Gardeners of AW, unite

[shakeysix]

we don't have skeeters this year. one of the perks of a prolonged drought and heat wave. the little bastards just withered up and blew away. i'm just in to pour ginger ale for the g-daughters. we are watching the big yellow moon instead of disney. they are okay with it--s6

[CalebJMalcom]

agreed on no mosquitoes. It's the only blessing for the drought. I live near a wetland area and a river so usually they are horrid. Not this year. I can walk around my yard with no bites.

[shakeysix]

we had a huge thunderstorm last night. we could see the lightning on all sides but could not believe that it would actually rain. but rain it did. buckets. we stood on the front porch and laughed until our pajamas were soaked. this morning is cool and breezy. my potted porch plants are all perky. usually wilted by this time of day. i will still water trees and roses this evening, but they are looking much better too.
the storms started in seward and morton counties, in the south west end of the state. they usually fire up from southwest to northeast. hope some makes it to johnson county and north eastern ks. it doesn't mean the heat is over but a nice break--s6

[HistorySleuth]

Glad to hear you got rain!

Here are 2 more garden pics. Aren't my cucumbers huge! I'll have more than enough to do pickles. Behind those is a shady area where I'm making a writing Feng Shui. In the bottom pick there is a random sunflower growing. Figure a bird dropped it in?

[blacbird]

Ate some snow peas and snap peas in a pasta primavera tonight, and did similar with some ravioli and garden zucchinis (stripy green and bright yellow) yesterday. Plenty of lettuce and accessory greens, along with some good herbs (chervil, cilantro, dill). My cucumbers, alas, all died a month ago, for reasons unknown, but which I ascribe just to sadness at the endless cloudy skies and rain.

But I have magnificent potatoes, way too many, growing. They'll produce tubers in about a month. 3 varieties, 1 big white baker type, 1 red-skinned, yellow-flesh type, and a great purple variety called All-Blue. And I've eaten good broccoli and a kohlrabi in the past few days.

We get our first frost in 6-7 weeks, snow 2-3 weeks after that. You southerners can bitch about your heat until then.

caw

[Teinz]

It's been a while. Time for an update, I guess.

Most of the potatoes have gone. Boiled them, baked them, mashed them, I cooked the hell out of them.

The longest day has passed, so endive and cabbages have gone in. Slugs were having a fieldday so I had to sprinkle some anti-slug pellets.

Planted my strawberries for the next year.

Oh, someone want some beans? I got polebeans by the bucket. It's like the Hulk is growing in my yard. I guess I'll put them in the fridge from now on, been eating them for two weeks.

The grape has produced a nice amount, now they need to ripen. My two berrie bushes are finally empty, or almost. The rest of them I'm gonna leave for the birds.

Somehow my beetroot has done nothing. I've sown two rows and only got about four decent size beets out of it. Anyone got some tips?

Before I forget, anyone know of a method to kill an ivy, without resorting to extreme measures, like poison?

Anyway, here's a few pics.

Greetings guys!

[Fenika]

Everyone's plants look so happy and amazing.

I have gone from three zucchinis to one sick one I caught the borers a little too late, but saved the other summer squash, which keep growing down the hill, such that I can't get through that corner of my garden. (Thank goodness for BT- organic sprays ftw).

I've planted a few more zuc plants in hopes of getting some in October and maybe November. I'll make them a little greenhouse/coldframe and make sure the damn borers don't get them. Live and learn.

There was a podcast on poison ivy removal. I remember wet soil and pulling out slowly to get the roots well, then repeating if needed. If it is in an out of the way area, you could try mowing it and then a black plastic or clear cover for the rest of the season. With the clear plastic, the idea is to bake the soil and kill the rest of the plant, but black plastic might be better, depending on how insistent the ivy is. Regardless, once you take off the plastic, healthy soil organisms return quickly and you can help them with a little good soil or compost.

[Shadowflame]

Hey all.
Summer's been a pain for my garden. First the deer, then the hot/dry weather, now mildew on my squash.
Luckily I just looked up how to control/eradicate it. Milk seems to be a product of choice along with a solution of baking soda. I'll try the milk first and let you know how it goes.

[Fenika]

Any gardeners out there? I'm going to try lettuce under lights then transplant them to a hoop house.

Also, the perennial peppers are doing great and the remaining peppers are ripening slowly in my sunroom. When spring comes they will be ready to make many many peppers.

[shakeysix]

The seed catalogs are coming in--always on Santa's heels. I haven't made any major decisions yet--just thumbing. I do have a packet of lettuce seed on the ready but I won't try them indoors--they would become a cat salad bar--s6

[Fenika]

I got a catalog before xmas and I also leafed through, undecided.

I might focus on peas, beans, celeriac, peppers, and squash once things warm up. I learned a lot about celeriac this year, which is good.

[shakeysix]

eggplant--my success these last two years has been eggplant. never could grow it before. i'm looking at a miniature that is container grown. the catalog says it is great for grilling. catalogs--who can trust them? --s6

[aliwood]

The Spring bulbs are already showing! Damn garden, it never stops

I'm still not really sure about this year. I've got a lot of clearing up to do still from this previous year. A lot of what I have is already established so even if I don't plant anything new hopefully I'll still get quite a bit out.

i really do need to prune my trees though, or next door will get my apples!

[Hip-Hop-a-potamus]

Jealous of anyone growing anything at this time of year. Still under several feet of snow, and that won't change until at least May.

But I can buy some growing trays and potting soil and think of spring when I can start my seeds.

{{{sigh}}}

[Fenika]

I have an aphid explosion on my indoor peppers. Guess I'll be giving them a shower in the bathtub. I have to bypass the water softener first...

Luckily my big pots are light since you aren't supposed to overwater overwintering peppers. We'll see how light they are when I'm done blasting aphids...

[TedTheewen]

Seed catalogs came out this week. Lots of good stuff. I wish I had a place to plant.

[weavergirl]

I've been covering the tenders at night this last week, as we've been getting down into the 30's. I'm pretty sure the veggies are going to make it through, my good sheets, not so much.

[Fenika]

Ted- because it's winter or bc you lack space?

Weaver- tenders of what?

I was flipping through a plant and seed catalog yesterday. I want all the things.

In a few years I'll have a farm with a greenhouse and garden and small orchard. I'm saving up. And the greenhouse will be epic.

[TedTheewen]

I live in an apartment. I hope to have some land, too. I want to plant everything and make it all magical. I need to win the lottery.

[weavergirl]

Fenika-
I cover the winter squash plants, though I forgot one night and they look pretty puny at the moment. Still, they are growing, if slowly, so I'm hoping by spring I'll have some nice tasty squash.
The tomato always gets a cover. If we nurse the tomatoes through the winters, we can keep them growing a couple of years.
Everything else (garlic, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, potatoes.. I forget what else is out there) will manage except on the very coldest nights.

[Fenika]

Originally Posted by TedTheewen

I live in an apartment. I hope to have some land, too. I want to plant everything and make it all magical. I need to win the lottery.

Start saving! Having no land is dire.

Weaver- I am so jealous of your weather now. And yes, I've been in Arizona in the summer. I didn't know tomatoes were perrenial too.

[Vortex Theory]

Perennial tomatoes, huh? I live in the Sacramento area and I've kept tomatoes alive into late November, but then the first frost killed them. I didn't cover them, but that's because I thought they'd die anyway. Also the tomatoes themselves didn't ripen after about mid-October, there just wasn't enough sunlight.

I thought I wanted a big yard until I got one and had to maintain it. I try, it's just an overwhelming task to take care of a quarter acre when you work 40 hours a week. I do dig up a section of the lawn every year and plant a modest summer garden of tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers and jalapenos - mostly because I refuse to pay supermarket prices for vegetables that grow so easily here. And because you can let the zucchini get huge, then stuff them - delicious!

[weavergirl]

The last tomato plant I had I kept going for a little over three years before it was too leggy to mess with anymore. The thing was the size of a small car. I got so much fruit off of it the last year that I was bringing bucketsful to work and passing them out to everybody I met. I felt like a tomato pusher. (hey, buddy the first one is free, after that, yous gotta pay me)
So cover them in the winter and if you live in extreme climates, shade them through the hottest part of the summer, and you can have fresh tomatoes almost year round.
Now if I can just figure out why summer squash refuses to grow for me. I mean really, what is easier to grow than summer squash????

[Kricket]

Hello all!

I have a couple gardening questions and y'all look like a knowledgeable bunch.

I saw this idea online about using old baby food jars to plant herbs. I want to try this but I'm not sure what to plant. I'm also worried about giving the plants enough light. Any suggestions?

Also, I now have a little spot of earth that I want to use outside. I'm undecided if I want to try vegetables or flowers there. I'm not sure what grows best here in Colorado.

Thanks guys!

[Fenika]

Vortex- replace most the lawn with easy to maintain native plants

Weaver- did you check for borers in the vine? Or whatever those stupid evil caterpillars are.

Originally Posted by Kricket

Hello all!

I have a couple gardening questions and y'all look like a knowledgeable bunch.

I saw this idea online about using old baby food jars to plant herbs. I want to try this but I'm not sure what to plant. I'm also worried about giving the plants enough light. Any suggestions?

Also, I now have a little spot of earth that I want to use outside. I'm undecided if I want to try vegetables or flowers there. I'm not sure what grows best here in Colorado.

Thanks guys!

Jars? Sounds like trouble. Try old 3" yogurt containers and drill some holes

Most plants we eat need 6-8 hours of direct sun. Indoors that means an east or south window with no shade. Outdoors you might have to measure it in the spring, making sure you get good morning sun (though I only get good morning sun in midsummer.)

Read some basic gardening books from the lirary so you can learn basic tips like dont overwater, dont water too shallow, and dont compact the soil.