Garden thread.

[glenn-k]

That looks very much like spinach in the rain, PEG -- could that be what it is? :-?  

Great on the garden, PEG.  I know how hard it is to grow one up there in the rain forest.

[peg_688]

Ya with all thsoe earthquakes , sunammies , lahars and such on top of the rain it is tough, but we'll try ta get by , just keep those Califorinacator down there eh

[fourx]

Are they Cos in the second row from the front?
Just put in a new herb garden, with two types of parsley, oregano, basil, sage, mint, green onions and thyme.
Grasshoppers mow down the mint, though- and the wife's hydrangas.

[peg_688]

Are they Cos in the second row from the front?

You Aussie talk funny , but yes they are close to the front , one row right behind the fence then the one you can see doing well , then the third row is new spinach, then the row we just picked off and ate , man it was so GGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD , Humm who do you repeat a repeated letter   like that??  :-/ :-/

Squash , stir fried spinach and siskabobs , or how ever you speel  that   .

[peg_688]

Grasshoppers mow down the mint, though- and the wife's hydrangas

 

Outhouse has the answer for you on this thread :

http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1182729402/5#5

Eatum before they eat you   Not sure about eating the Hydranga's thought :-/  

[fourx]

Cos lettuce, PEG - tall, loose-leafed...óf course, you may call them something else, like the eggplant/aberguine, rutabarga/swede, fresh coriander/cilantro thing....?

[peg_688]

Cos = lettuce ??  No savie , we've got Bibb lettuce thats one row  in from the spinach then  Romaine (sp) , then Red leaf lettuce.

The really small green stuf right up close to the camera is 2 rows of  radish starts , then a row  of   spinach (really small) , then the two rows of spinach I picked off tonight.   Anothet row of small spinach the Bibb , lettuce etc .

[fourx]

http://greekfood.about.com/od/soupsstews/r/maroulosalata.htm?iam=momma_100_SKD&terms=%22Cos+lettuce%22 a Cos by any other name- here's a nice way to use it, Romaine or Cos.
Buscuits/-crackers, scones/biscuits, apartments/flats, nappies/diapers...and if your wife says she is rooting for the local football team..? Down here they are the ones cheering.

[glenn-k]

Sassy gave me instructions on how to take the pictures in the garden today so I have some officially blessed pictures then some of my own.

I have heard you guys talk so much about Swedes, Pete and Jonesy, that I went out and planted some Rutabagas - havent eaten them since I was little.


New stuff is growing good - flowers - corn - potatoes.




Old stuff we let reseed the garden - carrots and parsnips mostly -- parsnips are about 6 feet tall stalks.





Peppers are ready to eat - plants are about 3 feet tall.

[glenn-k]

She wanted this one too.  Overview of most of it.  Sometimes we just sit outside and listen to the corn grow. :-/

[Sassy]

We just had some steamed yellow summer squash & slices of Armenian cucumber for lunch, still lots of different types of lettuce, carrots; even picked a handful of blueberries off one of the bushes I planted this spring.  The pluot tree(cross between plum & apricot) is loaded with fruit - some just getting ripe.  Our strawberries are about done with now.  Lots of tomatoes but still green.  

Glenn has to make chile rellenos with our Anaheim chiles - they're kinda mild but have a little bite to them.  He makes the best!  

[glenn-k]

Yeah- the poor little pluot tree - second year of fruit - she thinned it quite a bit but the poor little rascal is overloading itself.  Won't need much pruning this year - just trim back the broken branches. :-/

[Amanda_931]

Hoo-boy.

I've just been reading a list of ways to prepare yourself for the coming meltdown.  Having success as a gardener is one of them.

But this year could easily be a famine year for us if we had to live on our own food.  Very warm March tricked a lot of trees into blooming--plums peaches, apples, blueberries (OK, they're shrubs).  A lot of people had planted commercial quantities of tomatoes already, etc.  And then we had two days of hard freeze (mid-twenties) over Easter.  And since last year we've been in drought.  At last report "severe."   We've had a handful of little bitty storms go through, so we may not progress to "extraordinary."

But tonight was the first time at least this year, I've seen flood warning/watches in Tennessee, both in the Memphis area and basically due north of me, up by the Kentucky line.

I've been hauling water in buckets for my tomatoes.  And somewhere along the line did something unpleasant to my knee.  (And the gal who's been working for me has gone over to the manic side of bipolar, so I've taken a break from her)

Not been a great summer so far!

[fourx]

...does that mean she is in two minds about the existance of ::"" ( ..drumroll, please, Mr Music..) ""Global Warming""..?
I can relate to that
It reads just like the summer we had down here, Amanda, with late frosts wiping out the grapes in the vinyards and the bulk of food crops, with a large rise in food prices as a result...now, it's the coldest, bleakest Winter in years, so get ready...just thought I'd cheer ya up.

[Sassy]

We had the cold spell in Calif, too - a lot of the stuff I originally planted never came up or the birds ate the little plants I had started in peat pots, lots of lettuce & tomatoes though.  Glenn has planted a lot more stuff & it is all doing great now-lots of squash & peppers.  I planted 2 blueberry bushes this spring - I picked off most of the blooms (that's what's advised for the 1st yr)but did leave enough for a small handful of berries.  

The grapes at our place in Kerman are doing wonderful - more grapes than we've ever had - lots of lemons on the lemon tree, didn't have a whole lot of cherries but will have quite a few nectarines & hopefully oranges.  So far, so good    We are certainly not starving  

Hope your knee is better, Amanda - missed your posts!  

[glenn-k]

The military said they would own the weather by 2025.

http://earthchangescentral.com/research/Project2025/vol3ch15.pdf

Nothing like a little practice to make perfect, eh? :-?

http://www.greatdreams.com/weather/weather_manipulation.htm

This could explain why we are having such funny gardening weather. :-/

[glenn-k]

Tomato Pruning.  I pinch  all suckers from mine and replant then in a wet spot - just poke a hole and jamb the stem in the ground -- It usually grows and makes a nice clone in case something happens to the original.  I don't remove the lower leaves as shown below but do remove the suckers.  I plant the tomatoes deep as the entire stem will grow roots making a strong plant.

http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00031.asp



Early Pruning

Early pruning encourages strong stems. Remove all suckers and leaves below the first flower cluster. Let a second stem arise from the node just above the lowest flower cluster. Let a third stem arise from the second node above the first flower cluster.

Alternate views - some don't prune - I find production starts slower and fruits are smaller.  Not all varieties are the same.  I prefer indeterminates of heirloom varieties.

[benevolance]

well there is no better strategy than I have,,, get drunk and let the wife deal with it....

hehe I think I made the wife and mom in law mad...Drank like 24 beer and kept them up until now  which is 4 am
life is a funny kettle of fish

[glenn-k]

Not a problem, Peter.  Go to church Sunday -- get forgiven - then you are free to start over.  :-?

Study up the pruning, Peter - you may want to try it sometime...    

[fourx]

Well, I thought I had a fair grasp of all aspects of tomato growing, but planting the pruned parts is something I have never seen done- I'll try it in spring. At the moment I only have cherry tomatoes growing- they do well in the cooler months here. Glenn, you are near a vinyard area there I think..how common is everyday consumption of wine with meals there? And how expensive is it?

[benevolance]

Nah not going to ask god for forgiveness...Just ask the wife... Lord of the manor and all of that I guess

I remembered why I almost never ever drink to excess..... I had the worst headache ever....Some guy came for a transmission this morning and I was in rough shape.... you know with the shakes and the headache that impairs vision...

Not a good site...

Just had a little nap this afternoon and I am starting to return to normal...

I missed out on a car for parts on ebay and I  lost a day of work....Now I know why I do not drink very often...Costs too much to recover

As for the pruning man...Looks great...I pruned my fruit trees that I planted last year and they seemed to respond well to it..

[glenn-k]

I am in pretty heavy soil with the compost over it and rather short water supply so use daily drip.  To get the tops to grow I plant them in a constantly wet area - as they are - just pinched off with no special preparation.  Rooting hormones could help but I haven't needed them doing it the way I do.  I plant them with about 80 percent under the ground to do it that way.  Many of them are blooming already too.

We live in an area with many vineyards around - several here in the mountains.  We are not very regular wine drinkers - for us about once a month or less on the average.  There are some who drink a bit more and some who drink a lot more.  I would guess not more than 20% at any rate have it with most meals.  I think more may drink beer.  I think we are more the redneck class than than the yuppie class.

Average wines go from $2.00 to $30.00 per bottle depending on perceived quality with some going much more.  We don't always like the most expensive wines and are not good at pretending they are good if they are really not-- broke my little pinkie in a toilet seat accident so it does not extend well when drinking -- (just kidding there)  pass the Ripple please.  Sassy just said that the  $2.00 a bottle wine was not bad, actually.  

The last bottle of wine I bought for our last year anniversary was about $30  17% alc.  - one glass of it put Sassy t sleep on anniversary night - so there I sat -- the Lone Ranger.  So much for it's romance enhancing qualities.

I am thinking of planting some grapes up here for our own supply, but they have to be protected from the deer (large rodents).  That will be another project.


I was wondering how you got away without the headache, Peter.  Looks like you didn't.  Last time I had the problem many years ago they pulled the tent off me in the daytime and let the sun hit me in the eyes - that was enough of that.  

[MountainDon]

Average wines go from $2.00 to $30.00 per bottle depending on perceived quality with some going much more.  

Two Buck Chuck!   (... so named because the label name is Charles Shaw and because it's sold for $1.99 a bottle, in California; 2.99 in AZ and 3.99 in NM due to shipping etc.) Sold only at Trader Joe's grocery stores. It's the best $2 wine I've ever tasted; amazingly good for the price.

Personal everyday choice is a Cabernet Sauvignon 5 litre box wine by Almaden that works out to about the same cost per volume, when bought at a warehouse store (Sam's Club). It's pleasantly dry. I don't like sweetness in a beverage.

We have a local vineyard and winery (mid way between the suburban home and the mountains)   as well as a few wineries that make wines from purchased grapes. The Ponderosa Winery products are pretty good but cost more than Chuck's.

Serve a glass of a better wine and then switch to Two Buck.   :-/

I really like a good beer though, preferring Lager over other varieties and dabble in home brewing.

Referrals to $2Chuck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine
http://www.snopes.com/business/market/shawwine.asp
http://www.azcentral.com/home/wine/articles/0410winevintages10.html
and Trader Joe's
http://www.traderjoes.com/product_categories.html

[glenn-k]

That's her favorite store, Don - and yup that's the wine - Charles Shaw- never heard the 2 Buck Chuck line but have now.

I used to make my own beer a bit but quit when my ex-FIL drank it all.

I made one batch that would make you sleep for 3 hours after you drank one bottle.  May have overdone the hops?  :-?

I thought about planting a batch of barley on the mountain here as a winter crop then making my own beer but that would be a major garden undertaking I thnk -- May plant some this year anyway - winter crop grew well as ground cover for erosion control on one of my jobs up here.

[MountainDon]

... a batch of barley on the mountain

That mention turned on a couple seldom used brain cells and reminded me of the 2 bottles (well maybe 1 1/2 now)Mortlach single malt scotch whisky that I've been hoarding for years. Outrageously priced stuff these days.

Growing barley for erosion control could be an idea. Birds would like you too if you didn't harvest it.