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Post by stratcat on Aug 24, 2012 0:50:24 GMT -5
My gardens have a long ways to go, so I'm hoping for an extra-long growing season this Fall. I've been on guard for Hornworms and other pests with success. For some reason at Mom's, birds have been pecking on some of my tomatoes. It's not like they're starving; we're still feeding. Here's a Coneflower that caught on my pocket and popped off on 5 August. I set it on an egg carton outside and added water. It still looks like this today and isn't wilting.
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Post by horsea on Aug 24, 2012 12:06:40 GMT -5
Did you plant that Coneflower or is it wild around your place? Anyway, no wonder it has great medicinal value; that is shown in its longevity in your egg carton.
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Post by stratcat on Aug 24, 2012 15:28:59 GMT -5
Hi, Horsea. The Coneflower was planted out front as part of the Hellstrip display. I'm getting some variation in the volunteers and am using them, too. Nice plants.
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desertrat
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Posts: 143
Joined: October 2011
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Post by desertrat on Aug 24, 2012 18:32:21 GMT -5
Beautiful coneflower, can't get them to grow here try as I might.
Three days in a row of rain, finally!! My green manure crop of buckwheat and blackeyed peas were planted on Tuesday, the peas were coming up yesterday. Never had them up that fast before, they're loving it too!!
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Post by stratcat on Aug 25, 2012 23:23:50 GMT -5
Thanks, Desertrat. Do the Coneflowers burn up from the heat in your climate?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2012 14:44:39 GMT -5
I cleaned out one flower bed and fertilized and put down fresh mulch. Hosed everything off and found several teeny tiny tomatoes!! Yay!
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desertrat
Pro Member
Posts: 143
Joined: October 2011
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Post by desertrat on Sept 13, 2012 12:36:00 GMT -5
Thanks, Desertrat. Do the Coneflowers burn up from the heat in your climate? I've never been able to get them to grow if they even come up. Maybe planting at the wrong time, could coneflowers be fall planted in the desert?
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Post by stratcat on Sept 14, 2012 22:41:02 GMT -5
I've never been able to get them to grow if they even come up. Maybe planting at the wrong time, could coneflowers be fall planted in the desert? Hi, Desertrat. It looks like it's just too darn hot in your climate. From a Gardenguides.com article on Purple Coneflower Habitat- Climatic Limitations "Besides soil, the climate in the eastern United States defines the extent of the natural range of the purple coneflower. This perennial needs a winter dormancy with cool to cold temperatures in order to return year after year from its thick, black roots that are short rhizomes (fleshy underground horizontal stems). This plant survives where winter low temperatures drop between minus 25 degrees to plus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It also grows where there are no more than 150 days of summertime temperatures above 86 F, as based on information from the American Horticultural Society's "A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants.""
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Post by daylilydude on Sept 15, 2012 8:08:28 GMT -5
NUTTIN...
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desertrat
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Posts: 143
Joined: October 2011
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Post by desertrat on Sept 16, 2012 13:40:25 GMT -5
I've never been able to get them to grow if they even come up. Maybe planting at the wrong time, could coneflowers be fall planted in the desert? Hi, Desertrat. It looks like it's just too darn hot in your climate. From a Gardenguides.com article on Purple Coneflower Habitat- Climatic Limitations "Besides soil, the climate in the eastern United States defines the extent of the natural range of the purple coneflower. This perennial needs a winter dormancy with cool to cold temperatures in order to return year after year from its thick, black roots that are short rhizomes (fleshy underground horizontal stems). This plant survives where winter low temperatures drop between minus 25 degrees to plus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It also grows where there are no more than 150 days of summertime temperatures above 86 F, as based on information from the American Horticultural Society's "A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants."" Yeah, I guess no coneflowers for this desertrat! I just spent a couple of days in my community garden plot pulling out squash and watermelon so I can get some fall stuff going. I'm still waiting for the christmas limas to start producing, the vines sailed throught the horrid summer including a week of 116 + deg. and finally blooming so soon maybe! Likewise for the armenian cukes which are really producing but they'll have to come out in a few weeks to make room for peas. Mornings and evenings here are finally bearable, hooray for that! Edit by stratcat
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wizardica
Junior Member
Croatian tomatofanatik
Posts: 87
Joined: October 2011
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Post by wizardica on Sept 17, 2012 17:48:42 GMT -5
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zinniagirl
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Posts: 16
Joined: February 2011
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Post by zinniagirl on Sept 17, 2012 18:27:28 GMT -5
This was a pretty crappy gardening year for me. I did get wonderful garlic and onions. Pole beans did well. Tomatoes didn't start ripening until the beginning of this month--I never had that before. And the quality just isn't there. I planted beets twice and they didn't grow. Cukes did okay. Oh, there are some leeks that will be okay. Potatoes were pretty poor--I planted red and blue and they didn't get as big as usual. Good thing we have a couple of potato farmers around here. We had dry May and June, then we got rain when it is normally dry. I tried watermelon. The first one I picked too soon, although it did have some sweetness. It was the only one that got pollinated early. I picked another today that was pollinated about a month later. It was better than the first. There are 2 more out there, hope they can ripen some more before we get a frost. I haven't checked the sweet potatoes to see how they are forming. Now its time to rip everything out and get the beds ready for winter.
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indigogirl17
Pro Member
Blazing here again...90's and dry after aq period of 3 weeks of solid rain a few weeks back. .
Posts: 191
Zone:: 5b
Favorite Vegetable:: sweet corn, collards, turnip greens, yellow wax beans, Cherokee purple tomatoes
Joined: March 2011
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Post by indigogirl17 on Sept 18, 2012 8:18:16 GMT -5
This was a very poor year for tomatoes for me, between the super hot weather and no rain, to tons of rain...blossom end rot. One happy surprise were the Black Krim tomatoes, a first-time for me. They did very well and despite their somewhat unbeautiful appearance, were very tasty.
I got no squashes, which is very unusual.
Did well with basil, lettuce, collards, and Hungarian peppers. I have had successive crops of lettuce, which has been great...salads for one on a fairly regular basis, with the Black Krims.
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Post by stratcat on Sept 18, 2012 23:38:07 GMT -5
This afternoon, I was getting ready to seed more tomatoes to ferment when the National Weather Service put us under a Frost Advisory after 4p. That lit a fire under me. I even bought more clothespins. At Mom's, I carried some tomatoes to the carport and a pepper in to the porch. Picked a few tomatoes and covered the rest with sheets. At my joint, I picked some tomatoes and carried some eggplants and peppers up on my porch. Got the sheets and blankets from the garage and covered my Pepper Farm and other peppers and tomatoes. My two squash, as well. After I did a little watering (good to fight frost), I came in at 8.30p. I was getting chilled. Later, I see the NWS took us out of the Frost Advisory. We'll see what happens. This is the first time I didn't use all my sheets...
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Post by stratcat on Sept 18, 2012 23:56:12 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing your pictures, Wizardica. I'm sorry you had such a hot, dry summer and your plants sunburned. I hope we all have great gardens next time with enough rain.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2012 10:19:50 GMT -5
Wow-Strat-frost already? A little "cool" front came through here yesterday-High today in upper 80's only. Low tonight-low 60's. *sigh* I watered my tomatoes yesterday-I have about 7 on my Lemon Boy, and the other 2 are blooming! Peppers are starting to make again!
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Post by txdirtdog on Sept 19, 2012 13:13:31 GMT -5
Hey Catgrass, glad you're getting this "cool" front too. Same temps here except supposed to only get down to low 70's.
Cherry tomatoes are trying to set again. Peppers are starting to actually look healthy again! - they never quite stopped setting fruit here but sure were slow. Winter squash and melons are starting to run hard again and trying to set new fruit.
Carrots and green onions are starting to sprout.
Doing a lot of cleaning up of grass and weeds and sowing herbs like cilantro and dill. Getting ready to start really sowing the fall stuff when seeds arrive this week. Supposed to get another load of wood chips this week which would be perfect timing with the fall sowing.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2012 14:55:33 GMT -5
Yeah, Tex-I was worried that my pepper plant(sweet) wouldn't make it. The hot peppers never really stopped. I'm going to plant my lettuce & spinach sometime in the next few days-broccoli & cabbage in the next week or so. I never have much luck with carrots-wish I did, cause me & my little dog love raw carrots. I don't get too enthusiastic during the winter months. Just broccoli and cabbage mostly. I plant my lettuce and spinach in small pots to cut as I eat them. It's just me, so that's plenty!
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Post by txdirtdog on Sept 19, 2012 21:06:59 GMT -5
Funny. I do ok with carrots - in a raised bed, but don't have any luck with broccoli. That's why I'm trying some rapini - broccoli raab this go-round. Hey if it's enough for you, then it's enough. Right?
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Post by stratcat on Sept 19, 2012 22:08:09 GMT -5
Wow-Strat-frost already? A little "cool" front came through here yesterday-High today in upper 80's only. Low tonight-low 60's. *sigh* I watered my tomatoes yesterday-I have about 7 on my Lemon Boy, and the other 2 are blooming! Peppers are starting to make again! Hi, Catgrass. It's that time of year again up here in Michigan. Though our first frost date is any time now, three year's ago we had a Frost Advisory on 31 August. I had a tooth pulled that day and then I was out covering and carrying plants. Last night we didn't have frost at my garden nor Mom's. We're 5 miles/8km inland from Lake Huron. My brother 27 miles to the West had a heavy frost. Glad to hear your tomatoes and peppers are still going.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2012 10:50:54 GMT -5
Wow, Strat-you have as much winter as we have summer! Our first frost won't be until sometime in November. Tex-I always do well with my broccoli, the only thing is, the big heads come in all at once and I have yet to master freezing it well. Me & the dog eat the little ones as I cut them off the plant, right there in the garden!
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Post by stratcat on Sept 23, 2012 23:50:55 GMT -5
Sunday I was out preparing for the anticipated Frost Advisory. I covered the exposed tomatoes and carried in the one pepper at Mom's.
I had Mom's help picking tomatoes at my house. The exposed peppers and some tomatoes got covered with sheets. The flowers got a good drink with the hose to helpfully fight off the frost.
One of my squash plants had a female blossom open, so I hand-pollinated it. Then I covered the squash with a sheet.
I finally was done with everything around 8.50p and was glad to get inside and get a hot shower.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 25, 2012 8:10:31 GMT -5
Not so much "in" the garden as for it - I got my new shelving unit and light fixture (T5 fluourescent) yesterday, so I'll be assembling it today. This will be for starting seedlings year-round. It has four shelves but I only bought one light so far. The lights can be daisy-chained, so I can buy more lights for the other shelves as funds permit.
Now maybe I can start some broccoli without the seedlings being eaten as soon as they sprout. Even better, I'll have a proper place to start my pepper and tomato seeds in January. ;D
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Post by horsea on Sept 25, 2012 15:22:37 GMT -5
Cleaning up the garden and moving the beds around; like any woman who loves rearranging the furniture, am doing likewise in my veg/flower garden. Oh lord, this is hard work, c/w large stones "needing" to be moved. But I will get a male family member to do this, with all the puffing & snorting that entails.
Still digging up carrots.
Yes, we have had a few little frosts here, too, but not hard enough to kill the escarole or turnip tops.
This is such a satisfying time of year, isn't it!
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Post by organicbaby on Sept 29, 2012 9:41:31 GMT -5
Sowing more lettuce and green onion seeds. Thinning turnips.
Set out purchased cabbage starts to replace mine that were taken out by cutworms. I can only blame myself for that though. I didn't take the time to place collars around the plants when I set them out. Lesson learned!!
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Post by stratcat on Oct 2, 2012 1:02:45 GMT -5
I left my gardens covered and protected for two nights before uncovering. I still have some tomatoes and lots of peppers and flowers going. The female squash blossom I hand pollinated took. Been eating Alpine Strawberries. Picked four Long Thai Green Eggplants. Monday, I took down my tires that I grew potatoes in. I ended up with four big Yukon Gold potatoes and some tiny ones. I sure had fun growing in the tires. Looks like I'll be carrying plants and covering for Saturday night. I've fermented 67 batches of tomato seeds and I'm about done with tomatoes. Have to seed some peppers, a squash, etc. Dug seven clumps of Black Raspberries to give to a friend to grow. Started some of the cleanup... Yes, this is a satisfying time of year. When the sun comes out, it is still hot and really brightens things up. Bees are still out working the flowers...
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Post by stratcat on Oct 3, 2012 0:32:32 GMT -5
Tuesday, I checked on my tomatoes and pepper at Mom's. Watered plants. Cleaned up a little. Cut lots of goldenrod growing in the yard. Still at Mom's, I pushed the mower quite a bit. While backing up near my beehive, one of the girls let my rear know I was getting close. Headed back to my place and spent some time pulling plants/stakes/ cages. Picked up tomatoes and the soil from the potato-in-tires experiment. Carried a little water. Sat out at suppertime and ate a yoghurt while enjoying the flowers. I stayed out 'til around dark.
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Post by stratcat on Oct 6, 2012 0:26:51 GMT -5
Friday, we picked some tomatoes at Mom's place and mine. I carried some tomatoes and peppers in containers up on my porch. Covered one tomato at Mom's and my two bush squash in the backyard. Carried a few tomatoes under the cedars.
Mom and I took the tour of my yard and especially enjoyed the flowers. Ran the hose on the flowers again. Saturday and Sunday nights look like frost, so I'll be covering peppers and some tomatoes. Maybe some flowers...
Seeded a few peppers today. Seeded one tomato to ferment tonight.
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Post by stratcat on Oct 12, 2012 1:07:57 GMT -5
The last couple of days it's been more-of-the-same. Spent time yesterday picking a few tomatoes and covering plants in the high wind. I used lots of clothespins and all of the sheets/blankets stayed in place.
Today, we had gale force winds. Luckily, only one of my covered container tomatoes blew over. I pulled tomato stakes in my back yard container tomatoes. Carried loads of stakes into the garage for the Winter.
I'm leaving my plants covered/protected for tonight and Friday night. Hopefully, that buys me another week.
Cleaned one batch of fermented tomato seed and seeded two more lines of tomatoes. I think I'm done seeding tomatoes for 2012. Peppers and a squash to go...
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Post by stratcat on Oct 14, 2012 0:08:46 GMT -5
Saturday, it rained a little before I uncovered my peppers, my few tomatoes and my squash. Put the damp/wet sheets and blankets away. Hope to eke out another week of growing season. Fingers crossed...
The flowers are still looking pretty good.
Got some real rain for once, so I was inside most of the day. Scraped 73 plates of saved seed and placed into labeled coin envelopes. Whew!
I almost forgot. Found an interesting tomato that ripened in the house and saved seeds tonight.
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