The Garden Thread that two people wanted

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

 

[notthatamanda]

My dad has a vegetable garden.  Georgia's had a ton of rain this year, and the result is that Dad's tomato plants are over six feet tall.  His tomatoes are actually bursting their skins because the plants have sucked up too much water for the fruit to handle.

We have had that happen, but not this year. We need rain, desperately. The new berry bushes are very wilted. I am too scared about running the well down to water more than five minutes a day. The established raspberry canes have tons of berries, but they are brown and tiny and I'm afraid they may be done for.

[LilyBLily]

I am so bummed. What I thought was a groundhog (technical term around here: woodchuck) under the shed definitely was one. Saw it sneaking across the back yard to eat my plants. The shotgun is going downstairs and I'm ordering bubblegum. One or the other will get it.

[notthatamanda]

We have the first tomato. Still no rain. 40 minutes south of here it rained so hard the highway flooded temporarily. Heard thunder multiple times Sat & Sun. Did not get a single drop.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

We have the first tomato. Still no rain. 40 minutes south of here it rained so hard the highway flooded temporarily. Heard thunder multiple times Sat & Sun. Did not get a single drop.

My neighbour had two lovely big tomatoes growing. They were on the verge of turning pink. And then the monkeys came  . I had a sprouting potato on the veranda that I was going to plant. Monkeys even gnawed at that. I had to stand guard over my pawpaws with a hosepipe. 

[LilyBLily]

We've had a lot of rain lately so I have high hopes the woodchuck won't mess with my tomatoes. Also, the tomatoes are on the deck and in pots. Although woodchucks can climb, they don't like to. At the old house we had a cherry tree and I've seen a woodchuck climb up it a few feet and then turn and and go down again, clearly uncomfortable with the modest height. Rabbits will stretch as high as possible and I once had a nest in a tall wooden planter, but there's no support on a tomato vine, no place to land. That leaves hornworms. 

[idontknowyet]

We've had a lot of rain lately so I have high hopes the woodchuck won't mess with my tomatoes. Also, the tomatoes are on the deck and in pots. Although woodchucks can climb, they don't like to. At the old house we had a cherry tree and I've seen a woodchuck climb up it a few feet and then turn and and go down again, clearly uncomfortable with the modest height. Rabbits will stretch as high as possible and I once had a nest in a tall wooden planter, but there's no support on a tomato vine, no place to land. That leaves hornworms.

Horn worms have been oddly absent this year. Pickle worms on the other hand.     

I've been pulling several tomatoes out of my garden each day. My sweet potato plants are growing like crrrrrrrrrrazy!

[notthatamanda]

I may have actually managed to grow two potatoes. There is a lot of clover there, but two are different. Never did it before so I don't know. My sweet potatoes are still only about 1/4 inch on the potato, so not ready to put them in the garden yet.

[notthatamanda]

3 tomatoes now. 80% chance of rain. It's so humid and gross out.

Indoors I divided my Peace Palm a couple of weeks ago and they both just flowered. 

[notthatamanda]

It finally rained. Supposed to keep raining on and off until Thursday. Whew. I feel okay to water the indoor plants today.

[LilyBLily]

The tomato plants in pots on my deck needed water three times yesterday. Lots of tiny cherry tomatoes coming, if only the predators won't attack.

The wild black raspberries are nearly done--or maybe I am done with finding ticks on me, which seems to be an inescapable aspect of berrying. I've frozen several pints and wolfed down many more.

The bachelor's buttons I grew from seeds inside and transplanted actually have lived and are about to bloom, and the random cosmos that appeared is blooming again, plus there are tritelias blooming in surprise spots. The daylilies, sprayed over and over to prevent their being lunch for the deer, are beginning to open. A dear friend gave me three cultivated versions years ago and I have transplanted them four times now. These have a compact habit and aren't trying to take over the world like the orange ones common along roadsides. I think that's the kind my mom had in her garden, because they're going like gangbusters at the old house.

It's hot. It's humid. I have to mow again today. Lucky me.

[notthatamanda]

Oh that reminds me, our one Asiatic lily has 6 buds. I should spray it.

Our blackberry bush is looking pretty good, conahura, knock wood. Me and the kids ate raspberries off the canes yesterday. Small but good.

I think I finally eliminated the orange (outhouse) day lilies by the mail box. Took several years of digging each one out as it showed up. I have some hosta there, and I threw some morning glory seeds out there but didn't water them. Maybe I'll call the garden store and see if they have any. They vine up the mailbox nice.

[Maggie Ann]

My orchids seem to be growing like weeds. Even orchids have to keep to social distancing.

I have two vinyl covered closet shelves propped on bricks for good drainage and I keep my Phaelonopsis there. I remembered I had some small shelves for putting canned goods on the pantry, but I eliminated that long ago and put racks up in my laundry room. I got rid of a lot of the shelves but there were three left and I put three of the Phaelonopsis on them. Now I have to figure out what to do with my Dendrobiums.

[idontknowyet]

I brought in a basket of tomatoes today!!!!!
Bet you cant guess what we're eating.

I also found 2 more hornworms. They seem to be coming out later in the season this year. Oh my sweet potatoes are flourishing. Like masssssssive! I'm hoping to get my corn seeds in next week. I have room for 216 stalks. Which seems like way too much for us!

[notthatamanda]

Don't you only get one ear per stalk? Of course it will all come at once.

[idontknowyet]

Don't you only get one ear per stalk? Of course it will all come at once.

I think so. i've never grown it before. I have heard of staggered planting. Though this would allow me to can a bunch of corn which wouldnt be bad at all.

[LilyBLily]

One ear? Nobody would grow corn if that were true.

[notthatamanda]

It highly depends on how the type of corn. On average, corn has no more than one or two ears; some of those include sweet corn and field corn.

However, there are exceptions to the number of ears on a stalk, for some distinctive ones can have up to ten ears. One common type of corn that has this property is that of baby corn, which in itself undergoes a long process of being produced for consumption, as they are often used in salads and dinners.

Source:https://theonesunflower.com/how-many-ears-of-corn-on-a-stalk/

[LilyBLily]

Feed and sweet corn are common crops here and in neighboring states, but I've seldom paid attention to how many ears are on a stalk in someone's field. Whatever corn I've attempted to raise was a long time ago. Did I even get any ears? Can't remember.

Tonight I sprayed all the daylilies and liatris and a bunch of other flowers all over again. Lots of garlic in the spray. The deer are welcome to eat their midnight snacks somewhere else.

[notthatamanda]

We tried corn once and didn't get anything. Corn is planted very densely. We usually do a corn maze in the fall, if not multiple one and I've seen "How many ears per stalk" as a trivia question.

I'm going to coat everything with your egg and garlic mixture when the rain clears out Thursday, but I think I'm going to use my silicon pastry brush this time, see how that goes.

[LilyBLily]

I just used a cheap $1 dollar store spray bottle at first, but the garlic kept jamming the mechanism, so I went to a $5-$10 spray bottle from some hardware or some other "dollar" store. It doesn't clog as much, but it still clogs. However, I am not going to personally regrind the garlic to make it smaller. Obviously my spraying is somewhat haphazard as a result, but it seems to do the job. I can still see the daylily buds this morning.

[notthatamanda]

I think I am going to plant the sweet potatoes. The sprouts off the top of the potatoes haven't gotten any bigger in weeks, despite plenty of sun and the jar staying full of water. It just sits on the deck mocking me. It's going in the potato place today.

Edit - I did it. I pulled what I was absolutely sure was clover. I still have other stuff that may be potatoes or just weeds. I guess I'll find out in the fall. There is really good soil over there, a couple of years worth of compost, the dirt is black. Hopefully I get something.

[idontknowyet]

I think I am going to plant the sweet potatoes. The sprouts off the top of the potatoes haven't gotten any bigger in weeks, despite plenty of sun and the jar staying full of water. It just sits on the deck mocking me. It's going in the potato place today.

Edit - I did it. I pulled what I was absolutely sure was clover. I still have other stuff that may be potatoes or just weeds. I guess I'll find out in the fall. There is really good soil over there, a couple of years worth of compost, the dirt is black. Hopefully I get something.

Wow really? My sweet potato now plants are over a foot almost 2 foot long on some of them. Even the slips still in cups have doubled in size. Did they root at all?

[LilyBLily]

Just keeping up with watering my pots of tomatoes on that hot deck seems like enough outdoor time. We're having a brutal spate of 90-degree weather. It's too hot to attempt anything serious outside but I went out early and did some weeding just to be out of the house. I've been cheered by the sight of 30-40 daylilies blooming each day. The phlox are just starting, and the liatris, and I can see the buds getting bigger on the rudbeckia. I have a bunch of bloomstick alium looking good, and a sixth stalk has come up from my canna roots. Meanwhile the pink echinaceas are blooming and some regular yellow lilies, and my faithful gallardia struggling with inferior dirt. This year we had two big yucca flower stalks, which are just about done. The wild black raspberries are almost done, too. While picking them I've seen numerous very tiny praying mantises, too, which was a treat; one seldom sees the babies.

[notthatamanda]

I think I am going to plant the sweet potatoes. The sprouts off the top of the potatoes haven't gotten any bigger in weeks, despite plenty of sun and the jar staying full of water. It just sits on the deck mocking me. It's going in the potato place today.

Edit - I did it. I pulled what I was absolutely sure was clover. I still have other stuff that may be potatoes or just weeds. I guess I'll find out in the fall. There is really good soil over there, a couple of years worth of compost, the dirt is black. Hopefully I get something.

Wow really? My sweet potato now plants are over a foot almost 2 foot long on some of them. Even the slips still in cups have doubled in size. Did they root at all?

Yes the jar was full of roots but just little 1/4 inch red sprouts on the top of the potato. I stuck it in the ground. Fingers crossed.

[notthatamanda]

Just keeping up with watering my pots of tomatoes on that hot deck seems like enough outdoor time. We're having a brutal spate of 90-degree weather. It's too hot to attempt anything serious outside but I went out early and did some weeding just to be out of the house. I've been cheered by the sight of 30-40 daylilies blooming each day. The phlox are just starting, and the liatris, and I can see the buds getting bigger on the rudbeckia. I have a bunch of bloomstick alium looking good, and a sixth stalk has come up from my canna roots. Meanwhile the pink echinaceas are blooming and some regular yellow lilies, and my faithful gallardia struggling with inferior dirt. This year we had two big yucca flower stalks, which are just about done. The wild black raspberries are almost done, too. While picking them I've seen numerous very tiny praying mantises, too, which was a treat; one seldom sees the babies.

Huh, you must have a different variety of phlox. Our blooms early. Low to the ground type.

[idontknowyet]

I think I am going to plant the sweet potatoes. The sprouts off the top of the potatoes haven't gotten any bigger in weeks, despite plenty of sun and the jar staying full of water. It just sits on the deck mocking me. It's going in the potato place today.

Edit - I did it. I pulled what I was absolutely sure was clover. I still have other stuff that may be potatoes or just weeds. I guess I'll find out in the fall. There is really good soil over there, a couple of years worth of compost, the dirt is black. Hopefully I get something.

Wow really? My sweet potato now plants are over a foot almost 2 foot long on some of them. Even the slips still in cups have doubled in size. Did they root at all?

Yes the jar was full of roots but just little 1/4 inch red sprouts on the top of the potato. I stuck it in the ground. Fingers crossed.

Oh its too early. You need to wait for the sprouts to grow 4 inches above the potato. Then you slice them off close to the potato. Stick them in water for about a week and the slip will root. Then you plant it. They say planted sweet potatoes dont produce as much as slips do.

[LilyBLily]

I have some ground phlox that bloom in the spring, and then I have a weird hybrid, not even two feet tall, white, that bloomed a few weeks ago but won't bloom again the rest of the year even if I pick back the spent blossoms, plus it never reseeds itself and it doesn't grow wider. And then I have my standard tall phlox that Nothing Can Kill (TM), that blooms from now until nearly October, mostly a lovely pink with an occasional Miss Lindgard white one sneaking in. The pink ones are so strong they overwhelm the other colors, which tend to vanish. If the deer don't eat them, these phlox will do their best to take over the world. I have them in with the echinaceas and rudbeckias and some artmeisia, though, and they also are doing their best to take over the world. Not to mention mistflower and various tall weeds. It's a fight to the finish.

I have a few white echinaceas but most are pink. I've seen some interesting hybrids with other colors but I figured the pink would overwhelm them, and anyway, I don't have much room for new plants and certainly no dirt.

I think I discovered that a persistent weed in the front yard is St. John's wort. Maybe 18 inches tall, with a bunch of small yellow flowers. On the whole, I approve of yellow flowers, but I'm getting rid of the mulleins because they are non-native invasives. I pulled out 37 in just one patch--1 main plant and 36 babies. Tilting at windmills, considering they can be found on every other piece of land around here.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Bought a rain gauge and mounted it on the fencing. Now await rain  . But we are in mid winter and we get very little rain, so I suppose we will have to wait until summer 

[notthatamanda]

Oh the flowers look amazing Jan. Jealous. Deadheaded most of the roses and they will bloom again, but nothing right now, save Ebb Tide and Munstead Wood.

Lily - I googled St. John's Wart and we get that here, though I've never seen it flower. Maybe I'll find a spot where I'll let it be instead of pulling it. Unfortunately I tried it once for depression and it just made me feel really weird, so I won't get any use out of it.

[Maggie Ann]

Oh the flowers look amazing Jan. Jealous. Deadheaded most of the roses and they will bloom again, but nothing right now, save Ebb Tide and Munstead Wood.

Every time you have posted a picture of your village, the landscaping looks amazing.

Lily - I googled St. John's Wart and we get that here, though I've never seen it flower. Maybe I'll find a spot where I'll let it be instead of pulling it. Unfortunately I tried it once for depression and it just made me feel really weird, so I won't get any use out of it.

I tried St. John's Wart and it made me feel weird as well. Didn't help either.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Oh the flowers look amazing Jan. Jealous. Deadheaded most of the roses and they will bloom again, but nothing right now, save Ebb Tide and Munstead Wood.

Every time you have posted a picture of your village, the landscaping looks amazing.

Thanks. It's the keen gardener residents who look after the common garden. But we are blessed with living in a sub-tropical climate and just about everything grows in profusion. Lots of swapping of plants and rescuing from the garden refuse areas  .  We are about to start another cacti/succulent garden in an area that has been neglected. Trying to plant stuff that doesn't need much attention or watering once planted. Bromeliads are a good choice and we have those in abundance, but we once planted some near the exit gate and the lady who lived next to it insisted we take them out as they encourage mosquitoes (true, as they hold water  ).

[notthatamanda]

I think after mulling it over, there is a reason sweet potatoes have a reputation as a Southern food.  I may try to get an organic, non sweet potato and try that. My market you had to buy a 5 lb bag but maybe Whole Foods sells them one at a time.

Edit - Morning glories are coming up by the mailbox. This is from seeds that dropped last year. 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I think after mulling it over, there is a reason sweet potatoes have a reputation as a Southern food.  I may try to get an organic, non sweet potato and try that. My market you had to buy a 5 lb bag but maybe Whole Foods sells them one at a time.

Edit - Morning glories are coming up by the mailbox. This is from seeds that dropped last year. 

Do you have a compost heap? I throw all my vegetable and fruit peelings, seeds etc on my compost heap and when I spread the compost I get all sorts of exciting things popping up in the garden. Compost seeds beat bought seeds for surviving every time  . My tomatoes, butternuts, sweet potatoes, paw paws etc. have all been as a result of compost cultivation. 

[idontknowyet]

wow thats lovely!

[Maggie Ann]

I think after mulling it over, there is a reason sweet potatoes have a reputation as a Southern food.  I may try to get an organic, non sweet potato and try that. My market you had to buy a 5 lb bag but maybe Whole Foods sells them one at a time.

Edit - Morning glories are coming up by the mailbox. This is from seeds that dropped last year. 

I get peeled and cubed sweet potatoes from Walmart and they steam right in the bag. I like them so much, I'm giving up my beloved russet potatoes.

[Vijaya]

I think after mulling it over, there is a reason sweet potatoes have a reputation as a Southern food.  I may try to get an organic, non sweet potato and try that. My market you had to buy a 5 lb bag but maybe Whole Foods sells them one at a time.

Edit - Morning glories are coming up by the mailbox. This is from seeds that dropped last year. 

Do you have a compost heap? I throw all my vegetable and fruit peelings, seeds etc on my compost heap and when I spread the compost I get all sorts of exciting things popping up in the garden. Compost seeds beat bought seeds for surviving every time  . My tomatoes, butternuts, sweet potatoes, paw paws etc. have all been as a result of compost cultivation. 

I love these surprises. Gardening has provided many fun magazine stories.

[notthatamanda]

Compost - we have an Earth machine. Things don't really decompose here Nov-March if not for a longer stretch. It gets almost full in the winter, then we bury the stuff in the spring when we turn the garden soil. We get very few things seeding, probably because it is so deep, though I do know that phenomena. Maybe we will try something different this year, my garden is not doing great because of the water situation, and I went out there and weeded a little bit, but my heart isn't in it. The earth machine keeps the rodents down, which keeps it from attracting coyotes.

I probably should just put the compost under a thin layer of soil in the spring and just see what happens. I'm just throwing money away on veggie flats and now, berry bushes.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Compost - we have an Earth machine. Things don't really decompose here Nov-March if not for a longer stretch. It gets almost full in the winter, then we bury the stuff in the spring when we turn the garden soil. We get very few things seeding, probably because it is so deep, though I do know that phenomena. Maybe we will try something different this year, my garden is not doing great because of the water situation, and I went out there and weeded a little bit, but my heart isn't in it. The earth machine keeps the rodents down, which keeps it from attracting coyotes.

I probably should just put the compost under a thin layer of soil in the spring and just see what happens. I'm just throwing money away on veggie flats and now, berry bushes.

Never heard of an earth machine  . I just scatter the composted soil in the garden, or dig it in when I plant something new, or top up pot plants. I've just put some on the lawn to even up a few low spots, so it should be interesting to see what comes up as I'll have to pull out whatever appears, or mow it down.

[notthatamanda]

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=t9C%2beq1H&id=5A1E7B294B248E49CAD9BECDAC9E1B0E43C73938&thid=OIP.t9C-eq1HIBZW7sfKaQQRygHaHa&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fimages.homedepot-static.com%2fproductImages%2f4cf55bca-dde6-4b81-a26c-7f76f2feb6f5%2fsvn%2fthe-earth-machine-composters-npl-300-64_1000.jpg&exph=1000&expw=1000&q=earth+machine+composter&simid=608031961559532314&ck=8F9D3ADD9D65DA5E14454FA8EF40941F&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

Wow, long link, hope it works. Our recycling commission buys them in bulk and we can buy them for the discounted rate. I think mine was $35 US and it was retail for 100 back then. The town pays a tipping fee for trash and per pound for recycling, so anything to keep stuff out of the waste to energy plant saves us money.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=t9C%2beq1H&id=5A1E7B294B248E49CAD9BECDAC9E1B0E43C73938&thid=OIP.t9C-eq1HIBZW7sfKaQQRygHaHa&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fimages.homedepot-static.com%2fproductImages%2f4cf55bca-dde6-4b81-a26c-7f76f2feb6f5%2fsvn%2fthe-earth-machine-composters-npl-300-64_1000.jpg&exph=1000&expw=1000&q=earth+machine+composter&simid=608031961559532314&ck=8F9D3ADD9D65DA5E14454FA8EF40941F&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

Wow, long link, hope it works. Our recycling commission buys them in bulk and we can buy them for the discounted rate. I think mine was $35 US and it was retail for 100 back then. The town pays a tipping fee for trash and per pound for recycling, so anything to keep stuff out of the waste to energy plant saves us money.

Thanks for the link. We have a worm farm that produces 'worm wee'. The worms eat kitchen vegetable and fruit refuse, but there are certain things you can't put in, I think onions are a no no, and citrus.  It stinks, but is very good for the soil. 

[notthatamanda]

Ha ha, we call it compost tea. Some people have indoor worm composting here. Most of them have a spouse who is into it and a spouse who is not.

[idontknowyet]

I really want to learn about worm castings they are supposed to be insanely amazing... So far we just have a couple of compost bins.

We've decided to move all our raised beds to another spot of the yard. Going to do the ones without sweet potatoes now and move the ones with in oct before we plant our fall garden.

[notthatamanda]

You can mail order worms and throw them in your compost bins. They eat everything and poop the black compost stuff. When I am digging for edging or anything and find a worm I put it in my earth machine. I wonder if worms think of that like winning the lottery.

[notthatamanda]

Because I don't know when to quit I went to Whole Foods and bought one russet and one gold organic potato. Cut them up to dry out on the counter over the weekend and I will plant them next week. I am now convinced there are only weeds in the potato place, but I do have a zucchini coming up among the berry bushes from the buried compost.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

You can mail order worms and throw them in your compost bins. They eat everything and poop the black compost stuff. When I am digging for edging or anything and find a worm I put it in my earth machine. I wonder if worms think of that like winning the lottery.

The worms in our worms farms are not ordinary earth worms. They come with the worm farm when you buy it. One of our residents is in charge of our one and dishes out the worm wee to anyone who wants it (and who can put up with the smell  .)