Veggie Tales - May 2018

Jamie

6 years ago

I'll start... Happy May Day!

Featured Answer

14tomatoes_md_7a

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Dill harvesting -- how to get the best and the most:

1) Overseed in large pots (7+ gal) a couple of hundred seeds per pot in early Spring (I overseed mine 1st of April).

2) Early May they'll 'carpet' the pots. Once they get 6-7" tall (mid May here in MD) harvest with scissors the dill half way -- you only want the tender 3-4" tops.

3) Then go back with the scissors and trim all stalks to within an inch off the soil. This prevents any bolting for months. Keep harvesting 3-4" tops, and cutting down stalks to 1" till August. In August I let them grow wild -- I use the crowns for pickling, and end of season I pull and wash all roots and freeze them, for Best Pickling flavor next year!

First dill harvest -- 2 lbs today 5-16-2018. Froze two 1 gal freezer bags, and kept a quart bag for fresh use in the fridge.

Tony

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

before harvesting

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

after harvesting, dill stalks trimmed to about 1"

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (592)

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Jacob - that's a nice looking garlic bulb. It looks like a hardneck type. Had it scaped yet?

htwo - eeeewwwww! What are you using?
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
Htwo- I think we did a combination of baking soda, vinegar, and peroxide when our pup got sprayed. He didn’t get a direct hit though...
Related Discussions
Veggie Tales - January 2018
Q
Comments (218)
Chris, Farmers' Almanac, I think, has our frost dates as April 14 and October 22nd. I think Dave's Garden is a bit more accurate from experience, at least for our area. I very much like their moon sowing articles and guides, and their growing guides are very informative. Their weather forecast always seems to be fairly good as well considering how far in advance it is made. I guess the groundhog has predicted 6 more weeks of winter. I have a feeling this spring is going to be very sporadic, as it has been all winter. I kind of hope that it won't be like spring in 2014 where we woke up to 2-3" of snow on May 3rd. Not saying we'll get that, but the point is how sporadic that spring was. It was awful screwy lol. I notice they're calling for drought this summer as well. We had a very wet/cool summer last year, hardly topping 80 other than a few exceptions, such as late July, early June, and late Sept., mainly because all it did was RAIN!! I wouldn't mind a break from that so that Septoria Leaf Spot goes down, but I won't wish for what I don't want. Drought could cause quite a few other issues. I worked on my "greenhouse" a bit. It hit 40 today, and the temperature inside the cover while being vented ever so slightly was about 70-75 F. Once the sun got off it this past evening it maintained 55-60 F. Not bad! I'll definitely wait until mid March to sow warm weather crops like tomatoes and peppers, once the daylight hours reach 12 hours, much more ideal for those, rather than our current just above 10. I have started Rouge Grenobloise lettuce, Rocky Top mix lettuce, Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, peas for salad leaves, mustard greens, collards, and kale for hopefully putting out in early March under cover. I'd love to be picking when most people are planting greens in late March/early April around here. I love the Rouge Grenobloise lettuce, because, not only is it cold tolerant and delicious, but being a Batavian, I can start to harvest lower leaves 4 weeks after it's put out, continuously picking throughout the spring. It's much better than, say, 1 pick from iceberg. Norm, I bet gardening in zone 10 can be nice. I like the break that winter brings for planning, seed ordering, etc., but being able to grow all at this time of year outdoors would certainly have its perks. Of course, the really long summers would probably be a pain, considering how many cool weather crops we eat. Good luck on your garden this year. Mulch would probably be a good idea. Keeping that soil cool would be another benefit of the mulch, which would probably help you grow more cool weather crops if the summer comes on too quickly.
...See More
Veggie Tales - June 2018
Q
Comments (588)
I potted up the second wave of micro tomatoes this morning (all but 4, I ran out of pots) they all look pretty good except that the Elfin seedling is leggy - in spite of having the same lighting conditions as the other plants. The first Elfin I tried had (and still has) the same issue. The first two Orange Hats and the first Elfin (my sun counre decorated the pots with shredddd newspaper and I was too lazy to pick it out for the photo - I guess he through they needed mulching). That spindly, leggy plant in the distance is the first Efin. I’m feeding them with Schultz Liquid all purpose Plant (10-15-10) food. I am going to use some reflective garage door insulation to add some reflective surfaces to the sides of the shelves. I also placed the pots on disposable aluminum oven rack liners to help reflect some light back onto the plants. That’s a north-facing window also, so the plants won’t get any bright, direct natural light. They will be relying totally on the grow lights. You can’t tell from the photo, but i have a double row of lights on that shelf with the majority of the plants (4 bulbs total) those pots were $0.97 each at Walmart. I was going to order some nursery pots online but these seemed to be sturdier and were more convenient - and I think they were a bit less expensive. This is going to be a fun experiment.
...See More
Veggie Tales - July 2018
Q
Comments (428)
And the rest of it: CANNING & PROCESSING The recipe for pressure canning originally specified 1/3 cup vinegar and copies of that recipe are still available on the Internet. Pressure canning salsa has not been tested, therefore it is not officially recommended. If you wish to pressure can the salsa, you must include a full 1 cup of vinegar. Processing time that is currently used by some is 10 lbs. pressure for 30 minutes. Adjust for your altitude (see below). Because salsa is eaten out of the jar without heating and includes low acid vegetables such as garlic, onions and peppers, it is one of the riskier products to can at home due to two factors: the pH or acidity level (the normal cutoff point for boiling water bath vs. pressure canning is a pH of 4.6 and salsa can edge very close to that) and the density of the product. The salsa should be thin enough for the liquid portion to thoroughly suspend the chopped vegetables so the very center of the jar heats up to the same temperature as the outer portion next to the glass during processing. If you want it thicker, puree it AFTER you open the jar. DO NOT puree before processing - this would affect the density. Or, add a thickener such as Clear Jel or cornstarch AFTER you open the jar. DO NOT add other low acid vegetables before processing, such as corn or black beans. Only add them after you open the jar. ADJUSTMENTS If you live above 1000' in elevation, you need to calculate your altitude adjustments for both boiling water bath (BWB) and pressure canning (PC). As your altitude goes above 1000 feet the atmospheric pressure is reduced. This causes water to boil at temperatures lower than 212 degrees Fahrenheit. For safety in water bath canning, you must bring the contents of your jar to at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit. To compensate for the lower boiling temperature at altitude, you must increase processing time. For this salsa recipe, BWB times at altitudes of (per the Ball Blue Book): Up to 1000 ft. Processing time is 15 minutes. 1001 - 3000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 5 minutes to 20 minutes total. 3001 - 6000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 10 minutes to 25 minutes total. 6001 - 8000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 15 minutes to 30 minutes total. 8001 - 10,000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 20 minutes to 35 minutes total. Adjustments for pressure canning can be found in the Ball Blue Book or on their website. Do make sure you know the altitude where you do your canning. People that live in Denver know they are in the Mile High City and have to make adjustments, but portions of cities like Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma City are all above 1000' and it may be something you're not aware of and need to be compensating for. DO I HAVE TO USE BOTTLED LEMON JUICE? The pH scale runs from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkaline). Each increment from 0 to 14 is 10 times more acidic/alkaline (remember the "magic" number of pH 4.6 for BWB vs. pressure canning). pH testing on fresh lemons ranged from 2.20 to 3.20, so one variety of lemon or even an individual lemon grown in a different orchard might be 10 times LESS acidic than another. Bottled lemon juice, which is processed to a standard acidity, is used for testing in recipes and is also pasteurized, therefore it also will not create any further enzyme reactions in your canned goods (per the folks at ReaLemon a couple of years ago). Note: Bottled lemon or lime juices are only called for when canning borderline pH foods (tomatoes and salsa usually). If you are making jams and jellies with high acid fruits (any fruit excluding Asian pears, bananas, mangoes, figs and melons), feel free to use fresh lemon or lime juice. Do I personally like using bottled lemon juice? Not particularly, but when a canning procedure SPECIFICALLY CALLS FOR IT, I use it without questioning it. A very good explanation is in this publication from North Dakota State University -"Why add lemon juice to tomatoes and salsa before canning?" Especially note the different pH values of individual varieties of tomatoes (and there are thousands more varieties). For the more science oriented, this 2004 paper from the NCHFP:
...See More
Veggie Tales - December 2018
Q
Comments (388)
stacy You have a real challenge there, trying to grow heirlooms and not having control over what's around your own space. My uncle ran a community garden here 35 years ago and I had a plot there for two seasons. I've been fighting blight for about 8 years. I've found that I can grow tomatoes in a new plot, and I can lower the problem, but not totally eradicate it by rotating crops. But it's apparent to me that you must rotate crops if you want to grow heirlooms today. I grew 10 different beefsteaks, a yellow pear and a yellow Kellogg's Breakfast tomato last year. I had two plants, each of most of those. I've decided that I won't buy transplants in the future. So I grow my own from seed I saved, although I do add varieties from purchased seed. I've also decided to stick to heirlooms as much as I can, because it gives me the ability to save seed and in many cases they're the best tasting varieties. I intentionally set 4 tomatoes out in mid June with the idea that I may get the big tomatoes that I seem to get in the first flush. That worked great. The plants were the last to start showing blight and it was minor. This year I plan to repeat that and try setting out a plant in the 3rd and 4th week of June. It's my opinion that what you learn growing heirloom tomatoes will make you a much better gardener with your non heirloom varieties. If you can grow heirloom tomatoes you can grow anything! Grow at least a few in the middle of your plot, while leaving room for a few next year.
...See More
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
Heather - great pics!! Your garden looks great and the squash is going crazy! I'm sorry to hear about the skunk spray :-( I've unfortunately never owned a dog and not sure the best course of action there. Hope you can get the smell out soon! Also I hope the maters pull through ok!

itsmce - beautiful broccoli and wow, a squash already?? Still waiting for my plants to break the surface haha.

Kevin - wow! The garden is looking incredible. Next year is going to be exciting, since you'll have more time to plan and everything will be completed.

That Bonchi plant is looking really good! What size pot was it in and what size are you transferring it to?

Jacob - pretty nice first garlic!! Looks like you're just about there. Garlic harvesting is one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately I think I'm going to have a good deal of disappointing heads this year. The area I planted them didn't get as much sun as I thought and the plants looks like they might be leaning and don't have a nice thick stalk. They are starting to send up scapes though!

Steve - the cauliflower looks great! I'm curious to see how those sweet potatoes do between the garlic. Seems like there are a lot of non-believers out there, and even though it seems like it might be troublesome, I hope it turns out alright for you! Would be pretty darn incredible.

Tony - that's quite a whopper your son caught there! Wow! All these fishing pics are making me want to grab my Ugly Stik and get out there!

Jack - are you growing any H-19 Littleleaf cukes? Or have you? Curious to see what your harvest totals were per plant. I'm trying to increase my cucumber production this year, so I can make some pickles.
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
Chris - I grew H-19 littleleaf one time 3 years ago in a now defunct bed that didn't get much sun and had tree roots growing into it so I wouldn't put much into my results but they didn't produce much at all. I do remember the plants were short and leaves were tiny so they would be easy to find and harvest.
htwo82
5 years ago
I used baking soda, peroxide and Dawn. Roscoe had to go to the groomer to get shaved, he was so bad. I forgot to wear rubber gloves, so it's soaked into my hands. Blechhh!!!
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
Thanks, Jack. Hopefully that was just because they were competing with a tree for nutrients and had limited sun lol. What variety of pickling cukes do you usually grow?

Heather - yikes!! Sorry to hear that. Hopefully the smell dissipates quick!
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
Good Luck, Heather
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I picked and ate my first ripe tomato today... a sun gold cherry. I’ll get a second one tomorrow. The big ones are still a few weeks away from getting ripe.

My cucumbers are blooming now and most of my winter squash is as well. I’ve been manually picking squash borer eggs off the vines as I see them. I have lost count of how many I’ve picked off but I got way more than a dozen from one butternut vine. I either use my finger or a little stick to scrape them off.i was swatting at one adult SVB moth yesterday, but she got away before I could smash her, again

So far, no sign of squash bugs at all. Maybe the late frost we had and the cold spring got most of the hibernating adults... but I still expect them to show up at some point.

my peppers are doing ok, and growing fairly well but I’m not exactly pleased at the moment with their progress. I’ve a,ways had somewhat bad luck with sweet peppers for some reason. Hot peppers grow well for me though.
jacoblockcuff (z5b/6a CNTRL Missouri
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Jack, it's actually an Inchelium Red soft neck I bought off a lady here locally (I think she lives in Hindsville). I was excited to get it from her, being that since she has grown it here for years, I know it's very locally adapted. Really, I'd read it couldn't take zone 6 winters, but it has done great (even with multiple nights down around -8 in January). It made some of the best alfredo we've ever had!!

Chris, you and I both share shade problems don't we? Most of my garden gets crappy sunlight all winter and until April. Then it gets full sun.....and then shady in Sept. leading to full sun in Oct. Over half of my garden space is unusable for fall crops because it's in full shade by mid August. Those same areas get 8 hours in June....It drives me nuts!!!
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Holy cow I went away for work for one day and my garden basically exploded overnight...

blackberry bush is loaded

Watermelon is starting to really take off. This is one of four plants

Tomatoes needed to be tied up to our trellis/fences.

I put in some tomato cages to use for tying up peppers

Half lb of snow peas and half lb of strawberries, also second cut of dill a la Tony’s method.

Set up a bean teepee for the blauhide pole beans:

I may have oversowed the cukes...
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
deleted double posting
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Kevin - your garden looks so good it is worthy of posting twice! That is a lot of cucumbers! Are you planning to thin them a bit?

Heather - I hope the skunk stink wears off all of the affected quickly.

Jamie - I've never had that big of a problem with SVB up here. It sounds like you are in a real battle! I bet that first sungold was fantastic after so many months without. They seem to get even sweeter as the plants mature, My pepper plants aren't growing real fast either but the ones that were topped are pretty loaded with fruit. I need to get out this weekend and hit them with some TTF.

Chris - I've settled on just growing Vertina pickling cukes from Johnny's now because they are so productive and really stay crunchy after processing. I put in 2 - 4' trellis this year with 6 plants on each and I expect over 100 lbs. from them. Over the years I've grown Boston Pickling, National Pickling, H-19, County fair, Alibi, Jackson Supreme, and a couple others I can't remember right now.

Jacob - Now I remember that you were growing softneck garlic down there. I might try one next year. There is a market grower that grows 6 or 8 different hard necks and a silverskin softneck that I can get seed stock from in August. I may end up replacing all of my garlic stock this year if my own are below par like I am expecting right now.

I had a lazer lightning show just to my south on the way to work this morning. It looks like the storm is moving across my garden right now but the heaviest rain is staying to the south. I got out and tied up all of my tomatoes to their cages last evening. All of them are putting on new fruit pretty well but so far the Pork Chop and Orange Jazz are lagging a little behind the others. I did have a 'casualty' on the Carbon plant when I knocked off a quarter size fruit when tying up a limb.
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
You’re lucky, Jack! Fortunately, we usually have time to plant a second crop in case the vermin decimate the frost crop haha
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
Getting caught back up on the rest of the thread from earlier in the week.

Jack - sorry for the double post - not sure how that happened. Yea, I am trying to decide on how much to thin the cukes out... They are spaced just about every 6 inches right now. I am going to have the same type of trellis as I did for the tomatoes (one row of 6' welded wire fence attached to t-posts). Part of me wants to let them go wild and just try to train and prune them to get a 'wall of cucumbers' but that sounds easier said than done. Glad to hear youre getting lots of new fruit on most of the tomatoes. Do I remember correctly that O.J. was a late bloomer for you last year too? I got my gallon each of TTF and Vegetable formula yesterday so I'll be doing quite a bit of fertilizing this weekend too.

Tony - glad to hear you had better luck than me on your fishing trip! Stripers are fun time especially when they are hitting like that.

Heather - your garden is looking great! Just don't take pictures of the weeds, that way we wont know they are there! ;-). We also get hounded for pickles by friend and family (partly why I'm trying to grow an intensive cuke crop this year). We primarily make bread and butter but I may try dill this year with all the extra dill we've been harvesting and freezing.

itsmce - great broccoli, pea, and zucchini! Glad to hear you got rain that your garden deserved!

Jacob - that looks like you are going to have some nice garlic bulbs this year. I am growing the same variety... maybe I'll pull an experimental plant this weekend to see how they look.

Chris - the bonchis were in small pots, I'd say the ghost chili was in a 1 gallon volume and the hab in less than 1/2 gallon. They got transplanted into 8 gallon grow bags. I don't think I'll be fooling anyone with the bag's labels ;-).

Jamie - glad you got your first tomato - Im sure it was delicious! How long have you had the peppers planted out? I've found they just 'sit' for a good month or so when I plant them out, then they start to take off. Much different than tomatoes which just seems to rocket off as soon as they see the extra soil space.
cindy-6b/7a VA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Jacob - I also grow Inchelium Red. It's my favorite soft-neck. That's a nice bulb you have.

Heather, so sorry to hear about your dog. Hope things are getting better.

Kevin - Your gardens look great!

Everyone's gardens look great!

I'm in mourning here. I lost my Afternoon Delight tomato plants. They were not that sturdy to begin with but now they have passed. Too late to start seeds, too. It's been raining every day again. Even my basil is not happy.

And we have another flash flood watch going on today.

But my Issai Kiwi is looking the best it's ever looked. It's loaded with blossoms, some of which are already small fruit.
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
Oh no, good luck, Cindy!
jacoblockcuff (z5b/6a CNTRL Missouri
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Cindy, your weather sounds like it was for us last year. We had monsoon rain from April through June, with a brief dry spell in July. Then it came back in August only to end come Sept. The advantage: Summer tempe rarely hit over 90, and we enjoyed some absolutely beautiful 60 degree days in August. Cons? Fungi were horrible last year. Hopefully it'll quit for you guys.

How long does it take for spinach to produce seed? It's been bolted for 3 weeks now and the seed is still not ready in the plants. I'd like to clear it for some summer beets at some point!!
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have the day off today and went on a little garden tour this morning.

Butternut and spaghetti squash trellis. I have some acorn squash, straightneck and zucchini in the other bags. I didn’t see any undesirable squash vermin this morning!

Blackberries

Georgia Candy Roaster and potatoes

Mostly cucumbers and a couple of sweet potato vines

Our tomatoes are growing pretty well

These are he hardy kiwis that I got from Baker Creek the male is growing fairly well (the one in the middle) the other two female vines and they are lagging the one in the foreground almost died, but it has come back from the brink. I’m still hopeful for these.

Lots of flowers (male and female) on these burgess buttercup squash
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
And I must have hit the limit on the number of photos in the last post ...

overall view

in other news, April 2018 was the third coldest April for Memphis on record, and this was the hottest May on record.
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago

Cindy - My condolences on the Afternoon delight plants! That's a variety I've not heard of. The Kiwi looks great! The east coast has really taken a pounding in the last few weeks. I bet you and your garden could use some sunshine about now.

Kevin - I can't remember if OJ was late to set fruit last year or not but according to my notes I harvested the first one only a few days after the first Big Beef. They need to get some more fruit set in the next week because our forecast is showing pretty consistent mid 90 highs starting next Thursday that might shut them down.

Yeah, I think training the cukes will be a challenge. Even if you are diligent they will spill out into your paths eventually and grow into the next bed. I don't think that thinning the plants will really prevent that. This is only 6 or 7 plants IIRC.

Garden pictures · More Info
htwo82
5 years ago
Thanks for the best wishes, everyone! Everyone survived (barely) and the smell was much better this morning. I let the dogs sleep outside last night because I'm certain that the skunk sprayed inside the garage. I know they were thankful because they only barked once all night.

Cindy, I'm sorry to hear about your tomato plant. It's heartbreaking. I lost a roma and am mourning as well.

I agree that everyone's gardens are looking awesome!! I love this thread!
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
Jamie - congrats on the Sun Gold! They are just so darn delicious. It's usually a slow start for ripe ones, but then boom! Everyday.

Your house, yard and garden are something out of a magazine! Stunning!

Hope you can keep the SVB at bay. You sound like me hunting for Cabbage White Butterfly eggs on my brussels sprouts last year lol.

jacob - that does sounds annoying!! The main garden gets more sun now because the maple tree had to be taken down, but I built 2, 3x10' beds and positioned them on the border of the property, thinking the area would get full sun, but I learned otherwise. It's really the only other spot I could've put raised beds, so I should just be happy I have extra growing room. I may need to designate those beds to just leafy greens and some root veggies.

Spinach is a very unique. It's dioecious, which means there are female plants and male plants. I've never tried saving seed, but I would like to someday. I'm not sure how to identify both, but hopefully you have male and female plants. How many do you have that are bolting?

Kevin - the garden is looking so good! I love how you have the tomatoes setup. It's really a beautiful garden!

Jack - that's right, I keep forgetting the variety. You said you use Mrs Wages mix for the pickles, right? I think a nursery not too far from me sells that and pickling supplies.

Haha - love the bags though!

Cindy - sorry to hear that about your Afternoon Delight tomatoes :-( Hope everything else does well and the kiwi vine looks great!

You're in VA? I feel like you keep getting hit with rain!
cindy-6b/7a VA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

I am also growing Orange Jazz, however it's one of the plants I forgot to label. That happened with three plants. Being air-headed.

Jamie - Our April also made the record books this year for being cold. May is being more wet than hot.

Heather - it's tough saying good bye to plants, especially when they are ones I really wanted to try.

Jack - Afternoon Delight is another Brad Gates tomato. Think it came out in 2017 though I may have the date wrong.

https://wildboarfarms.com/product-category/new-releases/

Those are some huge cucumber plants!

One good thing about this cooler weather, the asparagus is still going strong.
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
Chris - yes I mostly use the Mrs. Wages kosher dill mix but I've also used the non-kosher dill, bread and butter and sweet pickle mixes as well. They are all good! Around here pretty much every grocery and Walmart sell their most popular mixes. You can buy them on amazon as well.

Mrs. Wages Amazon

Heather - I'm glad things are smelling better around your place. Did the skunk get into your garage? Was it during the day? A lot of time seeing a skunk during the day indicates it may be rabid. Be careful!
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
Cindy - Brad Gates sure does breed some beautiful and interesting tomatoes. I need to try some more of them.

The cukes did get a little out of control last year and I made the mistake of putting fencing up 8' high on the trellis so it was a challenge to harvest from the top. I had to leave a step stool out by the garden for them. I cut the top 1' off the fencing over the winter.
Jamie thanked LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
htwo82
5 years ago
Jack, it was between 7am - 8am, but unsure of any other specifics. I was at work and my husband called to tell me he thought Nala had been sprayed. I took off immediately and rushed home to find that Nala did stink, but the garage stunk WAY worse. It sprayed in or very near the garage. I'm thinking Roscoe found it first, took a spray to the face and Nala came to see what the fuss was about. Poor Roscoe was so bad he had to be shaved from his eyebrows back!!

Me and our 5 year old were out in the garden yesterday chasing off those white butterflies with the black dots. We weren't successful, but the 5yo had fun doing it, so I guess that's all that matters. I did pick off several worms from my brussel sprouts, so it looks like they've already attacked. I also spent a few minutes picking stink bugs off the zucchini plants. Even the chickens didn't want them!
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Jack - your cuke trellis in that photo is what - 2 or 3 feet wide? If I did 3 plants per linear foot of trellis I could maybe get away with 36 to 40 plants total for my 'wall' as its around 12 or 13 feet long. I was thinking having some additional plants might be helpful if any of them get knocked out to wilt but I suppose if the cuke beetles get some they will probably get most or all.

I counted around 60 plants in my row right now so maybe I'm not extremely overcrowded, yet.

I'll be sure to keep the fence to reachable height - that's a good point.
htwo82
5 years ago
I just have to share... We did some coop decorating Tuesday night, for the girls.

They were trying to force them to eat their weeds.. LOL The girls weren't impressed!
Steve Lng Islnd NY Z-7a SunSet Z-34
5 years ago
My chickens will eat anything green.

The SVB is my nemesis, I'm hoping that the enviromesh keeps them away this year.

Question, how do you know when Cauliflower is ready to be harvested?
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
Jamie - somehow I missed your beautiful garden pictures. It all looks so healthy and happy! You should be very proud. :-)

Heather - Cute kids! Chickens are so picky when it comes to what weed leaves they will eat but when they go to seed they are all over them (except dandelions). Are those RIR hens? I bet Roscoe will enjoy having been shaved when the real heat arrives any day now.

Kevin- the trellis is 4' wide and I thin the cukes out to about every 6" so 6 or 7 total. With your trellis down the middle of the bed you could thin to 8" with a row on each side so around 18 plants on each side of the trellis. In other words your total of 36 to 40 sounds about right. I'd try to get the trellis in before the plants get much bigger.
Jamie thanked LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Steve - Cauliflower won't get much over 6-7" heads IME so use that as a guide and If they appear to not have grown in size for 2 or 3 days they are probably as big as they are going to get. Cauliflower holds better than broccoli but if left too long eventually the curds will loosen up.

If they look like these from my 2017 garden they can be picked at any time. The white one at the top looks like I left it a day or 2 longer than I should have,

Garden pictures · More Info

Garden pictures · More Info
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
Jack - thanks for the link!

I was using an 8ft trellis for cukes last year too, but I angled it to keep it within reach. This year I'm going to have to do the trellis upright, so I'll take a foot off the top of the supports that hold the netting. I think I spaced my cukes at like 6" last year and I'm not sure if that reduced production. I sowed Straight Eight and H-19 Little leaf in a 6-ft row and I'm contemplating what spacing to put them at.

Heather - those blasted Cabbage White Butterflies!! That is a never-ending battle with them. They lay eggs everyday.

Haha "Chicken Nuggets", that's pretty funny.

Seems like a bunch of us are growing Orange Jazz this year. Will be cool to see what kind of monsters we all get.
htwo82
5 years ago
@Jack - Yep, Rhode Island Reds. We get 2-3 eggs a day, thank goodness cause I just can't do store bought eggs anymore. And yes, Roscoe will definitely stay cooler!

@Chris, I used to be so innocent.. seeing the beautiful butterflies and thinking "aww, how cool"... Now I look at every single one as if they will murder my plants if I don't kill them first! LOL.
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
5 years ago
Chris - YW, until I looked on Amazon I didn't realize how many different mixes they make.

6" spacing shouldn't reduce production on the cukes if they are well fed, watered and there is ample sunshine but you might give them more space in a shaded bed.

Strangely enough I haven't seen any cabbage butterflies this year and there are no worms on my broccoli yet. I'm sure they will be here soon but my broccoli will be pretty much done within a week except the side shoots.
Steve Lng Islnd NY Z-7a SunSet Z-34
5 years ago
@Lonejack, thank you. I've got some harvesting to do, a few heads have already started to loosen up
cindy-6b/7a VA
5 years ago
Jack - Those are really nice cauliflower heads! I grew them this year and the largest one for me was 3" across. First time growing them and I was late getting them in the ground.
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Jack - I may space them at about 8" since I'm growing more than last year. I wasn't terribly pleased with their production last year, but maybe they weren't given ideal conditions or I wasn't privy to their yield potential lol

Is that second pic of the Cheddar cauliflower from this year? What size are your heads approximately right now? My cauliflower still hasn't shown signs of heading up, so I think that might be a failure. I believe the variety is Denali. I have 3 broccoli plants that are heading up now and they are gradually growing in size. I think the 2 biggest are currently at about 2-2-1/2".

Heather - Haha! It's a constant internal battle for me on killing garden pests. I do respect nature, so I'm typically inclined to let it do it's thing, but there are plenty of times when I see something eating my veggies and I become enraged lol.

I haven't seen any CWB on my property yet, but I did see one in the greenhouse at the farm. Won't be long I'm sure.
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Love the "chicken nuggets" too! Thanks for the confirmation on the spacing Jack. Trellis is going up tonight after a grass cutting. It would have been last night but I ran out of daylight putting up the tomato supports and tying up all the plants.

I might have forgot to mention - I pinched off the sweet potato slips the other day and set them in water to grow their roots some more. They looked pretty good - theres around half dozen or so decent sized ones! I'll try to get a picture tonight. I gotta figure out where to plant them.
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
Jack - whats the going rate for Mrs. Wages if bought in store... those prices on Amazon seem a little steep.

I always make up my own bread and butter pickles as they are easy. Mustard seed, celery seed, turmeric, red pepper flake, and black peppercorns (along with the sugar, salt, garlic and vinegar). The couple times I tried a Dill mix they did not turn out very good.
itsmce (zone 6b, Kansas)
5 years ago
Man, it's been hard to keep up today! Jamie - your place looks great. Everything looks so lush and green and healthy. We ARE in the honeymoon season of the gardening year, aren't we? I keep trying to catch/kill SVB bugs too they always seem to fly off just as I'm getting close,

Jacob, that's a nice looking head of garlic. With another couple weeks of growth, you'll have quite an impressive harvest. My garlic is a huge disappointment this year. Some of mine didn't make it through the winter...but come to think of it at planting time last fall I wasn't pleased with what I was putting in the ground.

Kevin - I continue to be amazed at how much you're able to get accomplished. Your new beds and fence and plants all look great. Just my 2 cents...but I wouldn't think any more that about 12-16 plants could manage on your trellis. Even at that, they'll be SO crowded!

Htwo82, Steve, Jacob, and others with chickens...I am envious. What I wouldn't do to have fresh eggs In my yard!

Last night we had BIG winds with the storms that blew through. On my walk around the neighborhood this morning there were several bits of trees littering yards. We picked up another 1.5" of rain. There must have been some hail too. I recently put one of my extra tomato plants in a pot on the patio. This morning I discovered that it was practically severed at the ground.
Fortunately, all the tomatoes in the garden are caged, so although most were flopped to one side of the cage, they didn't seem to be as bad off as that one.

How much wind do you suppose it takes to do this to a row of onions?
I hope they all stand back up and continue to grow.

It will be great weed pulling conditions for awhile now. The ground is pretty saturated. I can't tell you how long it's been since I have been able to say that.
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Kevin - you mean to tell me you can't find a single place to put them after that big addition?? ;-)

What's the deal with pickling anyway? Do you have to put the cukes in brine within a couple days of picking them?

itsmce - wow jeez! Some crazy winds there. Sorry to hear about the potted tomato plant, but good thing it was just the extra one that was damaged.

I think the onions will pull through, they look amazing! I am very happy to see that you've finally gotten a good soaking rain. Hopefully it continues to come in moderation.
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
itmce - you have weeds to pull? ;-D

I imagine your onions will stand right back up soon enough. They look fabulous by the way.

Thanks for your input on the cukes. Maybe I'll split the difference and go somewhere around 30 plants.

Chris - yes believe it or not the garden beds are basically all accounted for already lol.... I have two beds that don't have anything in them currently but were planned to be greens/salad mixes.

I could probably plant the sweet potatoes in one of the raised beds that had spring crops in.
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks for the compliments, everyone!
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
We will get a few figs this season. I miss my mature tree Haha
itsmce (zone 6b, Kansas)
5 years ago
Kevin - I will admit that I do have the weeds under control in the garden, thanks to heavy mulch and a keen eye. When I see a weed, I pull it! However, in the landscaped beds around the house/yard, I'm not quite so on top of things. There are 2 lace bark elms in the yard. As a result, I have approximately 426,753 baby lace bark elm seedlings. Seems to be a non-stop job...pulling those suckers out. I use Preen and cedar wood chips in all the landscaped beds, but that doesn't stop those @$?#{%* seeds from sprouting.
Kevin Zone 6b - PIT, PA
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Chris - yes the sooner you get the cukes pickled the crunchier they will be. I usually try to time it so I’m pickling the day of picking the majority of cukes. A salty soak in ice with some pickle crisp added also helps. You gotta try it if you haven’t before! Nothing beats a homemade pickle... I suggest a fridge pickle recipe to start.

This is a pretty good recipe. You can add peppers, garlic, just about anything!

https://www.browneyedbaker.com/bread-and-butter-pickles/

Heres my sweet potato slips:
Chris (6a NY)
5 years ago
Jamie - wow, lots of figs! What variety is that? I have a Ronde de Bordeaux that's in a pot and this will be it's second year.

Kevin - thanks so much for the tips and the recipe!! I just saved it.

Slips look good! So that's it? The growth that comes out of the sweet potato is what you root and plant?
Steve Lng Islnd NY Z-7a SunSet Z-34
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
@Jamie Yeah man, nice fig production on a young plant, what variety is it?
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Thanks! That’s an LSU Gold that I got this past April. I had a mature brown turkey fig at my old house that was around 10 ft tall and almost as wide.

Last summer, a friend gave me another variety, incanf rememebr what type at the moment. It died back to the roots this past winter, but they survived and it is growing again. It won’t produce this year, but I’m happy to see it survived. It is was one of those 3 for $20 deals or something like that haha!
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
June thread: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5330894/m=23/veggie-tales-june-2018