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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 6, 2014 14:13:09 GMT -5
Here are the photos of the shallots, the largest of which weighed 5.55 oz! And over half (of the large ones) weighed over 4.5 oz. Even the small ones aren't small! I also found another almost ripe tomato this morning - a Flamenco. And a sunsugar is beginning to get color, so the time is almost here! I also harvested two Ichiban EPs, and there are several more on the plants, which will be ready soon. Pretty soon, I'll be spending so much time picking, I won't be able to cook and eat! LOL Hmmmmm...maybe I can put some friends to work, in return for some free meals.
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elliemater
Pro Member
Posts: 226
Joined: June 2014
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Post by elliemater on Jul 6, 2014 15:30:09 GMT -5
In the garden today...another battle in my annual war against the chamberbitter. Freed a row of peppers from their stranglehold. Mulching. Tomorrow will weed out the okra. Picked more blueberries today. Will pick again tomorrow. I just couldn't get to them all today before the wasps became very active. Plus, my container was full and the swimming pool was between me and another container.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 7, 2014 10:14:44 GMT -5
Those are beautiful shallots. Congratulations!
I love cooking with shallots, but they are expensive to buy. Maybe one of these years I will try growing some. (I need more room!)
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Post by paulf on Jul 7, 2014 11:16:48 GMT -5
Picked a cucumber, the melons and pumpkins are starting to spread, green beans (the second attempt after the first try got too weedy and we just tilled them under) are going to be blooming soon, ten of the thirty-five tomatoes have small green fruit, and lastly, the replacement peppers I received from friends after the first set got rabbited are blooming. After a hectic couple of weeks leading up to the 4th of July celebration our village puts on, I am back in the gardening mode.
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Post by horsea on Jul 7, 2014 13:36:12 GMT -5
Thank you for suggestion for next year re pole beans. Sounds good to me; I LOVE bamboo sticks. They are so beautiful and last so long and have so many miscellaneous little uses.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 7, 2014 23:45:35 GMT -5
I found a few more ripe tomatoes today, this time some from a couple new ones (up to 6 of the 13 varieties so far) - sunsugar and cheetham's PL. And those purple beans could have been picked today, but will be perfect tomorrow.
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Post by stratcat on Jul 8, 2014 0:20:41 GMT -5
Monday, I mixed up 4 3/4 or 5 gallons of Spray-N-Grow and foliar fed my tomatoes, flowers, etc. at my place. I have a nice pump sprayer that works very well. The tomatoes had much more foliage than I expected. Great!!! I've got my hopes up high... A few black raspberries are ripening. I found a little worm that climbed up a tomato plant. A cutworm? I squashed it. It was hot and humid, so that was about it for my gardens. I got scrubbed up and headed over to see Cousin Dennis' garden. I got there at 9pm and spent about an hour walking around. We paced off his asparagus; 93' in length and around 6' tall this time of year. I'd like to see it in the Spring. We saw one lightning bug and the mosquitoes left us alone. Back home and saw a lightning bug in my tomato patch.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 8, 2014 9:17:26 GMT -5
I harvested 38lbs of grapes yesterday from my two mystery grapevines. I had to quit because there is no more room in my fridge to hold the grapes!
Overall the grapes are in excellent condition this year - I lost very few to fungal diseases. The dry conditions lately have helped. The flavor is very good, too. They should make lovely jelly.
I am about to juice those in the fridge so I can pick the rest. I am guessing there are another 15-20 pounds out there - unless critters ate them overnight. (I spread a fresh dose of animal repellent around the garden a few days ago, so hopefully the squirrels and other varmints will stay out of them.) My 50 pound estimate may be a little low; we'll see what the final number is when I get the rest of the fruit harvested and weighed.
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Post by bestofour on Jul 9, 2014 13:06:52 GMT -5
Those are beautiful shallots. Congratulations! I love cooking with shallots, but they are expensive to buy. Maybe one of these years I will try growing some. (I need more room!) Why are shallots so expensive? Does it take a lot of room for them to grow? Are they a fall crop or would they compete for space with the summer stuff?
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elliemater
Pro Member
Posts: 226
Joined: June 2014
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Post by elliemater on Jul 9, 2014 13:15:58 GMT -5
Withdrawal symptoms! Haven't been in garden since Sunday morning. Too worn out by work and travel Monday and Tuesday. But I have great plans for tomorrow! Tonight I am making mustard green seed tapes. I need to get them out and planted ASAP to prepare for the fall tomato in-ground planting.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 9, 2014 15:12:29 GMT -5
Those are beautiful shallots. Congratulations! I love cooking with shallots, but they are expensive to buy. Maybe one of these years I will try growing some. (I need more room!) Why are shallots so expensive? Does it take a lot of room for them to grow? Are they a fall crop or would they compete for space with the summer stuff? If you have an Asian market in your area, you can find shallots cheap. I get them for 99¢/lb as a rule, though there are some larger and better looking ones for a little more - around $1.69/lb - which I sometimes get when I'm out of my own shallots, and need a lot all at once. Back in the 70s and early/mid-80s I could not find shallots anywhere around here, and had to get stocked up when I would take a trip to NYC (back then, even Philly had less ethnic groceries than a supermarket has now!). They were usually $3.49-3.99/lb back then. Talk about expensive! Shallots have a long growing season, like garlic, and I prefer planting in fall, even though I often see seed shallots sold in spring. I have planted them in spring, and also started them from seed, but nothing grew and separated like the ones planted in fall.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 9, 2014 22:24:19 GMT -5
Today I picked about a half lb. of purple beans - not many, but enough for a salad, and the first batch, with a lot to come. Tomorrow I'll have to make a salad with those, some of the cherry tomatoes I have picked in the last few days (they are starting to show up in large numbers!), some of the hot peppers, and some sort of legume. And, of course, a bunch of those herbs from the garden!
I have to go out and harvest the last of my kohlrabi, and dig under some of those bolting greens. Surprisingly (actually, not, since the komatsuna has lasted into Aug. before), the cabbage and kamatsuna are still in good condition, though I still see no hint of red in that red savoy cabbage.
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Post by stratcat on Jul 10, 2014 1:01:58 GMT -5
On Tuesday, I hit the wall. Early on, I watered some containers. Then, I went to visit a friend from the old neighborhood. He has two gardens this year. One by the fairgrounds (just outside the city limits) and one 60 miles south of here. Between the two places, he's raising 600 tomatoes and lots of other stuff. Nice gardens. Had a late afternoon lunch and a big nap. Then, I set the timer on the light on my plant table. As we're in for cold nights and my peppers are so small, I carted in three loads of potted plants. Around 9pm, my friend from 1/2 mile down the street walked over. I dug her three Elephant Head Amaranth volunteers. I had given her seed but her husband sprayed the little plants. Then, we sat on my straw bale under the cedars and I played guitar for her. Wednesday, I hit it hard. Mixed up some Spray-N-Grow and fed my plants at Mom's. At my place, I fed my edibles fish emulsion again. I also fed the flowers with the watering can. Spent lots of time tying tomato plants. They're looking really good. Cross my fingers. Around 6pm, a cold rain shower came through. I took a break indoors until it stopped. Then, I kept going. I dug a nice volunteer Elephant Head Amaranth and planted it in the flowers. That will be a surprise for folks. I was going to dig up my okra and replace it; I just added one in a bare spot. I finally got around to digging a hole in the lawn out back and planting the Foxglove that was dropped off a month ago. I was outside all day and it doesn't look like I did anything. Oh, yeah. I've got to start picking those black raspberries. Today, a robin in the driveway jumped up and grabbed one.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 10, 2014 10:22:52 GMT -5
...If you have an Asian market in your area, you can find shallots cheap. I get them for 99¢/lb as a rule, though there are some larger and better looking ones for a little more - around $1.69/lb - which I sometimes get when I'm out of my own shallots, and need a lot all at once.... ...Shallots have a long growing season, like garlic, and I prefer planting in fall, even though I often see seed shallots sold in spring. I have planted them in spring, and also started them from seed, but nothing grew and separated like the ones planted in fall. Good tips. There must be an Asian market around somewhere (there's a fairly large Vietnamese population here), but I haven't found it. The one I used to go to is now a Latin market. Since I posted about shallots, I did some reading. Supposedly they grow pretty well here if fall-planted - they grow all winter long like garlic. For some reason I had been under the impression that shallots were daylength-sensitive like long-day onions. Apparently they are not, so I ordered a few shallots to try this fall. I got finished juicing my grapes last night. The grape harvest was a little better than I had estimated - total weight was 60 lbs. The top of the fridge is full of grape juice! Now I just need to let the juice settle and filter it a couple of times to get the sediment and tartrate crystals out before I can make jelly. (The juice from my grapes makes quite a few tartrate crystals, and I don't like crunchy jelly.) The good news about it not raining today is that I have a chance to pick the Tabasco peppers - yes, I will wear nitrile gloves to pick those! Yesterday I picked more jalepenos, anchos, NuMex Orange Suave, Garden Sunshine, LOTS of bell peppers, and a few tomatoes yesterday. I am going to check the okra while I was out there - yesterday I saw some pods that were not ready - hopefully some pods are ready to pick today.
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Post by stratcat on Jul 10, 2014 23:26:04 GMT -5
I didn't get much sleep last night and I was beat after yesterday. First day of picking black raspberries. Got around a pint. The robins are in competition with me. Tied more tomatoes and some flowers. Only carried a little water.
After Cousin Dennis got off work, he swung by for the garden tour. We also sat around and talked. At work today, he got free asparagus crowns so he was going home to start digging. He didn't have enough homework, so I gave him four volunteer coneflowers.
I carried on tying more tomatoes and cleaning morning glories from the tomatoes.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 11, 2014 11:15:13 GMT -5
Whew...all those peppers I picked over the last two days added up to 18 pounds of peppers. I also got some tomatoes and eggplants, bringing my total harvest the last couple of days to over 27 lbs - on top of the 60 lbs of grapes I picked earlier in the week! My freezer is full of bell peppers now. I kept out a few of the biggest, most perfect-looking ones to share with family and friends. Tonight will be spaghetti with sauce made from the tomatoes and meat I had to take out of the freezer to make room for the bell peppers.
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Post by stratcat on Jul 14, 2014 0:53:21 GMT -5
Friday, I carted my peppers back out to the table in the backyard. Picked more black raspberries; gave a pint to my friends that gave me six or seven bales of straw in the last nine months. Straw is going for a little over $6 a bale out the door; up about two bucks from a year ago. Saturday and Sunday, I picked more berries. I have two quarts in the freezer. Worked with my plants a bit. Things are looking good. I had germination problems this year. Sunday, I noticed a tomato from one of my lines sprouted after 86 days! Pretty crazy.
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Post by horsea on Jul 14, 2014 1:02:05 GMT -5
... gave a pint to my friends that gave me six or seven bales of straw in the last nine months. Straw is going for a little over $6 a bale out the door; up about two bucks from a year ago... What size of bales are you talking about? Surely the little bales that even I could lift (with some huffing & puffing of course) wouldn't cost $6.00. I guess you mean those huge round ones? Laura: how big is your freezer anyway?
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Post by stratcat on Jul 14, 2014 1:18:22 GMT -5
Hi, Horsea.
Just those regular-sized bales of straw that I can lift. You know, the kind where I can fit one sticking out of the trunk of my car. The price is up around 50% this year. I mulch lots.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 14, 2014 13:24:10 GMT -5
Horsea - My freezer is small; it's just the freezer portion of my fridge. And my kids get annoyed if I fill it all the way with veggies so there is no room for a carton of ice cream. One of these years I will get a proper deep freeze.
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Post by izitmidnight on Jul 15, 2014 8:49:10 GMT -5
... gave a pint to my friends that gave me six or seven bales of straw in the last nine months. Straw is going for a little over $6 a bale out the door; up about two bucks from a year ago... What size of bales are you talking about? Surely the little bales that even I could lift (with some huffing & puffing of course) wouldn't cost $6.00. I guess you mean those huge round ones? ? Those little "half bales" that you can puck up with one hand run $6.00 here in the big city. Don't even weigh 20lbs. Grrrr.
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Post by bestofour on Jul 15, 2014 9:56:41 GMT -5
straw bales here are 5 or 6 dollars.
I'll bet fresh raspberries are delicious.
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Post by gixxerific on Jul 15, 2014 17:42:20 GMT -5
Bales are 1.50 right around the corner of my house.
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Post by bestofour on Jul 15, 2014 18:54:47 GMT -5
is that price worth a trip from NC to MO?
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Post by daylilydude on Jul 15, 2014 21:34:40 GMT -5
I get mine for 5 bucks a bale when I can get them... he sells out fast to a goat farmer down the road from where he bales the hay.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 17, 2014 0:21:38 GMT -5
It is definitely becoming tomato season here! Each day I am getting more and more ripe ones, and only two varieties - BKX and green zebra - have not gotten a ripe one, out of the 15 varieties out there. So far, Flamenco is the most productive (thanks Desert rat!), with a really good flavor. The only problem so far is with Sweet Carneros Pink - every ripe one, on 4 plants in different locations, has had BER! Yet, not one tomato on any other plant showed up with it, so it's not a nutrient or watering problem, or at least it shouldn't be, since no other varieties are affected. Anyone else have this problem?
I harvested the last of my greens today (hard to believe some of those were still there!). I found 8 kohlrabi hidden out there! Most of the greens I simply dug into the ground, as a "green manure", after cutting the wood-like roots off, and tossing them out with weeds. Many of those plants looked like full grown plants, even after I had gotten several harvests from the same plants.
Another thing I am getting a lot of now is the beans. Still just the purple pods, but today I noticed almost all of the plants of the 2 green varieties had little 2" long beans on them. And the red noodles are beginning to get flowers on them.
As for the peppers, huge numbers of them, but just the superchilis getting ripe. Plus one yellow 7-pot turning....I was thinking of trying it after I got stung by that wasp or whatever it was, since I thought it might take my mind off the sting.
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Post by stratcat on Jul 18, 2014 10:00:49 GMT -5
I had planned to feed fish emulsion, but not after the raccoon dug out four cherry tomatoes looking for the fish last month. Never did live trap him. Wednesday, I caught raccoon #3 at Mom's. It was a large one and I ended up giving it a ride after 10pm. He flew out of the live trap hopefully never to be seen again. This morning I'm going to feed fish emulsion to the tomatoes at her house. I've been concentrating on picking the black raspberries. On Wednesday, I checked the briar patch on Mom's front lawn and they were loaded! Picked a quick quart. Looks like some wild blackberries have moved in. Man, are those thorns sharp! Thursday, I hit the mother lode of black raspberries. The house on the north side of my yard is empty. I gave the previous owners lots of plants over the last decade and no one's picking them. I slipped into the backyard of the house next door and picked four quarts! It's amazing that the robins aren't eating those berries like they are in my yard. I'll be paying another visit. I'm up to nine quarts of Black Caps in the freezer already. Caught chipmunk #13 at Mom's and gave him a ride. Been seeing a hummingbird working the catnip by her back steps. As of July 15th, late blight has been found in Montcalm County, Michigan. I got out the map and ruler and the potato field is around 67 miles away. Yikes! The experts say that "Conditions remain conducive for late blight in irrigated potato crops." I'm quite glad our temperatures are heating back up, including nights.
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Post by bestofour on Jul 18, 2014 16:39:59 GMT -5
how do you know when black raspberries are ripe?
I used to have a chipmunk. Then the cats showed up. I have catnip that my cats never touch. Thought it was like candy to them. I'll have to watch and see if the hummingbirds like it.
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Post by stratcat on Jul 19, 2014 23:02:18 GMT -5
how do you know when black raspberries are ripe? I used to have a chipmunk. Then the cats showed up. I have catnip that my cats never touch. Thought it was like candy to them. I'll have to watch and see if the hummingbirds like it. Black raspberries get plump and detach easily when they're ripe. I think they lose some of their shininess. Some cats even dislike catnip. Still picking berries so much that when I jumped in the shower Friday and closed my eyes, I saw black raspberries. I'm up to 11 quarts in the freezer as of Saturday night.
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swamper
Pro Member
Posts: 208
Joined: March 2011
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Post by swamper on Jul 20, 2014 7:19:29 GMT -5
I'm disappointed in my shallots this year. They seem to put a lot of energy into the seed stalk and didn't divide much. the potato onions are similar. Neither are done growing, but the overall yield is disappointing. Perhaps the varieties I'm growing have been bred for growing from seed, and not fall planting of bulbs? I've heard that you should eat the big ones and plant the smaller ones, does that make sense? Winter was especially cold so that could be a factor, Many of the bulbs never came up in the first place. It didn't help that the raccoons were digging for worms under the straw mulch, and disturbed them...
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