Garden 2024

[blissful]

We bought another push mower, assembled it and almost got the lawn cut at least once, well, almost done. We had three storms come through, one at 9 am, so dark we had to put on lights in the house and quit mowing. Then we repeated that pattern at 2 pm with another storm. The doozy 3rd storm was at 8 something tonight, he was at the bee meeting and I headed for the basement for 2 tornado warnings. When I came up from the basement there was hail piled up against the bottom of the pots on the deck.

(there are tomato transplants outside which probably took a bit of a beating) At least we have electric and the buckets on the deck are full of water.
We keep saying we'll plant some early seeds in the garden but it keeps storming and not drying out. We'll have to brave it, wet or not pretty soon. The garlic is tall and beautiful.

 

[dragnlaw]

I wasn't aware that Wisconsin even got tornado s and so evidently does Minn. (but not as many) I've only seen one. Had my van full of kids, just come off of the Skyway Bridge in Hamilton. It was raining so hard many were pulling over. All of a sudden in the side view mirror - clear as a bell and quite a distance back - I saw that black funnel. Scared the bejeepers out of me. I kept going and I guess it was the right thing to do because it either turned or was never coming towards me.

All that to say, I'm glad you're safe bliss, and Mr bliss and hopefully all your little buzzing bliss's.

 

[blissful]

@dragnlaw, we get quite a few tornado warnings every spring/summer/fall. We've had tornadoes going over, flattening the field behind us (microburst), moving a 12x12 shed, blowing out garage windows 2 houses down, and a barn roof lifted off 3 miles down the road. A little town 5 miles from us had major home damage, many houses just a few years ago.
I don't like being in the basement through tornado warnings, it's kind of cold and I can hear the hail hitting the basement windows (they aren't big windows). What I really didn't like was being alone during the storm, because I'm obviously 5 years old somewhere in my soul.
Thank you for asking, the hives were all upright after last night, yay!

 

[larry_stewart]

Quick question. If you cut off a carrot top, and put it in water, it will develop roots and the greens will grow ( you won't regenerate a new carrot). My questions is, will the greens ultimately flower and produce seeds ? I got this carrot from the Asian market, and it was huge. I'd love to have seeds to plant in my garden. I starred it a few weeks ago, and the greens are like 6 inches tall already. I want to place it in a pot or the ground in hope it will go to seed. But if its not going to happen, no point in wasting my time.

 

[caseydog]

I wasn't aware that Wisconsin even got tornado s and so evidently does Minn. (but not as many) I've only seen one. Had my van full of kids, just come off of the Skyway Bridge in Hamilton. It was raining so hard many were pulling over. All of a sudden in the side view mirror - clear as a bell and quite a distance back - I saw that black funnel. Scared the bejeepers out of me. I kept going and I guess it was the right thing to do because it either turned or was never coming towards me.

All that to say, I'm glad you're safe bliss, and Mr bliss and hopefully all your little buzzing bliss's.

I believe I read that every state gets them. Texas gets the most per year, on average.

I've only seen two. One was small and weak down in Port Arthur. The other was an F5 that leveled half of the town we lived at the time in Ohio. It actually started in Indiana, crossed the river into Kentucky, and back across to Ohio. It was part of the infamous Tornado Outbreak of April 3, 1974.

The scary thing about Texas tornadoes is that much of the state has unstable clay soil, so basements aren't feasible for homes.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

Larry, put in the garden somewhere and forget about it. No waste of time - let it do it's own thing - works or won't. Most waste of time for you will be walking past it once in a blue moon to see it is alive.

It was in the 50's I lived in Minn. ... don't think they had a warning system yet! LOL.

 

[KatyCooks]

Okay, my 6 strawberry plants are still alive. This is good. (I have never grown strawberries before, so for me this is quite amazing. I ordered them online and when they arrived, I was quite disconcerted to basically have some muddy roots to deal with!) Anyway, I put each chunk of roots into little pots and all six now have leaves and look pretty healthy. They are about 2 - 3 inches high.

I hope we are finally past frosts, and they are now hardened off as I have left the lid up on the cold frame, so what do I do now? And how do I keep the slugs off them? (I don't use chemicals.) Also will they do okay in a "dappled" sun environment or do they need full sun to develop decent tasting fruit?

 

[taxlady]

Okay, my 6 strawberry plants are still alive. This is good. (I have never grown strawberries before, so for me this is quite amazing. I ordered them online and when they arrived, I was quite disconcerted to basically have some muddy roots to deal with!) Anyway, I put each chunk of roots into little pots and all six now have leaves and look pretty healthy. They are about 2 - 3 inches high.

I hope we are finally past frosts, and they are now hardened off as I have left the lid up on the cold frame, so what do I do now? And how do I keep the slugs off them? (I don't use chemicals.) Also will they do okay in a "dappled" sun environment or do they need full sun to develop decent tasting fruit?

I have read that some people put out little cups or bowls of stale beer. Apparently the slugs really like beer, but they drown in the little containers of beer. I think they are supposed to be partially buried in the soil around whatever plant you are trying to protect.

 

[blissful]

Quick question. If you cut off a carrot top, and put it in water, it will develop roots and the greens will grow ( you won't regenerate a new carrot). My questions is, will the greens ultimately flower and produce seeds ? I got this carrot from the Asian market, and it was huge. I'd love to have seeds to plant in my garden. I starred it a few weeks ago, and the greens are like 6 inches tall already. I want to place it in a pot or the ground in hope it will go to seed. But if its not going to happen, no point in wasting my time.

Sure why not? It should put out seeds and the roots won't be like a regular carrot this year. Next year those seeds should give you what you want! My only frustration with growing/harvesting seeds (which I do a lot), is that they take almost a full season and I'm not the most patient person I know.
Do it! I love a good experiment in the kitchen or garden.

 

[KatyCooks]

I have read that some people put out little cups or bowls of stale beer. Apparently the slugs really like beer, but they drown in the little containers of beer. I think they are supposed to be partially buried in the soil around whatever plant you are trying to protect.

I have no ground to plant at the back which is entirely paved (where I was planning on putting the strawberries in pots). But actually this raises another question. In theory, I could plant them in the front - it would be a lot cooler and would get cooler but more constant morning sun - and they could be planted in the ground. Would that be a better environment for strawberries? (It is much more exposed and the ground soil is pretty poor but free-draining.) Or I could put them in pots in the front I suppose? I literally have no idea!

 

[taxlady]

I tried growing strawberries. The squirrels bit or out and out ate all the berries. I like the squirrels, but I'm not putting that effort into feeding them.

 

[larry_stewart]

Sure why not? It should put out seeds and the roots won't be like a regular carrot this year. Next year those seeds should give you what you want! My only frustration with growing/harvesting seeds (which I do a lot), is that they take almost a full season and I'm not the most patient person I know.
Do it! I love a good experiment in the kitchen or garden.

I'll keep you posted. All the carrots I grow ( or I should say try to grow) are pip-squeaks. I want something with some mass.

 

[blissful]

I tried growing strawberries. The squirrels bit or out and out ate all the berries. I like the squirrels, but I'm not putting that effort into feeding them.

We tacked some netting over ours after they provided a few meals to chipmunks or squirrels this spring already!

 

[Kathleen]

I put some lady bell peppers in the ground along with scattered marigolds. We have had a lot of rain....a lot of rain. The tomatoes seem gleeful. The garlic and onions look horrible though. Heartbreaking since they looked so good last week. Does anyone have suggestions?

I did get all of the beds weeded.

 

[taxlady]

I put some lady bell peppers in the ground along with scattered marigolds. We have had a lot of rain....a lot of rain. The tomatoes seem gleeful. The garlic and onions look horrible though. Heartbreaking since they looked so good last week. Does anyone have suggestions?

I did get all of the beds weeded.

What are "lady bell peppers"?

 

[larry_stewart]

I put some lady bell peppers in the ground along with scattered marigolds. We have had a lot of rain....a lot of rain. The tomatoes seem gleeful. The garlic and onions look horrible though. Heartbreaking since they looked so good last week. Does anyone have suggestions?

I did get all of the beds weeded.

The only issue I ever had with garlic was over watering/ poor drainage. Took me a 2 years to correct, but the affects didn't really show until a few weeks before normal harvest time. It showed itself by having premature yellowing of the leaves. Other than that, I've never had issues. What's making them look horrible ?

 

[dragnlaw]

Yeah, me too. What are "lady bell peppers"?

 

[Kathleen]

The only issue I ever had with garlic was over watering/ poor drainage. Took me a 2 years to correct, but the affects didn't really show until a few weeks before normal harvest time. It showed itself by having premature yellowing of the leaves. Other than that, I've never had issues. What's making them look horrible ?

I believe it is the multiple days of down-pouring rain. The leaves have yellowed a lot on the garlic. Some of the areas around the ground are brown. It was not that way before the rains. Same with the onions. They were little but perky. Now they are all sagging over. Perhaps I need more compost or organic matter in the dirt but am not having issues with anything else.

Yeah, me too. What are "lady bell peppers"?

It's the type of bell pepper that I found this year in my search for a good all-around pepper. In years past, I have tried many varieties of bell peppers. They produce but not by much. In theory, a lady bell is supposed to do well in small gardens and produce heavily even though it maxes out at 3 feet or thereabouts. It is also supposed to have a thinner hull than many other varieties. It's a hybrid....so....another experiment.

 

[rodentraiser]

When I was still living in Bremerton, the nearby Navy base had an active shooter drill and they let off a siren. I hadn't lived in Minnesota for 45 years at that point and I still damn near picked up the mattress to bring it into the bathroom. Old habits die hard.

Welp, my yard is seeded and now I'm watering. I bought two hoses, one 100ft and one 125 ft, and three sprinklers, and I guess the best I can say is running all over the yard might actually lose me some weight this summer.

I was told to water an hour at a time three times a day. Instead I'm going for two hours in the morning because it's been in the mid 80s for the last two days. Going to drop 25 degrees in the next day or so. But if I watered three times a day, I'd have the water running all day long. As it is, I move two of the sprinklers to new patches and I'm still missing a section or so. I have to figure out what to do about that.

So the guy that seeded my lawn carried my sofa into the shed. At least the cat can't use it as a scratching post. But I left the side of my little enclosed-by-netting yard open so he could do that, meaning to close it up the next day. I was too late.

Some deer got in and chewed down one barrel of strawberries, decimated the tomato plants, gnawed on the willow tree, and stripped off the leaves to the blueberry plants. The fence is now up and just to be safe, I also rolled netting around the plants inside the netting.

I don't know if the tomato plants will survive or if I have to get new ones. All that was left were stems and one plant was pulled completely out of the bucket. So I combined the 3 tomato plants I had bought and planted seeds (yes, I know, a little late) for a different kind of cherry tomato plant called Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato. I'd forgotten I had those seeds.

I think the strawberries will come back, though. I thought they were all dead when they arrived but a little water, a little sun, and bam! They're growing almost as good as weeds. I also remember getting carrots seeds and was going to plant those tomorrow, but now I can't find the packet.

My blue mist plants are doing fine and I finally noticed some leaves on the azalea plant. One of them. The other one is dead. But I think the live one needs more sun, so I'm going to move that one. And the pampas plant is still looking dismal. I think it's gone.

 

[pepperhead212]

I got the basil and epazote out of my cloner today, and planted all of them. I then put in some cuttings from the sage, marjoram, spearmint, and peppermint for my friends, and the only tomato of mine that got broken off - one of 2 Atomic Fusion plants - and I'll try to root it, which is usually easy. I could also root a couple more basils, for my friends.
Cloned basil, the two on the left, Dolce Fresca, the other four, Spicy Saber, showing the roots. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cloned Red Oaxacan epazote. Not quite as rooted as the basil, but they will take off still by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Later I planted the eggplants - just one Long Purple, and 2 each of Ichiban, Asian Delight Hybrid, and Matrosik, the last one the only non-Asian variety.
Ichiban eggplant, planted on 5-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Asian Delight hybrid eggplant, planted on 5-13. A little sunscald on one leaf, but otherwise good. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Matrosik eggplant, planted on 5-13. Many more spines on the stems than others I've grown, but too early to see the calyx, where I usually see them. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Long Purple Eggplant, planted on 5-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Earlier, I saw the first flower buds on several of my tomato plants! None open yet, but both of the Sunsugar and both of the Juliet plants have well developed flower clusters, and one of the Early Blue Ribbons; a few others with tiny buds, but I had to almost strain to see them! I expect to see some open soon. I didn't see any buds on Oaxacan Jewel yet - I looked, because the last two years they have been the first of the larger varieties, ripening before 7-4, but I wasn't looking to see when the flower buds appeared.
First tomatoes with flower buds, 5-13. Juliet and Sunsugar first two so far, and Early Blue Ribbon the only one of larger types, with any buds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr