What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

NO hornworms this year. For me it's brown eyed tomato moths. ARG. always something.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks for the welcome back @NewBoots, @penny1960, @Sueby ! Please forgive me if I missed any of you...At least the chicks kept me very happily occupied in the meantime.

Congrats on the eggs @NewBoots! That must be a thrill indeed! Also, the soup with English muffins sounds great...boy, do I miss English muffins (celiac). Need to find a good recipe for them, because yes: Butter delivery system. BTW: What variety is that white/very pale green squash?

I wonder if it was a rough year for bush beans. Mine haven't produced all that much, either. Snack/small salad level, not the gigantic "must put up and/or freeze now" amounts I'm accustomed to.

I vote chips, @Sueby. They're vegetables. Yes? Thanks for sharing that recipe!

@Lovem all Paul Robeson and Green Zebra are my favourites for eating fresh. For canning, though, it's really tough to beat the classic Roma. They are easy to core/seed and put up, and as @igorsMistress points out, the shape holds up nicely. (That said...SanMarz are on my list for next year, when we should have more room in the new veg garden!) The "Blueberry" cherry tomato is really good, too. Very flavourful for so small a fruit and quite pretty halved and tossed into any kind of dish or as a garnish. Plus they seem to offer up a fine harvest no matter what hits them. One of mine has blight and other than the heat wave we had a bit back, is still producing like crazy.

Cute groundhog story, @Wee Farmer Sarah. There is a pair of groundhogs that skirts my parents' backyard (one of their Goldens killed the beloved neighborhood 'hog the summer before last...at least these two know not to go into the yard now!) and they have named the 'hogs as well.

Fab harvest @karenerwin!

Nearly 200# of tomatoes, @WthrLady! Wow! I'm a bit jealous but mostly thrilled for you! Have you started leaving them on neighbors' porches in the middle of the night yet?

@igorsMistress, are the Armenian cukes as good as everyone says? People seem to go nuts over them!

So sorry about your trees, @littledog. That's a shame, but here's to hoping the city makes good. Thank God the tree missed the people on the trail! Congrats on the pears—we had a dwarf pear at my childhood home, and they were delicious! We'd like to get some hazelnuts going here ourselves.

Well, if you are going to try and get more cukes this year, @Acre4Me, maybe I will too! I'm probably a bit north of you but why not?

Also, is that soup you are talking about something like...stratiacella? (Hi, I can't spell in Italian.)

Beautiful flowers, @Swiss! And yes, if your first frost is in mid-October, you can probably still get some quick crops in, as well as things like greens, beets, radishes, carrots...maybe even rutabaga. A belated welcome to the thread!

Has anyone put up anything neat with green tomatoes—as in meant to be green, like Green Zebra or Grandma's Striped German Green? Obviously I'm a green 'mater fan...for one thing, they're delicious, but also, for some reason they freak my family out, and that amuses me to a rather childish degree.

Not a lot done today—watering, because it's supposed to be stupid hot here all week. Harvested more greens and a few more tomatoes; my kitchen windowsill has a bit of a glut right now. (Gut? Tomato gut?) Found a few more Dragon Tongue beans. They'll be a nice garnish for dinner.

Found this guy on one of the cherry tomatoes this morning...shame it is kind of pretty.

View attachment 2304450

Anyone know what in the world THIS is? More hornworms? Hornworm droppings?
View attachment 2304449

They're delicious but not your classic cuke flavor. They have a slight melon taste. You can't plant with melons, they'll cross pollinate, but they're ok with cukes.. They do well in warmer temps so I grow them once in a while.

 

[Swiss]

Beautiful flowers, @Swiss! And yes, if your first frost is in mid-October, you can probably still get some quick crops in, as well as things like greens, beets, radishes, carrots...maybe even rutabaga. A belated welcome to the thread!

View attachment 2304449

Thanks for the welcome @penny1960 and @NightingaleJen!
I have seeds for everything you mentioned, except rutabaga. I don't even know where to start... I'd have to kill some of my marigolds (the one plant that thrives every time I plant it. Seriously, it kind of took over the garden and is so happy everywhere I planted it)! I have a plethora of marigold plants, so it can be done.
Guess what I'm doing the rest of the night! That's right: Garden planning!

 

[NewBoots]

Today’s garden harvest.

Marvelous harvest and very prettily laid out.

a Josephs Coat climbing rose plant,

We had one of those years ago, it was beautiful.

WOW - usually beans are pretty reliable! Wonder what happened?

I think I planted them all way too close to the squash plants and the squash overgrew them and cut off too much of the sun.

But I picked this recipe because I like the hot & lemon idea.

I copied it into my folder for sure.

Oooh, I'd love that recipe if you find it!

I would too, the best chicken soup I ever had was an Italian one with just a little lemon flavor. It was heaven in a bowl.

Saw this cicada hanging out.

The so look like little aliens.

I also broke down and trimmed the giant marigold plants that were hiding the pepper plants. Hopefully, they have time to try to produce some peppers!

I need to do that too. I won't be planting my marigolds so close to the peppers next year.

BTW: What variety is that white/very pale green squash?

If you were talking about my squash, I have two gold kinds, Rheinau Gold and Summer Cub. One is dark gold and the other is a pale yellow, not sure which is which.

Watered and saw to the critters this morning then we had a lunch of bacon fried rabbit liver, zuc fritters with diced tomatoes and a little ranch dressing on the side. The rest of the tomatoes are now in a bag in the freezer waiting for more so I can can. Only 4 lbs so far but there are a lot more coming. I also put a couple lbs of zucchini chips in the dehydrator, half spicy and half regular. No egg from Glyness today so far but she's sung a couple of times today so maybe later. Making a grocery run into town tomorrow so I'll also be watching for produce deals on the drive in. It would be nice to be able to freeze some green beans and maybe make some dillied beans. I love mixed veg pickles for bloody marys. When we used to go out to eat, I'd practically make a meal out of one. Hot pickled asparagus spears are my favorite!

 

[Sueby]

@NewBoots one year I had a ton of green tomatoes at the end of the growing season so I pickled them - they were delicious in Bloody Marys! I like dilly beans in them too.

Morning all. Another hot & humid one today so I won't be doing much in the garden. I gave the girls some save a chick yesterday & I'll bring out some ice this am. I am so ready for fall.

I have a couple ziplock bags full of frozen San Marzanos & a bunch more about to blush but I had that one plant that never produced any tomatoes so it hasn't been a great year for canning tomatoes. I think the (super) early blight & then the copper really stunted them & they're now just catching up.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[cooingdove]

good morning all,
our tomatoes are doing great
I feel bad for ya'll on the ca cost it is not look good there hot hot hot dry dry dry but luckily here its cool and humid

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I'm right there with you on the weather @Sueby. Yesterday more thunderstorms rolled through in the afternoon and one more round of them again today. Walking through the garden this morning was like walking through a sauna. I now have three tiny poblanos forming. Hopefully there'll be more. I picked a colander full of blushing tomatoes. I was tempted to give them another day but with all the rain I think they could split easily. I have 4 nice sized butternut squash that are ripening well. There are more smaller ones that are still growing nicely. There are quite a few beans developing on the pole bean towers. and I should be harvesting some more cucumbers in a few days unless Louie the GH gets them first. I did my main grocery shopping yesterday. Starting to see some shortages again. My stove pellets are arriving in a few days so I need to finish cleaning the garage. Great rainy day activity. Which fritter recipe did you use @igorsMistress? Was it the gluten free version? I haven't tried that one yet. Also, a side note on the cucumber bread @Sueby, I think I liked that better than zucchini bread. I made small loaves and they froze quite well. Have a great day everyone and happy harvesting.

 

[Acre4Me]

luckily here its cool and humid

Where is "here"? Us gardeners want to know! You can even add it to your profile, so you don't need to be asked again.

 

[Acre4Me]

quite a few beans developing on the pole bean towers.

Yay! My Pole beans are finally looking like they want to produce beans. Finally have some nice looking pods beginning, but hoping for a productive crop.

4 nice sized butternut squash that are ripening well. There are more smaller ones that are still growing nicely.

Excellent! I have 2 more that appear to be turning color, so I think done with growth. That will make 9 butternuts from 1 plant, and that will be it. However, the large "Trombone" butternut is turning color very.very.very. slowly.

 

[Joken]

I started on the dreaded job of taking out the old Logan and Boysenberry vines and putting up the new for next year's crop. I was pulling on some old vines and darned if one of the posts broke off at ground level. It was a pressure-treated 4x6 that should have lasted a lot of years. What a great way to start the day.