Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Oct. 8

Hi, everybody! Thinking about Halloween Yet? Are the bees doing more than you are?

The first is an old (120 ish) hard maple.
Second is a honeybee slathered in white pollen.
MKY

Adventure

From budman:

Desert Meadows Park in Green Valley, AZ is a botanical garden maintained by a local gardening club. This 4 acre garden is frequented by a variety of birds and butterflies. It's a wonderful place to wander, sit and rest, and enjoy the beauty of the Sonoran desert flora and fauna.

Absolutely gorgeous! What a great endeavor for a gardening club!

Great time of year to visit, too!

Edibles and Beautiful Cactus

From August:

KT,
My cactus decided to go whole-hog on producing blossoms this year. To bad I didn't catch it early in the morning at it's peak (with all the flowers open)...that would've been quite the sight!
Also, a close-up of the beetles...at least a dozen on flowers and buzzing around; as big as bumblebees.
Regards,
jim (in Kalifornia)

Too bad those spectacular flowers don't last longer into the day. Fascinating plants.

Remarkable flowers, remarkable beetles.

From September in the desert:

Hey KT,
The dragon fruit bloomed today. They are fairly droopy flowers, but beautiful in their casual way. Also, a picture of my goji bush. It is a fairly leggy bush, not sure if they are all like that or just mine. It is in a shady location, but it being Arizona I thought it would like a little shade, I may be wrong. I included a picture of todays harvest of the goji berries. I have to be honest, they aren't very tasty so I just throw them into my mornings smoothie. A good smoothie can hide a multitude of sins and I know they are good for you.
Hot this week again and no rain in sight but we are in September so it should get better soon.
Happy Gardening All,
WeeKreekFarmGirl

These flowers have a different look than the ones in California:

Those goji berries may not be tasty, but they are cute. Smaller than candy corn?

A Big Fall Project

From Mr Jimm:

Hey Katy!
As you may recall, last fall I sent you this picture of an Elephant Ear plant (Alocasia Calidora) that I had purchased in a one gallon pot in the spring of 2021, which grew so beautifully in my 3/4 acre backyard in the NW Chicago suburbs that I couldn't bear to lose it over the winter, so I had a friend help me dig it up, pot it, and move it into a spare bedroom (over Mrs. Jimm's mild objections) over the winter. (The internet tells me it can survive down to 0 degrees or so, but my gut feeling is that the tuberous root would live but the leaves would drop off and it would grow from scratch the next spring, but that's not nearly as spectacular as the entire plant surviving and adding more leaves when it gets warm. And *spectacular* is what it's all about in my book.)
Anyway, it was very happy to spend the winter indoors & it grew another leaf while inside, and we moved it back to the same semi-shaded spot in the sunken garden next to the house once the danger of frost had ended.
As you can see from the second picture, it spent a *very* happy summer outdoors and is now almost 7 feet tall and 6 feet wide!

Since there's no way it will fit through any doorway into another bedroom in the house now, my plan is to move it indoors through a patio door into an 11' x 13' unheated sunroom. A friend & I built an 8 x 8 x 8 foot greenhouse out of 2 x 2's which will be covered in clear plastic sheeting. (We built it outdoors to get the design details and the construction bugs (and there were many) straightened out first, then we took it apart and rebuilt it indoors.)
I'll keep it warm with a thermostatically-controlled hundred watt light bulb or two positioned underneath a 5 gallon bucket of water to provide nice, even heat. (I used to do the light bulb/gallon jug of water bit under a cold frame in the past and it worked pretty well.) The materials for the 'greenhouse' set me back $75 & I can only guess what the electric will cost to keep this plant warm over the Chicago winter, but... what's money for but to make you happy, right?

Money and work! Good you have a friend to help you! A beautiful plant. And it grew in a great setting over the summer.

Science

The Wrinkled Peach Mushroom

The only one of its genus.

At its best the Wrinkled Peach is a strong contender for the title 'Most Beautiful British Mushroom'. Until the major outbreak of Dutch elm disease in the second half of the 20th century, this was a rare mushroom, but then for a decade or two its food source, rotting elm wood, became commonplace and the Rhodotus palmatus population mushroomed. (Sorry!) Now there are far fewer elm trees in Britain and Europe, and the beautiful Rhodotus palmatus is becoming an even rarer sight that is was 100 years ago.

You may have to follow the link to see the "beautiful" ones. The ones above look to me like some sort of small nightmare new-age snowmen or something.

How to make schools better

Mind completely blown. I spent the morning at the Saint Constantine School in Houston. Some of the most thoughtful educators in the country got together to form a model school and what did they do…5X recess time, planted a huge garden, and bought animals! pic.twitter.com/iwbe1aOKvV
— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) October 5, 2022

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, October 1

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

Posted by: K.T. at 01:20 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good afternoon Greenthumbs

Posted by: Skip at October 08, 2022 01:21 PM (xhxe8)

2 The photograph of the mushroom is spectacular, but I wouldn't call it beautiful!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2022 01:23 PM (XIJ/X)

3 Nice picture of Treebeard.

Closed up my mini greenhouse hoping the peppers in it get more time. But while usually are growing well this year the green peppers have dark hard spots on them, not sure why.

Posted by: Skip at October 08, 2022 01:24 PM (xhxe8)

4 Urban Ent.

Alas, the wheel of the year keeps turning, and with the low nighttime temps it was time to dig up and clean out my 'mater garden.

It was a good run though.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 01:28 PM (Ut2oq)

5 2 The photograph of the mushroom is spectacular, but I wouldn't call it beautiful!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2022 01:23 PM (XIJ/X)

that mushroom reminds me of an ottoman.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 08, 2022 01:30 PM (q3gwH)

6 Top pic is an Ent!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 08, 2022 01:30 PM (2xlV3)

7 CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 08, 2022 01:23 PM

Yes, indeed. There are some prettier photos of the mushroom at the link. I would not like to share space with the mushroom in that photo.

Posted by: KT at October 08, 2022 01:34 PM (rrtZS)

8 Had a few blooming cactus like that, till an old landlord's white trash nazi son had his Mex gardener kill them. One sprii saw a near constant stream of monarch butterflies to them.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at October 08, 2022 01:39 PM (QGUa0)

9 Finally cut down the other half of my dead hedges from the Houston freeze. Now I have to decide whether I plant something or get another two big concrete planters to balance out the other side where I did the two planters where the other half of the dead hedges were removed. It would be separated by my front door / path. First world problem again. I'm leaning planting something this time.

Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 01:39 PM (/+BsJ)

10 Looks like Treebeard's been hitting the Ent-draught a little hard.

Posted by: TB at October 08, 2022 01:39 PM (Ur3df)

11 I picked up another David Austin rose, The Pilgrim. This is more like a shrub. I have another week or so to get ready to plant them. I would like to get some blueberry bushes. My raspberry has new leaves, so I think it will survive if I protect it this winter.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at October 08, 2022 01:41 PM (uz3Px)

12 That tent for your Elephant ear looks wonderful, Mr. Jimm. I am planning to do a polytunnel for my winter crops, with luck I will have greens until Spring.

I planted fall garlic this week, and cabbage seed. I am about to harvest my Indian corn, and I am starting to get tomatoes . . . Which makes me wonder just why I planted so many tomato plants this year.

I will be picking, pressing and canning grape juice today.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 01:42 PM (xhaym)

13 Adventuring, eh?

I guess this qualifies.

I'm out in Oregon a bit south of Portland. I need a place to run this afternoon where I won't be killed by homeless or antifa.

Remembered that the Springwater trail starts way out to the east. So looked it up. I'll head out to Boring, Oregon this afternoon to get my run in.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at October 08, 2022 01:42 PM (fu7Pv)

14 Good Saturday morning Greenthumbs!
Thanks KT for the Gardening Thread.

We decided the monsoon rains have abated and had 22 tons of 3/8ths minus Sunset Gold decomposed granite dropped off. (for those who don't do 'rock/gravel' that means up gravel up to 3/8ths of an inch with up to 50% finer rock).
We filled in some washouts yesterday and are letting our muscles recover today.
We've probably moved about a third so far.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at October 08, 2022 01:43 PM (5PBnx)

15 vmom beat me to it. An ent was my first thought. The talking apple tree from Wizard of Oz was second. But it would look appropriate in Sleepy Hollow when Ichabod Crane freaks out.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2022 01:43 PM (7EjX1)

16 Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 01:39 PM (/+BsJ)

Frontyard or back? if front... big concrete planters filled with dirt... add a few sandbags up front... firing pit.

Just... thinkin ahead.

Posted by: Romeo13 at October 08, 2022 01:45 PM (oHd/0)

17 Loan funded this week to pay construction financing and associated debt. So it's on to landscaping. Planting will have to wait until the Spring, as our summerish weather is winding down.

Posted by: flounder at October 08, 2022 01:45 PM (yHsuS)

18 Actually the more I look at that indoor tent, the better I like it.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 01:46 PM (xhaym)

19 6 Top pic is an Ent!
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at October 08, 2022 01:30 PM (2xlV3)

Ent it purty?

Posted by: Romeo13. who speaks Southernese at October 08, 2022 01:47 PM (oHd/0)

20 We filled in some washouts yesterday and are letting our muscles recover today.
We've probably moved about a third so far.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at October 08, 2022 01:43 PM (5PBnx)

Moving stone is hard work but satisfying.

Posted by: flounder at October 08, 2022 01:47 PM (yHsuS)

21 That wrinkled peach and the ones pictured in the link are so cool looking. Strange but cool. I can see why Beatrix Potter was so interested in drawing mushrooms. All that variety.

Posted by: JTB at October 08, 2022 01:47 PM (7EjX1)

22 Posted by: Romeo13 at October 08, 2022 01:45 PM (oHd/0)

Hah you snark but I'm always thinking how I can fortify the front of my place in plain sight .

Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 01:49 PM (/+BsJ)

23 > recess time, planted a huge garden, and bought animals

During Pride Week?

Seriously, it's refreshing to know that at least some schools take time out from the vital mission of convincing kids to cut off their genitalia to explore trivial activities like producing food.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 01:51 PM (bW8dp)

24 Moving stone is hard work but satisfying.
Posted by: flounde

Initial shovel work and then a 36" landscape rake. I think the rake was more work!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at October 08, 2022 01:52 PM (5PBnx)

25 Oh, and the other thing I did was to get a half yard of river silt and compost mix. My wife wanted to get a bunch of bags of potting and garden soil, and I wanted to build a small raised bed to sprout seeds in for the spring.
I set up a "sandbox" 4' x 4' and we got a half yard to fill it. We will mix in the extra compost and organics as we pot, and I will have a bed to sprout in to transplant next spring

The cats have already found it and think it is wonderful, which means I will have to sift it before using it for potting soil . . .

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 01:54 PM (xhaym)

26 We're looking at a hard freeze this week, so gardening is going to be an indoor activity here for the next six months or so.

This is the first year I've put together a major light setup with timers and everythign.

I just hope the neighborfolk don't get the idea I'm growing weed (which I'm not... haven't even touched the stuff in over 30 years).

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 01:54 PM (bW8dp)

27 22 Posted by: Romeo13 at October 08, 2022 01:45 PM (oHd/0)

Hah you snark but I'm always thinking how I can fortify the front of my place in plain sight .
Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 01:49 PM (/+BsJ)

Actually... it isn't snark. My courtyard has a 3 foot tall brick wall, buttressed with brick pillars, topped with wrought Iron... gate has a thick bike lock chain waiting to lock it. I moved one of my ladders to permanently reside in the back yard... because the way my roof is configured and house is shaped... the slope of the roof gives me 270 degrees of cover to the front of the house.

I'm worried that my First World problems are devolving into third world problems.

Posted by: Romeo13. who speaks Southernese at October 08, 2022 01:55 PM (oHd/0)

28 I listened to an audio book about Beatrix Potter this week. She basically was not allowed to have any friends her own age. She did have a younger brother and they both collected specimens.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at October 08, 2022 01:58 PM (uz3Px)

29 I would have gone to Stabler, up above Carson, WA, but that was always my old hang out. I should send in the pictures I took of the chestnut trees in the old arboretum up there. There are redwoods up there too.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at October 08, 2022 02:00 PM (uz3Px)

30 Not gardening, perhaps, but cotton is going to take a huge hit very soon due to drought conditions here in TX. The cotton gin down the way from me will barely run, I suspect.

Not far from here is a place that can expect to process 86,000 bales of cotton in the season. Projections this season: 4000.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at October 08, 2022 02:01 PM (CdZ4i)

31 Posted by: Romeo13. who speaks Southernese at October 08, 2022 01:55 PM (oHd/0

I have an inside court yard with 12 foot brick walls on 3 of the sides. I keep a ladder in it that can give me access to the roof in both front and back. Always be prepping but have fun in the interim.

Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 02:02 PM (/+BsJ)

32 This is the first year I've put together a major light setup with timers and everythign.
I just hope the neighborfolk don't get the idea I'm growing weed (which I'm not... haven't even touched the stuff in over 30 years).
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 01:54 PM (bW8dp)

If I had the room I would consider growing coffee plants and passionflower.
If I had LOTS of room indoors I would consider growing guavas

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 02:03 PM (xhaym)

33 Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at October 08, 2022 02:01 PM (CdZ4i)

Yeah not a good thing. It's happened about a decade ago too. I hate these perfect storms.

Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 02:05 PM (/+BsJ)

34 > If I had the room I would consider growing coffee plants and passionflower.

If civilization really does collapse, I'm gonna miss coffee pretty hard.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 02:06 PM (bW8dp)

35 Catch Thirty-Thr33 at October 08, 2022 02:01 PM

Passed one of the big Central Valley, CA cotton seed storage locations yesterday. Empty.

Posted by: KT at October 08, 2022 02:09 PM (rrtZS)

36 The squirrels have already made the big decorative porch pumpkin into a bungalow with complimentary dining

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 02:17 PM (Ut2oq)

37 The squirrels have already made the big decorative porch pumpkin into a bungalow with complimentary dining
Posted by: All Hail Eris

I always think of a traditional Brunswick stew when I hear of squirrel problems; but, this isn't the food thread.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at October 08, 2022 02:20 PM (5SW2U)

38 The maple tree looks like it's snoring.

I drove to my childhood home on an inland Michigan lake. Every south-facing strip of trees on the east-west highways were turning but the southwide was green. At the lake, the islands are approaching peak color but the shores are mostly green. Very strange.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at October 08, 2022 02:21 PM (yKPAy)

39 The squirrels have already made the big decorative porch pumpkin into a bungalow with complimentary dining
Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 02:17 PM

Eris' Bed & Breakfast Four Stars on Rodentia.com

Posted by: NaughtyPine at October 08, 2022 02:26 PM (yKPAy)

40 problems are devolving into third world problems.

Landlord just heightened masonry walls around property. Neighbor too. Too many creeps in the LA river channel. Have seen our yards on live tv telecopter chasing bad guys.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at October 08, 2022 02:26 PM (G0bxm)

41 Halloween? Dude, I work at a supermarket. We've got Easter shit positioned in the back. Phht.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:29 PM (43xH1)

42 I'm pulling in the last of the garden today. Picking the rest of the carrots, pulling out the bean plants, spreading the compost and letting it all rest until spring. I have too many carrots to keep in the fridge, so I will be hot pickling a bunch of them. They are delightful in a Bloody Mary and make a good compliment to salads and such. Next year DH will make me more planting beds so I can grow more goodies. Eventually it will become something of a backyard farmette. I need about twice the strawberries.... hmm...

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at October 08, 2022 02:32 PM (LOVUx)

43 Beautiful pictures! Mrs. E's elephant ear plant's leaves are so big she can can stand nekkid behind one. It's probably over 30 years old, even our ETEX snowmageddon 2 years ago couldn't kill it.

Posted by: Eromero at October 08, 2022 02:32 PM (gktX6)

44 I dumped a truckload of pumpkins on our deerstands 2 years ago and deer won't touch them, neither will hogs.

Posted by: Eromero at October 08, 2022 02:35 PM (gktX6)

45 Three bell pepper plants left in pots outside. Deer got the tops of them last week but there are still a lot of buds and blooms coming out. So I'm carrying them inside to the kitchen thru the sliding door at night. They don't get enough sun during the day probably, by now, but thinking about supplementing with LED reading lights. Maybe I'll have another crop of peppers in December.

Posted by: skywch at October 08, 2022 02:35 PM (uqhmb)

46 I still have lots of green vegetables, won't yank the plants until frost, maybe in a month

Posted by: Skip's phone at October 08, 2022 02:36 PM (xhxe8)

47 As far as gardening, about 10 (?) years ago I bought three 5 gallon buckets of leftover bulbs at some center for like $5 and threw them all over. Didn't even plant them. I get the craziest flowers, inconsistently from year to year. All different colors and types. Some will vanish for like 3 years then suddenly appear in another part of the yard.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:36 PM (43xH1)

48 This year some tiger lilies got about 9 feet tall, they were huge.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:39 PM (43xH1)

49 Sitting at the airport. That's all I got.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 08, 2022 02:41 PM (fYPhF)

50 Sitting at the airport. That's all I got.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 08, 2022 02:41 PM (fYPhF)

Are you planted in your seat?

Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 02:42 PM (/+BsJ)

51 In California it's illegal to whistle for your lost canary before 7am.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:43 PM (Wy1BU)

52 And The Kid insisted on a bird feeder, which I declared a waste as the squirrels would just chew into it. I didn't figure on the sheer nastiness of the local sparrows and finches, who ally, gang up, and for real run off every squirrel gets near it.
I've never before seen like 20 birds literally gang up on squirrels like that, some vicious battles!
I was totally wrong, highly entertaining and money well spent!

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:44 PM (43xH1)

53 In Connecticut, a law states that a pickle must be able to bounce.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:44 PM (Wy1BU)

54 In Indiana it is illegal to ride a horse above 10 miles per hour.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:45 PM (Wy1BU)

55 I also learned today an onion isn't a vegetable. How embarrassing.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:46 PM (43xH1)

56 Kindtot - thanks for your kind comments.

Did I say multiple design & construction errors? I figured I could build it myself - forget it! You can't move 8 x 8 squares around yourself without bending & stretching those corners way out of shape.

Planned to screw it all together and spent half a day measuring & drilling a gazillion holes, only to figure out later that a simple 4 inch nail worked just as well, esp. if you plan to take it apart.

And I didn't think that corner diagonals would be necessary (good thing I programmed computers instead of designing or building houses!) but they were easy to build in using 4 inch bolts & wing nuts.

Posted by: MrJimm at October 08, 2022 02:47 PM (w0GHq)

57 far as gardening, about 10 (?) years ago I bought three 5 gallon buckets of leftover bulbs at some center for like $5 and threw them all over. Didn't even plant them. I get the craziest flowers, inconsistently from year to year. All different colors and types. Some will vanish for like 3 years then suddenly appear in another part of the yard.
Posted by: LenNeal

That is every kind of awesome!

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:48 PM (Wy1BU)

58 In Texas a chickenfried steak must be covered in white gravy heavy on black pepper. It's a law I think.

Posted by: Eromero at October 08, 2022 02:51 PM (gktX6)

59
If civilization really does collapse, I'm gonna miss coffee pretty hard.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 02:06 PM (bW8dp)

The tea that grows up north is Sochi, it is a Russian strain. There are people who suggest Yaupon holy as a substitute.
I will have a headache when the world ends, I am sure.

My wife drinks roasted barley tea, since she doesn't like tea or coffee, and I will drink various herbal teas like lemon mint and yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii) that grow wild around here when I have had too much caffeine for the day.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 02:51 PM (xhaym)

60 Dunno bout that but it's illegal to sell a human eye in Texas.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:52 PM (Wy1BU)

61 Don't tell me a onion is a fruit because I'm not making a onion pie

Posted by: Skip's phone at October 08, 2022 02:53 PM (xhxe8)

62 The front yard I mow for appearances, the back yard is fenced (opaque) and in the summer I mow that maybe once a month. I let everything grow, and we have squadrons of bats that keep the mosquitos to a minimum.
If I get something cool looking I leave it for the year, mow around it. I once had a thistle about 12 feet tall, that was cool, hummingbirds and bees all over it.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:53 PM (43xH1)

63
We saw a caterpillar on one of the milkweeds in the garden. That's what they're there for.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 08, 2022 02:53 PM (1Nxff)

64 Last week we cut down one of our catalpa trees. It was waaaay too close to the bigger one. My brother has been dedicated to cutting that tree down for over 20 yrs. He finally got to murder it.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:55 PM (Wy1BU)

65 The eye has to be labeled 'not edible, decoration only.'

Posted by: Eromero at October 08, 2022 02:55 PM (gktX6)

66 youpon holly, I suppose. It is related to yerba mate and is native to the Southeast US.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 02:56 PM (xhaym)

67 What were your most productive and flavorful tomatoes this year? I'm making a list for next year.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 02:56 PM (Ut2oq)

68 My lot gets hundreds of snakes, just the usual bug and rodent eaters, they're cool too, except when they climb the mulberry bushes and drop on you.
Ha! One day I didn't get my mail because there was a BIG one right on the front walk! Should have heard him scream! Hahaha

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 02:59 PM (43xH1)

69 Don't tell me a onion is a fruit because I'm not making a onion pie
Posted by: Skip's phone

My mom used to look after several elderly people and one of them was a tiny little lack lady from Mississippi. Not sure how she wound up in Indiana but she made jam and/ or jelly out of anything. Including watermelon, dandelion and yep..... Onions!

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 02:59 PM (Wy1BU)

70 Eris, if you like cherry tomatoes, I got the heirloom Gold Nugget this year and they tasted wonderful, so sweet and intense. They were my best cherry. One small potted plant gave me over 250 tomatoes. Determinate, but this one went for about 10 weeks good and strong.

Posted by: skywch at October 08, 2022 02:59 PM (uqhmb)

71 OMG...that cactus!!!

Posted by: creeper at October 08, 2022 02:59 PM (cTCuP)

72 The onion is a bulb!
Now I know that!

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:00 PM (43xH1)

73 Thanks Skwych! I'll try it. Didn't do cherry toms this year for some reason.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 03:02 PM (Ut2oq)

74 That mushroom is wonderful! I think it's beautiful.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at October 08, 2022 03:02 PM (Wy1BU)

75 Bonny Best is a good old variety. Tastes good and always grew it in the PNW.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at October 08, 2022 03:02 PM (uz3Px)

76 The Tiger Lily bulbs are fully edible and grown for food in Asia. Well, as is pretty much everything so...

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:02 PM (43xH1)

77 Are you planted in your seat?
Posted by: polynikes at October 08, 2022 02:42 PM

Not quite yet. Boarding shortly.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 08, 2022 03:05 PM (fYPhF)

78 My next door neighbor for a couple years, his mom was from total wilderness in Mississippi, Black clan. We got invited for dinner one afternoon where she supervised the making of a plastic bucket full of the nastiest looking bullheads I've ever seen.
It is, still, the best catfish dinner I have EVER had.
Rhubarb pie, too.
Truly incredible. 15 kids.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:07 PM (43xH1)

79 Eris, my favorite tomato is Cherokee Purple, it makes enormous ugly fruit that tastes wonderful. It is hit and miss here, it needs more heat that we get normally, and probably more moisture. It is resistant to blossom end rot, and my only complaint is that it tends to get ripe at the very end of the season

My second is the green zebra. I love the flavor, but it is green.

Both of these are heirloom, and breed mostly true from seed

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 03:08 PM (xhaym)

80 Grew some good Cherokee Purples last year. Great tomatoes.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 08, 2022 03:10 PM (fYPhF)

81 Locally though the Siletz, Willamette, early girl are the go-to for tomatoes. They produce locally, and a lot.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 03:10 PM (xhaym)

82 For all the critters I've seen in my yard: turkeys, possums, various bats, snakes, deer, weirdly! I have never seen one single raccoon, and that's 20 years. Bizarre.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:10 PM (43xH1)

83 That mushroom is gorgeous. Had no idea a mushroom could be gorgeous.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at October 08, 2022 03:11 PM (KFhLj)

84 Kindltot, I also grew Green Zebra. I love green-when-ripe tomatoes! Prolific lil overachiever.

I'll try Cherokee Purples next year. I had a problem with blossom end rot this time, even with soil supplementation.

My heirlooms were often Fettermanlike in appearance but delicious.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 03:13 PM (Ut2oq)

85 LenNeal if you live in North America you have them

Posted by: Skip's phone at October 08, 2022 03:13 PM (xhxe8)

86 May establish another bird feeder. Quit when it became a feral cat feeder, didn't think they could jump that high and catch finches and sparrows mid air.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at October 08, 2022 03:15 PM (hUvnA)

87 See raccoons all over town, and I have a tantalizing mulberry bush, etc. But I've never seen one on my property.
How weird is that?

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:15 PM (43xH1)

88 I have issues with blossom end rot, I amended several times with garden lime and I put ashes on the garden in the winter. I still don't grow Roma or paste tomatoes though.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 08, 2022 03:17 PM (xhaym)

89 > Well, as is pretty much everything so...

"Everything is edible. Some things are only edible once."

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 03:18 PM (bW8dp)

90 LenNeal @ 87-
Check with your eye doctor?

Posted by: Eromero at October 08, 2022 03:20 PM (gktX6)

91 Re raccoons, I also work weird hours and nights, and if they are there, I've somehow never managed to see a single raccoon. I walk to work in the middle of the night, see them from the sewer grates, trees, etc but not once specifically in my yard or on my property.
Yes they ARE everywhere, I see them all the time, just somehow not on my property or in my yard or trees. Not once. 20 years.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:20 PM (43xH1)

92 Maybe it's just better pickings elsewhere in the neighborhood

Posted by: Skip's phone at October 08, 2022 03:21 PM (xhxe8)

93 You should feel ashamed of yourself

Posted by: Skip's phone at October 08, 2022 03:22 PM (xhxe8)

94 Blossom end rot gets my big tomatoes too; kept having to supplement. I'm in zone 6-7-ish. So I'm going with all cherry heirlooms next year since I have to plant in pots. They dry great and I won't have to can (not that I had all that many to can)

Posted by: skywch at October 08, 2022 03:22 PM (uqhmb)

95 I stress, IN MY YARD. All over everywhere else but just not within my property boundaries! Next block over, overrun, but my property? Not one, not once.
Like I say, weird, bizarre.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:22 PM (43xH1)

96 Those elephant ear plants are very robust.
Just this morning the spouse and I were walking in a park we notice has one, possibly that same species.
We track it through its entire annual growth cycle, leafy green to completely brown where you'd think it was dead.
But then it pops up in the spring.

Posted by: gourmand du jour, partly cloudy, clearing in the afternoon at October 08, 2022 03:23 PM (jTmQV)

97 > There are people who suggest Yaupon holy as a substitute.

Might be worth planting some if you're within its range. Not here, unfortunately.

Yerba mate, beloved by South Americans, is another species of caffeine-containing holly, I believe.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 03:23 PM (bW8dp)

98 > Yes they ARE everywhere, I see them all the time, just somehow not on my property or in my yard or trees.

The nearby ones have probably come to know your routine and make themselves scarce when you're likely to be outside.

Smart little buggers, they are.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 03:24 PM (bW8dp)

99 I opened my trash can more than once to find... a hissing possum.
What am I doing wrong?!

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:25 PM (43xH1)

100 I don't have a routine and may be outside at any hour of the day or night on any day of the year regardless of weather Oh Wait...
Hm

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:27 PM (43xH1)

101 > I opened my trash can more than once to find... a hissing possum.

When I lived in the Lower 48 for a while, besides the trash, the bastards would often show up when I fired up the grill. More than once I went into the house for a while, only to find a possum sniffing around when I went back out to check the meat.

Apparently they like the smell of charbroiled meat as much as people do.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at October 08, 2022 03:28 PM (bW8dp)

102 Ant control. This year has seen a constant trail of ants coming in to my basement. I want to keep them out before they find my pantry. I've tried a lot of various methods, Terro baits, peppermint oil sprays, even the usual hideous corporate products. The trails continue.
Finally I decide to locate the main ant mounds. There were 2, one in front, one in back, with a trail of squirming black ants by the thousands going to and fro, looking like a serpent.
I got a couple of kettles of water boiling, dumped one in to each mound.
A week later, no ants.

Posted by: gourmand du jour, partly cloudy, clearing in the afternoon at October 08, 2022 03:30 PM (jTmQV)

103 Ants: if you want no ants use Amdro... it's a miracle worker!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at October 08, 2022 03:36 PM (8kfkB)

104 Pets are nood!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at October 08, 2022 03:36 PM (8kfkB)

105 I once tracked a trail of ants from my kitchen up to the attic, where they entered through an opening for the cable TV line. They walked on the cable line across the yard, across the street, and down the pole on the other side to a mound in the river bottom land.

Posted by: Gordon Scott at October 08, 2022 03:37 PM (ku9hj)

106 Boiling water will also kill plants you don't want. I mean, permanently. Don't doubt until you've tried it. Boiling water.

Posted by: LenNeal at October 08, 2022 03:50 PM (43xH1)

107 My chocolate-covered cotton production will be off.

Posted by: Milo Minderbinder at October 08, 2022 05:16 PM (C1rbv)

108 What were your most productive and flavorful tomatoes this year? I'm making a list for next year.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at October 08, 2022 02:56 PM (Ut2oq)

WE tried Baby Doll this year. Very sweet. Very productive in a bad year. Dries beautifully.
Celebrity was our most consistent this year, for the third year in a row.

Late, as usual. Had a hard frost last night and harvested what we hadn't already pulled out. Sweet taters are too big... think we may harvest mid Sept. next year.

Posted by: MkY at October 08, 2022 05:47 PM (cPGH3)

109 From Boise area: Highs have been high 70's, low 80's - lows about 50 F.

Still getting a few last cantaloupes and green beans. Gave up on paste tomatoes. Zucchini plants are getting their 2nd wind! Husband burned the fall pile today, and we sawed some firewood.

I dug the last hollyhocks out of the raised bed today. After removing them from the first half of the bed, I planted some onion bulbs - other bulbs overwinter so I thought I'd try planting them. They won't make it to next spring if I keep them in the house, so why not try this?

I'm hoping the scarlet sage, which are going to seed, will re-seed a lot, and I'll let them keep that end of that ex-hollyhock bed. They attract hummingbirds (though this year we had very few).

A 4-H friend gave us a pile of peaches and pears - we're making them into liqueurs, as we did with our red raspberries.

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