GARDENING

[Mt_Rider]

We've generations of "rock hounds" in our family.  My mom...me....DD1 all look at the ground while we walk.  Around here it is quite interesting.  Never know what I'll find.  The irritating part is that while I find dozens   ....er, hundreds    of INTERESTING rocks....DH is the one with the big finds.  And he's not even trying!  We have 2 gorgeous [football-size]  white quartz rocks and he found one rose quartz .  Pretty.  He's found other specimens that we display too.  A disadvantage in moving.....ususally dump most of my rocks.  ....I keep a few tho.  And shells from Maui....   

 

MtRider 

[kappydell]

Our lettuce is all picked, the broccoli too (we are trying to humor the broccoli and keep it from bolting all at once).  Our pole beans love the warm weather and frequent rains, as do the peppers and tomatoes.  Got our first cherry tomato today!  The onions are making blooms - will I still have bulbs to dig?  Don't know, this is a first for me.  Was looking for topset onions and walking onions to play with, but they are always sold out where I buy them.  Maybe next year.  The sweet potatoes are starting to take off, also the collards and okra.  This is my first 'southern' garden, so we are learning as we go.  Our notes so far say "lettuce bolts fast in spring, start new plants in autumn and try for a winter crop"  Ditto the broccoli.  Kale so far is hanging in there, just pouting a bit.  Jerusalem artichokes are coming up nicely.

I am finding new edible and medicinal wild things more and more.  Looking forward to harvesting some of the 'new' local weeds & invasives.  Have spotted several wild bamboo patches on the roadside (don't want to transplant that to my corner though, it is very invasive and I don't need plants that are trouble.  Already got those - smilax, for example, is invasive enough.  Not transplanting the pretty orange butterfly weed from across the street, either - poisonous!  

[The WE2's]

Only letting the "wild garden" do it's thing.  Did find a variety of Comfrey so I split the roots and put them in there.  The Wooly Lambs Ear (? i think?) that I picked up from "a certain place" seems to be doing pretty good.  The wild asparagus is doing great and I'm just letting it go.  The Yarrow, Mullein, Echinacea etc., are deciding on what they want to do.  The potatoes have some blooms so we probably have a few new 'taters...but I'll wait til the green dies out and then we'll dig them and see what we've got.  Had about 6 volunteer Kale come up...figured God planted them so pressure canned some of it as well as a some Lambs Quarter.  Got a patch of Lambs Quarter that I can probably jar up a real nice bunch.  We did find a new way to rid ourselves of weeds along the front ditch, the driveway etc....it's a propane weed burner torch...we got ours from Harbor Freight for about twenty bucks.  Weed eaters are good but sometimes you want something to stay dead for longer than a week!  

[TheCG]

FYI - when you leave the basil plant inside the house while you leave town for 1.5 weeks, it gets a bit cranky and dehydrated.  It's been pruned, water, and set in the sun for a bit until it gets hotter out.

[Jeepers]

I've seen those propane weed burners. They look like just the thing for a sidewalk, patio or driveway around here.

 

Every time I see one it reminds me that I'd love to have a flame thrower....nasty neighbor looked at me yesterday.  Wooooosh. Gone. 

[TheCG]

2 hours ago, Jeepers said:

I've seen those propane weed burners. They look like just the thing for a sidewalk, patio or driveway around here.

 

Every time I see one it reminds me that I'd love to have a flame thrower....nasty neighbor looked at me yesterday.  Wooooosh. Gone. 

This is why hubby has not yet received permission to get a flame thrower.  That, and the whole desert/drought/fire thing.

[Annarchy]

Flame thrower....    Not in AZ.  Too many fires going now. 

 

The heat is now taking it's toll on everything. 

 

The little apple tree got about 8 inches tall, then, started burning up.  It's trunk is still pliable, so I take the time to put a shade screen over it in the morning and remove it when we water in the evening.

 

The tomatoes are producing.  If I can keep the birds away when they just turn yellow, I'd be a happy camper.  Then, there is the sun baking them.  Nice and cooked.    The zucchini is slowly dying.  The tomatillos are producing slowly, but they like the heat, and the potatoes seem to be doing well.  A few plants have flowered and are still nice and green.  The birds ate the watermelon sprouts and all but two cantaloupe sprouts.  Radishes, pumpkin and the new batch of carrots are getting their permanent leaves.  I still have to harvest and can the beats. 

 

 

[Ambergris]

Kappy, have you heard of Madagascar limas?  I hear they are short-lived perennials that love heat and humidity.  And taste good.  Perennial limas--I have to try them.