GARDENING

[The WE2's]

After much study, we're staying away from ducks...too noisy and messy.

[The WE2's]

The garden's doing pretty good. We didn't plant this year for a big harvest or canning session. We planted because we needed to work our beds back up and start the B2E section. We're sure enjoying the greens and berries though! Wanna see?

[Annarchy]

Awesome!!!

 

Looks so green and lush.

 

Congrats!

 

 

My garden is dwindling. Harvested the last of the first planting of beets and the last of the radishes. 1 gallon of radishes and 2 1/2 gallons of beets.

 

I am hoping to keep the tomato plants alive until it cools off, hoping they will produce in the fall. High hopes. The radishes I left in the ground for seeds have been stripped clean by the birds. No biggie, I hope they enjoyed the seeds. LOL.

[Daelith]

Looks great WE2!

[Jeepers]

Wow We2's

[Ambergris]

Annarchy, do you ever snap off the crotch sprouts and root them?

[Annarchy]

Annarchy, do you ever snap off the crotch sprouts and root them?

Um, no? Will they root in water?

 

Here's a pic of my heat stroked tomatoes.

 

[Annarchy]

The purslane plant in front is growing fairly good.

[Mt_Rider]

Ouch, Annarchy. Those are not happy tomatoes. Could you do a part time expedient "swamp cooler" for them....perhaps during the part of the day they aren't in the sun. Or even during the night.....like applying night moisturizing cream... Something to increase their humidity. Hang soaked burlap bags around them? [lotta maintenance but you've got such a good start!]

 

This is what happens sometimes here too. No matter how much you water, the AIR SUCKS THE PLANT MOISTURE right out. Desiccates it.

 

PS....mulch... I see you have straw. You might try to deepen the mulch and put it everywhere. That way the sun isn't baking the ground only inches from your plants....cuz their roots are probably spread out there. Lots and lots (several inches if you can) of mulch that can hold the moisture. {somewhat hold the moisture....} Even if it's shredded newspaper.

 

MtRider

Edited July 1, 2016 by Mt_Rider

[Annarchy]

Lol, Mt_Rider, "night moisturing cream". That's priceless.

 

They are located behind our porch swing, with a sheet for a cover from the sun, and the misting system on the porch swing mists them too.

 

It has just been too hot. I'm thinking, if I start the seeds in November in pots in the house, maybe the plants will be big enough to produce before summer wipes them out.

 

All the gardens in the area that have tomatoes are burnt on the edges. Typical and not unexpected for our area.

 

Lol, sunscreen?

[Twilight]

I would move the rocks, which will hold heat and put cardboard behind them if that is a metal fence they are close to. In the heat of the day, put wet card board boxes or wet excelsoir,above them, which would provide moisture and shade.

I remember one hot summer every thing was scalding. We put white sheets over the tomato cages and over other plants.

Your plan for a late garden sounds like a winner too.

[Annarchy]

Thank you for the advise Twilight. I will try it.

 

This is the second time I used that area. A couple of years ago, they grew great, but then, it wasn't this hot that year. The rocks line the walk way. "Proper planning prevents poor management... " and I failed. lol

 

I am planning on planting tomatoes in a different area next year. More room for the roots, ( I dug 2 foot down and mixed a lot of straw and mulch in the soil ) and more shade during the day.

[Annarchy]

Question: If I save the seeds from that one tomato, do you think the plants might be more heat tolerant?

[Twilight]

Yes,they will be acclimated to your area/climate/soil. I was just out looking at my volunteers. They are very healthy,2 plants are volunteers from a plant of 4 years ago. They look so much better than the plants from seeds I planted this spring.

That is just one reason to save seeds

[Mt_Rider]

Annarchy.....is the tomato variety an open-polinated type? Then the answer is quite possibly. But the other factor is that it might have been early enough to have beaten the heat. Any of them that do survive this would be good candidates for seed saving.

 

If it's a hybrid variety....don't bother saving seeds. Wildly unpredictable results from 2nd generation from hybrids.

 

 

MtRider .....you've got an experiment in survival going there, Annarchy!

[Annarchy]

Thanks Twilight.

 

The seeds were heirloom, non- gmo, Mt_Rider.

 

Now, I am wondering if I can transplant them.

[Jeepers]

If they are heirloom plants they should made 'true' and maybe even better. Being heirlooms, I'd definitely save the seeds.

[Mt_Rider]

Yes...agree on the heirloom seeds. Can save seeds and still eat most of the tomato!

 

Look up the root shape for tomatoes....see if it's small enough to transplant into a pot and bring inside till it cools off a bit? Would the furry ones leave it alone? Might be a good experiment for one or more.

 

MtRider ....would be a shame to lose them now.

[The WE2's]

I would move the rocks, which will hold heat and put cardboard behind them if that is a metal fence they are close to. In the heat of the day, put wet card board boxes or wet excelsoir,above them, which would provide moisture and shade.

I remember one hot summer every thing was scalding. We put white sheets over the tomato cages and over other plants.

Your plan for a late garden sounds like a winner too.

 

Awesome advice Twilight!

[The WE2's]

Sometimes container gardening is advantageous because you can move them wherever you need to, out of storms/scorch etc. :-)

[The WE2's]

It's been raining all day so the garden is getting a good soaking and the rain barrels are full. Yesterday we looked and there loads of more blackberries coming on and don't see any new raspberries "yet". While MrWE2 was assisting son put a hitch on his car I fiddled around in the garden and let Abby-girl in. The first thing that red-head did was head for my berry bushes! So...back in her part of the yard she had to go :-( The cabbages don't look too bad. They're growing a little but maybe this rain will encourage them to get with it! I stretched knee-hi panty hose over the heads to protect them from insects and it seems to be working. Got lots of blooms on the cukes, zucc's and yellow necks but no bearing yet.

[Jeepers]

"that red-head"

[Ambergris]

 

Annarchy, do you ever snap off the crotch sprouts and root them?

Um, no? Will they root in water?

 

Here's a pic of my heat stroked tomatoes.

 

image.jpeg

 

Sometimes they root like crazy in damp sand. Sometimes they don't. Determinates, of course, there's no point trying. Indeterminates will produce again when the weather breaks in late August, and produce on until the killing frost. This has actually worked for me maybe three times (maybe twice,,,) in the dozen or so times I've tried it, but I have elderly friends who did it every year, with decent results.

[The WE2's]

Picked our first Okra this evening :-) It's in a baggie in the freezer and I'll add more. Got lots more coming on. Also picked a nice tomato and another Roma. Berries are still arriving but it appears that the raspberries either ripened real quick and fell to the ground...or somebody has found our berry patch :-( It's not birds...we've found that the owls, the vcr tapes strung around, the wind spinners and the shiney $Tree garlands work wonderfully! Pruned off the bottom of the pepper plants and the swish chard. Picked more Kale and it's in the frig. We love that stuff in our eggs with some onions, sausage and garlic :-) My speghetti squash is looking wonderful! Got some bush bean pods too :-) The 2nd batch of pole beans? Gone and we'll not be re-planting them again. Next year we'll probably just totally re-locate them to another part of the garden, maybe fence off around the big bay window so Abby-girl can't get at them, and try them there...all by themselves. Lots of blooms on the zucc's, yellow neck & cuc's too :-) Even though we got a very late start, and lot's of hot weather with little rain, and only able to water periodically AFTER we got the rain barrels up...the garden is trying to make our work worthwhile :-) Won't have enough to do any major canning but that's okay. I jar up what we can. This was a re-builting garden area anyway. This coming spring will be different :-) I like planting only what I know we'll eat :-)

[Homesteader]

I need to cut back my Elderberry more in the Spring! It's turned into a tree this year. This is a York, but the Adams died both times from the supplier. I think the York is doing well all by itself. I need to get one of these over to Cat.

 

The strawberries were stressed this spring due to my lack of watering. I've always struggled with sandy soil even though I've added lots of mulch. The raspberries, on the other hand, have survived much better. The roots also go deeper. I was inspecting my grape arbor and was met by an angry Robin. It didn't take long to find her nest. It's a bit low to the ground with all the feral cats around here. I couldn't wait any longer so I harvested some small beets and potatoes. I remember my grandfather would dig around in the ground, looking for the first red potatoes. The kohlrabi are getting woody quickly so I'd better water them some more. Our bees enjoy the butterfly bushes near their hive. The girls start out collecting nectar close to the hive in the morning and then venture out farther during the day. Our beekeeping friend said that the girls can make up to 50 trips per day. No wonder they don't live very long. We know who does all the work, don't we. :wink (2):