe company.

All these small electric chippers are limited in what they can do. At best, they are good for a little yard cleanup. If you think you will be making wood chips for the chicken coop, well, that's a big stretch for this machine. Like I said, I ended up using my electric chipper only to make wood chips for the nest boxes. Having said that, a bale of pine chips at the Fleet store only costs $7.00 and would last my nest boxes for years.

If you find a good way to sharpen these small chipper blades at home, please let me know. That's my main complaint at this time and why I don't bother to use my chipper. All my chipper blades are dull, and I just won't buy any more new ones considering they go dull in about 2 hours. And don't think I have not tried to get the most use out of this chipper. I have 6 sets of dull chipper blades that are in my chipper bag. If I can learn how to sharpen them myself, maybe I would have a more positive outlook on the chipper. I just don't like working with dull blades.

 

[Smokerbill]

Can a person grow peas early in the year up a trellis, and then plant cucumbers later in the same location for that trellis? Would the peas be all done before the cucumbers overtake the peas? That is what would work better for me.

That's what I did. Grew peas, and when they were done I cut off the vines (to leave the pea roots in the ground, since they fix nitrogen) and then planted cucumber seeds where the peas were growing. I just started picking cucumbers this week, so it's a late crop.

 

[gtaus]

That's what I did. Grew peas, and when they were done I cut off the vines (to leave the pea roots in the ground, since they fix nitrogen) and then planted cucumber seeds where the peas were growing. I just started picking cucumbers this week, so it's a late crop.

Thanks. That is what I would like to do as well.

 

[igorsMistress]

I don't want heat exhaustion again, either. During summer heat I make myself go inside to take breaks, I wear a light colored, wide brimmed hat, and I constantly drink water. If I overdo I go inside, sit down, and put an ice pack behind my neck. THAT cools me down quickly.

Yup, I do all that. I take medications that cause heat intolerance so when it’s hotter than hell I go out as little as possible. Only the chickens needs get me out there in the middle of the day right now.

 

[Birdsonghill]

Can a person grow peas early in the year up a trellis, and then plant cucumbers later in the same location for that trellis? Would the peas be all done before the cucumbers overtake the peas? That is what would work better for me.

I can do that here in the Tennessee zone 7b. My English peas are through by late May and the cucumbers can replace them. In fact, I recently replanted cucumbers and squash in late July and early August and now they are getting big and it will not be too long before they will be producing. I can pick some years squash and cucumbers till into November.

 

[CedarLane]

Can a person grow peas early in the year up a trellis, and then plant cucumbers later in the same location for that trellis? Would the peas be all done before the cucumbers overtake the peas? That is what would work better for me.

That's what I did. Grew peas, and when they were done I cut off the vines (to leave the pea roots in the ground, since they fix nitrogen) and then planted cucumber seeds where the peas were growing. I just started picking cucumbers this week, so it's a late crop.

Thanks. That is what I would like to do as well.

Interesting to know. I'm not sure if I would want to wait that late to start picking my cucumbers. Here in Michigan, I'm not sure if I would be always be able to get what I need before frost. Thankfully, this year I didn't need as many as I sometimes do (but I would have done more if I could have).