Posted on 08/03/2019 5:55:02 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
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I was just outside noticing a lot of cruciferous seedlings popping up in soil that I tilled last week.
Hot peppers are doing well for me and I have 2 of my tomato plants that are topping 6 feet tall!! No idea why and am struggling to keep them upright as they are in pots! Gardening is sure a new experience every day!
Love your tag line.
Tomatoes are coming in hot & heavy - peeling/chopping most of them (can’t keep up with them otherwise) for a couple of salsa batches. I have a recipe my family loves - they beg for it. The jalapenos are about ready for some Hot Jalapeno Pepper Jelly - very popular. I was just at my brother’s this week and he uses it as a topping for roasted salmon so I have promised him a couple of jars in addition to at least 3 other people who want it. I’m guessing I’ll have to make at least 3 batches, maybe 4! Cukes are “done” - I think I have time to plant some zinnias in that empty bed - the butterflies are fabulous this year and all over zinnias my mom planted, but those flowers are starting to go to seed. Anyway, I’ll be spending time in the garden today, cleaning up old plants, harvesting peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and then mowing ..... we got an inch of rain Thursday night/Friday morning & the grass is getting ‘shaggy’. The new, commercial Zero-Turn mower is fabulous and with the larger mowing deck, cuts mowing time even more. :-)
Salsa recipe I use “Wonderful Salsa” -
http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/wonderful-salsa/
My notes on recipe .... read the comments on the recipe, too.
- You can make this and freeze it rather than canning it.
- I DO use the lime juice & like it.
- Regarding hot peppers, the original recipe uses hot banana peppers, but I use jalapenos. I make 2 versions: “One Jalapeno Pepper” and “Two Jalapeno Pepper” salsas. As the name describes, per batch, use either one or two jalapenos. Cut off the stem end(s) & cut the pepper into rough pieces (4-6), then chop the entire thing (all of it - membrane & seeds included) in a food processor, then incorporate into your saucepan. This keeps the heat & for those who like it hot, 2JP is what they get. For milder, 1JP is good.
My yard is such a mess. I took our new rescue, Gracie out with me and did some weeding for about 2 hours yesterday and some the day before. It was a great bonding experience. :)
Excellent!
Making Lidia's String Bean and Potato Salad later, today. I picked green and purple beans yesterday and will dig some taters, today. Happy, Happy!
Yum!
Hi Everybody!
Come on over and harvest some basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, dill, tarrogon, and chives for you summer BBQ!
Thanks for the Salsa recipe. Sounds like you’re making good progress this season!
My Zero-Turn had a flat this week while Beau was ‘Up Nort.’ He’s going to fix it for me first thing so I can get mowing again before it gets too hot. Luckily I listened to the little voice in my head (one of several, LOL!) and got all of the mowing in the FRONT done first, before she went flat on me. Again!
(I was previously having trouble with that same tire.)
Watered the garden yesterday so aside from some spot/pot watering all should be well through the weekend.
I am thinking about starting some fall crops; broccoli, spinach and lettuces again on the backside of the season. Will probably direct-seed some carrots and beets, too, and I need to order Garlic like RIGHT NOW, TODAY! :)
In Alabama, my butternut squash is taking over the world and its starting to frighten the children!! But my mandevilla plant is not giving me any more flowers. Any suggestions?
I’ll be here after having breakfast with old FRiends...
Hi all. I need some advice. The soil in my vegetable garden in Maine has extremely low calcium (had it tested at UMAINE). As a result, my squash has blossom end rot. Anyone know a cure?
“But my mandevilla plant is not giving me any more flowers. Any suggestions?”
Most likely a nutrition issue. Look for a fertilizer with a high MIDDLE number. Phosphorous is needed for reliable blooming for flowering plants.
If you’re using a fertilizer right now with too much Nitrogen (first number, N-P-K) you’ll have a lush, lovely, leafy plant, but no blooms.
If the plant is potted, use a lower dose of fertilizer, but fertilize more frequently. Potted plants, especially in the summer months, need watering daily, and due to good drainage, nutrition is washed out before the plant can absorb it.
Miracle Grow makes a nice Bloom Booster, 10-32-10, which is water soluble. Other favorites of mine are Jack’s Classic Bloom Booster 10-30-20 and the whole line of AlgoPlus (used to be called AlgoFlash) products are really good!
(This has been a non-paid endorsement, LOL!)
When first planting, throw a hand full of crushed egg shells (I save them up all winter) in the planting hole, and about 3/4 cup of bone meal.
After your plant starts flowering, top-dress around the root line with more bone meal and water it in.
I do this for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and summer squashes. Works like a charm!
This late in the season, you may want to apply a dose of liquid bone meal so the calcium gets to the roots quicker and new fruits should be free of blossom end rot.
I use Jobe’s brand for the powdered bone meal and Down to Earth brand for the liquid bone meal.
(Again, NOT a paid endorsement, LOL!)
Killed me not having a garden this year because it's been a mild, wet spring and summer. I wouldn't even have had to water. We bought a hunk of forest and don't have a well yet. There's a spring fed creek down the road that I fill up a trailer mounted tank from. Still a lot of work to water. A well would cost us as much as paying off the property would so we're going to pay it off before getting the well.
The fence is for meat goats and maybe some little kunekune pigs.
Gonna be a little hard to process these things but I'll manage. Tiny chops and ham will be strange and same for the goats as they get harvested or go to the sale barn at 50-70 lbs.
Definitely doing a garden next year and I've got some curved steel pipe to do a high tunnel. They came from a hay shelter and are a little thicker than the ones that you can buy that are specific to high tunnels. High tunnels are supposed to add up to 2 months to each end of the growing season and in fact, cold weather crops can be grown right through winter.
Here in the Ozarks, gardening isn't easy with this rocky clayey soil and hilly terrain. Took us two years to find this property. It's hard to find small acres here at all, much less one that isn't junk. Plenty of North and West facing elevations and/or pieces of land that have no flatish spot. This one's triangle shaped with the wide end of the flattest area facing S/SE. Top soil in that area is almost rock free and is anywhere from 1-2 foot deep. Classified as loamy silt but ti does have some clay characteristics and drainage is slightly less than ideal as there's a hard pan between the top soil and red clay subsoil.
I did get three peaches this year. Bought the tree from walmart 5 years ago but have lost the flowers to frost every year until this one but lost most flowers this year on a really windy day. I didn't even think I'd get any peaches this year. I don't think walmart cares if they sell you something not meant for your zone. This peach tree belongs a couple of zones South in my opinion.(half thinking about building the high tunnel over it) Eating one now and it's yummy. Wife say - not really a peach eater - give her a little chunk - I want more - LOL. Nothing like home grown and minutes from harvest. Found it on the ground actually so it self harvested last night I guess. I'll have to go pull the other two.
Another surprise this year is that a neighbor gave me a bunch of bulbs and told me not to tell his wife because they were something special from her mom. Planted them and orange Day Lillies came up and they've been spreading like mad for a few years. Those things grow everywhere around here. Well this year something different came up. Pink flowers and so I wrapped some surveyors tape around the stem to mark them so I can separate them for next year. That's when I noticed they had no leaves. They're Naked Lillies aka Naked Ladies and a few other aka names. That must be what was special about them.
Have you started or are you putting in a fall garden?
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