Saturday Gardening Thread: Big Butterfly Edition [KT]

Hello, Horde! Back from vacation! Pixy has decided not to let me embed photos for now, so an abbreviated thread today. Thanks to The Horde, we have some content. I hope to be back up to speed next week.

JustGotHere sent photos of our insect species of the week, from Central Texas.

A few weeks ago, we found a few beautifully strange caterpillars on the lemon tree on our covered back patio, and discovered that they were Papilio cresphontes, the caterpillar for the Giant Swallowtail butterfly.
We didn't have a camera handy when the butterflies emerged from chrysalis, but here are a couple of the photos of the Papilio cresphontes if you'd like them for the Gardening Thread.

To me, they look like they are wearing crowns/tiaras, and they have tiny lavender dots on their backs -- which I did not see in any other online photos of the caterpillars. I think they are lovely critters.
Keep up the great work!

I could see the little lavender dots on the big original photos JustGotHere sent. I wonder if there could have been some hybridization with the Ornythion Swallowtail, which flies in the lower Rio Grande Valley. Its caterpillars seem to have more prominent lavender spots.

The Giant Swallowtail is most common in the Southeast, but is also found in other eastern states and even sometimes in Canada. Sometimes it strays into the West, too. I have never seen one.

Giant Swallowtail in Wisconsin

There are some great photos at the link above, including butterflies in the air and a size comparison between the Giant Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Here is a Florida subspecies. The back and front of Giant Swallowtail wings have very different appearances.

Giant Swallowtails are a pest in some citrus orchards. The caterpillars are called "orange dogs" or "orange puppies". But they lived in the USA before there were citrus trees here. They have other host plants. I'll post a photo of one next week, if Pixy takes pity on me.

All the way from Minnesota, Gordon sends the following lovely flower photo:

Usually they are white. But this is the all-blue variety, and they are pale purple. You can see the blue barrels in which they're growing.

You can really tell from that photo that potatoes are in the nightshade family. Picking any new potatoes, Gordon?

He also sent in a very interesting story on commercial strawberries. Said it made him think of our own CaliGirl.

That story reminds me of my recently deceased mother-in-law's Strawberry Flowers. Filled with cream cheese. Gorgeous. Directions in the comments.

Gardens of The Horde

Nothing new going on in my garden. Hot and humid. A strange critter landed on my arm during the night this week. I think it was a praying mantis. Startled me.

Anything going on in your garden?

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at g mail dot com

Include your nic unless you want to be a lurker.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:41 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 KT hope you had a good vacation
Good afternoon greentumbs

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 12:44 PM (pPKG5)

2 My Great Grandmother used to tell us to leave the praying mantises alone because they would spit in your eyes and make you go blind.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 12:47 PM (mpXpK)

3 Having fresh chives in tomato soup w/ grilled cheese

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 12:50 PM (pPKG5)

4 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 12:47 PM

Our friend from Mexico says that cows will die if they eat praying mantises because the mantises eat black widow spiders.

I think the underwings of praying mantises are beautiful. I am not fond of their egg cases on the stucco of our house.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 12:53 PM (BVQ+1)

5 4 I think the underwings of praying mantises are beautiful. I am not fond of their egg cases on the stucco of our house.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 12:53 PM (BVQ+1)

I don't think I have ever seen their egg cases. If I have I didn't recognize them.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 12:55 PM (mpXpK)

6 Thanks for the vacation wishes, Skip. The first segment was a funeral for my mother-in-law. Not too sad, really. People loved her.

Like her granddaughter said, many individuals felt like they were her personal favorite. Long drive, though.

The second part was an actual vacation, included a family reunion. My side of the family. It was nice.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 12:56 PM (BVQ+1)

7 Praying mantis egg cases become about as tough as well-aerated concrete and are formed in a V-shaped double row. Not sure how the babies get out.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 12:58 PM (BVQ+1)

8 I started to pull out lettuce plants as it was getting bitter, but didn't pull them all. But the cool temps in last few weeks it tried them again and they are fine. Have loads of peppers of all kinds, now only if they ripen. Also getting wax beans, had 12 plants from seeds of green and wax but seems 9 or 10 out of 12 are wax.

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 01:00 PM (pPKG5)

9 Hope you had a great vacay KT ... nice butterflies.

I've seen more swallowtails than Monarchs, but have protected a lot of milkweed for the monarchs. Seems they have declined and efforts to plant milkweed might help.

Posted by: illiniwek at August 19, 2017 01:02 PM (7Ep0P)

10 Remember "The Invaders" tv show? I vaguely remember one episode where the aliens were going to unleash meat eating butterflies.

Posted by: BignJames at August 19, 2017 01:02 PM (x9c8r)

11 Condolences on your loss KT. This a.m. I was deadheading my container plants. I picked at a little twig - it startled me by moving. It was a praying mantis.

Posted by: kallisto at August 19, 2017 01:03 PM (g+Dix)

12 Pretty sure I saw a giant swallowtail here in the South SF Bay Area a few days ago. It was fluttering around quite high around birch trees, the white caught my attention from indoors - pretty used to monarchs around here. This was easily twice the size. Ran to grab my camera with a proper long lens, but by then it had already gone over to neighbors. Kept waiting for one of the jays to grab it.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at August 19, 2017 01:04 PM (RHEDC)

13 Oh, and the milkweed has made a comeback, I think the rains helped. Have seen it everywhere this year so hopefully monarch bumper crop!

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at August 19, 2017 01:05 PM (RHEDC)

14 I have melons coming ripe, but the tomatoes are just starting to turn. What odd summer this has been where that happens.
I also have boucoup spaghetti squash and eggplant.

I think I did something wrong in picking my first cantaloupe since half the vines are starting to shrivel. I either cut a vine or I forgot to water. However, that first melon, slightly under-ripe was very tasty.

I picked some green thai peppers and gave them to a cow-orker, who thought that I just had something like a jalapeno. He came back after trying one bite to ask what I had done to "make those chiles so angry"

I plan on getting them ripe and drying them and grinding them for powder. I do the same with Cayenne peppers.

Does anyone have a good Jalapeno pickling recipe? I have a superfluity.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 19, 2017 01:06 PM (mkDpn)

15 illiniwek at August 19, 2017 01:02 PM

Swallowtails have a lot more hosts for their caterpillars. And there are several kinds of swallowtails. Makes sense that monarchs would be more variable from year to year.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:06 PM (BVQ+1)

16 Wife planted some radishes. Hope they make it before the snow flies.

Posted by: Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:06 PM (/AYqG)

17 We have not pulled out any new potatoes yet, but it is very tempting. I spent much of the week untangling the tomato jungle. I find a stalk that I think is just a big sucker and hidden in the grass is a raft of 25 chocolate cherries.

Is it normal for tomato suckers to pop out 4 in the same branch crotch at the same time? I haven't seen that before.

Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:07 PM (KEW0M)

18 Notice how that first caterpillar photo looks sort of like a bird dropping? Giant Swallowtail caterpillars try to maintain the "bird dropping look" even when they are large. Most other swallowtail caterpillars sort of give up the deception after the first two or three instars.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:08 PM (BVQ+1)

19 BignJames at August 19, 2017 01:02 PM

I think the caterpillars above look sort of alien.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:09 PM (BVQ+1)

20 Wife took the bottom slice from a tomato and planted it in her flower planter. Damn thing actually grew and produced a couple of tomatoes.

Posted by: Clemson Tigers Fan at August 19, 2017 01:11 PM (R4i2i)

21 To some gardeners Swallowtail caterpillars are a scourge

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 01:11 PM (pPKG5)

22 kallisto at August 19, 2017 01:03 PM

Thanks.

Those mantises do have a tendency to surprise you.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:11 PM (BVQ+1)

23 Yard work for the parents today. Problem with setting up an irrigation is it creates weeds in abundance.
Maybe there are ripe tomatoes to pick. They would like that.

We shall not speak of the prolific zucchini.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at August 19, 2017 01:12 PM (e1mEI)

24 Skip at August 19, 2017 12:50 PM

Tomato soup with fresh chives plus a grilled cheese sandwich. After our reunion, this reminds me of a breakfast my grandmother served me: Home-canned tomatoes with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:13 PM (BVQ+1)

25 Next year I am going to try growing watermelon, and think I need to move plants around a bit, only cucumber plant going superbly is in a new area

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 01:14 PM (pPKG5)

26 Kindletot, this jalapeno recipe has worked for me. It's nice to have a jar in the fridge. A couple of slices can spice up a dish nicely.

http://tinyurl.com/y8uw7u6u

Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:15 PM (KEW0M)

27 Wife has one pepper plant. I don't know what kind it is, but it has many peppers on it. I hope they have a little bit of heat.

Posted by: Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:16 PM (/AYqG)

28 Clutch Cargo at August 19, 2017 01:04 PM

Swallowtails flutter even as they feed, unlike most butterflies. They also "puddle" for minerals. Wonder what the attraction to the birch tree was? Honeydew from aphids maybe?

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:16 PM (BVQ+1)

29 Kindltot at August 19, 2017 01:06 PM

The melon die-back could also be a soil disease. Glad you got a good one.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:18 PM (BVQ+1)

30 Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:07 PM

They say you can gently feel around for a few new potatoes when the plants bloom and leave the rest of the potatoes to mature.

I don't know that it's typical to get four tomato suckers from a single node, but it's not real unusual. Maybe there was a little injury that stimulated extra growth.

I like chocolate cherry tomatoes in the fall.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:21 PM (BVQ+1)

31 Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:06 PM

Bet the radishes will make it. If not, pick the plants and stir-fry the leaves.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:22 PM (BVQ+1)

32 Skip at August 19, 2017 01:14 PM

Most watermelons do best with a long, hot season. Pick your cultivar carefully.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:24 PM (BVQ+1)

33 KT,

I hope you had a nice vacation.

I'm starting to get a few figs. The pears are ripe.

I haven't done much gardening we are fighting a cold or the flu here.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 01:25 PM (Ri/rl)

34 Barbara's Strawberry Flowers:

After cleaning and removing stems, place big, beautiful strawberries on their stem ends. Cut a little more the 3/4 of the way through from the top into 4 or 6 segments. Pipe into the center a mixture of cream cheese and a little lemon juice and powdered sugar. This should spread the strawberry into "petals".

The story Gordon sent reminded me of this recipe because the berries described in it are the kind of strawberries you would use.

If you grow your own, you can try some tender, small, juicy berries. Maybe not in this recipe.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:29 PM (BVQ+1)

35 We have Swallowtails hereabout also. Always look forward to them. The caterpillars cause virtually no damage to the trees, so it is fine to let them have at it.

Posted by: pat at August 19, 2017 01:30 PM (4MSOz)

36 Ronster - Bell pepper shaped usually sweet, elongated bannana can be either, Anaheims I grow can be very hot to mild, never sure which I will get, might have to do with cross pollination

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 01:30 PM (pPKG5)

37 Speaking of gardening and the products derived therefrom, this entire weekend the city of Seattle has devolved into an orgy of filthy hippies enjoying the HempFest marijuana festival as well as a Tattoo Symposium.

I live right downtown on Western Avenue across from the Seattle Aquarium and travel to and from home is an absolute nightmare. So I decided to scram to work up in North Seattle.

At least at work I won't catch any diseases just from breathing the same air as all these disgusting creatures.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 19, 2017 01:30 PM (dqdMO)

38 CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 01:25 PM

Hope you feel better soon. I sucked one of those zinc products on the plane so I wouldn't pick up a cold while traveling.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:31 PM (BVQ+1)

39 The reiter article is very interesting. My husband will enjoy it.

We grow blackberries that are UC Davis varieties for Driscoll.
Most of the varieties are Driscoll's.

I will say as a grower Driscoll has the most stringent quality control. We have been having problems with the blackberries being rejected. Over ripe but that's not the word they use.

It costs about 8 dollars a flat to harvest them. My husband goes and gets the pallets and we give them away. Everyone is stocked up on blackberry jam. My mother freezes them and puts the berries in her oatmeal.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 01:31 PM (Ri/rl)

40 Morning gardners. My taters are starting to turn yellow. I'm going to dig up the end one and see if there is even any production. If so I'll space out the digging them up.

The zucchinis are not real productive but producing enough for my eating. I may need to get some compost into those tire planters.

Main yard chore this weekend is spraying goat heads, and spraying and spraying. Between going to some rides and rainy weather a bunch got huge on me but they are still flowering so I'm going to spray even though a lot of burrs have already set.

Posted by: PaleRider at August 19, 2017 01:33 PM (8qFZP)

41 Skip, thanks for the information. I think I will pick one this week and give it a taste test.

Posted by: Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:33 PM (/AYqG)

42 pat at August 19, 2017 01:30 PM

Do you know which kind of swallowtails you have?

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:34 PM (BVQ+1)

43 The choke cherries have ripened and a huge flock of Robins have come to harvest them.

Posted by: Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:36 PM (/AYqG)

44 Get some bird pics Ronster. Does your wife make choke cherry syrup?

Posted by: PaleRider at August 19, 2017 01:38 PM (8qFZP)

45 Caligirl,

Here Is a link to a family farm story that is sadly too common here. They grow herbs and veggies. But they have no one to pass on the farm to. Developers want the land.

http://tinyurl.com/ycv26x2q

Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:42 PM (KEW0M)

46 KT, Welcome back. Hope your vacation was wonderful.

Not much going on in the garden. We're gathering the tomatoes while green and letting them ripen on window sills. Otherwise, something gets to them if we wait for vine ripening.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 01:42 PM (V+03K)

47 Skip at August 19, 2017 01:11 PM

Bet you're thinking Black Swallowtails. Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars are generally barely noticeable. They roll themselves up in the leaves of big trees.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:44 PM (BVQ+1)

48 PaleRider, most of the choke cherries don't have much meat on them because of the dry early summer. Wife does not make any syrup or jelly from them. I ate a few of the plumpier ones. Not bad.

Posted by: Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:44 PM (/AYqG)

49 Ronster - Not so fast, as Alton Brown says a green pepper is a unripe pepper

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 01:47 PM (pPKG5)

50 Caligirl,

Have you tried donating to food shelf orgs? They will usually give a receipt for the full value of the donation. The ones here would love to get a pallet of berries.

Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:47 PM (KEW0M)

51 The melon die-back could also be a soil disease. Glad you got a good one. Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:18 PM (BVQ+1)

I have several good ones, and more apparently coming. I have other melon plants bringing on melons too, but the one with the issue is the one I was trying to train up a tomato cage.

I move my planting around to try to avoid diseases accumulating. Not sure if it works, but I try.

Well, I also move stuff around because I move my corn around since it can be hard on the soil.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 19, 2017 01:47 PM (mkDpn)

52 The weather has been miserable: hot and humid. The kind of weather that feels like it should soften concrete. Even when the temps drop, nothing dries out. All the lawns in the neighborhood have bumper crops of some kinds of mushrooms or toadstools. One type looks for all the world like a golf ball sitting on a tee. If I could still swing a club, I'd get in some practice.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 01:48 PM (V+03K)

53 You see a "tiara", but I see teeth! If I was a bird, I would do some extra thinking before pecking at that worm.

Posted by: goon at August 19, 2017 01:48 PM (EaQ6/)

54 Sharkman at August 19, 2017 01:30 PM

I think I would probably scram, too. I was in the Tacoma area recently. What horrible traffic. And that was without said festivities.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:50 PM (BVQ+1)

55 I think I would probably scram, too. I was in the Tacoma area recently. What horrible traffic. And that was without said festivities.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:50 PM (BVQ+1)

I used to live in Tacoma many years ago. What a dump it was then, and still is.

Traffic in the Puget Sound is allegedly almost the worst in the nation. I believe it.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 19, 2017 01:52 PM (dqdMO)

56 I'm pissed because I ordered a replacement deck assembly for my Husky HU700f, waited three weeks for delivery, and now that I go to swap it out, it's not the right part. I'm sure it's going to be a pain in the butt to get it returned and refunded.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at August 19, 2017 01:52 PM (LTHVh)

57 Plus, I still don't have my mower going.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at August 19, 2017 01:52 PM (LTHVh)

58 starting to get a few figs. The pears are ripe.

I haven't done much gardening we are fighting a cold or the flu here.
Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 01:25 PM (Ri/rl)

My son-in-law is from Honduras, he and my daughter own a landscaping business,and he cuts the grass for this older lady who has some fig trees in her yard. He couldn't come up with the word for them in English,but he described them to me and said she told him to take as many as he wanted. Wish I was better at making preserves...

Posted by: antisocialist at August 19, 2017 01:53 PM (pWePu)

59 grumblegrumblegrumble

Posted by: Grump928(c) at August 19, 2017 01:53 PM (LTHVh)

60 This hasn't been an especially good year for gardens in this area. But our herbs are doing fine. Mrs. JTB was eying the dehydrator earlier today. I'm hoping we will get enough to last us through the colder months. I've become very fond of tarragon flavored rice as a bed for poached fish fillets dusted with our dill.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 01:55 PM (V+03K)

61 PaleRider at August 19, 2017 01:33 PM

Dang it. More goat heads. Since Mr. Bar-the-Door has been doing some work at a dairy, we've been seeing more of them, too. Found one in the bathroom rug yesterday. With my foot.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:55 PM (BVQ+1)

62 Grump, you may have to buy a used junker until you can get your good one fixed.

Posted by: Ronster at August 19, 2017 01:55 PM (/AYqG)

63 Headless Body of Agnew at August 19, 2017 01:12 PM

There's always a catch when gardening, isn't there?

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:56 PM (BVQ+1)

64 Hello all you gardening fools!

First time to the gardening thread.

Anyone have any tips for killing morning glory? A once tame plant has exploded this summer and is taking over our garden bed

Posted by: westminsterdogshow at August 19, 2017 01:57 PM (ZuWqx)

65 JTB at August 19, 2017 01:42 PM

Have you tried putting little paper bags over the ripening maters?

They do it with tree fruit sometimes.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:58 PM (BVQ+1)

66 Like many of the horde I'm currently living in a very blue northern city. Went to the local farmers' market today, where the farmers from the red part of the state set up shop and sell food to my blue city neighbors.

Today's musician was a fingerstyle player who played country/bluegrass with riffs from Elvis' American Trilogy song every few measures.

I lol'ed.

Posted by: Boots at August 19, 2017 01:59 PM (EBwPV)

67 Sort of garden related. The 2018 Old Farmer's Almanac is due out on the 29th. For some reason the local Barnes and Noble has them on the shelf right now. Just got back from there and will be thumbing through it shortly. Always fun and interesting. I wonder how their winter predictions match up with Joe Bastardi's long range forecasts.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:01 PM (V+03K)

68 bindweed is tough to kill WMDS, but that is the feral form of morning glory if you want to web search for solutions. Well I don't know that bindweed is super tough or only tough to kill w/o taking out the stuff you like. It does have really long roots and is hard to pull out plus it will re-root itself so to be safe you have to bag it up after pulling or hoeing if you are avoiding herbicides.

Posted by: PaleRider at August 19, 2017 02:02 PM (8qFZP)

69 JTB at August 19, 2017 01:48 PM

And I thought it was humid here. . .

Well, it's been knocking on 60 percent sometimes. Unusual here.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:02 PM (BVQ+1)

70 goon at August 19, 2017 01:48 PM

A bird dropping with teeth .. .

Not attractive to predators?

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:04 PM (BVQ+1)

71 65 ... "Have you tried putting little paper bags over the ripening maters?"

That never occurred to me. Might be worth a try. Thanks.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:04 PM (V+03K)

72 JTB at August 19, 2017 01:55 PM

Tarragon is not the herb you want to dry. Store it in vinegar or freeze some. Maybe make some pesto with it and freeze that.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:06 PM (BVQ+1)

73 westminsterdogshow at August 19, 2017 01:57 PM

Welcome.

You can try cutting that morning glory back and immediately coating the cut ends with concentrated Roundup right out of the bottle. You can apply it with a little brush.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:09 PM (BVQ+1)

74 My tomatoes are broken from the 7-8 inches of rain we had in the last couple weeks and the cucumber and squash leaves all look like they took a load of buckshot from the hail storm we had, but I'm still picking damaged tomatoes and the cucumbers and squash don't seem to have suffered any despite the holey leaves.

Posted by: huerfano at August 19, 2017 02:09 PM (TO4Og)

75 67
Sort of garden related. The 2018 Old Farmer's Almanac is due out on the
29th. For some reason the local Barnes and Noble has them on the shelf
right now. Just got back from there and will be thumbing through it
shortly. Always fun and interesting. I wonder how their winter
predictions match up with Joe Bastardi's long range forecasts.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:01 PM (V+03K)

The only place that carries that here is the local IGA. I'll have to make a run.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 02:10 PM (mpXpK)

76 huerfano at August 19, 2017 02:09 PM

Gardeners are tough.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:14 PM (BVQ+1)

77 Just found an Eastern European grandma that raises plant for money. Good looking plants too and cheaper than at the big box stores. I bought ornamental grass, hostas, day lilies and some unidentified blooming plant. And I scored some bearded irises yesterday for free. We need to plant something along the fence out front. I'm going to put pretty much everything I have there. Also got some free lemon balm. That will go along the side fence. We have clay, so this won't be fun. I don't have to worry about invasive plants as they struggle just to survive.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 19, 2017 02:15 PM (Lqy/e)

78 72 ... KT, do you freeze the tarragon loose on a tray? Or put the leaves in water like an ice cube?

Now I have to look up making tarragon flavored vinegar. (Should be easy.) I am a vinegar freak. Drizzling tarragon, or other herbal, vinegar on a baked potato, steamed veggies, or even poached eggs should be delicious.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:18 PM (V+03K)

79 50 Caligirl,

Have you tried donating to food shelf orgs? They will usually give a receipt for the full value of the donation. The ones here would love to get a pallet of berries.
Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:47 PM (KEW0M)

We donate to the food banks. The things we sell ourselves.
The Driscoll deal is different. We pay all growing and harvesting costs and Driscoll sells the berries. I cannot sell them. I can give them away because I paid for them but I cannot sell them. Or donate them.

I believe Driscoll sells them for juice but it's pennies on the dollar. My husband would rather give them away to anyone that wants them.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 02:18 PM (Ri/rl)

80 We just finished the last of the Moon & Stars watermelons, boy they were good. Just in time for the Crenshaws. I have two in the kitchen to slice and they smell wonderful, and eight more to harvest.

I too have scads of peppers, banana, Anaheim, bell, Thai, jalapeno, long Italian frying and our current favorite; Shishito. I just toss them in a bowl with a dash of soy sauce and then onto a hot grill (or a hot cast iron skillet) until they blister. We eat them like chips with a miso salad dressing dip. They are sweet and mild, but 1 out of 10 is hot, so sometimes you get a surprise!

The raspberries are beginning to set flowers for the fall crop and we've grapes galore and the figs are plentiful.

Tomatoes were Meh this year, I still managed to fill 20 qt containers for the freezer. Sun Gold is my go-to for salads and they just didn't like the heat waves. The chocolate maters did very well. I planted some Kumato seeds from a store bought tomato and it grew true to type and very tasty.

Anyone planting their fall veggies yet? It's still too hot in the Central Valley.

Posted by: Shanks for the memory at August 19, 2017 02:19 PM (TdCQk)

81 Lots of wild flowers blooming in Canada - nice to look at, but sure kept my allergies going.

Posted by: Weasel at August 19, 2017 02:20 PM (Sfs6o)

82 Hope you feel better soon. I sucked one of those zinc products on the plane so I wouldn't pick up a cold while traveling.
Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 01:31 PM (BVQ+1)

I always seem to catch something when I fly.

Thank you, we seem to be passing around something. My husband was really ill, I'm fighting it.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 02:20 PM (Ri/rl)

83 From Idaho's Treasure Valley: It's still green bean season, though the harvest is tapering off. By the end of the month, we'll pull out the oldest plants. (That will make room for fall crops like spinach.) I think there are now 38 pounds in the chest freezer.

Sweet corn season is here. We've been eating a lot of it fresh, so less of it is getting processed and frozen. Husband says he foresees more digging in his future, to get more area for corn. I won't argue!

Main red raspberry crop is coming in. (After reading the commercial strawberry article, I'm even happier that I grow a lot of my own fruit.) The new row is even producing a few.

My strawberry plants got very pale, but a touch of nitrogen and iron helped - I think I may put on another shot at the end of this month, to be sure the plants get stronger before winter.

We're not getting a lot of zucchini. The plants definitely prefer the raised beds to the bare ground. Live and learn.

The Roma tomatoes are just starting to come on. Is anyone familiar with "Shaun The Sheep"? Last year we got a lot of "Shaun"-size Romas - this year, we've been getting a number of "Fat Sheep"-size ones!

I found one soft tomato on the Cherokee Purple heirloom, got all excited, picked it - the bottom half had rotted. Unfortunately we've been getting a lot of that on the Early Girls too, either sun scald or blossom end rot.

We've been watching the cantaloupes - I check the largest ones daily - but they're STILL not ripe. I'm getting impatient! But I know better than to pick them too early. Husband says he wants them fresh, not frozen - but I *know* they'll get a sudden Message From Outer Space that says "All fourteen of you, ripen at the same time!"

I planted the first fall carrots on our anniversary. I will plant more carrots on my upcoming birthday. The other fall crops planned are spinach, field peas, and radishes.

We'll be visiting a friend in the Eclipse Totality Path, staying one night. Wife and son are gluten sensitive, so I can't do my usual thing and make lots of baked goodies as bribes - so we'll bring all the corn, green beans, raspberries, and other produce we can get the garden to give us - that, plus some home-brew beer.

Attending a concert by The Piano Guys tonight - I will just bet they're in Idaho to watch the eclipse!

Posted by: Pat* at August 19, 2017 02:21 PM (3etCS)

84 A bird dropping with teeth .. .

Not attractive to predators?
Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:04 PM (BVQ+1)

Heh. Langoliers.

I have had good luck keeping the bindweed down in the garden by hoeing daily and only spot watering.

Thistles and bindweed are my particular bane, but if you get them early and keep on top of it you have a good garden.
I have mentioned this before, but hoeing and loosening the top inch or so of dirt to fairly fine crumble also keeps down water evaporation through both the cracking as the clay shrinks and by wicking up to compressed topsoil.

On the fence line though, I've found a good broadleaf herbicide works for bindweed.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 19, 2017 02:22 PM (mkDpn)

85 JTB at August 19, 2017 02:18 PM

I would lean toward freezing tarragon in water or oil. Tarragon vinegar is a famous thing. Often made in the spring for gifts.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:26 PM (BVQ+1)

86 Here Is a link to a family farm story that is sadly too common here. They grow herbs and veggies. But they have no one to pass on the farm to. Developers want the land.

http://tinyurl.com/ycv26x2q
Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:42 PM (KEW0M)

That's a sad story. That has happened somewhat around here. Urban sprawl. The farming families here develop the property themselves. The farm ground usually has been in the family for generations. When Wal Mart wants to lease your property, they say yes.

Farm ground here is really expensive. 55,000 to 65,000an acre. Oxnard ground is being sold by the square foot. I know families from Oxnard that sold their ground and their great grandchildren will never have to work.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 02:28 PM (Ri/rl)

87 Posted by: Pat* at August 19, 2017 02:21 PM (3etCS)

I look forward to your reports.

I have quail too. They had a nest in a pot next to my laundry room. I've been seeing the parents and the babies frequently. I hear the parents calling them.

It made me think of you.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 02:30 PM (Ri/rl)

88 Farm land here used to sell for between $2,000 and $5,000 an acre. Don't know what it is selling for now. Haven't looked it up in a while.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 02:30 PM (mpXpK)

89 One veggie I'm going to try next season is eggplant. I know they grow in the area. I love baba ganoosh as a dip for carrot and celery sticks, pieces of pita bread, or just sucking it off my finger. We make it extra tart with LOTS of lemon juice.

Yes, I enjoy it. Why do you ask? :-)

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:30 PM (V+03K)

90 Shanks for the memory at August 19, 2017 02:19 PM

I love Crenshaws. Sugarshaw was my favorite. No longer available. Are you growing the traditional kind or a hybrid?

Try to keep those chocolate maters around as the weather cools. You may find that they taste better than other kinds. I think the chocolate cherries are a trial to pick in summer when the weather is really hot. Hard to spot in the plants.

Let us know when you start your fall planting.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:32 PM (BVQ+1)

91 Weasel at August 19, 2017 02:20 PM

If they are the kinds of flowers that bees visit, it's probably something else tuning up your allergies. Trees, grass, flowers that are wind-pollinated.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:33 PM (BVQ+1)

92 A quick look at land for sale shows that the prices have really gone up through the roof. I don't see how a small farmer can make it at these prices.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 02:36 PM (mpXpK)

93 Ragweed maybe? Some kind of yellow weedy looking thing flowing everywhere. Also something that looked like cottonwood or dandelion blossoms blowing around in the wind.

Or maybe I have a cold.

Posted by: Weasel at August 19, 2017 02:37 PM (Sfs6o)

94 Pat* at August 19, 2017 02:21 PM

Great report. I enjoyed a few fresh green beans and other produce while in Utah . Enjoy some for me.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:37 PM (BVQ+1)

95 JTB at August 19, 2017 02:30 PM

Get that recipe ready. I have something drafted on eggplant.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:39 PM (BVQ+1)

96 Girl928 just bought 90+ acres at $500 an acre, mostly on the side of a mountain. Only about 10 acres is flat enough to build on. It's like she bought a national forest that includes a pre-Civil War road from the ford to the pass.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at August 19, 2017 02:40 PM (LTHVh)

97 93 ... Weasel, The yellow stuff might be rape or canola seed flowers. It is a startling bright yellow that gets attention. When we drove along the lower shores of Lake Erie and Michigan, we saw acres of the stuff. Or maybe it's ragweed. It's yellow and weedy looking.

BTW, congrats on such a good showing at the long range competition.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:45 PM (V+03K)

98 92 A quick look at land for sale shows that the prices have really gone up through the roof. I don't see how a small farmer can make it at these prices.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 02:36 PM (mpXpK)

The farmers around here have a saying. Farmers are the only people stupid enough to risk 20 million to make 1 million.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 02:45 PM (Ri/rl)

99 Weasel at August 19, 2017 02:37 PM

It's about ragweed season. Blooms the same time as goldenrod, which often gets the blame.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:47 PM (BVQ+1)

100 Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were taken, for the dust we are...and to the dust we shall return.

Posted by: Insomniac at August 19, 2017 02:48 PM (0mRoj)

101 Butterflies are a well-known white supremacy symbol.

Posted by: Insomniac at August 19, 2017 02:48 PM (0mRoj)

102 95 ... KT, The baba ganoosh recipe is always handy. (Mrs. JTB spoils me with her excellent cooking.) And learning about a new-to-me veggie to grow is fun. I look forward to the dissertation.

Posted by: JTB at August 19, 2017 02:49 PM (V+03K)

103 45 Caligirl,

Here Is a link to a family farm story that is sadly too common here. They grow herbs and veggies. But they have no one to pass on the farm to. Developers want the land.

http://tinyurl.com/ycv26x2q
Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 01:42 PM (KEW0M)

We moved to the Santa Clara Valley long before it became known as 'Silicon Valley'. Our first house had a wonderful apricot orchard behind our back yard.

I have seen that there is now a fruit tree 'zoo' in San Jose, displaying what used to be grown there! :-(

Posted by: Spun and Murky at August 19, 2017 02:50 PM (4DCSq)

104
Is it me, or does that first caterpillar look like it belongs in a head shop, next to the dragon bongs?

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at August 19, 2017 02:52 PM (iFZVz)

105 99 Weasel at August 19, 2017 02:37 PM

It's about ragweed season. Blooms the same time as goldenrod, which often gets the blame.
Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:47 PM (BVQ+1)
------------
Tons of it blooming everywhere. Also a purple flower in abundance. I noted this year must have had a closer to normal rainfall as everything is nice and green. Last summer was very dry and brown in southern Ontario.

Posted by: Weasel at August 19, 2017 02:56 PM (Sfs6o)

106 Spun and Murky at August 19, 2017 02:50 PM

Formerly the "Valley of Heart's Delight"

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:57 PM (BVQ+1)

107 Pet thread up

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 19, 2017 03:01 PM (mpXpK)

108 Those caterpillars are big enough to keep as pets. Heh.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 03:03 PM (BVQ+1)

109 Hey! I already have a RMA for my mower deck. Unfortunately, no shipping label so I guess I'm expected to pay the freight both ways.

Posted by: Grump928(c) at August 19, 2017 03:08 PM (LTHVh)

110
Formerly the "Valley of Heart's Delight"

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 02:57 PM (BVQ+1)

Thanks, KT. I had never heard that before!

Posted by: Spun and Murky at August 19, 2017 03:13 PM (4DCSq)

111 We moved to the Santa Clara Valley long before it became known as 'Silicon Valley'. Our first house had a wonderful apricot orchard behind our back yard.

I have seen that there is now a fruit tree 'zoo' in San Jose, displaying what used to be grown there! :-(

Posted by: Spun and Murky at August 19, 2017 02:50 PM (4DCSq)

That's sad.

I have a friend that grew up in LosGatos. Her parents just sold their house for a fortune and moved to my area. They were able to buy a nice condo at the beach. I cannot believe how expensive that whole area is.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 03:30 PM (Ri/rl)

112 All this summer I've been waiting for my pumpkins to produce. Finally realized one vine is dead, they are entangled, but just found 1 pumpkin! And discovered a 3rd cuke this week.

Some of the potatoes have completely died off and harvested a moderate crop. Green beans are finally starting to produce so it's been a good week in the garden.

Posted by: Farmer at August 19, 2017 03:33 PM (lfXAE)

113

That's sad.

I have a friend that grew up in LosGatos. Her parents just sold their house for a fortune and moved to my area. They were able to buy a nice condo at the beach. I cannot believe how expensive that whole area is.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 19, 2017 03:30 PM (Ri/rl)

My folks sold our nice four bedroom home in the San Jose 'burbs for $32K in 1971 to move to our ancestral home in Arkansas.

It has been resold for +$1M more than once since then...

Posted by: Spun and Murky at August 19, 2017 03:51 PM (4DCSq)

114 Thanks for the advice guys! Think I'll take out my lefty hate on a morning glory this afternoon

Posted by: westminsterdogshow at August 19, 2017 03:52 PM (mMeIQ)

115 Have to stake up pepper plants better, lost a branch from storm last evening. There are a lot of Anaheim peppers starting

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 04:39 PM (pPKG5)

116 I pulled one of the Spaghetti squash plants because it was done, still have 2 others.

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 04:42 PM (pPKG5)

117 KT - I'm growing "Lilly" crenshaws from Johnny's Seeds. They are earlier than the traditional variety and much more resistant to mildew and melon rot.

I've several varieties of cherry tomatoes and a couple of Japanese cukes and a chamoe melon in the greenhouse in a homemade Dutch bucket system. They should produce until late Oct.

Oh! I have been meaning to share, I've started growing ginger from the rhizomes in the supermarket. It's easy peasy and will grow indoors too. Here's the simplest how-to, but there are many on YT.

https://youtu.be/2lQV53fD0SU

It was so hot this year that the greenhouse was almost useless. The Spousal Unit erected a shade canopy above my greenhouse and it is creating another climate zone but still not cool enough to start seed for winter veg or lettuces.

You were surprised that I planted beets a few weeks ago in the Valley, I should have added that they are in a shade cloth tunnel and doing very well.

My raised beds have brackets so I can bend 1" PVC pipe into hoops and add the appropriate cover. A tip, the Dollar Store has packs of 6 really big Bulldog clips that fit over 1" pipe perfectly and many other uses to hold whatever you need in place but are easily removeable and reusable.

Posted by: Shanks for the memory at August 19, 2017 05:04 PM (TdCQk)

118 Ginger growing, hmmmmmm

Posted by: Skip at August 19, 2017 06:41 PM (pPKG5)

119 Shanks for the memory at August 19, 2017 05:04 PM

I have grown "Lilly" Crenshaw, too. Beautiful appearance. Sugarshaw was larger, with softer, more aromatic flesh. Still had more disease resistance than the traditional kind. Oh well.

Thanks for all the garden tips, especially about the shade tunnels. The ginger sounds fun.

Posted by: KT at August 19, 2017 08:16 PM (BVQ+1)

120 Huh, CaliGirl. Your land sells for $30,000/acre more than the land that the herb farmers have. Of course, y'all can do three crops a year, only one a year here.

I guestimated their land price at $2,750,000. l have no idea what the buildings and equipment are worth.

Posted by: Gordon at August 19, 2017 09:57 PM (NYYoR)

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