What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

I planted all my bell peppers in 5 gallon buckets this year. The plan is to prune them back over the winter and bring them indoors. All of them have a problem with fruit rot though. It's not always the blossom end. I will try to give them some bone meal and see what happens.

Luckily I didn't really NEED bell peppers this year because I have tons still frozen from last year. I only grew them this year for my mom, who passed away in May.

Oh well, good experiment regardless.

 

[NanaK]

Has anyone grown Big Beef?

It is a hybrid. I usually stick to heirlooms. I chose it for it's nematode resistance but it has great resistance to other tomato diseases too. I only planted 4 of these but they have really give me a lot of very large and tasty tomatoes. I've canned a bunch. They are very meaty and not really that many seeds for a beef steak type. Not much of a core either and peel very easy. I will definitely grow these again!

They have reached the top of 8 ft posts and started hanging down and still making tomatoes. The tops of the plants have lots of flowers and small green tomatoes starting. Very pleased!
No split skins!

One I picked a couple weeks ago.

These were canned Friday.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Good morning gardeners hot as h*ll here 90's.
Getting a great amount from the garden love that part.

 

[Smokerbill]

I'm trying something new today. When I was watering the garden this morning I noticed all the deep green squash leaves and wondered if people eat them. And according to the internet, yes they do! All parts of squash plants are edible.

Since I'm a big believer that greens of any kind have superfood status - low calorie, nutrient dense - I decided to try cooking up a batch. Supposedly the spines soften when cooked, and I hope that's true.

I thinned out the leaves from my patch of butternut squash. The plants are probably too close together, so a little pruning might be a good thing for them.

I chopped up stems, leaves and even threw in a few unopened male flower buds. Salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes and some chopped onion for flavor. Might add a touch of sugar at the end if it needs it.

Using my solar panel electricity to cook it on the front porch.

If it turns out good, I'll try zucchini leaves next time.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Only difference I cook them all in skillet few minutes in the stove top no water that ways.

 

[Smokerbill]

Only difference I cook them all in skillet few minutes in the stove top no water that ways.

I'll try some that way next time. They weren't very good boiled.

 

[pennyJo1960]

If you have a sprayer of olive oil that or bacon grease for better flavor and pepper.

 

[Sequel]

Honesty can be its own reward. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who know how to scam the system.

For example, Dear Wife was checking out food goods at WalMart's self-checkout, and when she finished, she noticed that the total was almost $50 more than what she had in the bag! Even she noticed that. So, she called over a "manager" and asked why the total was so high? Turns out someone before her had swiped a number of beauty products, bagged them up, and left without paying. So, when my wife got to the self-checkout, it thought the transaction was still in progress, and everything was added to her bill! Well, she got the refund for those beauty products, but it was a hassle as they had to empty all the bags to verify she had not purchased those items.

My brother knows a lady that got caught swiping a cheap products at the scanner but then tossing expensive items in the bag. I wonder how many people do that and never get caught? We all pay for theft in increased costs that get passed on to us.

Frankly, my concern is that something happens at the self-checkout that I am unaware of, and that I might be stopped as I leave the store and accused of wrongdoing. At least when they had checkout clerks at the counter, you could not be accused of not swiping the product(s). That would have been their mistake.

I just refuse to use them.

 

[WthrLady]

sunny, VERY WINDY, and 78 today. It is amazing! It will feel like 115' again this weekend.
I'll pick tomatoes again before it gets above 95 as they won't ripen outside in that heat anyway.
I have two 2.5 pound cucumbers that are destined for relish and another 5 pounds that will be spicy dill spears.

 

[Sally PB]

just refuse to use them.

I rarely use the self checkout machines. Write a check for your purchase? Major hassle!