Saturday Gardening Thread: Storm Lane [KT]

The stunning photo above may be our last Elephant's Hat update from Seamus Muldoon. It's been fun.

This will probably be our last photo update. The babies are fully fletched and acting like they are ready to take wing. Farewell little hummingbirds!

Weather

Well, Hurricane Lane got downgraded to a tropical storm, but is still, you know, a tropical storm with flooding, unpredictable winds and all. Stay vigilant. Maybe all those lovely tropical plants won't be shredded, though. This one was photographed at the Biltmore in North Carolina. Photo taken by my niece.

Weather can impact gardens in a hurry.

From my cousin in Utah, the one who keeps the geraniums in her basement over winter:

Well, a new kind of yardwork I get to do for the next few hours. The hail storm stripped all the geraniums and left piles and piles of leaves everywhere. I guess I better wait till the hail melts

A reminder that some people are still dealing with fire and smoke from Gordon:

Not garden-y, but in the woods with the hippie pagans, the fog and the Canadian forest fire smoke.

Well, I suspect that even the smoke has an effect on gardens. May encourage spider mites, for one thing. And there are lots of chemicals in smoke.

The Edible Garden

Related to the photo above:

We were gone for a week camping, and the peppers didn't get watered enough. At this time of year the grow boxes go dry every other day. When we returned the plants looked like they were done for. But watering brought them back.
Stress does increase the hotness, though. Our first batches of marinara and cherry tomato salsa, made according to the usual mix of peppers, were quite a bit hotter than usual.

We had a bit of rain this morning. Of course, the State Fair is on, and that always brings a deluge..

Hope the rain reaches some of the fires.

Also from Gordon:

Peach jam and cherry tomato pickles

He sent the recipe for the pickles. They're refrigerator pickles.

They came out pretty good. Good enough that I like them, and I don't like raw tomatoes. A good use for the Sweet 1000 marble-sized ones, which the wife considers way too much skin for too little pulp. Pickled and processed, they still have some pop! when you bite them.

More Wildlife in the Garden and Landscape

From Skip:

This little guy shows up usually in my garden but recently found him in my tree branch pile. A often overlooked but very useful creature to have around for the bugs they eat

I think I mentioned that one of the Garden Kittys' water bowl has become a toad swimming pool at night. Nice to see, or hear, them around. Love that photo. Mine are camera-shy.

Fall Bulbs

Time is short for ordering bulbs to plant this fall. I got a catalog this year for mass plantings of bulbs, and one Catalog for Garden Centers, with instructions on how to set up displays of bulbs, from a friend who closed a used book store this year. Quite an assortment of Amaryllis for the holiday season.

The following photos are spring bloomers from a more normal catalog. I have no experience with it, so if you have, you can add a comment.

Orange Monarch Crocus, said to be deer-resistant.

A nine-year old boy's favorite combination:

Gardens of The Horde

I didn't get to everything The Horde sent in. Unexpected complications. But keep those photos and stories coming.

I don't grow almonds, but they are a crop around here. Soon we'll see those odd nut shakers on the road. Thought this was sort of appropriate:

Via Kate at Small Dead Animals, some behind-the-scenes farm technology. This video was likely inspired by recent news concerning FDA standards of identity for milk.

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 just want to be a lurker.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:43 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Lovely round-up of stories and photos!

Posted by: Ann at August 25, 2018 12:45 PM (e59uY)

2 Hiya

Posted by: Frontholio at August 25, 2018 12:47 PM (EtYfs)

3 th. We're running out of toads.

Posted by: Rev at August 25, 2018 12:49 PM (MmnjW)

4 Thanks, Ann.

Posted by: KT at August 25, 2018 12:49 PM (BVQ+1)

5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzT1kO_-xbQ

Posted by: Frontholio at August 25, 2018 12:50 PM (EtYfs)

6 Hmmm trying to post a garden update and keep getting a 500 error...

Posted by: Ann at August 25, 2018 12:50 PM (e59uY)

7 Lots of toads around the house.
The dog occasionally will mouth one and then foams for the next 10 min. until I wash his mouth out.

Posted by: Latemarch( a member of the rabble in good standing) at August 25, 2018 12:50 PM (7qyhD)

8
''Deer resistant''. Doesn't mean they won't eat it when they're hungry enough.

Deer are like leftists... you work and create food, and we'll eat it.

Posted by: Forgot My Nic at August 25, 2018 12:50 PM (LOgQ4)

9 NYS container gardening update:

I harvested cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes this week. I have found a way to keep people away from the house - everyone that visited this week left with a bag of garden produce. I do not expect to see those same people again until the garden is done.

Posted by: Ann at August 25, 2018 12:52 PM (e59uY)

10 Just love the photos. Those orange crocuses (croci?) are gorgeous. I've saved the hummingbird babies picture for later, close viewing. Outstanding photography folks. Thanks.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2018 12:53 PM (V+03K)

11 Those hail stones are pretty but deadly, especially to plants. I once got caught outside in a hailstorm with no shelter. Best I could do was cross my arms above my head while I crouched down till it ended. And yes, it did hurt.

Posted by: HH at August 25, 2018 12:54 PM (mIJBI)

12 Hmmm trying to post a garden update and keep getting a 500 error...
Posted by: Ann at August 25, 2018 12:50 PM (e59uY)

iPhone/iPad?

Posted by: hogmartin at August 25, 2018 12:59 PM (y87Qq)

13 Mentioned this last week. The 2019 Old Farmer's Almanac is coming out on Sept. 4. I already pre-ordered my copy. It's always a fun, and sometimes informative, read.

The OFA is my one annual indulgence. The many other indulgences occur much more frequently.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2018 12:59 PM (V+03K)

14 So I bought one of those grafted pink cacti at the Wallyworld for three bucks this week, planning on propagation. I have a bit of a propagation problem, where I do it compulsively and one jade plant becomes three, which become eight, etc.

So I bought the thing with mad intentions of fuzzy pink cacti all over the place and it turns out, as anybody with two brain cells would have known going in, that you can't propagate them without grafting. They are pink because they lack chlorophyll. Ooops.

Well gardening Gods, I'm going to try anyway, I reject your reality and insert my own.

Posted by: Bilwis, Devourer of Low Glycemic Souls at August 25, 2018 01:00 PM (jp0Bv)

15 Hey...that hippie pagan pic didn't happen to be the Washington Renaissance Faire was it?
It's only about a mile from my house.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 01:00 PM (0tfLf)

16 Those birds are real? Looked like taxidermy to me.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at August 25, 2018 01:01 PM (/qEW2)

17 Good afternoon greenthumbs
Yanked out all my cucumber plants as I guess with slightly cooler weather they were done, expected them to last longer. Made a tomato sauce from about 2 dozen and with fresh sweet basil and meatballs it was really good.
I spied that toad a few times around, first in garden, then a flower bed. Toads need water to start but after that can live years without. They hibernate through winter in these parts. Wiki says as tad poles they are bug eating machines. I guess he can me from a year round small creek about a 1/4 mile away.

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2018 01:02 PM (lxZ71)

18 Hey JTB, same with me. One of the few books or magazines that I buy. Plus there is a LOT of info in it.

Posted by: HH at August 25, 2018 01:03 PM (mIJBI)

19 My Carolina Reapers update...

So the plant is growing in an earth box. To water, you need to access the plastic tube that is inserted on the side, insert the garden hose, run the water letting it fill (I wait until some water runs out of the bottom of the earth box to know it is filled). This feeds the water to the bottom of the earth box, and the plants draw the water from below as needed.

The last three times I have watered the Carolina Reaper my arm had touched the mammoth plant's leaves. Now, it could be all in my head, but I swore that my arm - where it simply brushed the plant - tingled for the rest of the day.

I decided that no matter how much friends and family wanted this pepper, it had to go.

I got on gloves and started hacking away. There were hundreds of green Carolina Reaper peppers hanging off very thick stems. The stems were so thick, I had trouble cutting them with my pruners.

Along the way, I discovered some red (ripe) and orange (nearly ripe) peppers. I just couldn't cut those off.

Now the plant is a manageable 2' high (although still 3' wide), and I can water.

I'm waiting for people who want these to come harvest what is ready as I have no plans to touch the peppers myself. That was my compromise with myself when I left the ripe (and nearly ripe) peppers to grow.

Posted by: Ann at August 25, 2018 01:03 PM (e59uY)

20 After dumping a whole can of bee killer into a yellow-jacket nest in a ground shrub, only to have them laugh at me, I went in with a mole gasser smoke bomb on the end of a stick. Smoke was cool but I kinda caught the shrub on fire.
Mrs D was not amused.
The bees are back at it this morning.
Horde, any ideas on how to get rid of these l'il bastards?

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 01:04 PM (0tfLf)

21 Horde, any ideas on how to get rid of these l'il bastards?
Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 01:04 PM (0tfLf)

Call an exterminator. That is how I get rid of the inground flying-jerks.

Posted by: Ann at August 25, 2018 01:07 PM (e59uY)

22 I just watched the nut milking video. OMG, I'll be laughing for days about it. Brilliant satire.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2018 01:09 PM (V+03K)

23 almond milking ... ha. That was making the rounds on Facebook, I figured it should have been 20 seconds ... they really put effort into it. I guess they are against using the term "milk" for nuts with water and other ingredients. It does give a false image, but most people can read the label.
several fawns running around here with their moms, especially with the food plots coming up with nice tender vegetation for them. Red clover red clover send Bambi right over.
fall bulb planting ... good idea. If I tilled a little space, planting 500 might be fairly quick ... would be nice if they bloomed longer though. The blue and white tulip link says they send 12+cm bulbs, which is huge. I paid about the same for some daffodils that almost all came up this spring, but were tiny and didn't flower. I'll persue their options, thanks.

Posted by: illiniwek at August 25, 2018 01:09 PM (Cus5s)

24 Those birds are real? Looked like taxidermy to me.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at August 25, 2018 01:01 PM (/qEW2)
-----------

Little-known Hordefact: Muldoon is really Chuck Testa.

Posted by: bluebell at August 25, 2018 01:09 PM (JJZzu)

25 Ann,
That's on the list, but I'm chea...errr...frugal.

But yeah, an exterminator is next.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 01:10 PM (0tfLf)

26 Diogenes -

Can ya drop the smoke bomb in the hole and cover the hole ?

Mebbe at night ?

With a garden hose on stand by ?

I don't think their nests are straight down. they have passages.

And don't be surprised if ya see smoke from another location; I'm sure they have another entrance.

Good luck !

Posted by: JT at August 25, 2018 01:10 PM (EtYfs)

27 Diogenes, did you wait until evening to spray them? That's the advice we always got, because then they'd all be home and you could get them all.

Posted by: bluebell at August 25, 2018 01:11 PM (JJZzu)

28 I'm going to hit them again tonight with another can of spray. After that, its time for the exterminator.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 01:15 PM (0tfLf)

29 Go Moses on them , pour a can of charcoal lighter on that bush and light it up.

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2018 01:18 PM (lxZ71)

30 I had under ground yellow jackets that got me 8 times in 10 seconds. It was under my plastic cover for my compost so was in the clear after pulling it away. Early morning had 2 cans of spray, hit that hole with them then covered with a bucket the rest of day.
Problem solved.

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2018 01:21 PM (lxZ71)

31 Moses didn't set the bush on fire.

Posted by: JT at August 25, 2018 01:21 PM (EtYfs)

32 Hanging out with my wife at the experimental hydroponics and aeroponics station. She is part of a team doing research for the local Master Gardener program.

I'm security since a lot of hobos pass through here. Grazing as they go. This place could use a small Ewok tribe.

Posted by: Embarrassing Stain at August 25, 2018 01:22 PM (ZoXvx)

33 I gotta get back to work.

Laters.

Posted by: JT at August 25, 2018 01:22 PM (EtYfs)

34 Muldoon, thank you for the lovely photo. Maybe the hummingbirds will return one day to use the nest for the next generation?

Posted by: m at August 25, 2018 01:26 PM (CwOPz)

35 Summer is on its downward slide to Fall, one of the symptoms is the appearance of the powdery grey mildew spots on the squash leaves.

However I have 5 enormous sweet meat squashes so that will be something. (Next year I will plant some summer squash too, not just rely on volunteers out of the compost heap)

My Korean melons are starting to turn yellow and show they are ripe. I found out something, you are supposed to eat the melon seeds, the jelly around them is sweeter than the flesh. This is probably why no-one grows the melons locally, everyone who knows what they are and how they taste eat the seeds. It takes a blockhead like me to save them and plant them.

And I am canning. It is a bumper crop of apples and pears, so I have been canning apple sauce and today is the day to get the press up to grade to press apple juice tomorrow.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 25, 2018 01:27 PM (2K6fY)

36 Adorable hummingbirds. Captivating story. Have seen only one this year even though I grow hummingbird mint.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 01:30 PM (RCRTc)

37 Yellow jackets etc in the ground-

Pour about a gallon of gasoline down the hole.

Don't light it. The gas will do the job.

Of course you'll be killing the planet or global warming or something.

Posted by: weirdflunky at August 25, 2018 01:34 PM (VYFGg)

38 Another bumper crop of blackberries this year. We grow Himalayan and Evergreen varieties.

We usely only lightly cut them back each Fall because we have lots of small birds winter in them. Unfortunately, they encroached on the deck and are going down.

Posted by: Embarrassing Stain at August 25, 2018 01:34 PM (ZoXvx)

39 Moses saw the burning bush,

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2018 01:35 PM (lxZ71)

40 Usely = usually

Posted by: Embarrassing Stain at August 25, 2018 01:36 PM (ZoXvx)

41 A very nasty hail storm came through here back in July. Hailstones half again as big as those above.

That was extremely unfreaking pleasant.

Had to get the roof replaced on the house and vehicle damages.

Posted by: weirdflunky at August 25, 2018 01:36 PM (VYFGg)

42 20 After dumping a whole can of bee killer into a yellow-jacket nest in a ground shrub, only to have them laugh at me, I went in with a mole gasser smoke bomb on the end of a stick. Smoke was cool but I kinda caught the shrub on fire.
Mrs D was not amused.
The bees are back at it this morning.
Horde, any ideas on how to get rid of these l'il bastards?
Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 01:04 PM (0tfLf)

Liquid Seven, mixed with bucket of water, I think I used about 8 ounces per gallon of water, poured down the hole in the evening/night.

Posted by: Evasiveboat42 at August 25, 2018 01:37 PM (Rz2Nc)

43 Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.

Posted by: Insomniac at August 25, 2018 01:39 PM (a4pJj)

44 Had to get the roof replaced on the house and vehicle damages.
Posted by: weirdflunky at August 25, 2018 01:36 PM (VYFGg)

Had a bad hailstorm earlier this summer at our office. Everyone's cars were damaged, except mine. I had parked under a tree. Of course my truck looked like it was wearing a gilly suit afterward.

Posted by: Pug Mahon,Turkey Volume Guessing Man! at August 25, 2018 01:45 PM (EhZNT)

45 Thanks folks.

The mama hummingbird has been very protective. When I get near the nest she buzzes all around my head to distract me. I probably should wear safety goggles so she doesn't put an eye out

.

She makes the rounds from the feeder to the nest, feeds one of the babies by jamming her beak down the baby's throat. Then she flies to within about 5 feet of my head and gives me the stink eye.

The males are actually starting up their mating dance again. They fly about 50 feet up in the air, hover, then swoop down in a spectacular display of aeronautics to impress the females. It's probably too late in the season for another nesting, but from what I've read they will sometimes do a third mating in one season.

Posted by: Muldoon at August 25, 2018 01:51 PM (m45I2)

46 the burning bush,

*******

I'm pretty sure there is an ICD code for that.

Posted by: Muldoon at August 25, 2018 01:53 PM (m45I2)

47 Muldoon's hummingbirds - d'aawww, they grow up so fast!

I find that I haven't the words
To do justice to those hummingbirds
When they finally take wing
They will hum (but not sing)
um
Turds ferds girds curds nerds absurds
Pick one. I got lazy. Should've planned aheards.

Posted by: mindful webworker - is obviously no Muldoon at August 25, 2018 01:58 PM (sMMcg)

48 It's probably too late in the season for another nesting, but from what I've read they will sometimes do a third mating in one season.

Posted by: Muldoon at August 25, 2018 01:51 PM

The Paolo... how you say... often does three matings in one evening.

Posted by: The Paolo at August 25, 2018 02:03 PM (LOgQ4)

49
Pick one. I got lazy. Should've planned aheards.

*******

Hmmmmmmm - a limerick

I appreciate your hummingbird panegyric
With the lovely words descriptive and empiric
If hummingbirds hum
It's not 'cause they're dumb
It's just because they can't recall the lyrics!

Posted by: Muldoon at August 25, 2018 02:06 PM (m45I2)

50 May be one of Muldoons top productions!

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 02:09 PM (0tfLf)

51 Due to Central Texas having taken a figurative flame thrower to our yard, I'm shut down on gardening for the present. The heat is bad, but the drought is worse. We have fled to the mountains of New Mexico where the highs are lower than our nightly lows. Lovely to go outside and not be roasted.

I have a long list of off-season projects, thanks to the helpful commenters on the gardening thread. Can't wait until the weather cooperates.

Posted by: Art Rondolet of Malmsey at August 25, 2018 02:11 PM (hVKZu)

52 While I wait for dark to deal the coup de grace to the bees, Mrs D's nutrisystem crap...eerrr...resupply came in. I took the dry ice and threw some in there.
I didn't know bees could hop and dance like that!

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2018 02:17 PM (0tfLf)

53 Digonese I have a FB friend in Idaho who has been making yellowjacket traps. She is getting an insane amount, 3-4 inches deep in traps that are at least 15" square. I have also heard to bait cat food with sevin or frontline and they will carry poison to the queen but that is long wait time. Sevin down the hole sounds like an economical solution for just one nest.

Knock wood I have never seen yellowjackets out here. Maybe the sandy soil collapses so they can't do their nests. They have them in the foothills.

Posted by: PaleRider is simply irredeemable at August 25, 2018 02:17 PM (cLj/v)

54 The hummingbirds would fit the pet thread, too.

Posted by: m at August 25, 2018 02:20 PM (CwOPz)

55 Well one of the few things in my garden that did well was the habanero plant. Made a to.n of Rick Bayless recipe for salsa a it. Lethal hot but very tasty!

Posted by: keena at August 25, 2018 02:28 PM (RiTnx)

56 I don't know if strawberries are supposed to bear fruit in late August, but my neglected little patch has some ripening berries. Maybe they like weeds.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 02:35 PM (St6l/)

57 All the veggie plants are fried or pummeled by monsoon rains in Heidi Acres raised gardens. But it was a good learning experience in summer planting here in AZ. I'd like to have more nutrient rich soil for the winter planting but don't want to home compost.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at August 25, 2018 02:36 PM (BXdOG)

58 Cannibal Bob, check out the Gardens Alive! catalog. They have a good selection of organic material based fertilizers.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 02:40 PM (St6l/)

59 It took me a few seconds before I saw the second beak in the Hummingbird nest. At first I thought it must be a reflection, bcz the nest looks too small for more than one bird. However, it is indeed a second beak.

I wonder if it is one of the babies...or the partner. I don't know if both partners raise the babies or just the mom does.

Anyway, great pic. Made my face smile.

Posted by: platypus, gg channel at August 25, 2018 02:40 PM (2GOKi)

60 58 Cannibal Bob, check out the Gardens Alive! catalog. They have a good selection of organic material based fertilizers.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 02:40 PM (St6l/)

Thanks. I'm trying to figure out what's a good mixture. I read all sorts of stuff. Like manure, worm castings. But it sounds like science and math and shit.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at August 25, 2018 02:42 PM (BXdOG)

61 fully fletched? is that a thing now.....

Posted by: saf at August 25, 2018 02:44 PM (5IHGB)

62 fully fletched? is that a thing now.....
Posted by: saf at August 25, 2018 02:44 PM (5IHGB)

Ha. I didn't even notice that.

Posted by: platypus, gg channel at August 25, 2018 02:46 PM (2GOKi)

63 I wonder if it is one of the babies...or the partner. I don't know if both partners raise the babies or just the mom does.

*****

Those are the two babies. The mom doesn''t spend much time at the nest,but checks in frequently. The papa drops in to check on mom periodically, but doesn't have much to do with raising the babies.

So, millennial babies hanging out at home waiting for mom to feed them, probably playing video games in the basement all day.. Single working mom. Absentee dad stopping by for bootie call. A typical American family.

Posted by: Muldoon at August 25, 2018 02:47 PM (m45I2)

64 That is a cute little froggie.

Well, looked at pics (really longing for those peach preserves), now I shall read some comments.

Posted by: platypus, gg channel at August 25, 2018 02:49 PM (2GOKi)

65 Thanks Muldoon...those babies are definitely ready to go make their own nests! Mom may be giving you the stink eye, which made me laugh, but soon she is gonna be giving it to those kids.

Posted by: platypus, gg channel at August 25, 2018 02:52 PM (2GOKi)

66 60. My grandmom swore by chicken poop water for tomatoes. I don't know if you have any live chickens handy though.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 03:05 PM (349nX)

67 Pets Nood up

Posted by: Calm Mentor at August 25, 2018 03:06 PM (I16G8)

68 60 58 Cannibal Bob, check out the Gardens Alive! catalog. They have a good selection of organic material based fertilizers.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 02:40 PM (St6l/)

Thanks. I'm trying to figure out what's a good mixture. I read all sorts of stuff. Like manure, worm castings. But it sounds like science and math and shit.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob at August 25, 2018 02:42 PM (BXdOG)

But mostly shit

Posted by: josephistan at August 25, 2018 03:08 PM (Izzlo)

69 66 60. My grandmom swore by chicken poop water for tomatoes. I don't know if you have any live chickens handy though.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 03:05 PM (349nX)

Don't even. Heidi would love chickens. Glad we don't live on Ag land.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at August 25, 2018 03:08 PM (BXdOG)

70 But mostly shit

Posted by: josephistan at August 25, 2018 03:08 PM (Izzlo)

Word.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at August 25, 2018 03:10 PM (BXdOG)

71 Just saw a desktop PC version of the hummingbird pic...fascinating how the coloring of the nest perfectly mimics the feathers of the babies. The best camouflage from predators, brought to you by Mother Nature.

Posted by: kallisto at August 25, 2018 03:45 PM (kD8Fh)

72 From Idaho's Treasure Valley: I mentioned last week that I had been called for jury duty - in Ada County, you're on call for a whole week (and if you get impaneled, it could be longer, of course). I did have to go in Monday morning, and spent the morning in court. I was not selected for the jury pool, so I got to go home at noon. I was able to check each evening after 5 PM to see if I had to go in the next day, so at least I was able to plan my days. I was not called back in, so I was able to keep up with harvesting and processing.

All types of tomatoes are producing now. The 3 heirloom Nyagous in the ground, and the 2 Romas in the raised bed, seem to have suffered the most from sun damage, but are still producing. The Big Boy in the ground doesn't seem to care and is doing fine, so lots of tomato caprese for us! I've been scalding, skinning, coring, and freezing all 3 types, but the Big Boys really hate that - too juicy to do well this way. The Romas, of course, were bred for it. The Nyagous have green shoulders that don't do well being skinned.

The cucumbers are going nuts. Someone should have told us that 8 cuke plants was too many for 2 people, one of whom isn't a pickle fan; the other doesn't even eat cukes... Well, we've made sweet relish, dill spears, sliced dills, and bread-and-butter pickles so far. In the near future, probably more dill spears, and a recipe for dill relish still to try.

Six pint jars of pepperoncini also got pickled, and we tried one small batch of gherkins - the recipe makes it seem like what you're aiming for is candied pickles!

The fall crop of red raspberries has started! I'm freezing those.

Our green beans are still producing, but much less than before.

There's still a little corn, mostly 2nd ears on stalks, but we've processed all we plan on processing.

Cantaloupes are getting huge - I'm starting to watch a few of them for ripeness. I think there are about 20 - processing might be a big rush job, if they all ripen at once.

I don't think often about all the types of peppers, since they're in the farthest bed. There are a lot of poblanos, but they all seem to have a punched-in tip that will make it hard to stuff them... And I'm thinking the bell peppers really aren't worth growing again - they just don't get very big, and I lose a bunch to sun scald. We did make some jalapenos for the grill - core, stuff with cream cheese, wrap with bacon - they make a mess on the grill, but are delicious.

The herbs are going nuts. I have to cut off sage branches regularly, to keep it inside its 2 foot by 2 foot square. The English thyme trails gracefully over the edge of the bed. The oregano, which was a gift from one of my rifle students' families, has settled in quite well. The spearmint - it is so large that I dare not speak ill of it, for fear it will hear... (though if it should attack first, I do have a self-defense gun).

When I pull out the frozen tomatoes to can up some tomato sauce, I'll have *plenty* of basil. I did plant cilantro but never actually ate any! I planted it next to the parsley - should have given the parsley more room, since I realize I may not have any parsley to make tabbouli with. The chamomile was planted in a bed with possibly dead blueberry bushes, and has done so well, you can't tell there are/were bushes down in there.

We do have the occasional hummingbird visit the red penstemon plant by the shed, but most of the bird action in our yard is at the front feeder.

As far as air quality - we're under an orange-level alert. The air doesn't smell of smoke, but most days the sky is grey rather than blue. I guess it does make for some impressive red sunsets...

As far as yellow jackets, husband did find a nest on the back property line, which explains why our traps in the apple trees are always full. He took care of the nest by spraying a pile of a persistent poison into it, I think that was during a cool evening - then dug up the nest later. Hopefully now the traps won't be so full.

I took some garden photos this week - I'll have to download them and see if they came out well enough for this thread.

Posted by: Pat* at August 25, 2018 03:52 PM (2pX/F)

73 Just took my 25 yr old Home Life weed wacker around the yard, works great when it wants to.
Also pretty sure a potatoe plant has sprouted up, had early potatoes in that area and had a few small ones from it but that was months ago.

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2018 03:52 PM (lxZ71)

74 Ann at August 25, 2018 01:03 PM

Thanks for the hazardous pepper update.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at August 25, 2018 03:59 PM (BVQ+1)

75 Chicken poop water makes a nice aperitif for mothers-in- law...they call it ANIS! or Campari en Frogland...Phteeeeweee.

Posted by: saf at August 25, 2018 05:02 PM (5IHGB)

76 First time poster but long time gardener. I planted cantaloupe this year for the first time. It's called Charentais melon, a French variety, smaller than what
is found in markets here. Charentais melons don't slip or drop from the vine when ripe like some other melons so it's hard to know for sure when they are ripe. Mine keep splitting open just before they are
fully ripe but they are so close that we've been eating them anyway.
They taste like real cantaloupe but are slightly crisp like an apple in
texture. I did get one perfectly ripe one that had the familiar cantaloupe aroma and
texture and was very sweet but it too split before I harvested so I had to
cut away the part the ants started to get to. Just wondered if anyone else had experience growing Charentais melon.

Posted by: Marie at August 25, 2018 05:08 PM (8xZLz)

77 Just wondered if anyone else had experience growing Charentais melon.
Posted by: Marie at August 25, 2018 05:08 PM (8xZLz)

Hello there. I've never had it before. Honeydew is the Money Melon, as they say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7m7B1YrYA0

Posted by: hogmartin at August 25, 2018 05:11 PM (y87Qq)

78 Marie, Welcome to the gardening thread. Had not heard of that type of melon. I will need to read more about it. Suggestion: raise your question next week shortly after the post goes up. Many commenters have moved to the pet and chess/open threads.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at August 25, 2018 05:26 PM (V+03K)

79 Had 2 Honey Dew plants that produced nothing, pumpkin plants last year that did same. Only seem to be able to grow squash

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2018 05:38 PM (lxZ71)

80 Ooh, I forgot about the Western Idaho Fair! We went on the 18th. We had planned to support some of our 4-H rifle students as they showed their sheep. But they were going to be some of the last exhibitors, and we had a butt-ton of harvest processing to do that evening. So we left early - and on the way out, we wandered through the building with all the fruits, vegetables, and herbs. And husband and I kept saying "Ours are better than that." (Now, we knew some of the entries had been brought in as early as the 14th, so they were a bit dried out; but, even so.) A lady official heard us, handed us the entry form for this year, and encouraged us to enter next year.

That means we can read the rules, and properly prepare. For example, I have some great-looking herbs, and each needs to be in a "clear, sturdy container". So I can hit the thrift store each week or two, watching for these to show up.

I don't know if they have a theme every year - this rulebook is nicknamed "The Sun, The Moon, and the Steers." Who says Idahoans don't have a sense of humor? (After all, who else drops a giant light-up potato on New Years Eve? We do!)

Posted by: Pat* at August 25, 2018 06:16 PM (2pX/F)

81 Pat, I have some raised in NYC friends. They have learned some small gardening stuff, and she makes a really good corn relish. I told her she should enter it at the state fair. Now they're hooked and enter all kinds of stuff, and proudly display their ribbons.

Diogenes, that pic was taken about 100 miles north of Minneapolis. Different hippie pagans.

Posted by: Gordon Scott at August 25, 2018 06:35 PM (zahYu)

82 Some Birds will build their nest any where that suits them i have seen their nests on the o of a Dollar Tree Store sign or a Wells Fargo sign in bag of nails ona cars engine compartment on a utility pole and even ina Virginia Creeper on the front pourch of my Grandparents home on our twins main street

Posted by: Spurwing Plover at August 25, 2018 06:37 PM (FLiOE)

83 Pat, i had the same thought at our county fair this year when i saw what got awarded ribbons, "I can do better". It's important to harvest when your veggies, herbs or flowers are at their peak at judging time

Posted by: Marie at August 25, 2018 07:08 PM (8xZLz)

84 Marie at August 25, 2018 05:08 PM

One trick is to restrict watering as your Charentais melons ripen. They lose quality if they are over-ripe. Some people pick them by smell, others by color change. You need to know your particular variety. They do not keep well after you pick them.

There are some Charentais hybrid melons that do slip. I you continue to have trouble with splitting, you might try one of those. We can discuss during seed catalog season.

Posted by: KTbarthedoor at August 25, 2018 08:11 PM (BVQ+1)

85 Point of order, a Kimber 1911 doesn't hold twelve rounds.

Posted by: Guzalot at August 25, 2018 10:16 PM (schB/)

86 Worked all day, so missed the G-thread again...

Triple-digit temps FINALLY done! Yay!!!

Tomatoes and zukes are producing again (after dropping blossoms during the Roasting Temps) Gawd, I hate summers here!

Peppers are doing nothing this year, but I don't feel bad about it-- friend at work says the same w/his peppers and maybe we just got the same bad stock or ?? Who knows. Oh, well. There's always next year, right? Lol. His tomatoes put mine to shame, tho.

I might have a couple of clematis montana rooted-- crossing my fingers-- out of about 2 dozen cuttings. Took them right before the Great Roasting and kept them shaded and well-watered... Here's hoping they're gonna make it! The neighbor wants a couple to fill-in a wide trellis for afternoon shade on the west side. I think this plant would be terrific for her application.

Hope the City is happy with our hedge-trimming. Omg, what a chore and there's just a bit left to do tomorrow. (Picky, picky, picky they are...)

Still haven't sent pics of anything to KT. Maybe will get around to it this coming week.

Happy gardening/ weekend all!

Posted by: JQ at August 26, 2018 02:32 AM (yD/Pf)

87 HAIL HAIL THE GANGS ALL HERE,THE FLOWERS ALL ARE RUINED,WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOIN?

Posted by: Spurwing Plover at August 26, 2018 06:40 PM (FLiOE)

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