2021 gardens

[Dotch]

Picked what I hope are the last of the string beans tonite. Of course if I yanked them all out & tossed them over the fence to the sheep I could all but guarantee it!  Picked the first two fall snap peas. They were down low on the plants & if it rains like they're talking they would've been in the mud. OMG were they sweet! They were the Fleet Farm special el cheapo variety too so can't wait to see what the Cascadia's & Sugar Daddy's taste like. All 3 varieties are blooming so hoping the rain and cooler weather brings them on. Radishes too. The winter radishes like the red meats and German giants would really benefit from a good rain and cooler weather.

   

[Rebel SS]

Nuttin' better off the vine than sugar snap peas! Well, maybe an Early Girl..

[mike89]

green and yellow beans too!!!   

[glenn57]

green and yellow beans too!!!   

ya beat me to it!!!!!!!!!   

[Rebel SS]

                                 

[KEN W]

How do you manage to get peas to grow in the fall without getting Powdery Mildew on them? I finally gave up trying because they always got it?

[LPS]

We planted green peppers in our earth box on the deck again this year.  They do great doing that.  There are so many peppers on it there is hardly room for leaves.  Beautiful peppers too.  When we planted them in our raised bed garden they didn't do well at all.

[Dotch]

How do you manage to get peas to grow in the fall without getting Powdery Mildew on them? I finally gave up trying because they always got it?

Might be more by accident than by design here. Both the Sugar Daddy & Cascadia varieties I planted have good resistance to powdery mildew. I have no idea on the el cheapo variety I planted but so far so good. In the new garden area they're in full sun all day. Even with the heavy dews they dry off quickly. When I planted them in the old garden area that had full sun only part of the day, they tended to avoid it on the fall planted peas. Spring planted they were in trouble by July especially in wetter seasons. Too much shade. 

[Dotch]

Finished freezing the last of the string beans last nite. Looking forward to having them over the course of the winter. Wondered about the wisdom at first of taking the time to freeze them when they're on sale sometimes in the store for 3 packages for $5. When I was blanching the beans I taste-tested them. If they taste anything like that when they're fully cooked it'll be well worth it. Never had store bought beans that tasted that good.  More radishes to process tonite after I get rid of the dipstick coming to get a lamb. 

[Gunner55]

The advice we got from the guy runnin the veggie stand in GR was spot on. The extra water
 he told us to give 'em got rid of the BER on the tomatoes & we're still picking quite a few. Although they're not ripening near as fast the last week or so with the cooler nights. Might even have to can some or we got a salsa recipe from the neighbors wife we might try too.

[Rebel SS]

Locals are sayin' cuz of the drought, apple crop is way down. The local orchards here don't have the pick'yer-own this year, just the already bagged becuz of the "shortage''. Stopped at a local country orchard the other day for some and  squash. Honeycrisp there were $15 a bag....  Guess I'll wait and do the single ones at the grocery store. 

[mike89]

my apple tree didn't produce as much either...  Aldi's has honeycrisp, at least they did up here...  price seemed ok... 

[Gunner55]

Aldi's up here had at least a couple different varieties a week ago too, didn't look to see what kind they were though.

[Rebel SS]

I bought four nice shiny ones there yday....  I noticed they come from a local orchard too....Honeybear Farms of Elgin, Mn. 

[roony]

Our honeycrisps have been small but tasty.

[Dotch]

Same here Art, at least the ones the squirrels haven't plucked. We had a few SnowSweets but they've suffered the same fate.  Had diddly squat on the Haralson tree so think I'll head to Johnson's orchard at Lemond some weekend when they're open. Talked to the owner a few months back & sounded like they'd have some. Lived here 36 years and never been there. Place is only 4 or 5 miles up the road so would be a nice stop on a weekend cruise. He's got a restored apple red Ford 1/2 ton pickup, ~ a '53 I think. Pretty little unit.

Harvested more radishes last nite and checked on the progress of the winter radishes. They're starting to make a move although appears I'll need to water them if we don't start getting more rainfall. The snap peas are looking like we'll have a picking soon. They too might benefit from a light watering. Will be tossing the string bean plants over the fence so I won't be tempted to pick any more. Found a couple last nite & promptly ate them. Also found about a half dozen more eating size cucumbers! 🥒 Tossed another 15 - 20 overgrown ones I found under some squash leaves that hadn't died back yet. The sheep were happy campers this a.m. Checked on the progress of the greens patch I broadcast seeded. Aside from the purslane scattered around in it, there's some interesting looking salad making material. Some more white globe radishes scattered around in it as well. Just thinking about all the money I'll save on stool softener this fall...

 

 

[LPS]

Our garden will disappear on Saturday.  Was a good run.

[Bobberineyes]

I accidentally let our string less green beans get away, picked several batches as they came but last week their were lots to grab and I let em get too big. Grabbed another ice cream pail of maters yesterday,  2 acorn squash ( 5 smaller ones left yet) and enough red serranos with a few red jalapenos to make some sauce.  Lots of green hot peppers yet hanging, if they don't change looks like I'll have green hot sauce then. Didn't have any used sauce bottles so some 1/2 pints had to do.

[Dotch]

Picked a quart bag of snap peas last nite. Just stuffed them in a bag w/o cleaning the blossoms off. Could try to freeze some if there are enough I suppose but they're so tasty fresh, doubt they'll last that long. 

[Rebel SS]

I like those whacked up in a loaded salad....gives it some crunch.

[Dotch]

That's a great idea Rebs. Some of my salad greens are getting about ready to harvest, even tho I have no clue what some of it actually is...

[glenn57]

That's a great idea Rebs. Some of my salad greens are getting about ready to harvest, even tho I have no clue what some of it actually is...

yea ole Rebs does come up with a good idea every now and then!!!!!!!!

[mike89]

        

[Rebel SS]

Well! I'll just pretend I didn't hear that! 

[glenn57]

Ok fella experts, I need an idea, thoughts on this. Spring of 2020 I pulled this stump out of the lake up north along our shoreline. As I was letting it dry out I had a brilliant idea hit me. I brought it home, hollowed it out and put a hen - n- chick in it just like you see now.

Come fall a double bagged those grocery store plastic bags, packed it with leaves, put it over the top and bungee corded it around the stump.

Do this spring it looked pretty tough and died. Not sure if it had something to do with shadow chewing on it, the long stretch of bitter cold we had or just plain didn't get any air

Should I just leave it be or try covering it again??? And with what!

[Dotch]

I would put some KATCHUP on it and see how it tastes! 

Harvested some radishes last nite. They are yuuuuuge! Some approaching baseball size. Sweet but with a nasty bite. 

[mike89]

I would put some KATCHUP on it and see how it tastes! 

Harvested some radishes last nite. They are yuuuuuge! Some approaching baseball size. Sweet but with a nasty bite. 

interesting sounding taste!!!   

[roony]

Say Dotch, have you ever eaten those tillage radishes? A couple years ago I dug some up at a in a neighbors field (with an invitation of course). I thought they were very good.

[mike89]

neighbor planted them in his fields and we tried eating them, very good!!!   

[Dotch]

I grew daikons (tillage radishes) a few years back. They were OK but didn't keep well. Have had red meats keep well into March. The daikons tended to break off when dug & were bland flavored compared to the red meats (watermelon radishes). I liked the texture of the latter better as well. More crisp like a kohlrabi & sweeter in flavor initially with the radish bite following. Still letting them grow a while before harvesting to let them get full sized & flavored. Seems like a couple hard frosts help their cause. Also have some German giants that I'm letting enlarge.

What I've been harvesting so far are early August planted spring radishes, white globe & cherry belle. There's also a purple radish, sweet something or other, that I won't plant for fall again. Sorta woody & not anything special other than their color to me anyway. This project has been interesting. Where they're a tad too thick & I harvest those that are ready, the plants left behind come on rather than bolting with a little watering. The daylength & weather cooling down probably has a lot to do with that.