August--Week 3 It's hot and I need rain.

hazelinok

last year

How about everyone else?

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slowpoke_gardener

last year

Rick, my step dad opened up a pressure cooker or caner while it still had pressure in it, he got burned pretty badly. Something got hung in the relief valve and it did not show to have pressure in it, when he un-latched the lid it hit the ceiling, and the steam and water hit him. This was a long time ago and there may be safety features that prevent that now, but the caners sure need to be respected.

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farmgardenerok
last year
last modified: last year
Same here Rain comes in then splits and goes around. . Maybe tonight
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slowpoke_gardener
last year
My ground is still damp but wont be long with this 100 degree heat. Because it was partly cloudy I was able to mow some and pull a few weeds, but not while it was 100 degrees.

Madge canned a few more tomatoes. We still have a few tomatoes, but they are going fast, if we have any new fruit set at all, its very little. Many of my plants look like the need to be fed a little.
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Kim, 25 years ago, I tested allergic to zucchini. The Dr was surprised because he said it was an uncommon allergy. He asked how I fixed them. I said, rolled in egg and flour and fried or made into zucchini bread--with egg, flour and milk. He had already told me I was allergic to eggs, flour and milk so said my body decided zucchini was quilty by association. It was not the permanent type of allergy. I had to totally eliminate those foods for two years--that was HARD--and then return one at a time. I can now eat them again, but I don't eat any of them every single day like I did for years. The weather forcast showed a probablilty of us getting 2-3 inches last night. I slept late this morning, hearing nothing overnight so I was surprised to see 2.2 inches in the gauge this morning. Yay! I am so glad because while dad was in the hospital over the weekend--48 hours--we stayed with mother because she is disabled and cannot stay alone--our water was running on three 50 ft soaker hoses in the garden. Our water bill is going to be outrageous! So we won't water anything until after the 15th when the meter gets read. There are enough buckets, tubs, and barrels under the eaves of the house and greenhouse to take care of the container plants until then. We have had a very cool summer so far. 97 was the highest temp so far and that was just one day. We have had more nights in the 60s this summer than in the 70s and none in the 80s. We've had good rain too. 6 inches in June, 3 in July and Now 2.5 in August. But all the rain and cool has been hard on my tomatoes. Every plant has a fungus disease. Early Blight I think. 3 have died; all are affected. Leaf footed bugs are also in good supply this year and doing damage, sucking juice out of the tomatoes. But we have had more squash and cucumbers than we can eat. I planted too many and they have just kept producing with no sign of SVB and only a very few squash bugs. I don't know if I will plant a fall garden. Dad has sold his ranch and we are going to be super busy helping him get ready to move. (Anybody know of a good assisted living place in Tulsa?) Besides now that we plant cool weather greens in the greenhouse in October to eat on all winter there isn't as much need to plant them in the garden. Plus, I learned several years ago that since I take thyroid medicine I shouldn't eat turnip and mustard greens every..single...day...for 6 weeks as they suppress thyroid function and make me tired and when the Dr increases the dosage and I quit eating them after a while I get too hyper and she has to decrease the dose again. "Be consistent!" she said. The Kentucky Red cowpeas I got from George several years ago are in full production. The nasty Japanese Beetles don't like them, preferring the Kentucky Wonder pole beans. Next year I will plant more KR and fewer KW. The 8 ft fence we built three years ago is still keeping the deer away from the okra and sweet potatoes and they are doing very well. UNfortunately the squirrels are still working the fruit. They didn't bother the Hosui Asian pears at all. I guess because they are so brown when ripe, they didn't know they were ripe. But they took half of the American pears and probably a third of the Yellow Delicious apples before they got fully ripe. So we picked them early, froze, dried and juiced some and saved a few to eat. And now to bed. Tomorrow we will pick okra and cherry tomatoes to dry and then attack the grass and weeds in the garden with a weedeater.
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August 2017, Week 3
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Rebecca, I do not believe it is your yard. I think it is this year. The early heat let a lot of pests, and in particular cucumber beetles, get off to an early start---both cucumber beetles and squash bugs, which have been around in huge populations this year, spread tons and tons of diseases. The only thing I can add is that sometimes container plants are a magnet for pests and it can become a vicious cycle. Here's how it most often happens here with container plantings: Container plants need more frequent feeding, as we often discuss here, because of the way irrigation and rainfall wash away the nutrients. More frequent feeding tends to give plants a burst of nitrogen here and there following a feeding. Excess nitrogen (and I am not saying you are feeding them excess nitrogen on purpose---it is hard to balance it just right in containers) causes plants to make more carbs. More carbs attract more pest insects. Pest insects carry diseases. Diseased plants look bad. You cut off diseased leaves and feed the plant to push new growth and recovery. Right? Right. I'd do exactly the same thing. Plants recover, make new growth, and pests hit again. There's your vicious cycle. It is worse in very dry and very wet years than in a more normal year. So, don't blame yourself. Blame the crazy insane weather that gave us drought, early heat, extreme cold, early pest outbreaks, snakes out in winter, rain, and floods....and that was just in January-March. It isn't like the weather has changed much. It has been nuts all year. It started crazy. It has stayed crazy. Jacob, The Oklahoma Climatological Survey says Nov. 7th for us, but based on the 19 years we've been here, I'd say our average first freeze tends to be around November 20th. We have been having a long-term trend since at least 2003 of warmer and warmer weather, so our old 30 year averages probably will change a bit when they redo the new averages at the end of this decade. Our average last freeze of Spring is, officially, March 29th, I think, but some years it has happened as early as the end of February. However, for 7 or 8 years, we kept having a late freeze every year around May 3rd. It was maddening. Rather than push planting later and later, I bought DeWitt Ultimate Frost Blanket Row Cover that gives 10 degrees of cold protection. Now, I plant when I want, usually around March 10-17 for tomatoes, and cover up the plants if cold weather threatens. This issue never has been our soil temperatures---our soil down here doesn't get that cold and it warms up quickly this far south, but our air temperatures are all over the place every year. So, nowadays, and I've done this for about 8 or 10 years now, I plant whenever I feel like the soil temperatures are stable and when the 10-day forecast looks pretty good, and then I can cover up the plants with frost blanket type row covers if cold threatens. Some years I end up covering up the plants about once a week for a couple of months. Other years I only cover up the plants once or twice in that first couple of months. It is incredible how well they grow if I can just protect them from that occasional late cold night. We have to push hard down here to beat the heat, and row covers as needed do that for me. That makes my main tomato harvest run from late May through late July usually, but our earliest tomatoes from in-ground plants usually are ripe in April from an early March planting (from plants that had blooms on them when planted), and this year we had our first ripe tomato in March, from a plant grown indoors in a large pot in a sunny south-facing window. I bought the plant at a Wal-Mart around the second week of January and its sole job was to give us tomatoes as early in the year as possible. Think about---we were harvesting and eating those tomatoes when most folks in our neighborhood didn't have plants purchased yet, and at about the same time I was putting our home-grown plants in the ground. It was awesome. Did it taste like a summer tomato? Nope. Tomatoes grown indoors in winter don't get enough heat or strong enough sunlight to develop full, rich in-season tomato flavor, but it still was much better than a grocery store tomato. In case no one else has mentioned this, I'll say it: I am a tomato maniac. Mary, It is the weather. There's not much we can do about it. I hate all the diseases this year. It is what it is. Surely next year will be better. (And, if you can steam clean things inside your house, why oh why isn't this steamy hot weather killing these plants diseases instead of making them worse?????) Rebecca, No, but it would be better than nothing. I've had butternuts run 20-30' when they are happy....sometimes I let them climb the 8' fence, cascade down the other side and then take off into the trees. Maybe in the future, you might want to grow some of the ones bred for containers. I've grown several and they still get fairly big but they are much more controlled/less rampant than regular butternuts. Nancy, I hear you on the big city stuff you don't need. I grew up in Fort Worth when it was considerably smaller than it was now...and so was Dallas....and the whole metroplex. Eventually it got to where it was getting too big and we moved here and found the rural living we desired. Then, Fort Worth-Dallas began undergoing phenomenal growth that is mind-blowing (the DFW metro area now has a population of 7.1 million compared to the roughly 5 million it had when we moved here in 1999). Other than having family there, and occasionally shopping there, I can't handle it any more. 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I'm waiting until Wednesday, when our high is supposed to be in the 80s instead of the upper 90s. Enough of the side/back yard and dog yard are mowed that we can walk through those areas with no fear of not being able to see a snake. Mowing the front yard is on the agenda, probably for right after dinner this evening, when the sun is far enough west that temperatures are falling but when there also is still daylight. That's dependent on fire calls---we've only had 1 today and I hope our good luck holds. Dawn
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Larry, Someone else got 5-lobed bells this year too, maybe it was someone on one of our OK gardening Facebook pages. I'll get an occasional five-lobed bell but not often. It sounds like you were very busy, even as a child. I think you would have made a great doctor because you would have been trying to save your patients, not trying to kill them by supper time (I hope). My best friend contracted polio from the vaccine when we were young children. He survived it and appeared to have mostly recovered, but had a limp forever after. The polio came back when he was in his 40s or early 50s and it killed him. I never knew that could happen---like he wasn't really cured. It stayed hidden in his body for decades and then came back strong. Nancy, I'm already exhausted and we have almost 24 hours more to go. She is more exhausted though. We were running around all day and when we got home about 2 pm, she grabbed her pajamas and told me she was going to go take her bath and get ready for bed---and she was serious. I told her it was not bed time, but swimming pool time, and she woke right up. Now she's fighting to stay awake until after dinner time. Unless she gets a second wind, I think it will be a really early night for her tonight. This week the kids are fascinated with icebox melons. I harvested 13 of them yesterday, ranging in size from about the size of an orange to the size of a cantaloupe and they are in love with the little ones, which I think are the variety Mini Love, and also in love with the fact that there are three colors of flesh---red, yellow and orange. We have tons of icebox melons to eat, and even are sharing them with the fawns and the mothers every evening. We slice and eat melons daily. The nice thing about the icebox sized ones is that they have a pretty long shelf life, so you can cut one or two every day and there's less (if any) left over to put away in the fridge. I don't even put all the melons in the icebox----I just leave them sitting on a counter until we use them. Usually if we cut one or two, we eat all of them that day, or throw out the leftover pieces for the deer. It is so much more convenient than having to cut up a huge one and deal with pieces of it in the fridge for days and days. I didn't do anything in the garden today. I'm just hoping and praying the heavy rain they're saying we will get on Sunday and Monday actually happens. There's been a ton of rain to our south in Texas, particularly in the areas that are in Extreme Drought, so I know that those folks are relieved. The amount of rain they got won't remove the drought, but might knock it back a good deal. The cooler temperatures are very, very nice, so at least we have that, whether the rain comes or not. The garden still looks pretty bad, but when I consider that we're in Severe Drought, I realize it looks about as good as it possibly can considering the weather we are having. Dawn
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March 2020, Week 3, Raining, Raining, Raining
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Comments (93)
Jennifer, Thanks for the seed report on SESE. About 6 or 8 weeks ago I saw the handwriting on the wall with the coming pandemic and ordered my seeds for both the 2020 and 2021 garden from them. I'm glad I did. And, see there, I am being optimistic and believing I'll survive the pandemic or I wouldn't have ordered seeds for next year. I'm glad you're seeing signs that people are being proactive, and I hate that churches may not be able to have their usual Easter-related services and activities. We have to remember that a pandemic is such an incredibly danger public health risk and daily life, as we know it, is changing a lot. I know that people are not used to quarantining, and I'd rather be out and about than stuck at home all the time, but I truly feel the time to stop going out as much as possible and to stay home as much as possible is now. 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It is shocking when you hear news like that, and that is especially true when it is people just like you who have been pretty careful, only going to work and back home again, and just grocery shopping or buying gasoline as needed---no travel, no going to the mall or the gym back when those still were open, no obvious crossing paths with infected people as far as they knew, etc. I think for most people in north central TX near us, the time to stay home and stay away from people probably was about 2 weeks ago, and now that they have community spread, it is almost too late. Their governor is issuing new directives and restrictions almost daily, so maybe they can halt the virus' spread. In OK, if we all start being as proactive as possible now, maybe most of us can avoid the virus as it makes its first official round through our state. OK hasn't had too many cases yet, but I've noticed that as soon as one case pops up in any given county, a second or third one is not far behind. We need to change our mindset now, if we haven't already, to avoid becoming one of those cases. I just hate this, but at least we all can retreat to our gardens and keep ourselves busy at home. I just want to add that Tim and I have one set of rules to keep track of on the south side of the river and another on the north and it is confusing. We'll want to go somewhere, so we'll say to one another "is it safe?" and then we have to figure out if that sort of place is open on the Texas side or the Oklahoma side, or both, or neither. It wears out my brain to the point that I think it is just easier to stay home. I am very concerned about small businesses all across the nation. Here in our county, one guy made a list that since has been forwarded around via various apps and FB, telling us which small businesses are still open, what their operating hours are now, whether you can call ahead and order what you need, etc. We need to remember to patronize our local, small businesses so we don't lose them from our community for good. Nancy, I am angry about all the coverups too. I have been tracking this beast since mid-January and was just beside myself with frustration from early February onward because I thought that was our nation's best chance to stop it in its tracks, and there stood all the politicians implying or even stating it was basically the flu, which it is not, and that it would go away as the weather warmed up, which also is false. The only thing I knew for sure at that point was that the government wasn't going to act in time to protect us, so we had to do everything possible to protect ourselves. I think Tim and Chris thought at first that maybe I was a little too obsessed with it, but then they got on board pretty soon thereafter as they watched it spreading across the world. One of the things I thought was heartbreaking was when Jana told me that she and Chris were going to go ahead and take the girls to the Texas Gulf Coast last week so they could make memories that the girls would have to hang on to "in case anything happened". That told me that Chris and Jana both clearly understand the front-line risks they face in their careers and know that tomorrow or next month or next year is not guaranteed for any of us. How I wish their vacation could have been just a normal vacation with the kids, not marred by fears of what comes next in this pandemic. Both of them expect to be exposed and quarantined, a concern heightened by the lack of proper PPE to keep them safe. No entity---no city, state, county, hospital, fire department, police department, nursing home, etc. has enough PPE stockpiled to deal with this crisis. Since most of it is made in China, and China has been shut down production-wise since early January, there's no quick relief in sight either. I fear for all our first responders and medical personnel. Jen, I agree that modern-day technology offers us options not available in previous times of crisis. I'm glad you're finding a way to make it work for you. Larry, I totally understand how you feel. Tim and I said we wouldn't go out and about when the virus started getting close to home, and then he took a week of vacation and we went somewhere pretty much every day, even knowing we might be exposing ourselves to infection. Sometimes being bad is fun, and I'm glad we were able to eat at a couple of our favorite restaurants in Texas before the governor shut them down at mid-week last week. We do carry wipes with us everywhere, and have hand sanitizer in our vehicle and I carry a mini-bottle of hand sanitizer in my purse. I hope we've done enough to stay safe. We didn't hear a single cough anywhere for days, and then noticed a lot more coughing in public yesterday, so I take that as a warning sign. After a quick trip to the feed store and to Lowe's today, we are officially staying home. Well, except Tim has to go to work each day and that is just unavoidable, but I'll be cleaning and disinfecting everything he touches when he comes in from work. I suppose he won't let me stand at the back door and spray him down with Lysol before he enters the house, will he? I think Tim should pack a suitcase to carry in the car just like he does before a forecasted snowstorm and should be prepared to hunker down and stay in Texas if anyone issues a stop-movement type edict while he is a work, particularly if such an edict prohibits crossing state lines. I don't know if such an edict is coming on either a statewide or national level, but if it is, he'd be in better shape if he has a suitcase full of clothing,medication and toiletries. Remember the good old days when all we had to worry about with the garden was just weather and pests? Dawn
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slowpoke_gardener
last year
We Got another good rain this morning. I say "good" because it is about the right amount for now, the ground was damp yesterday, and has been for several days, maybe as much as two weeks nearly all of the rains have very little run-off, but just enough that we need no outside watering. This is making the ground about right for tearing up for food plots and fall gardening.

I have another neighbor wanting a food plot for the deer. I think that he wants to put meat in the freezer. These rains have the soil soft enough that I can make the plots without choking on the dust, dust and pollen just kill my lungs. Madge and I were talking last night about me getting a good respirator, I like the idea, but they can sure be hot to wear in the summer time.

The propane truck just left, gasoline is not the only thing that is going up in price, I guess that I should be happy that I can at least get the stuff. I switched the house from electric cooking to propane about 16 years ago, I plumbed the house to be able to use a propane stove for heat if we had to before mom moved in with us. I wanted to be able to keep mom warm if we lost power.

I still have a massive amount of weeds to pull in the north and south garden. I have to get out in the morning and evening to work because I cant handle the heat, plus I am not able to work long at a time anyway.

My wildlife garden (where I have a good supply of extra peppers) I will just drag a disc between the rows, and spray between the plants if I have to to keep the weeds and grass in control. Neighbor will often weed eat between the plants to keep the grass and weeds beat back, which I prefer because I had just as soon keep glyphosate out of the garden.
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hazelinok
Original Author
last year
I sure wish we had gotten some last night.

We get the storms without rain. It's like a dry thunderstorm. We get the high winds, lightning, and thunder, but no nourishing rain. It's so odd...and frustrating. Oh, and we also get to enjoy the heat index that rain brings although we didn't get the rain. Sigh.

RIck worked outside yesterday afternoon while my Mom, daughter and son-in-law were over for an early dinner. He was dripping wet and I was concerned about him. Ran water out to him twice. It was brutal.

This morning feels nice and we're having some rain at work.

My son sent a text last night. (He's in Portland) "I gotta say this is the weirdest 100 degrees I've ever felt..."

He said it's like an Oklahoma 85 degrees.

There's a YouTuber that I watch from time to time. I'll share her video here. It's just such a pleasant channel that is calming and enjoyable to watch.

She is Asian, but lives in Germany--such an interesting combination and I love to see the different cultural foods that she makes. BUT, this area where she lives doesn't get extreme temperatures. And is just lovely. I'm moving there! LOL

Last night I was thinking about something. Wouldn't it be just amazing to live in a place where plants thrive? Here, we are able to grow many things, but it's always a struggle and generally things don't thrive. We are fighting for survival (for our plants) the entire time--insects, drought, heat, wind. The amount of work we put into our gardens--can you even imagine how our gardens would look if we lived in a gentler climate with the amount of work that we are willing to put in?

How nice would it be to just have plants thrive?

If you like calming videos, watch this one. It's nice.
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slowpoke_gardener
last year
Jennifer, thanks for posting the video, but I gained 3 pounds watching it, now I have got to go work that 3 pounds off.
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hazelinok thanked slowpoke_gardener
AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
last year
Wind tore up Owasso Sunday night. My house got .05" of rain. Trees up rooted, branches down, hanger door at small airport blown in on top of planes. My power was out for 3 hours. Internet down till 9 last night. Kids apartment complex (3 of them live in the same complex) is surrounded by the evil pear trees wich of course broke over sidewalks and cars. used to have a TV with rabbit ears we could use for local news and weather, but we just cleaned out a room for my brother to use, so gave that TV to grandson. Bigger TV now, but we can't figure out how to connect rabbit ears. Husband's cell (ancient) wouldn't connect to the internet. Fortunately mine will. I even watched Netflix for a while. But no internet means no land line, so the phone call we were expecting went to voice mail. Wish there was another option for internet, this is happening too often. It did bring cooler weather which enticed the beagle to sneak out front with the sasquatch dog that climbed the fence and run the neighborhood during morning "rush hour". Eventually they returned.
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HU-422368488
last year
last modified: last year
Amy , is your bigger TV analog ( old style TV's ) ? If it is then you need a digital converter box. The rabbit ears connect to the back of the converter box where it says rf IN or antenna IN . The box should have some kind of adapter plug to allow you to connect the 2 wires of the ribbon cable from the rabbit ears to the coax connector at the back of the box. Then the box should have a coax cable connecting the antenna OUT to the back of the TV antenna coax connection..

The box comes with a remote that you use to scan for channels and select them. You have to tune the TV itself to channel 3 or 4 to start with.

file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/digital-to-analog_converter_box_setup_basic.pdf

Does this sound like your setup?

Does your rabbit ears have the old style 2-wire ribbon cable or is it coax cable?

https://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Converter_Box.html

https://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Converter_Box_Adapter.html

If your rabbit ears has the 2 wire flat ribbon cable then you probably need something like this to connect it to the back of the converter box;

https://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-VH58N-Push-On-Matching-Transformer/20588616?athcpid=20588616&athpgid=AthenaItempage&athcgid=null&athznid=si&athieid=v0_eeMi4wNywxNDUuMTYsMC4wMDQwNjk1MjEwNDY5NzkyMDksMC41Xw&athstid=CS004&athguid=VgRa4XG1fVsa9miewT8NKQpLUmo_Zm7o-sJO&athancid=20588615&athena=true

If the TV is so old that it doesn't have a coax connector but has a 2-screw antenna connection then you need something like this to be able to connect a coax cable into it:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rca-Vh54r-Indoor-Matching-Transformer/20588615?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42423897272&wl4=aud-393207457166:pla-51320962143&wl5=9026222&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=20588615&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjwxOymBhAFEiwAnodBLJXlCwr2WMi-Ub8z5jVZFhQ7BfGzZOl_ZauGylTFnUrEkqw98gKxeRoC1N8QAvD_BwE

These two adapters have to do with matching the 75 ohm impedance of a coax cable to a 300 ohm impedance of a twin lead connection in order for the signal to pass through.

If the TV is new enough that it has a digital tuner then you don't need a converter box. Just connect the rabbit ears directly to the TV antenna coax connection using the first (push on ) adapter if the rabbit ears has the twin lead flat cable.

Rick
hazelinok
Original Author
last year
Amy, being without power is so disruptive of how we live now-a-days. Even an hour without electricity is too much. That early freeze in October '20 left us without power for 10 days.

Luckily, we now have Cox internet where the lines are buried. That has been helpful so far. (the line is running through the chicken yard and I'm pretty sure the brats dust bath is exposing it. We will fix it, of course. The lines are in a protective tube thing).

Glad your dogs made it home. They always escape in the worst possible moments. We were trying to leave for Portland, when Josi last ran off. So annoying. Car was loaded and packed and we were chasing her in the rain. Ah! Rain. Sure miss it.

Larry, that young woman in the video seems to be a great cook. Whatever she's cooking must not cause weight gain as her family looks slim and trim. She cooks with stuff from the garden, but also food in other countries don't have the addictive/crap stuff that is in our food. I don't blame people in our country for health issues from food, etc. I blame the food that is allowed on our grocery store shelves.

But, maybe they work it off too. Who knows.

But....did you see her garden at the end of the video? Those tomatoes....so nice.

It's my day off, but I worked until 2. I'm about to head out and feed everyone before Pilates. I was able to get a load of laundry done and my houseplants watered. I'm not going to water the outdoor plants today, but will probably walk Josi after Pilates. It's just too nice to not.

Ethan has been good about texting me. His gf's cousins are there from Washington state and brought produce from their garden. He said gf's cousin (actually gf's mom's cousin) is similar to me in "energy". She likes to grow things and has the "same kind of spirituality". Maybe I'll get to meet her someday.

Larry, I have a lot of weeding to do too. Until I get rain to soften up the ground some, I'm not going to do any weeding. At this point, I might be waiting awhile.

I do need to check to see if the poison ivy died. It was squirted with a chemical last night. I hate to use stuff like that, but don't want the poison ivy to get out of hand.
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hwy20gardener
last year
Trees have had a really rough go this year and it isn't even winter time yet. The scene down 177th looked just like that 100 mph front that rolled through about 2 months ago. Pretty big trees just snapped at the base, major branches sheared off, etc.
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HU-422368488
last year
last modified: last year
I've been hearing stories about a bad winter this year. Sounds like some ice storms likely.

And starting early too ,like around the 1st part of Dec. ,And getting worse on through Feb.

Glad I canned up what I could.. ( Even though it was a burn out). One thing about over abundance. ,when it's over with it's over with , then comes the shame of not putting up what you could , while you could. Shame , SHAME ,shame Gomer Pyle says, (I'm ashamed every day for things that I did or didn't)

I'm still gonna do some fall planting.. . Turnips , Rutabaga, maybe some carrots and beets maybe even parnips and cold tolerant greens mainly ( Collards , kale, spinach, mustard...). Roots and greens is the way to go for fall/winter.

Then cover some of it with hoop tunnels. I'll try to do some some cabbage and broccoli too.

And it's such a pain that fall planting has to start when it's still a hot August. , 100 temps , intense sunlight , no rain , grass hoppers...

Sun angle's a changing.

Lonely are the brave.

Rick
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hwy20gardener
last year
We have the sweet potatoes and cowpeas going now, but are trying to get a fall carrot bed in. It's spotty germination so far because of the heat. Hopefully they'll come on up en masse. It's amazing how many aphids are on the zipper cream pea pods and stems...just completely covered. Had to lay down a gallon and a half of sevin yesterday evening. Enemy was inside the wire and overrunning.
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HU-422368488
last year
last modified: last year
I got some cowpeas on the row if I can just keep them from drying up.

Sweet potatoes didn't make it , but the okra is still marching on. I've never done well with carrots , beets either. Had some winter squash spreading out for a while , but the hoppers nubbed them down. Bastards , I'll behead them all

https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/fall-gardening.html.

rick
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slowpoke_gardener
last year
I have seen the forecast for a colder, wetter winter also, and I am worse prepared this year. I still am getting a few tomatoes, and hoping for green tomatoes this fall.

I disc up a spot for one of my neighbors to put in a food plot for the deer, but as much as I like doing those things I am going to have to stop. I am just not able to do all the things I want to do.

I sprayed fence rows today and worked in the garden, trying to get a place to plant fall crops. My neighbor saw me out working, and wanted me to come over and do some work for them. Just because I am seen out working does not mean I fell like going over and working for someone else.

Anyway, I have made some headway. I am getting some ground ready in my gardens, and planing on putting in my own food plots. I have already told one of my neighbors that I wont be part of a greenhouse project next year that starts thousands of plants, I may give a little advice if ask, but I have more than I can do at home.

Its almost midnight, about time for this old man to go to bed.
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AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
last year
Thank you Rick. The tv is fairly new, but couldn't figure out where coax went. Didn't help that hubby was already frustrated. Internet is out again so I'm on my phone. The comment box won't accept what I type unless I select it from the row of word options. Phone is using chrome. Tablets use Firefox. Nothing works with this site .

Hwy20 the year I grew cream peas the aphids overoverwhelmed them, too. I've grown many varieties with some aphid problems, but nothing like the cream peas. I never grew them again. I don't use pesticides. That year I left them alone. Eventually the lady bugs, lace wings and other bugs ate enough that there were some peas in the fall. It was a summer like this, temperatures over 100⁰ . I wonder if the variety is the problem, the temperatures, too much nitrogen or some combination of it all.

I've had enough of fighting houzz.
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slowpoke_gardener
last year
What a difference some sleep and the proper meds can make, I feel great.

Rick, I am with you on the fall planting, I wont plant near as many as you, but do plan on curly mustard, Florida broad leaf, collards, and maybe some beets and rutabaga. I will have to go through my seed stash to see what I have.

Amy, I can feel you and hubby's frustration. I don't get along well with Houzz and my computer, I feel so helpless, I have to call my daughter, or grand daughter every time I want to buy something online. It seems like the stores don't stock what I want, and it is too painful to walk all over the store to find out that they are out of a $20.00 part. I feel like I am putting my grand daughter out when I call and ask her to buy something for me, they both tell me that its no trouble.

My min/max shows that we got down to 58 last night, I don't know if that is correct, but that is almost coat weather.

I tried to spray Round Up over my sweet potatoes yesterday, hoping to just hit the Johnson grass, I hate trying that but the weeds are too large for me to pull. I want to kick myself for letting my garden get in such a mess. When I planted some suckers off some tomatoes to try to have fall tomatoes, I also planted 4 slips off of my sweet potatoes hoping to have enough potatoes for slips for next spring ( because the sweet potatoes were over run with weeds at that time also). I checked those 4 plants yesterday and they are producing potatoes. I don't see how all of you that have jobs, still have time to make a garden. I think that Rick must work around the clock to keep everything done.

Well, as Jennifer would say, "I am rambling", its time to go to work.
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HU-422368488
last year
Larry that's about right , I've pulled a few late nighters a canning. Some years back I dozed off on a pressure canner and got woke up when the petcock blew open and shot out steam.

Good thing it had that or I would have blown a hole through the roof and me with it.

Rick
0
slowpoke_gardener
last year
I went over to the wildlife garden, I don't check it near as often now, but maybe I should. Look at what I found in the wildlife garden. These peppers are almost growing wild, I should go over and stake the plants, because I found a lot of damaged peppers, some I can save part of the pepper. I will lose a lot more if I don't get them staked. I don't need all the peppers I am getting, but surely I can give them away.

this is not a good picture, but you might call them "Over flow", because these are over flow plants and we planted them in the wildlife garden because that is the only place we had room, but if I don't get these plants staked they will break down.

Amy, I showed Madge the eggplant recipes you linked, an well as others online, she made a dish that was pretty good, but we decided that we needed to add a little more to it. The house smells great, Madge is making more stuff to add to the eggplant, I requested more garlic, onion, sage, and jalapeno, and anything else that might give it some "bite". I think Madge is also adding boiled eggs also. I have know idea what this batch will taste like, but it sure smells good.

Jennifer, while I was at the wildlife garden I also checked the roselle, I only have 6 plants at the house that survived, but there are at least 50 plants in the wildlife garden that look great, and are loaded. The sunflower heads are starting to droop, and they look like they have plenty of seeds in the head. I expect I will lose a lot of seeds to all the critters, but that is what I started the wildlife garden for in the first place. I plan on down sizing the wildlife garden, or at least go back to grass and grain, and a small overflow spot for a place to plant extra plants in.

I have at least a dozen rows of cow peas in the wildlife garden that are just going to seed. I will pick some for food and seeds when they dry. I like fresh peas, but it is too hot to pick them in the summer, and I don't bend well anyway.
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Kim Reiss
last year
Started my new job. I am really out of shape.
hazelinok
Original Author
last year
Hey, Kim! Do you like the job, tho? I sure hope so. You did just have some major health things that you're still recovering from, so be sure to not be too hard on yourself. It will take awhile to get back in shape.

Hopefully you're working with some nice people. That makes all the difference.

Pressure canners are a little scary. They still make me nervous. Normally, the canning I do alone is water bath.

Larry, I hope I have time to do something with my roselle this year. I only have the one plant but it's loaded.

Roselle is just a thing I want to have in my garden now probably because it's one of the last things Dawn really talked about. I can't remember if it was the year she passed or the year before. But she was putting up the roselle jam like crazy. It's Tim's favorite.

Laptops are the only thing that works well with Houzz, Amy. The phones and tablets sure don't.

I'm sorry you're dealing with the mess of internet issues.

Cowpeas (all peas in my garden) are surely a magnet for aphids. If I can ever find time to get some planted, I would like to do sugar or snow peas this fall. We've had massive amounts of ladybugs this year...and because of that, maybe they would do well.

Larry, I'm sure you figured out the gardening thing when you had a job and kids and family to care for. It's not easy. And things don't always get done to my liking, but it is what it is. I just know that I'm not going to be sitting much. I am outside until after dark....and then take a final round before bed. Making sure all the chores got done and things put away and coop doors are secure. Stuff like that.

Tom calls me and my neighbor to the east "hard chargers". To me, that means aggressive, but I think he just means that we aggressively take on our projects and chores and work hard. She's younger that I am, though. When I'm out doing my final walk usually around 1030, I see her flashlight. She's also doing her final walk.

It is especially hard when I'm back at work full-time (and we've gotten no rain). I'm watering and cooking dinner in the evenings and don't have time to preserve garden produce. I won't work on this stuff after 9 or so. I'm too tired and will make mistakes either in canning or cutting/burning myself or something stupid. So, after 9, I just finish up dishes and watch a video or two on YouTube. There's not much worth watching on TV right now.

Then, add in time to spend with family. Trying to be a good parent to grown kids, a good child to my mother, a good sister, wife, aunt, friend....

But, I chose the life, and I will live it.

Normally I'm cheerful about it all, but like I've mentioned (a million times), the hot, dry weather gets me down.

And...I should finish up at my job so I can get home after running a couple of errands.
Kim Reiss
last year
Yes Jennifer. The people are super sweet.
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farmgardenerok
last year
I have several pressure cookers, from the smallest to the canner - but they all are weighted guages, not the dial guage When I was a child my Mom was canning chicken , pressure went too high and glass and chicken blew all over the kitchen We cleaned it from the ceilings and walls for a week. It was a miracle that nobody was in the room wben it blew. None of my siblings will allow a pressure cooker in their house until these new electric ones came out.
AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
last year
I sat a empty glass casserole dish on the back the stove once, not realizing the oven was still on and venting under the dish. It shattered and exploded all over kitchen. Youngest narrowly missed injuries.
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HU-422368488
last year
last modified: last year
Weighted gauge canners are safer. No way that the pressure can get too high.

Unless the vent hole gets clogged , that one thing to watch out for.

My canners are dial gauge. My Mom got them for me in the 90's. Didn't start using them until the year she died. Been using them ever since. But they got the petcock toggle and also a rubber plug in the lid so there's some protection just in case.

Rick
slowpoke_gardener
last year
We have been talking about buying a canner, but we have almost waited too long, we are not sure how much longer we will be able to grow food. The only canning we do now is water bath.
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hazelinok
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Larry, my canner is a Presto with a weighted gauge. It's small enough that I can use it reasonably well. I'm not super strong but can lift it from the cooktop to the counter (it's a short move--just a foot or so) when it's filled with water and jars. I have an electric cooktop so when canner needs to be "removed from heat", the electric cooktop stays hot for awhile and the canner needs to be moved off of it. Also, I can't have too heavy of a canner on that cooktop.

It holds 8 pint jars. I mostly use it for water bath, but when there's a small batch of beans to can, I'll pressure can them instead of waiting for Rick to fire up his canners in the shop.

I bought the thing in maybe 2015 and it wasn't very expensive.
Nancy Russell Waggoner
last year
That was enjoyable, reading all your comments. Kim, hope your job will be a good blessing.

And last week when it was so hot, it rained here every night, at least 1/2" . Speaking of blessings! Sure does break up that high heat, even though made for some steamy days. And all the plants loved it. We haven't done any watering in 3 or so weeks--unheard of for us this time of year.

Everyone seems to be having a bad grasshopper year--we have plenty, but nothing compared to last year. And so I have a lot of sympathy for those whose gardens are being devoured. My biggest bug problem this year is chiggers. There are times when I'm too paranoid to even walk out and about. Friends tuned me in to Chiggerex, and I ordered tall rubber gardening boots since my lower legs are what get the most bites. Hopefully those will make things easier.

I'm so astonished by the pepper output this year. I'm having good luck with poblanos, mini sweet peppers, and the hot ones. But I am puzzled by this one. I have no idea what it is. It has a beautiful thick wall, like the Ashe County. . . But its ripened color is a light yellow, and its smaller than regular bells. Have any of you grown one like it?

Amy, the Arkansas Traveler is putting out so many tomatoes! As is the lone egg yolk. I'm thinking both will perform well through the next few months--is that your experience with the AT?

The only fall plants I'm going to grow are kale, spinach, and cilantro, since I know I'll use a lot of those veggies.

I'll be interested in reading about your eggplant experiments, Larry. I haven't found a way I like them, and pretty much gave up on 'em.

I love the roselle, Jennifer, but just don't have room for them. They're such a pretty plant (as are okra). I think you do a phenomenal job of gardening with all the other things you do.
hazelinok thanked Nancy Russell Waggoner
hazelinok
Original Author
last year
Nancy! It's always good to see you post. For some reason your posts on FB don't show up in my feed, so I have to remember to go to your page.

That pepper is beautiful! Hoping to do more peppers next year.

Hope you and Garry are doing well.

How are your kitties and Titan? I miss your stories of them.

I really don't mean to be negative and complain about all of my things to do. It's just the weather. Very dry and very hot. It just encourages a negative attitude in me.

Tom had a hernia repair today and is doing well. It's always so cold in hospitals---like a winter cardigan sweater cold. (which I took and wore. I'm not new to sitting in hospitals) THEN, you walk outside and melt.

Anyway....I took the day off of work to take Tom to his surgery.

Watered tonight and up-potted my broccoli and started a few lettuce and kale seeds.

Rick came out and harvested okra and checked our sprinklers that are watering the SG.

That's about it.
AmyinOwasso/zone 6b
last year
Nancy, I have always said Arkansas Travelers excel this time of year. They look better, too, often flawless without cracks or catfacing.
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Nancy Russell Waggoner
last year
Amy, and I grew only those in terms of "regular" tomatoes this year, precisely because of the way you talked about how great they are. They are--not real big, but very tasty. Thank you.

Nice to drop in, Jennifer!

For those of us who have been through an unusual event with pressure cookers, we always remember it! I was visiting with a friend in 1980-81. Had dropped by for coffee when I went to town (we were living on the ranch at that time). Sitting at her kitchen table when Ker-Blow-wee! Chili with homemade beans went everywhere! She said weeks later she was finding it in places she didn't even know she had. We both jumped up, many curse words from Bev, and after the initial shock we just laughed--and cleaned.

Garry had a bad day Wednesday while I was in town playing bridge. He went to town to get lead-free gas for the zero turn--none anywhere. Returned home to the air conditoner deciding to quit and a rapidly heating house. No biggie, I said. Next day our HVAC guy came out; ordered a new motor. We ran to Broken Arrow to get it, and today all is good. And cool. He also got gas yesterday morning and got the long long grass mowed. I was so grateful, because the chiggers were eating my legs--miserable.

I have a couple dozen peppers to deal with. Just read on google that lemon juice would cut the heat so will give it a try on the Sugar Rush hot ones. Those were some beautiful volunteer peppers you have, Larry.

And Rick, you do so much food preservation/canning--enough for an entire community!

The late summer hummingbird crowd is gathering--we always have so very many in August into September when they leave. They're fun to watch, and we always marvel at their numbers.
slowpoke_gardener
last year
Nancy, my bell peppers were not volunteers, I started the seeds, but I started waaay too many and had to just stick plants in any bare spot I could fine. Those bell peppers were planted over in my wildlife garden along with 100's of other plants. The wildlife garden gets very little care, and some of the plants are buried in pig weeds.

My Arkansas Traveler did pretty well also, but I planted too many tomatoes also.

This is the sunny side of my trellis where the A. T. plants are, they have not been picked in a long time, we have just had too many tomatoes this year. Most of these tomatoes have sunscald because I have not been keeping my tomatoes picked.

This is the north side of the trellis, the tomatoes look a lot better on the shady side of the trellis. Daughter is coming over Sunday, maybe she will want to pick some of the Arkansas Travelers. We have too many tomatoes in the house, daughter may just want to take some of them.

Jennifer, I posted a picture of my sunflowers in the wildlife garden a week of too ago, well all of the sunflowers have there heads hanging now, and some critters are having a feast. The ground on this end of the row was covered with seeds and hulls till I disc the soil. I try to keep under the electric fence sprayed and the grass mower to make the area look a little better.
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hazelinok
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Nancy, this probably won't help your situation, but I've been told (and it seems to be true for me) that chiggers are inactive in the morning because of the dew. When I've gone blackberry picking in the evenings--lots of chiggers. In the morning, none.

Rick's canning is all in my pantry and his! LOL He has a neat set up in our shop on a camp stove (he purchased in 2020) with our propane tank. We fill the jars in the kitchen for sanitary reason, tho. It's nice to do it out there because it doesn't heat up the kitchen as badly. This year's canning is nearly enough for an entire community.

We're on to black beans this Sunday evening. Probably won't have tons of jars of them, though. We have a new one this year called Black Coco. It is a larger bean. We also have the standard Black Turtle. We are going to can them separately to see if there's a difference in taste. ("We" being Rick and I)

The only other thing left to can are the cowpeas.

Amy and Nancy, I only have one Arkansas Traveler in the garden. It's been very productive and is one of the less diseased plants. I saved seeds from it and already started some of them. The seedlings look very healthy. I am going to put them in the garden soon. It's doubtful they'll have time to produce....but maybe?
Nancy Russell Waggoner
last year
Jennifer--it was fun hearing about Rick's canning setup and your operation. And so what are you all going to do with all those canned goods?! Just about the only canned goods I'd use are tomatoes, dried and green beans, and would happily use those.

I suppose from now on every time I go out on walk-abouts or to pull weeds, I will think of you and the chigger story, HJ. I got a good laugh this morning as I went out to walk. It was 7, so pretty early--dry as a bone, no dew anywhere! Now I'm curious so will no doubt check every now and then--not for chiggers, but for dew! I finally ordered permethrin to spray on clothes, some leg guards (pre-treated with permethrin), and tall lightweight rubber boots to wear while gardening.
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hazelinok
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
No dew?! Oh no! haha.

Yeah, it's dry here too.

About the canned goods....

We use the brown beans and black beans in casseroles/stews/soups. I do enjoy the brown beans warmed up with brown rice and a bit of pepper sauce. We use the canned diced tomatoes in about the same way as the beans.

Tom and I prefer green beans fresh or frozen, but occasionally we'll eat a jar.

The soup we made is a good base for a dinner. You can add meat or other veggies and rice/pasta.

We don't eat much jelly so I don't make a lot every year. This year I restocked on blackberry, pepper jam, and a new one--sand plum. Tom likes pickles so he eats the canned bread and butter ones. I like my fermented dill ones better.

We rarely eat canned corn, so Rick took all of that to his house.

The cowpeas are good for a quick meal. Easy to dump a jar in a pan. Especially with some potatoes.

I am definitely one who wants to think through how I will use something before spending time on preserving it. (2020 was an exception because we had a lot of extra time on our hands.) We love good food and I need to know how we'll use it. So, we're not making cowboy candy or dilly beans or pickled okra.

Next year I'm planning on not canning much. There's at least 2 years worth in the pantry. IF there's a food shortage/supply issue, we'll rethink that, of course.

Next year, I want to focus more on some of my projects including the heirloom tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and native plants. I would like to grow a few more things to enjoy fresh in cooking different ethnic types of foods.

I like to change up gardening from year to year. There's so many interesting things to try (but only so many hours in the day).

I just came in from outside and am still sweating sitting here. Our AC has a hard time with temps over a 100.

Spent a couple of hours watering. But, several things look like they won't make it. Not after this hot weather spell. My Persian cukes are amazing, but even they hate 100 degree days. They're toast now. Today did them in. Sweet peppers are struggling too. The Kajari melon is beginning to look rough. And, oddly, the West Indian Gherkins. I'm not impressed with those. I've tried to like them....really tried. But, I'm not going to grow them again. Not that I've started any seed for a couple of years, but they seem to volunteer everywhere. I'm pulling them in the future.

Honestly, I'm ready to just pull it all (or most of it) and maybe start fresh with a few fall plants in a couple of weeks.

If I can just keep my perennials alive.

August--Week 3 It's hot and I need rain.

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