What did you do in the garden today?

[jerryse]

Anyone ever been successful growing TWO crops of sweet corn in a season?

I harvested most of my small (very small) crop this evening. Got less than 20 ears in total. Most were missing a lot of kernels so they clearly didn't germinate well... Had about 4 or 5 that were really wormy. I'm throwing those out to chickens in the morning.

So anyway, there's easily another 20+ ears out there which never developed. I thought about clearing everything out this weekend. Putting down some nitrogen heavy compost... And then planting another round, maybe more densely this time... I think my corn varieties are somewhere between 65 - 75 days. I should have 90+ before it even thinks about getting cold.

Thoughts? Anyone done that successfully?

A lot of times poorly filled ears are due to cucumber beetles eating the silk preventing pollination on the damaged silks.

 

[TJAnonymous]

A lot of times poorly filled ears are due to cucumber beetles eating the silk preventing pollination on the damaged silks.

I was reading that the early heat wave we've been under for the past 30 days are very likely the culprit for the poor germination. This is from Oklahoma Extension office... Their climate is similar to mine -

One of the primary rea-
sons is that corn is most sensitive to excessive heat and low
moisture, especially from tasseling through grain fill. Some
reports have indicated that double-crop corn can reach tassel-
ing within 30-50 days following emergence. Earlier planting
would result in corn beginning to go through these sensitive
stages during late July or early August. However, if planting
was delayed by two to four weeks, this would occur in later
August or earlier September when conditions are often more
favorable.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I do not grow corn nutritional studies done are for pigs.
I do not oink.
I have over the years avoided corn as it come out as itself from our bodies. Just my humble opinion.

 

[littledog]

Poll: bush beans or pole beans. ?
I have more vertical than lateral acreage cuz I'm old so raised is best option.

Pole all the way! You get more per square foot, plus my back appreciates picking them.

 

[littledog]

I am still looking for the most comfortable sneakers. I bought some Brooks & they're ok but I miss a good sturdy yet comfortable shoe. Back in the day Reebok walking shoes were amazing but they changed. I have muck boots for wet chores but mostly in summer I want a good type of sneaker shoe mostly. Does anyone have a good suggestion? Shoes you wear affect your feet, ankles, knees, hips & lower back, too, as we older gardeners know all too well.

Here are mine - they are Sorels, of all things! I bought these because they had a deal a couple years ago, don't remember exactly but I needed to get some heavy winter boots, and they had a buy one/get another for 25? 30? 50%? off and I needed some sneakers, too.
I believe these are the "out-and-about" waterproof sneakers, just an earlier iteration of the ones they have on their site now.

They are so light and airy I don't wear them all that often, because I usually need something heavier for our PNW weather, working with horses, if the garden is muddy, etc, but they are super comfortable for walking on paved or non-lumpy surfaces, like for shopping, going places in town, driving...
They are pretty supportive: the soles feel solid, and don't have that "walking on your heel" feeling a lot of sneakers do these days.
They are advertised as "waterproof" but I would consider them more "water-resistant", because my feet will still get wet if I step in a puddle that reaches higher than the laces (which is most of the time in PNW weather) but during the 4-6 weeks of heat-waves we get here, they are super comfortable for gardening and keep my feet cool.

 

[littledog]

It pained me, but I pulled out a couple volunteer sungolds, they are popping up everywhere & I'm into organized this year, lol.

It pains me too when I have definite plans, then volunteer plants from last year wreck my plans! Maybe they sense I can't bear to destroy them, LOL!

While weeding 6 weeks or so ago, I found many little tomato plants where I had planted beets and basil, also found some chives that had spread out on to the walkway. So I potted them all up and left them out on my street with a "free" sign. The tomatoes all got snatched up immediately, even though my sign just gave a general idea of what varieties they *might* be, but nobody wanted my poor chives! So I transferred those to a larger container and put it by the back door, so when I'm cooking and want to add more flavor, I can grab some chives without getting my lazy slippers dirty.

Most of the other volunteers I have are red potatoes - I ended up with a few potato plants in the Dahlia bed and a few in the cauliflower/broccoli bed. The two beds that are actually planned for potatoes, I will keep growing, but yesterday I dug up all the ones in the C/B bed, since they were interfering with their growth. Got a couple pounds of nice little 1"-2" delicious potatoes, just the right amount to add to my pork roast, along with a bunch of small beets and beet greens from thinning their bed, leftover carrots and celery, and a pack of Costco mushrooms.
When the Dahlias grow bigger, the potatoes lurking in their bed will be the next to get dug up, probably as part of another delicious roast.

I'm so happy that my plants and the timing of them so far has ended up with mostly good results, but I have to share my latest stupid fail.
I planted lemon cukes from really old seeds, added some melons on the same trellis from the other side. The melons have been growing great, the lemon cukes not - only one even sprouted, then it withered and died. I KNEW I had more lemon cuke seeds, searched for them everywhere, then gave up and bought a packet last time I was at the feed store. Then tonight, as I was searching for my tape measure, found the packet of lemon-cuke seeds that I knew I'd had.
Garden planned? Organized? Not so much.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

It pains me too when I have definite plans, then volunteer plants from last year wreck my plans! Maybe they sense I can't bear to destroy them, LOL!

I’m like this too! Mine are mostly lettuce, fortunately, so I just dig them up and move them into their own corner…

 

[Sally PB]

The battle with the japanese beetles is in full swing. The bags seem to be working for now. Only had them up a few weeks but I'm already on bag #3 for each post.

Last year I saved JBs in bags in the freezer for mid-winter bug snack for the chickens. They seemed surprised when I yelled "Bug Snack!" in January. They know what that means.

My Food Saver sucks. I'm over it & barely use it anymore. It just makes me so mad every time I try to use it that I just don't, lol. It sucks chicken juice inside & then doesn't seal every single time & the seals on mine aren't replaceable.

Our Food Saver worked ONCE. I think maybe the older ones were better...? My neighbor loves hers, and she's had it for years.

 

[igorsMistress]

46 when I got up this morning and 71 for the high. Had to close the window during the night. Glad I am not in the heat. Grandson got the garden in late due to fencing it in to keep the deer out. It is doing well.

Wow, I am jealous of that weather! Glad you guys can deep the deer out.

 

[Sally PB]

I dug the garlic yesterday. I've never dug garlic in June before, but it seems everything is about 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

20 bulbs of German White, which is a new variety for me, and 64 of Music. I had bulbs that were nearly as big as a baseball! It's all on the front porch, drying. I'll post pictures in a couple weeks when I clean and sort it.