Weekly Gardening Thread – 2011 (Vol. 37) September 23

Free Republic | 9-23-2011 | Red_Devil 232

[Red_Devil 232]

Good morning gardeners. I am getting a late start posting the thread this morning. Cleaned up my garden plot and will be tilling in some of my compost and wheat straw when the soil dries out a little more. I put a bail of straw around the base of my Fig trees in the hopes the straw will help them through the winter.

If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in and enjoy the friendly discussion. Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying interests and skill levels from Master Gardener to novice.

I hope all your gardens did well this year.

[MtnClimber]

It is starting to get cold here in the Colorado Rockies. The yellow squash is producing well. Time to dig potatoes. Yesterday’s low temp was 33F so it may not be long before a freeze.

[momtothree]

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, dear Excellence...
Happy birthday, to you!! (and many more!)

[who knows what evil?]

I have been thru that area on several occasions, and have considered a relocation in the past. Friends would always poo-poo the idea, because I "wouldn't be be to grow much too much, as frost can strike at any moment"...I get the same nonsense about the climate here in Red Hampshire, but I am currently in the middle of processing hundreds and hundreds of pounds of tomatoes.

Maybe I need to quit listening to my 'friends'...the liberals here in New England drive me nuts. :-) (Why am I here? The in-law thing...)

[ApplegateRanch]

Planted a pound of winter wheat last weekend, after getting the Fall amendments tilled in.

Tuesday & Wednesday nights had to cover the tomatoes, peppers, and pattypans due to mild frost.

Harvested the last of the cukes & melons; and the lone banana squash, and said adios to those vines. The beans, other than the limas (just finally starting to set pods) were already finished, but survived nicely; may get some butterbeans yet.

Used the last of LAST YEAR’S pumpmkins to make coconut-ginger pumpkin soup this week.

So far, 3 quarts of apples in the freezer; a quart bag of dried apples ready for hunting & hiking; and 3 quarts of fresh apple juice from a bushel of our apples; a 5 gallon bucket left to take care of.

The chickens love the cores, trimmings, and peelings. Today, they’ll get the pulp from the juicing, too.

[Ellendra]

We've managed to save most of the garden from the early frosts, but we went and harvested the winter squash and the watermelons. Mom and I even got out to the land and found 5 nice ripe pumpkins to pick!

The zucchini I grew this year is a variety that is shaped more like an elongated butternut squash. I let one ripen completely for seed, and will be seeing how it does as a winter squash after it's had a couple of months to cure:


Here is the rest of my fall harvest so far, the yellow one is a Golden Midget watermelon. I didn't grow the banana, it's just there for scale:


Here's why it's called a "Midget" watermelon, that's my mother's hand next to it:


I was asked by another freeper to give my opinion on this watermelon variety, but I wanted to taste one first. I'm not sure how accurate my review will be, because everything in my garden was stunted this year, including the watermelon. The leaves stayed yellow all summer long, and of the 4 vines that grew, I only got 3 melons. The melons weren't as sweet as I was expecting, probably because they were still a little under-ripe, but they had incredibly thin rinds, and I think they did well given the circumstances. I'll be planting them again next year in the hopes that they'll do better when the soil has improved.

[illiac]

Latest frost is usually mid-April and last frost around 1st of October. This year we are having a great Indian summer, but they are predicting above normal snowfall. We have had good luck with tomatoes, squash, peppers, rhubarb, sometimes brussel sprout, and most herbs. If we have warm summers, the growing season can be very good....glad you like our area....

[Billthedrill]

This is that time of year when the Zucchini People begin to prowl. You know them, they're the folks who planted ONE plant five years ago and are now running around with garbage bags full of the little buggers in their cars, giving them out to lucky friends for, I dunno, bread or something. Slice 'em up and dry 'em and use 'em for poker chips. You see them coming, smiling at the bounty of their harvest, and you dive into the bushes dreading yet another of those "Oh, sorry, I'm full up on zukes for the next couple of decades" conversations, but they give you this hurt-puppy look and you end up taking the dang things and thanking them with that strained look on your face...

Zucchini People. (Shudders)

[IM2MAD]

Re: Thanks for a chuckle.

I don’t know if you noticed, but on the white cockadoodle there’s a phone number to call if you want to party. It’s a D.C. number that ends in -1111 (WON, WON, WON, WON).

[who knows what evil?]

Climate sounds similar to this one...saw all those goodies at the Kootenai market and figured they must be using high tunnels to protect their plants. Came thru CDA a while back during summer, and it was in the low/mid 90’s...now that is some fine pepper growing weather.

[IM2MAD]

Anyone want some tomatoes? :-)

We’ve had a good growing year here too in ID. So far,we’ve given away 4 boxes of tomatoes and 6 boxes of pears with more to come. Cantalope and honeydew melons are going gang busters now too.

Currently, I’m wondering what to do with the tubes of mason bee eggs til spring. Does anyone have any advice on what to do with them til next spring??

[Drill Thrawl]

I’m wondering what to do with the tubes of mason bee eggs til spring. Does anyone have any advice on what to do with them til next spring??

Put them in your fridge.

[illiac]

We use wire cages for them....that way the wind can blow through and not knock them over....although when the plants get large and heavy, we have to anchor the cages to something....

[Excellence]

Thank you. My twins are taking me out for a late lunch at a biker bar (where we hold Tea Party meetings, so they’re okay)!

[Aliska]

I don't know what zone you are in but the Amish get a second crop if their plants aren't dead (probably lower yield). Think I mentioned it before. Sounds like they're not dead, they are nitrogen fixing, and you are in a warmer zone.

I'd spray the plants with one part drugstore hydrogen peroxide and 9 parts water. I've used it for different things, good at killing fungus and molds on my seedlings. If you do spray, do it in the shade or on a cloudy day.

You can google it. Spray. More blossoms, more beans if time before frost.

I'm not growing veggies or I could give more specifics.

[JDoutrider]

The temperatures have really stayed cool/cold since our early frost two weeks ago. We were able to save much of our garden and harvest enough veggies to keep us busy for a while...

Problem is, we have six rows of tomatoes that are hard and green. Will tomatoes mature in high temps of mid sixties and low temps in the high thirties? I have my doubts, but they seem too immature to cut and bag with any effect. Any thoughts?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

I’d make green tomato relish. In fact, I do that every year with the green tomatoes that are left on the vine and have no chance of ripening. Size and hardness doesn’t matter.

[Augie]

Enjoying the cool weather here in Central Missouri. Okra is still doing well, sweet peppers loaded and just about ready for harvest. Fall salad coming along nicely. Got half a dozen Ayers pears off one three year old tree. Dug a few carrots, lots more in the ground waiting.

It gets hard for me to fuss over the garden much this time of year - the fish are biting...

[satan69]

South FL Update: Everything is now up, Peas took forever but they came up today! WOOO HOOO! The Hubbard Squash is started to grow also!

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/493/hubbard.jpg

94 more days till watermellon!

[TASMANIANRED]

Thin your plants so the remaining tomatoes get plenty of day time sunshine.

I’ve left them on the vine right up until the prediction of the first frost.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the thread. Boy oh Boy, what a day. I have been trying to get in here and check out the thread since 6 am. Loooong boring story not amounting to a hill of beans, so I won't elaborate.

Speaking of Beans, Green Beans are still producing and I am still freezing them. This week, I have made about a quart to eat, and I have about 5 pints to put up. Still waiting on Hubby's corn to mature. He got it out late, so I am hoping we don't get an early frost.

The cucumber beetles have been merciless this year, so almost no cukes. Hubby has finally decided to spray the corn, because they have turned their attention to it.

I have one Iroquois melon trying to mature. It rained almost all weekend and off and on all week, so I didn't get the garden cleanup done, or the outdoor winter salad garden planted.

I did get the tarragon harvested and frozen, and some cuttings placed in a plastic flat to form roots. This weekend will be time to work on the Rosemary. I also need to plant basil and sage for the indoor winter garden.

Great afternoon today with sun shine after some early drizzle, but all I got done was to clean off one of the 4 patios this morning. Have a great weekend and God Bless.