2023 Gardening Thread

WOW!
I have never had anything that tasted this good.
On the front end. I think maybe we got the blossom end rot dealt with. Aggressive powdered milk, and I bought a calcium spray and hit the leaves and fruit with it. Seems to have addressed it so that the new fruit is good.

Sooooooooo........Carole just took some tomatoes from the beds , blanched and skinned them, and made some tomato sauce, and put it over pasta. Amazing. Nothing special on ingredients. Some onion, garlic, salt and grated parmesan. This stuff makes the BEST tomato sauce from the store taste like axle grease or something. We have decided that we want to take all the excess tomatoes and make sauce, and freeze it.
 
Didn't get pictures of it, but we harvested three beds of onions yesterday. Unfortunately, the last several days had A LOT of rain and they were starting to rot. A few extra sunny dry days would have been a blessing. We pre-cleaned them in the barn and got most of the dirt and rot off them. The ones that were good were put on a rack to dry some more before preserving. The ones with bad spots went up to the house where we cut the bad parts out and sliced the rest and put them in the freeze dryer. Still wound up with a big bag of stuff for the compost bin. Though a shame, going to the compost is the second-best alternative.

Still have two more half beds of onions that aren't quite ready, as indicated by the greens drying up. One of them is interspersed in a bed loaded with potatoes, but we didn't plant any potatoes this year, they're all volunteer from previous plantings.
 
My "anti cancer" breakfast nowadays..... Sliced tomatoes from garden, peeled and sliced cukes (from garden), garlic clove, a little avocado, olive oil, and salt. Drink is carrot juice. I feel like a million bucks when all those vitamins and minerals hit my system.

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My raised bed planters are all suffering. Everything has light green leaves. Gets plenty of sun, so I'm guessing I probably need a nitrogen fertilizer added into the mix?
 
Supermatch said:
My raised bed planters are all suffering. Everything has light green leaves. Gets plenty of sun, so I'm guessing I probably need a nitrogen fertilizer added into the mix?
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We used a liquified fish fertilizer that you add to water. Stinks to high hell, but it works well.
 
Marturo said:
The 2 yr old Chilitipen & Piquin peppers are getting ready to turn red & be harvested in July.
The seedlings are looking good, but are about a month & a half behind the 2yr old's.
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That reminds me, I need to go check on the status of the peppers that Hellfire Farms gave me. All the peppers had a rough spring with the cool weather, but the hot ones faired better than the sweet ones from the local store. The gardens are at my parents place, 2.5 miles down the road. Far enough that it is easy to forget about it.
 
Two VERY late cherry tomatoes in (bot the rooted plants). Sweet potato slips in. 2nd batch of cucumbers in. Lettuce, Turnip, Beet, Radish microgreens doing pretty well (2 or 3 days to harvest). Second small batch of yellow summer squash are coming in. Awash in tomatoes and bell peppers. I have bulk seeds for radish and broccoli coming in, as well as stainless mesh lids with "legs" for sprouting in jars. Will post a video here showing how stupid easy this sprouts/microgreens stuff is...., although I am certainly still learning and making mistakes!
 
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What could I plant right now where I've had a few places open up from the sun scorching plants?
 
ChickenHawk said:
What could I plant right now where I've had a few places open up from the sun scorching plants?
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Squash, zucchini, green beans all grow fast from seed
 
ChickenHawk said:
Thanks. Two squash plants are some of what burned up. I've never had it happen before.
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Squash plants are real vulnerable this time of year... not from the heat per se, but from the vine borers that burrow down into the stem of the plant, eat the guts out and the plant then withers and dies.
We fought them like crazy for 3 years, but now we try to start from seed indoors, transplant as early as possible (even before last frost, as we have backups in case they die), and the plants get one or two good crops in before the execrable little scum show up. We check the roots when the plants start getting sickly, and if there is a hole with what looks like sawdust, we just yank them. Sad, but better than spending all that time cursing the pests, since they win in the end anyway.
 
tanstaafl72555 said:
Squash plants are real vulnerable this time of year... not from the heat per se, but from the vine borers that burrow down into the stem of the plant, eat the guts out and the plant then withers and dies.
We fought them like crazy for 3 years, but now we try to start from seed indoors, transplant as early as possible (even before last frost, as we have backups in case they die), and the plants get one or two good crops in before the execrable little scum show up. We check the roots when the plants start getting sickly, and if there is a hole with what looks like sawdust, we just yank them. Sad, but better than spending all that time cursing the pests, since they win in the end anyway.
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Mine were great in the shade of a big tomato plant. I pruned the tomato plant after we got that over a week of rain and they just slowly died after that. They probably couldn't handle the full sunlight after being shaded for so long.
 
Today was a fairly busy day. I got the following seeds immersed in water and soaking overnight and tomorrow I will rinse and cover the mason jar top with cheesecloth to sprout: 1) Lentils (storebought so may be irradiated and dead 2) split pea (ditto) 3) radish and ..... 4) something else (can't remember right now). They are immersed in about 4 inches of water, and put n the cupboard with the door closed. Soaking overnight, and we will see if they will move toward sprouting/germination tomorrow.

I also got two trays of Arugula in, a tray of lettuce, 2 trays of spinach, a tray of turnips, and a tray of beets. I also got some turnip sprouts and lettuce harvested. Sprouts and microgreens are extremely healthy. I also ordered some alfalfa, some mung beans, some amaranth, and some green lentils. Fairly busy day and almost productive!
 
Last season we used Tomatillo amarylla & we made a lot of Salsa Green with both Green & colored Hot Peppers.
The only problem is like Tomato's, Tomatillos taste better ripe & this variety tends to split & rot when turning yellow.
We make our salsa thick & chunky, you can always blend & thin the salsa for cooking pulled meats etc. You just
can't make it chunky again from thin salsa.
https://www.rareseeds.com/tomatillo-amarylla




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This year we are growing the Chupon-De-Malinaco Tomatillo & so far we have gotten
large yellow ripe fruit with a great taste, first batch of Salsa turned out great.

We like Salsa Verde, however the Golden salsa taste best.




www.rareseeds.com

Tomatillo, Chupon de Malinalco

70 days. A citrusy yellow color, pointed shape and remarkable, sweet-tart flavor make this tomatillo a versatile culinary element. An heirloom treasure from Malinalco, Mexico, it can be used in both sweet and savory preparations. The fruit grows up to 4 inches long and the flavor is more like a...
www.rareseeds.com www.rareseeds.com


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These Jigsaw peppers are good in Salsa about as hot as a Jalapeño
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I will go with milkweed assassin bug.
from google: Assassin bugs are carnivorous, feeding on other insects. Although the name sounds scary, humans don't have a whole lot to fear from milkweed assassin bugs. They won't cause damage to gardens, and sometimes, they might even take out other pests that gardeners dislike.Jun 21, 2023
 
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Thanks for the leads. I wish they were asssassin bugs. The stripe across the back means they are called "leaf footed bugs" and rather than assassins (who feast on other bugs!) they actually suck juice from tomatoes. I only found out by checking pix of assassin bugs and seeing the fact that they look real close to leaf footed bugs. I am looking at how to kill them right now.
 
Looks like a stink bug to me…
 
I have been using Google lens for a while now, & so far it's right about 80 percent
on bugs & plants
Have you had any luck with this feature in Google photos?
 
tanstaafl72555 said:
WOW!
I have never had anything that tasted this good.
On the front end. I think maybe we got the blossom end rot dealt with.
Click to expand...

Calcium nitrate. Sprinkle a few granules around the new plant when it's in the ground. Just don't let them touch the plant stem. Then about once a month after. Add more when you sprinkle as they get fruit.
 
I let mine tomatoes with blossom end rot get bad, and resorted to a spray treatment. I have to say, they perked right up. Saw the first signs of hornworms this a.m. watering. Blacklight murder time tonight.

I find there are actually FOUR areas of gardening in which I have various stages of experimenting. 1) outside... including raised beds and buckets 2) Inside microgreens -- this is occupying most of my time for now. POWERHOUSE returns on very little effort. I ordered some smaller (10x13) trays with solid bottoms and perforated inserts. I am learning which seeds sprout well and under what conditions. I have restricted myself to potting soil for growth medium. May venture out to coir/peat with nutrients but don't want to be like the cowboy who saddled up and rode off in 6 different directions at once. Too much to learn. Have to slow down and take it systematically. 3) Inside sprouting. Broccoli, radish and lentils right now. Peas have been a flop, but it was split storebought stuff. I have alfalfa, green lentils, and some other seeds I can't remember coming in, plus some of those jar lids with screens and legs to stand upside down coming in. Sprouts are the bomb. Carole makes a honey mustard dijon dressing that is to die for. 4) Tower hydroponics. Totally new area, but the idea of having a vertical tower replace the space needed for a whole bed is appealing. Tower growing can be done hydroponically (I am reading on the Kratsky method) or soil based. Gathering equipment and knowledge right now.

I have always been a person fascinated by "layers" of knowledge in areas about which I know nothing. My third grade teacher wrote that I was distracted in class and unable to focus because I had a "thirst" for knowledge which precluded me paying attention. This is true. However, as I have gotten older, I am able a little to remain more focused if I pick an area to concentrate which has deep veins to mine. Raising and producing my own healthy food is one of those areas Finance is another. The study of God is yet another. All these form the "perfect storm." of an irresistible lure to prep, save, learn firearms skills, while learning to live in a wholesome manner now. Some must be prioritized over others, and wisdom is learning which.

There are looming fields of fish and animal traps, butter and cheese making, brewing my own beer (and corn liquor?), off grid power, bread making, pickling, canning, freeze drying which I would like to learn about. All this has to be balanced against the fact that I have a likely fatal growth in my body which is (again, likely) going to end my life "prematurely." I have to be cautious about throwing too much stuff into long term plans that may not work out, since it would be wrong to leave my immediate family with 10,000 unfinished projects and partially entered fields of knowledge. The promise of Proverbs 1 is that God will give wisdom, understanding, insight and GUIDANCE when I seek wisdom and the One who gives it, so I try to pace myself and not wear myself out in researching everything.


All in all, it is a ton of fun!
 
Since we moved here from Texas and aren't sure where we'll settle long-term, we're renting right now. That, of course, limits what we can do gardenwise. I built a 3'x6' raised garden table and we have six 5 gallon grow bags, 3 with potatoes and 3 tomatoes. We got started really late, so not much to harvest yet, but we're having fun growing! Our little garden isn't very impressive, but we like it!


Our garden table with purple hull bush beans, French carrots, heirloom carrots, red, yellow & white onions, 4 types of bell peppers and lettuce:

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I built a little "deck" for our grow bags. We have red, purple and Yukon gold potatoes. Beefsteak, big boy and cherry tomatoes. The half whiskey barrel has my herb garden in it: Spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint, dill, "parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme" (admit it, you sang along!), sweet basil & oregano.

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Some pics from today:

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First Bitter melon harvest & the first red ripe Habanero.
Going to dry & juice the Bitter melons for winter use.


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Warhammer said:
Since we moved here from Texas and aren't sure where we'll settle long-term, we're renting right now. That, of course, limits what we can do gardenwise. I built a 3'x6' raised garden table and we have six 5 gallon grow bags, 3 with potatoes and 3 tomatoes. We got started really late, so not much to harvest yet, but we're having fun growing! Our little garden isn't very impressive, but we like it!


Our garden table with purple hull bush beans, French carrots, heirloom carrots, red, yellow & white onions, 4 types of bell peppers and lettuce:

View attachment 651329

I built a little "deck" for our grow bags. We have red, purple and Yukon gold potatoes. Beefsteak, big boy and cherry tomatoes. The half whiskey barrel has my herb garden in it: Spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint, dill, "parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme" (admit it, you sang along!), sweet basil & oregano.

View attachment 651330


Some pics from today:

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what happy pictures!
 
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