WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD FOR 7/20/2018

freerepublic | 7/21/2018 | greeneyes

[greeneyes]

out=our

[SaveFerris]

Lost a nice set o tomato plants - dirt retained too much water - I don’t think any will make it.

OTOH, the other set (4 of the 6 multi-bowls) are looking good. Sweet Million and Grape Tomato I think. Small and green ones for now but coming in.

Not much else is making it. Single squash plant collapsed so it’s over. 3 big things growing - wish I could show you a plant that is 6-7 feet tall. I don’t know what it is - big leaves. But it obviously wants to live so I’m letting it and keep watering it. Will have to transplant. I have additional Bell Pepper seeds sprouting along with a few more watermelon seeds 3-7 (3 not up yet). And some radish. Not going to be a big harvest this year.

My small rectangular planter with pepper combos all look good. Some are bearing. Sweet Snacking Pepper, Serrano (a few coming in), some Bell pepper and some jalapeno. Plants wither each day with the Sun but snap back to looking good within 2-3 hours of cool water.

My two buckets of 4 Sweet Basil I harvested finally - didn’t get a lot - almost waiting too long. Now they’re all growing little stacked flower-looking things. I don’t know anything about them at all. I should be able to harvest and dry a few more leaves in a few weeks. That will be most of it. Oh well - one seasoning plastic shaker refilled. Not very cost effective. Rumor is they ward off mosquitoes - I think. Dunno.

I suppose I could look it up. But that’s like .... easy.

[Original Lurker]

Vine borers, I’d wager.
They’re the larvae of the hawk moth.
(the adults look like a red wasp)

Vine borers *love* any type cucurbit. Any.

[Qiviut]

What do you do with an overabundance of squash?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We get squash bugs something terrible so our yellow squash plants don’t last long enough to have an overabundance! I didn’t plant zucchini, but my SIL did and she’s making zucchini bread (which you can freeze). Also, I have made ‘zoodles’ from zucchini in years past & put a nice sauce on them (Bolognese sauce is what I like - marinara works if you don’t eat meat).

Here’s a link on freezing summer squash:

http://www.pickyourown.org/freezing_summer_squash.htm

[Qiviut]

What’s a ‘Squirrelinator’

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A Squirrelinator is a trap for squirrels - ground or grey. Here’s a link:

https://squirrelinator.com/

Candied Jalapenos (Cowboy Candy)link:

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/canning/candied-jalapenos-cowboy-candy/

[Sacajaweau]

Thanks....this is my first year with the Heirloom. My last garden was in the 1980’s.

[Sacajaweau]

I use row cloth to cut down the sun concentration. We're lucky since we've had a nice breeze with the heat.

No matter what...at 90 degrees, they just stand still.

[Sacajaweau]

Do you pack them in olive oil? That’s what I’m planning.

[Sacajaweau]

This is what I got

Yardguard Hardware cloth 24" x 50 ft. 1/4" mesh 23 gauge. I ordered it on the Walmart website. Seems to hold up.

There's a few videos on installing.

[yesthatjallen]

Which brand of tomatoes are they and where did you get the seeds?

[Psalm 73]

Thanks for the ping - didn't realize you were away - was getting worried.
Stinks that your corn was lost to the racoons, but at least it kept them out of your trash cans....

Everything is running late this year - cukes are just now coming off, we'll can them tomorrow after church (supposed to rain all day - finally).
We cleared the raspberry bush last week and the Mrs. put up six pints of jam - mmmmm!
Carrots never came up this year - nothing. It was odd - but everything else is doing great, again, just a few weeks late.

Have a blessed week.

[Psalm 73]

"...to deter the moles from burrowing in..."

We have two stray cats we feed out back - they tag mice, moles, voles, etc. They don't eat them, just kill 'em.
It works out pretty good (it's almost as if they had little signs that said: "Will kill for food")

[metmom]

I can’t in town.

[metmom]

Heinz Variety Sauce tomatoes.

They’ve ALWAYS produced good tomatoes. They ripen within a very short time period, so you can do all your canning at once, and the fruit is always uniform and unblemished.

I got them at Territorial Seed Company.

http://www.territorialseed.com/category/sauce_paste_tomato_seed

The Heinz 2653.

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/Heinz_2653_Organic_Tomato_Seed

[Liz]

COWBOY CANDY---CANDIED JALAPENOS / Sweet and hot-- a fabulous combination.

ING 3 lbs. fresh jalapeno peppers, washed 2 cups apple cider vinegar 6 cups granulated sugar 1/2 tsp ea turmeric, celery seed 3 tsp granulated garlic, tsp cayenne pepper

METHOD Wearing gloves, destem jalapenos. Slice into uniform discs and set aside. In a large pot, bring the vinegar, sugar, turmeric, celery seed, garlic and cayenne to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the pepper slices and simmer for another 4 minutes. Transfer the peppers to sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the rim.

Bring the heat back up to a boil and boil hard for 6 minutes. Pour the syrup into the jars and insert a cooking stick to release any trapped air. Pour more syrup if you need to, ensuring that it’s full to 1/4″ of the rim. Wipe the rims and place clean two-piece lids on the jars.

[metmom]

This is the sauce mill I use and LOVE IT!!!!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Tomato-Strainer-Purees-Peeling-Deseeding/dp/B00INM49MW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1532217272&sr=8-7&keywords=tomato+sauce+mill

[Liz]

Cant ever have too much zucchini.

ZUCCHINI ENCHILADAS

FILLING Cook/soften 5 min on med tb heated evo, chp lge onion; add k/salt. Add 2 minced gar/cl, 2 tsp ea
cumin and chili powder; stir/combine. Add three cups shredded chicken, cup enchilada sauce; stir til saucy.

PREP Y-shaped veg peeler thin slices of 8 lge zucchini halves.

ASSEMBLY Lay out three, slightly overlapping zucchini slices, add spoonful Filling. Roll up; set in baker.
Spoon 1/3 cup fave enchilada sauce over; sprinkle w/ cup ea shredded Jack/Cheddar. Bake melty, 350 deg 20 min.

SERVE garnished w/ sour cream drizzle, cilantro.

[Liz]

Can switch green peppers for bacon if eating vegetarian.

ZUCCHINI BITES / mini muffins

ING tablespoon olive oil, minced onion, 3 slices bacon, finely sliced
grated large carrot, grated large zucchini, 3 eggs cup grated cheese, grated 1⁄4 cup cream 1⁄2 cup self rising flour

PREP Heat oil; saute onions translucent. Add bacon; fry til colors a bit. Add carrot and zucchini;cook 2 min. Cool in bowl.

ASSEMBLY Beat eggs, cream and cheese; season to taste. Stir into cooled zucchini mixture. Stir in flour.

FINAL Grease/flour mini muffin tins. Spoon mixture into sections. Bake 350 deg 15-20 min.

[yesthatjallen]

Thank you.

[tubebender]

I hope you had a grand trip and saw something new! I have to admit I became concerned when that Duck amphibian sank and we hadn’t heard from you two...