gc and leafy, ya'll help me refresh my brain. gc is in England, right? Leafy is in California, right? Leafy, is a native of England? I know gc is native to Lousiana, me thinks.
We both live in England, and yes I'm from Louisiana, you can tell that from my accent, right? ;) I'm guessing leafy might have lived in California while in twi.
leafy, got it! I'm pretty safe with the temp and going out in the rain then or when its wet, since its been 60's or lower for most of the summer while I've been here and I usually water early in the morning to conserve water when I have to. I didn't really have much of a problem with this in New Orleans since it didn't rain for days as a regular occurrence. Even if it rained every day in July it would "out came the sun and dried up all the rain". Thanks Kimberly and leafy for the heads up.
NO Twinky is in England I am in California... I was in Colorado when I took PFAL and then wow and way home in Montana and then Idaho as a way home.. Yes I did drink the cool Aide.. It only slightly warped my brain power. :wacko: But I am in the Northern part of California in the Bay Area and we are cooler temperature wise I think it is similar to England only with out all the rain.
I think all the rain has finally gotten to me! Leafy, I know you are in California. I have no idea why I said what I said, all I can say is "too much rain on the brain" It was Twinky I was actually thinking about when I asked how the rain and not going into the garden was handled in England. Sheesh! Sorry!
Speaking of rain, the sun has finally come out today after weeks of rain here :)
okie, dokie, leafy, twinky and gc. I have parched soil on this mega chip brain of mine. It is a condition that attacks us southern farmers and gardeners this time of year. I promise to remember better when the rains come.:)
I'm so disappointed, I'm loosing all of my tomatoes. I have bunches of them out there on the vines and they are all turning black! In an attempt to save some, I've cut 1/2 of them out, the most infected. Anyone have any idea?
I'm so disappointed, I'm loosing all of my tomatoes. I have bunches of them out there on the vines and they are all turning black! In an attempt to save some, I've cut 1/2 of them out, the most infected. Anyone have any idea?
Authorities recommend that home gardeners inspect their tomato plants for late blight signs, which include white, powdery spores; large olive green or brown spots on leaves; and brown or open lesions on the stems. Gardeners who find an affected plant should pull it, seal it in a plastic bag and throw it away, not compost it. Unaffected plants in home gardens and commercial fields should be sprayed with fungicide to prevent the spread of the disease.
Potatoes and tomatoes are much the same family and do suffer from similar diseases. Yes, what gets the 'maters will also get the spuds.
I have an abundance of courgettes (zucchini), some of which are fast turning into marrows. I did try a sort of fried/sauteed mishmash last night (was it kimberly who recommended it, in In the Kitchen?), didn't look pretty but was tasty. My fridge-freezer is on overdrive and has frozen everything in the fridge, so I was using up some frozen capsicums, tomatoes (bought) and other stuff. The courgettes had also been in the fridge and were frozen solid. Something else to fix! No shortage of things to do when you have a few possessions! Travelling light somehow seems rather attractive at times.
Did I tell you I have finally found a purpose in life for cabbage white butterflies? They are wonderful cat sport. My pair of scaredy-pants cats love chasing butterflies of all sorts (maybe I posted something on Cat Whispering??). They spend much time perfecting their hunting skills and leaping in the air and then rush in the house to play with and eat their prey. I have no objection at all to the Large Whites (cabbage whites), but prefer them not to nosh on the Peacocks or Tortoiseshells or the Green-Veined Whites (which are not cabbage whites).
This year in fact I don't have much of a problem with the cabbage white butterflies. That's because the woodpigeons have got to the brassicas first, not-lol.
Hey, my experimental sweetcorn is going really well, has flowers (flower like spikes, anyway) and there are lots of tiny stamen-like things hanging from them. They all look the same, so am assuming that's right. You experts out there, anything I need to do? They are all planted quite close together for cross-fertilisation purposes.
Authorities recommend that home gardeners inspect their tomato plants for late blight signs, which include white, powdery spores; large olive green or brown spots on leaves; and brown or open lesions on the stems. Gardeners who find an affected plant should pull it, seal it in a plastic bag and throw it away, not compost it. Unaffected plants in home gardens and commercial fields should be sprayed with fungicide to prevent the spread of the disease.
I'm not sure waysider. The tomatoes that I have left look fine, 'cept for a small spot or two on most. Its the plant stems that are turning black first and some of the leaves. I took one bunch of tomatoes off the vine hoping they will ripen. I'm about to go out, now that it has stopped raining, and cut away any and all leaves that have any black.
My potatoes are wonderful. I dug up about 15 pounds of them yesterday from one bed. They are beautiful! :)
Twinky, its been years since I've grown corn, but I do remember how beautiful it was growing tall.
Well this is not exactly how MY garden grows, but last night I went out and picked heaps of yellow plums. They are on a load of trees in a playing field. Very tiny, about the size of cherries. And very sweet and delicious. Jam-making, tomorrow.
There are also little red plums too, but they are not quite ripe yet. Another raid next weekend, perhaps. Mmmm-mmmm.
Well this is not exactly how MY garden grows, but last night I went out and picked heaps of yellow plums. They are on a load of trees in a playing field. Very tiny, about the size of cherries. And very sweet and delicious. Jam-making, tomorrow.
There are also little red plums too, but they are not quite ripe yet. Another raid next weekend, perhaps. Mmmm-mmmm.
Twinky, I'd never tasted those wild plums before. I went last week with a friend to pick plums and blackberries at the park. I couldn't believe it, there were branches hanging from the weight of them. I also picked the red ones, but they aren't as sweet as the yellow ones. I made a plum sauce for pork and I made a tea cake. They both came out good, especially the plum sauce.
This friend says there are eating apple trees, Hazelnut trees and Chestnut trees at the park and in the surrounding areas for us to pick from. This is sooo cool. I want to make Hazelnut cookies!
My sister in law makes a sort of hamburger or chicken stew with zucchini, includes tomatoes, corn, green peppers, anything she happens to have handy. Looked really good; she shows us as we were leaving.
We are getting powdery mildew on some of the squash leaves. You can spray them with an oil preparation to kill it, but the plants will be past bearing by the time they croak anyway.
Got some fine sweet corn growing.
Twinky, the stuff up at the top is called the tassel in these here parts. The little bitty things on them are the pollen, and the stuff at the top end of the ear of corn to-be is corn silk. The silk is a little bit sticky. How it works is each string of silk grabs one of those pollen things and conducts it down to where the corn is growing. One pollen + one silk string = 1 corn kernel.
Wooo HOOO I got my compost turner in the mail... this should make things considerably easier now. I just finished making my second compost pile... this one out of manure and paper shreds. and the 1st pile is only about half done.. so this toy could not have come at a better time. I wish I had had it sooner so I could be starting my third pile instead of only my second.
Tomatoes every where and just now turning Red.... I think I have three I can pick for dinner tonight.
Rotatation is very important concerning solanaceous plants...PARTICULARLY if there has been disease with the plants. Beans have to be rotated, also. Good rule of thumb with tomatoes is a 3 year rotation.
There is a large plot where the grass has grown over. A fusirium wilt devastated my tomato plants (and nearly me) 6 years ago and lost 24 tomato plants. Next year, I will plant tomatoes there, again.
The greenbeans are spent. They have been good to us. Much to forge on for the winter. The butterbeans are still coming in. The corn has tassled amber and will pick tomorrow. The 36 plants are down to 30. Next year I will plant the corn where the tomatoes are this year. I will plant the tomatoes where the corn is this year.
Corn is wind pollinated. Plant no less than 3 rows.
Aaahhh, I am with you, everybody, do love my gardening. Best drug in the world. It is my happy pill.
You got it, Kimberly! Next year our bodacious tomato patch will be a bodacious something else patch.
Anyone ever found smut on their corn? It is that weird fungus that makes the kernels about the size of golf balls and attracts bugs. We got it pretty good when we lived in NC and now I notice a couple of deer-damaged ears are getting it.
In NC we had smut on a few ears of corn that attracted bugs which in turn attracted some of the most humongous spiders and their webs I think I've ever seen - well, except for the mama wolf spiders with their babies on their backs.
Dang waysider, I wish I could be that hilarious and think up stuff like that!!! Risque bunions. Too funny!
gc honey, I am feeling for you about your tomatoes. Don't forget to clear all those tomato plants and mulch out and throw it away. Far far away. After you do this don't forget to wash your hands and change your clothes before you go into any other part of the garden. I have been reading up on this stuff and many diseases can be carried into other parts of the garden.
After my first glorious initial pickings and then the 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes worthy of worship, my plants dried up, literally, in a week. That was just after a big rain. We had not had a rain in nearly 2 months. It was a lack of calcium in the soil. We have heavy clay. I thought I had applied enough lime.
The Dog Days are waning. The hot wet sauna towel wrapped around the body and face is becoming less noticable. This is a sure sign it is time to start prepping for the fall garden.
Our tomatoes are coming on strong. I'm waiting for a faxed patient list so I can get to work and probably when I get done I'll have to go pick something. Green beans are done. We have loads of them frozen.
Grew a new variety of green bean this year, called "Tenderette." The absolute best! Slender, straight beans, not too interesting to the insect world, and absolutely delicious! We will grow more of these next year.
Made bread & butter pickles using my mom's recipe. They tasted good and crisp going into the jars; my first so we'll see.
There's an 8 quart stock pot full of tomato sauce gently simmering to cook down on the stove.
Life is busy, but good. I thank God every day for the harvest.
WG
Kimberly, when we lived in North Carolina we had that soil and dumped lime in the hole we dug when we planted the tomatoes. That was my best tomato year ever; canned over 100 quarts of sauce, juice and tomatoes. It was kind of a pain in the butt; however, well worth it.
We gardened in the garden of our neighbor, who owned a house in the country where he had composted and amended and worked the soil for years. He saw me trying to grow stuff on a small city lot dominated by a huge maple tree, and took pity on me and offered a patch of his garden for our use. Great guy; his wife taught me to can.
Aaahhh, running through rows of corn. My grandparents were farmers on the east side of NC. I think I have shared some of this before. Don't stop me if I have. It is just too good. They grew acres and acres of corn. Enough corn to feed the pigs and chickens and enough white corn, Silver Queen, to feed us through the winter.
When I think of my sweetest joys as a child it was running non-stop through those corn fields. We would lay down in the rows and daydream, tell stories, play games and chase black snakes. It is all still very real to me today. I wish I could have provided a corn field for my children. I will for my grandbabies.
WG, our extension service recommends liming in the winter for the next summer crop. I must not be liming enough in that new area. But I have heard so many success stories like yours that just dump it in when they plant. I am always afraid I will over do it. The directions say 1 pound per 100 square feet. That is a 10x10, right? I am sure I do that. Plus, I am going to amend the wahoo out of that area this fall and winter.
100 quarts, huh?11?!! I am jealous. My grandma canned like that. There was a cellar in the pack house. Holy macaroni, there was jars of everything in there. That is also where they stored the potatoes and onions. Once canning season started the women didn't get together again to quilt until it was over.
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kimberly
gc, black eyed peas are for luck and collard greens are for dollars. I plant enough collard greens the end of August to last us all winter long. Oh, honey everybody, I have maters and more maters.
kimberly
Bramble, so sorry about your garden. Our weather has been crazy too. This time of year we are accustomed to the feeling of a hot wet towel wrapped around the face when we are outside. But it has
kimberly
When referring to the herb garden I meant the annuals. I broke down and watered/fertilized the dill and basil. I am hoping for a comeback. The perinnial's (sp?)are forging on. Nothing seems to f
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gc
We both live in England, and yes I'm from Louisiana, you can tell that from my accent, right? ;) I'm guessing leafy might have lived in California while in twi.
leafy, got it! I'm pretty safe with the temp and going out in the rain then or when its wet, since its been 60's or lower for most of the summer while I've been here and I usually water early in the morning to conserve water when I have to. I didn't really have much of a problem with this in New Orleans since it didn't rain for days as a regular occurrence. Even if it rained every day in July it would "out came the sun and dried up all the rain". Thanks Kimberly and leafy for the heads up.
gc
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leafytwiglet
NO Twinky is in England I am in California... I was in Colorado when I took PFAL and then wow and way home in Montana and then Idaho as a way home.. Yes I did drink the cool Aide.. It only slightly warped my brain power. :wacko: But I am in the Northern part of California in the Bay Area and we are cooler temperature wise I think it is similar to England only with out all the rain.
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gc
I think all the rain has finally gotten to me!
Leafy, I know you are in California. I have no idea why I said what I said, all I can say is "too much rain on the brain" It was Twinky I was actually thinking about when I asked how the rain and not going into the garden was handled in England. Sheesh! Sorry!
Speaking of rain, the sun has finally come out today after weeks of rain here :)
gc
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kimberly
okie, dokie, leafy, twinky and gc. I have parched soil on this mega chip brain of mine. It is a condition that attacks us southern farmers and gardeners this time of year. I promise to remember better when the rains come.:)
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gc
I'm so disappointed, I'm loosing all of my tomatoes. I have bunches of them out there on the vines and they are all turning black! In an attempt to save some, I've cut 1/2 of them out, the most infected. Anyone have any idea?
gc
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waysider
Maybe it's "late blight". HERE
Authorities recommend that home gardeners inspect their tomato plants for late blight signs, which include white, powdery spores; large olive green or brown spots on leaves; and brown or open lesions on the stems. Gardeners who find an affected plant should pull it, seal it in a plastic bag and throw it away, not compost it. Unaffected plants in home gardens and commercial fields should be sprayed with fungicide to prevent the spread of the disease.
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Watered Garden
Didn't some news report say it is the same thing that caused the Irish potato famine back in the last century?
YEECCCHHHHH!
WG
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Twinky
Potatoes and tomatoes are much the same family and do suffer from similar diseases. Yes, what gets the 'maters will also get the spuds.
I have an abundance of courgettes (zucchini), some of which are fast turning into marrows. I did try a sort of fried/sauteed mishmash last night (was it kimberly who recommended it, in In the Kitchen?), didn't look pretty but was tasty. My fridge-freezer is on overdrive and has frozen everything in the fridge, so I was using up some frozen capsicums, tomatoes (bought) and other stuff. The courgettes had also been in the fridge and were frozen solid. Something else to fix! No shortage of things to do when you have a few possessions! Travelling light somehow seems rather attractive at times.
Did I tell you I have finally found a purpose in life for cabbage white butterflies? They are wonderful cat sport. My pair of scaredy-pants cats love chasing butterflies of all sorts (maybe I posted something on Cat Whispering??). They spend much time perfecting their hunting skills and leaping in the air and then rush in the house to play with and eat their prey. I have no objection at all to the Large Whites (cabbage whites), but prefer them not to nosh on the Peacocks or Tortoiseshells or the Green-Veined Whites (which are not cabbage whites).
This year in fact I don't have much of a problem with the cabbage white butterflies. That's because the woodpigeons have got to the brassicas first, not-lol.
Hey, my experimental sweetcorn is going really well, has flowers (flower like spikes, anyway) and there are lots of tiny stamen-like things hanging from them. They all look the same, so am assuming that's right. You experts out there, anything I need to do? They are all planted quite close together for cross-fertilisation purposes.
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leafytwiglet
When the tassley things open and are pollenating you could give each stalk a light shaking. to help distribute the pollen.
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gc
I'm not sure waysider. The tomatoes that I have left look fine, 'cept for a small spot or two on most. Its the plant stems that are turning black first and some of the leaves. I took one bunch of tomatoes off the vine hoping they will ripen. I'm about to go out, now that it has stopped raining, and cut away any and all leaves that have any black.
My potatoes are wonderful. I dug up about 15 pounds of them yesterday from one bed. They are beautiful! :)
Twinky, its been years since I've grown corn, but I do remember how beautiful it was growing tall.
gc
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Twinky
Well this is not exactly how MY garden grows, but last night I went out and picked heaps of yellow plums. They are on a load of trees in a playing field. Very tiny, about the size of cherries. And very sweet and delicious. Jam-making, tomorrow.
There are also little red plums too, but they are not quite ripe yet. Another raid next weekend, perhaps. Mmmm-mmmm.
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gc
Twinky, I'd never tasted those wild plums before. I went last week with a friend to pick plums and blackberries at the park. I couldn't believe it, there were branches hanging from the weight of them. I also picked the red ones, but they aren't as sweet as the yellow ones. I made a plum sauce for pork and I made a tea cake. They both came out good, especially the plum sauce.
This friend says there are eating apple trees, Hazelnut trees and Chestnut trees at the park and in the surrounding areas for us to pick from. This is sooo cool. I want to make Hazelnut cookies!
gc
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Watered Garden
My sister in law makes a sort of hamburger or chicken stew with zucchini, includes tomatoes, corn, green peppers, anything she happens to have handy. Looked really good; she shows us as we were leaving.
We are getting powdery mildew on some of the squash leaves. You can spray them with an oil preparation to kill it, but the plants will be past bearing by the time they croak anyway.
Got some fine sweet corn growing.
Twinky, the stuff up at the top is called the tassel in these here parts. The little bitty things on them are the pollen, and the stuff at the top end of the ear of corn to-be is corn silk. The silk is a little bit sticky. How it works is each string of silk grabs one of those pollen things and conducts it down to where the corn is growing. One pollen + one silk string = 1 corn kernel.
Neat, huh?
wg
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leafytwiglet
MAybe tomato blight
Tomato Blight
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leafytwiglet
Wooo HOOO I got my compost turner in the mail... this should make things considerably easier now. I just finished making my second compost pile... this one out of manure and paper shreds. and the 1st pile is only about half done.. so this toy could not have come at a better time. I wish I had had it sooner so I could be starting my third pile instead of only my second.
Tomatoes every where and just now turning Red.... I think I have three I can pick for dinner tonight.
Yay!
I love gardening.
Edited for my silly spelling errors
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gc
Compost turner sound wonderful!
gc
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leafytwiglet
I am back .. the compost turner works really well.
IT took 3 minutes to turn my pile versus 30 minutes .. I love it. I hope it works as good on a fresh new pile as it did ona half cooked one.
IT is a yard Butler for any interested party.
and we have two compost piles one of leaves and grass clippings and garden scraps
and the second is shredded paper and chicken manure and garden scraps.
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kimberly
Rotatation is very important concerning solanaceous plants...PARTICULARLY if there has been disease with the plants. Beans have to be rotated, also. Good rule of thumb with tomatoes is a 3 year rotation.
There is a large plot where the grass has grown over. A fusirium wilt devastated my tomato plants (and nearly me) 6 years ago and lost 24 tomato plants. Next year, I will plant tomatoes there, again.
The greenbeans are spent. They have been good to us. Much to forge on for the winter. The butterbeans are still coming in. The corn has tassled amber and will pick tomorrow. The 36 plants are down to 30. Next year I will plant the corn where the tomatoes are this year. I will plant the tomatoes where the corn is this year.
Corn is wind pollinated. Plant no less than 3 rows.
Aaahhh, I am with you, everybody, do love my gardening. Best drug in the world. It is my happy pill.
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Watered Garden
You got it, Kimberly! Next year our bodacious tomato patch will be a bodacious something else patch.
Anyone ever found smut on their corn? It is that weird fungus that makes the kernels about the size of golf balls and attracts bugs. We got it pretty good when we lived in NC and now I notice a couple of deer-damaged ears are getting it.
In NC we had smut on a few ears of corn that attracted bugs which in turn attracted some of the most humongous spiders and their webs I think I've ever seen - well, except for the mama wolf spiders with their babies on their backs.
WG
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waysider
Never had any smutty corns but I had some risque bunions once.
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Watered Garden
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kimberly
Dang waysider, I wish I could be that hilarious and think up stuff like that!!! Risque bunions. Too funny!
gc honey, I am feeling for you about your tomatoes. Don't forget to clear all those tomato plants and mulch out and throw it away. Far far away. After you do this don't forget to wash your hands and change your clothes before you go into any other part of the garden. I have been reading up on this stuff and many diseases can be carried into other parts of the garden.
After my first glorious initial pickings and then the 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes worthy of worship, my plants dried up, literally, in a week. That was just after a big rain. We had not had a rain in nearly 2 months. It was a lack of calcium in the soil. We have heavy clay. I thought I had applied enough lime.
The Dog Days are waning. The hot wet sauna towel wrapped around the body and face is becoming less noticable. This is a sure sign it is time to start prepping for the fall garden.
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Watered Garden
Our tomatoes are coming on strong. I'm waiting for a faxed patient list so I can get to work and probably when I get done I'll have to go pick something. Green beans are done. We have loads of them frozen.
Grew a new variety of green bean this year, called "Tenderette." The absolute best! Slender, straight beans, not too interesting to the insect world, and absolutely delicious! We will grow more of these next year.
Made bread & butter pickles using my mom's recipe. They tasted good and crisp going into the jars; my first so we'll see.
There's an 8 quart stock pot full of tomato sauce gently simmering to cook down on the stove.
Life is busy, but good. I thank God every day for the harvest.
WG
Kimberly, when we lived in North Carolina we had that soil and dumped lime in the hole we dug when we planted the tomatoes. That was my best tomato year ever; canned over 100 quarts of sauce, juice and tomatoes. It was kind of a pain in the butt; however, well worth it.
We gardened in the garden of our neighbor, who owned a house in the country where he had composted and amended and worked the soil for years. He saw me trying to grow stuff on a small city lot dominated by a huge maple tree, and took pity on me and offered a patch of his garden for our use. Great guy; his wife taught me to can.
I was a lot younger then.....
WG
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kimberly
Aaahhh, running through rows of corn. My grandparents were farmers on the east side of NC. I think I have shared some of this before. Don't stop me if I have. It is just too good. They grew acres and acres of corn. Enough corn to feed the pigs and chickens and enough white corn, Silver Queen, to feed us through the winter.
When I think of my sweetest joys as a child it was running non-stop through those corn fields. We would lay down in the rows and daydream, tell stories, play games and chase black snakes. It is all still very real to me today. I wish I could have provided a corn field for my children. I will for my grandbabies.
WG, our extension service recommends liming in the winter for the next summer crop. I must not be liming enough in that new area. But I have heard so many success stories like yours that just dump it in when they plant. I am always afraid I will over do it. The directions say 1 pound per 100 square feet. That is a 10x10, right? I am sure I do that. Plus, I am going to amend the wahoo out of that area this fall and winter.
100 quarts, huh?11?!! I am jealous. My grandma canned like that. There was a cellar in the pack house. Holy macaroni, there was jars of everything in there. That is also where they stored the potatoes and onions. Once canning season started the women didn't get together again to quilt until it was over.
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