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applestar
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Re: Applestar's 2016 Garden

- More rice -- you want to harvest when 2/3 or more of the grains have turned from green to yellow/dried/ripened -- so far, looking for lower leaves with yellowed tips -just like corn- seems to be working to find most of the correct stage mature sheafs.

- I harvested a nearly mature regular lambs quarters from the HBR -- I should have taken a photo... It was towering OVER the tallest indeterminate tomatoes so approximately 7-8 feet tall? I only cut off the shoots with immature seedheads, then left the remaining stalk in the path to be trampled. I also harvested some from Tree Spinach in the SF&H. These are good when washed well and then allowed to dry, then pulled off and mixed into pot of cooked rice or soup so that the hot food will 'cook" them a bit. Nutty. If left too late, chaff will be too hard and inedible or too much fiber, though may work still in hot cooked whole grain cereal or baked goods where the texture still works with the expected mouthfeel. (They will also start to scatter gazillions of seeds. I want them to re-seed but in manageable amounts. I do leave some stalks growing to mature the remaining seeds for the birds -- finches LOVE these, and I love seeing the Goldfinches along with the more drab house finches, and the rare visits from kinglets and redpolls.)

- Basil sprigs and some garlic chive flowerheads for garnish.

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- Yet ANOTHER giant cucumber -- this is a pickler normally harvested in the smaller sizes like the others - hiding at the bottom of the vine. I SWEAR I was looking very carefully last two times I harvested that bed... HOW do they do that? :roll:

- shorter carrots that look more worthy of harvesting, but DD said these carrots don't taste good (she had the long orange one). I think its been too HOT and DRY. But I'm starting to see wireworm and carrot fly damages -- they've been in the ground too long, so I'm not sure if leaving them until cooler fall weather will benefit.... :?

- Less Variegated Fish pepper, orangish Hanoi Market g2, corky red jalapeño, long red Sun Thai, and three of the four possible colors of Bolivian Rainbow.

- Big pink heart is Dwarf Pink Passion, smaller pink with split skin is Berner Rose. Next size yellow orange fruit is not a tomato but our first Prok Persimmon of the season. The Kiwi Gold raspberry that escaped or grew from bird dropped seed outside of the espalier fence in the Front Yard Fence Row bed had these three (and a half) ripe berries.

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Lindsaylew82
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Yes ma'am! Bright yellow!

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applestar
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Thanks, Lindsay :D

...it's been getting cooler here, but hopefully we will get something. :|

.........


Here is a latest photo of the Bed designated Sunflower House. The corn is done and gone, leaving some carrots to try to grow some more despite the Black Swallowtail caterpillars, carrot fly and wireworm, and occasional nibbled shoulders. There are some beets left in the rows as well as runty cabbages that are more than likely just incubating cabbage whites and slugs. But the Sweet Potatoes are flourishing at the near end of the bed (it's hard to see them because of the telephoto lens edge blur and the '16 Cherry Lane cherry tomatoes blocking the view) The Christmas Lima beans on each end of the CRW panel trellis at the fence posts are intent on swallowing the trellis and are finally starting to bloom and produce pods.

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The runner beans on the green arch trellis started blooming unusually early and have bloomed steadily all summer, but something is wrong because almost none of them are setting pods. I might have picked 3 or 4 pods altogether so far. I guess they crossed with some other pole bean or possibly these are F2 of TenderStar -- supposedly runner/pole bean hybrid -- which I grew last year. At least they have been absolute magnets for hummingbirds and bees.

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Harvest updates:

9/17 -- duh Nasturtiums, Aka Shiso and Ao Shiso (Red and Green Perilla), Myoga (Japanese ginger flower buds), Garlic Chive blossoms, etc.
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Clemson Spineless okra from HBR, Gave away three figs, two cuke, and a De Arbol pepper before before taking photo...
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Prok persimmons, Kiwi Gold raspberry, White Soul Alpine strawberries, container Petite Nigra figs split from all the rain... Some runner beans have set since cooler -- maybe they don't set in 90°F temps... Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheart tomato, mytery brown/black tomato from SF&H that was labeled Cream Sausage (extra dark blue-ish foliage), Seasoning Naga peppers (or possibly crossed Bhut Jolokia)
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Prok persimmon, Myoga, Aka shiso, Runty Uncle Davids Dakota Dessert buttercup-type squash that was grown in 2nd year (insufficiently fertilized) Rubbermaid tote SIP with two vigorous eggplants, Hanoi Market g2 still pumping them out, Mini Bell Red (SF&H)
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...dithering about picking these...

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applestar
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applestar wrote:...those are Akashiso - Japanese red/purple perilla - and while useful, they are weeds when they enthusiastically self seed and come back every year like this: :o
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--- I'm intrigued to note that this one has a taller blocky profile compared to the others
I was looking at this squash vine yesterday. I didn't take another photo, but the amazing thing is these squash leaves are not showing any sign of powdery mildew even though they are barely growing above thick stand of these akashiso and I regularly overhead sprinkler this area when watering, and we just had 1 inch of rain on Monday.

I was ready to believe it's the cross-- (Thai Kang Kob x Seminole) x Tromboncino -- but then it occurred to me to look up possible fungicidal property of red perilla... And look what turned up in search :o -- This DOES say perilla essential oils has fungicidal properties, right? I know all I have to do is brush against them to be enveloped in the akashiso fragrance.
The vapor activity of oregano, perilla, tea tree, lavender, clove, and geranium oils against a Trichophyton mentagrophytes in a closed box. - PubMed - NCBI
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17235639

J Infect Chemother. 2006 Dec;12(6):349-54. Epub 2007 Jan 18.
The vapor activity of oregano, perilla, tea tree, lavender, clove, and geranium oils against a Trichophyton mentagrophytes in a closed box.
Inouye S1, Nishiyama Y, Uchida K, Hasumi Y, Yamaguchi H, Abe S.
Author information
Abstract
The vapor activity of six essential oils against a Trichophyton mentagrophytes was examined using a closed box. The antifungal activity was determined from colony size, which was correlated with the inoculum size. As judged from the minimum inhibitory dose and the minimum fungicidal dose determined after vapor exposure for 24 h, the vapor activity of the six essential oils was ranked in the following order: oregano > clove, perilla > geranium, lavender, tea tree. The vapors of oregano, perilla, tea tree, and lavender oils killed the mycelia by short exposure, for 3 h, but the vapors of clove and geranium oils were only active after overnight exposure. The vapor of oregano and other oils induced lysis of the mycelia. Morphological examination by scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed that the cell membrane and cell wall were damaged in a dose- and time-dependent manner by the action of oregano vapor, causing rupture and peeling of the cell wall, with small bulges coming from the cell membrane. The vapor activity increased after 24 h, but mycelial accumulation of the active oil constituents was maximized around 15 h, and then decreased in parallel with the decrease of vapor concentration. This suggested that the active constituent accumulated on the fungal cells around 15 h caused irreversible damage, which eventually led to cellular death.

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Here's an update collage. I did see some mild spotting, but those could also be from stinkbugs/squashbugs/cucumber beetles.

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I'm woking on a fitted together collage of the Spiral Garden, but here are some random photos. I do think the (Thai Kang Kob x Seminole) x Tromboncino is showing better resistance to powdery mildew and the sucking bugs. Most of the worst yellowed leaves are on the Kikuza cross vines.

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...I'm running into limitations of the app I'm using to do this (losing bits and pieces from the edges, can't go back and remove when I forget to turn off watermarks, etc.) but I like this effect 8)

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- I was going to wait until all of the dark green markings faded, but *something* tried nibbling on this Apple Melon :x so I had to harvest it. The White honeydews are sadly undersized. :|
- Dwarf Poncirus trifoliata (trifoliate orange) "Flying Dragon" fruits are starting to ripen

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- Camera's exposure setting was off and I can't correct the persimmon and fig colors with post-editing. Persimmon should actually look frosted deep orange.

This Apple Melon was not as sweet as I had hoped but I think ideally, I would have given it a couple more days or more. And the now cool night time temps can't be helping. (It's even colder this morning -- currently 50°F and probably will dip down to upper 40's before dawn) There's a bigger one I have my eyes on out there. Hopefully it hasn't been nibbled on -- I should have implemented protective measures. :? )

We ate that green Faelan's First Snow with beginning of BER starting to spoil it after cutting off the bottom 1/3 -- BER was only just starting and the rest of the fruit was firm -- as fried green tomato sautéed under sauce-poached eggs. :wink:

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Harvested more rice -- almost last -- and some peppers. Jalapeño had been pretty significantly sucked on by stinkbugs. Since I'm only out in the garden every other day, I really need to check every plant, but the jalapeño is out of the way and I have been too lazy. :?

- Clockwise from top: little Bolivian Rainbow, Jalamondo with mite russeted/stunted blossom end (I think it should have been bigger/longer), wrinkled Seasoning Naga or Bhut cross, Hanoi Market g2, Yatsufusa "Yatzy" from Helpfulgardener give-away :(), and the stung Jalapeño

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- Dwarf Mr. Snow managed to ripen these two then died (not mottled or bicolored like last year). Good "white" color comparison of with Raymondo's Australian Mist (which split again in the rinse bucket :roll: ) and my MRxZC.F2.1F-P1.
- more Kiwi Gold raspberries from the single escaped plant outside the fence in the Front Yard Fence Row, one little Maid of Orleans jasmine blossom, 2 Chicago Hardy and 3 Petite Nigra figs, runty White Honey honeydew.

Some pepper plants. Brazilian Starfish DOES grow tall and "vine-y" like cherry tomatoes :cool:
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Enjoy your harvest. Looks great and I bet tastes even better.

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Thanks, pow wow :D

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Yep. Definitely needed to start melons much much earlier. Tiny runty White Honey melons. Figs are continuing to do well, and this is the last persimmon. My girls are loving the persimmon and I hardly get to taste them. Seedlings I started last fall have grown some more. I need to secure them in their permanent location this fall and hopefully, they will start producing eventually (they take a long time to mature).

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Flowering myoga. Cucumbers have slowed down and I think Shintokiwa in the Spiral Garden is done for -- too much powdery mildew, cucumber beetles, and stinkbugs/squashbugs. But the Pickarow have climbed to the top of the overhead bamboo trellis in the VG garden area where they have better sun despite the lengthening shadows, so I can hope to see more fruit production. And this is where I saw the tree frogs, so they are getting some Garden Patrol protection. Image

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I can't seem to keep myself from taking pictures of the squashes -- so skip over this is you've seen enough of them already :oops: :>

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Yesterday, I went out in a drizzle to hand-pollinate that female squash blossom since there were only two male blossoms on the same vine and with the rain, I was afraid pollinators may not get around to it. It was a good thing because one of the two male blossoms had collected water and the pollen was uselessly waterlogged. Even in the other one which was dry, the pollen was pretty clumpy so I'm not 100% about success. Only insects in the blossoms were what looked like fruit flies. But I hope it worked because the baby squash on this blossom has the fig-like shape that tells me this is a successful Thai Kang Kob x Seminole F2 (or F3) cross -- like the one that lasted in storage all summer. (In fact, I dug up an entry that we ate the squash the seeds came from in May) :-()

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It's late in the season so I'm not sure if this fruit will make it to full maturity before frost and freeze, but it should still be good eating. 8)

There was a juvie stinkbug on the female flower stem, which I plucked off and squished. I started to look around for others and got a couple more, but then I spotted the treefrog on a nearby leaf. So I figured this area is adequately being Patrolled. Image

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Another female blossom opened this morning. This one will be interesting, because the female is a bit of a mystery --mpossible 3 way (TKK x Seminole F2) x Tromboncino F1, but only blossoms available were TKKxTromboncino F1. The pollen grains were dry and plentiful so unless the temperature becomes an issue (but I don't think so), it should take. Image

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Neither of these two vines seem as resistant to powdery mildew and the bugs as the straight TKKxSeminole, but if the resulting cross could grow larger fruits like the one in the kitchen garden, it might be worth it. I'm still hoping for prolific/productive trait that Seminole is supposed to carry. At some point I would like to introduce "earlier maturing" trait into the mix, though maybe there will be some adaptation to this area's climate over the years as well. (But then again, this one might not make it to full maturity.)

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I'm making room for the 6 full sized squash maturing out there -- plus the 2 I hand pollinated have successfully set. :D
...and I have 5 or 6 full sized luffah as well as a number of intermediate size as well as immature fruits developing on the vines.


- Top left is a runty curved Tromboncino -- labeled 8/10 but (guess what ?) August of 2015. :o I wanted to try tasting one that was fully mature, but even fully cured, it wasn't sweet :? ...though it was flavorful in its own way. (I think I will just eat them as summer squash) These few were all the seeds in the tiny seed cavity.

...Unlike the Not Kakai which looked more like a straight necked yellow squash when immature. The seeds had hulls, and I saved a little bit but mostly baked them with the flesh. The resulting cooked squash was like spaghetti squash but not separating into strings. It wasn't exactly crunchy but stayed firm even after further cooking. I had to be creative to make it palatable -- used 1/2 in a Philippine style spicy vegetable and beef stew with okra, green and immature tomatoes, and immature runner beans (diced into the stew green pods and all -- yum! very "meaty") I tried to mash the other half of the baked squash by cooking with diced potatoes until the potatoes were cooked, but the squash remained firm and had to be cut up into chunks.

- Last of the three, fully matured Kakai that were harvested this summer was peeled, sliced, salted, then blotted to be put in the dehydrator, seeds and all. This is DH's favorate (and nearly only way he will eat squash). :()


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Today's harvest --

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Some of these went into the Sweet potato leaves sautéed in sunflower oil with minced garlic and myoga, diced okra, green and not quite ripe tomatoes, then added leftover chicken/noodle soup, diced nasturtium leaves, a seeded Hanoi market pepper. Lemon juice and tahini to finish.

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Hoping this will work to extend season for this bed of Sweet Potatoes

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- Trifoliate Orange "Flying Dragon" and Apple melon, one each Petite Nigra and Chicago Hardy figs
- cherry tomatoes and peppers (Jalapeño, Bulgarian Carrot, Hanoi Market g2, skinny Yatsufusa, hooked Takanotsume)
- heavily russeted runty Yellow Giant Bell (hoping for enough seeds to try growing again next year)
- very disappointing raspberry production this fall.

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- one of the medium sized Luffah fruits had developed a damaged stem and started to russet and soften so I decided to harvest it -- hoping this one has sufficiently matured fibers to harvest a sponge...I'm giving it a few more days in the house to see if the skin will show signs of "slipping", Flying Dragon fruits (above) in the same bucket
- Apple melon (above) in the berry container FINALLY matured (it's been very cool/cold)
- Bulgarian Carrot on the plant before harvesting
- Wire basket: Stevia, Roselle leaves, Ao (green) Shiso, Aka (red) Shiso, Pickarow cucumbers struggling to mature fruits in the cold so these are bumpier and about 1/2 sized, Myoga, test picked Christmas Lima and Runner beans that are FINALLY setting pods including a couple of very long/huge ones that were hiding near the bottom of the vine. :D A little white onion.

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SUCCESS!

:-() Image

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I harvested one of the two most mature Thai Kang Kob cross squashes yesterday. It's the one with a depressed side that I asked about before. It had a more dried up stem of the two. I left the other one on the vine for now.

When I was looking at the photos, I realized that these two are NOT exactly the same -- the one I harvested has a narrow extra rib between each lobe as well as being slightly more flattened. 8) I'm going to have to carefully trace back the vines and see if they are coming from completely different spots in the spiral which may mean seeds from different cross combos, or if they are one of 2-3 plants per "hill" and just different segregate of same cross. :D

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- Do you recognize a pepper plant next to the green fence post in the foreground? That's the Brazilian Starfish pepper at the end of the '16 Cherry Lane cherry tomato row. They are still all green fruits and eye-ing the weather forecasts for pending frost, but you GOTTA grow this crazy pepper alongside your regular indeterminate cherry tomatoes. The growth-habit of this tall 'vine-like' plant fits right in, and you can't beat the fun shape of the fruits.
- scarlet runner beans on the arch trellis are producing like mad now -- definitely prefers cooler weather
- the other arched trellis of pole beans are the Christmas Limas -- lots of huge but still very green pods.

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- the biggest bushy pepper plant in the left-side raised bed by the fence is a cluster of three Madame Jeanette pepper plants, late planted but way bigger than even Brazillian Starfish or Aji Pineapple which were planted at the same time, definitely bigger than Maui Purple or Czechoslovakian Black, also planted in the same bed. Fish pepper planted here didn't make it.

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- I slipped cut-off jammy leg over two large luffah on exposed side of the fence to keep them warm....
- there has been an increased digging activity everywhere, including the sweet potato bed under the slitted plastic cover intended to up the temperature inside where I found three holes. If these are moles hunting the plentiful earthworms, it should be OK, but if they are chipmunks, then my sweet tater harvest is doomed.
- I rummaged around and found one decent sized tuber and one small -maybe 1"diameter. All the rest I could find were marker to pencil thick and I left them in place and covered them back up again.
- BST Ladybug pepper plant staying warmer inside a re-purposed bird-feeder tube

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Added comments to the photos I posted yesterday :wink:

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Last time I was out harvesting and taking photos, etc. was Sunday. I've been under the weather fighting a cold, running an errand on Tues, ... life. Very aggravating when it's nearly end of the season and there are a lot to do in the garden. :?

So there was a lot to harvest today, including the massive flush of overgrown shiitake which was a completely unexpected surprise :() as well as the smaller Kikuza pumpkin. You know how all the developing squash photos I posted never showed this one? ...I didn't know it was there :roll: :lol:

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Three big luffahs, some consolation raspberries, pea eggplants, edamame, runner beans.... :-()

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More shiitake, edamame, and Donkey Ears sweet peppers that I stripped the three peppers from so I could repot/downsizing the pot to bring in for overwintering. Image

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-- pulled the carrots to make room for planting garlic cloves. Got Elephant and Tzan Turban planted. Still need to plant Georgian Crystal and Russian Giant Marble Purple Striped.... so late! But I should be OK as long as I get them planted before the ground freezes.

... also planted about half of the 50 saffron crocus bulbs I bought to replace my little group of saffron that seems to have died. I need to figure out where I can plant the rest where there might be a little more protected micro-climate... maybe the Kitchen Garden by the brick patio.

... sowed Senposai, North Pole lettuce, Tokyo Bekana baby Chinese cabbage, and more WallaWalla onion seeds

The squash leaves were completely frosted, but the vines seem to be still alive so I'm leaving the squash unharvested until the last possible day. With the canopy of leaves gone, I discovered another little fruit that had been hiding :o


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Some of my Elephant Garlic are refusing to split into cloves. These are what's left after planting the BIGGEST rounds. I might plant a few more or just give up on them and eat these....

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... also planted about half of the 50 saffron crocus bulbs I bought to replace my little group of saffron that seems to have died. I need to figure out where I can plant the rest where there might be a little more protected micro-climate... maybe the Kitchen Garden by the brick patio.
It seems that I was a little premature in declaring them dead. Unbeknownst to me, they quietly started to bloom in the last few days... :shock:
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...I finished planting the saffron in these three locations. It's hard to find locations that get some sun through late fall despite the lengthening shadows of surrounding houses and trees, with micro-climate that tend to stay warmer than the rest of the garden to ensure they survive the negative single digit winter temps of Zone 6, and that tend on the dry side during their summer dormancy.

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Left -- probably the best spot in terms of growing conditions, but probability of predation by mice, chipmunks, and rabbits (until properly fenced) is highest
Top right -- I cobbled together some leftover pavers for the little Kitchen Garden bed to hopefully provide a modicum of thermal mass. I'll figure out a way to pretty it up later.
Bottom right -- a little iffy since it's on the Northeast side of the house, but it IS the highest end of the slightly inclined/sloped yard.

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I left the cup in the kitchen to sort/separate out the red filaments, and the scent in the kitchen when I went bavk inside was intoxicating. :D

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We've already had a couple of dips down to upper 20's but bounced back up above freezing and the ground hasn't frozen yet.

But with the arrival of the Junco's, I think truely freezing weather is imminent, and the consecutive forecast for 33° to 36°F -- which according to my new adjustment would mean 28° to 31°F actual -- has made me nervous enough to harvest these C.moschata winter squash even though they haven't started to change color. Hopefully they will turn buff color in the warmth of the house and cure properly.

I'm hoping they (well, at least the biggest three -- the two smallest are 2nd fruits of the same kind and I already harvested the 1st mature fruits) have matured enough to produce viable seeds since these are all my accidental/intentional crosses and I'm looking forward to carrying them forward. :-()

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...edit... 26°F this morning at 6:30am

---

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Last edited by applestar on Sun Nov 13, 2016 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added another photo of the squash

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It looks like we are in for a solid freeze tonight. It's already hovering between 32 and 31°F. I wouldn't be surprised to see the temp go down to mid-20's by morning.

I was scrambling to bring in everything that had been left to bring in until the last minute (including taking the pumps and fountains out of the pond). Practically last to come inside were avo#1 and avo#2 -- biggest two of my seed grown avocado trees.

I sprayed all the plants in all the areas with ladybug food nectar and released a whole bunch of ladybugs. Then went around looking to see how they are settling in -- well not exactly "settling in" because that sounds like they are relaxing -- what they ARE doing is busily marching around and around the rim of the containers and all over the plants.

It was so funny to see a (not) pair of them hurrying along a rim of a clay pot in opposite directions, then when they met, one instantly turned around and climbed on the other's back... but the second one, without pausing, immediately starting rolling from side-to-side until it got off, then what was even funnier was that they resumed their original, opposite direction jog around the claypot rim...THEN halfway around, the one that successfully rejected the other's advances seemed to realize that it was unwise to continue on this path, AND TURNED AROUND. Now the 2nd one was chasing the 1st one.... THEN the 1st one had the initiative to get off of the pot rim and cut across the surface of the potting mix, THEN CLIMB the pepper plant... all while that 2nd one continued to hurry along the rim of the container, now with no hope of making another encounter.... :lol:

...while peering up at all of the avocados, I spotted a rather large sac spider ... almost 2 inches from tips of forward stretched legs to tips of backward stretched legs. OH NO. My DD's will have a panic attack if they knew. Since it was conveniently "hiding" inside a large curled up avo leaf, it was simplest to carefully snip off the leaf and send it out -- well actually I sent it out to guard the plants in the garage. :wink:

As usual, now that it's too late to do anything about it unless it is absolutely critical, I'm sitting here wondering if I forgot anything.... (I did remember that I forgot to harvest the burdock roots -- hopefully the raised bed won't freeze yet)

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applestar
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I'm pretty sure these three *C.moschata* winter squashes all grew from seeds marked "TKK #2 on Bucket 2015 SFH" -- so the seeds inside should be {Thai Kang Kob x Seminole #2.F3}. I originally thought the one on the right is a TKKxTromboncino, but when I reviewed my planting map, it is marked as a "TKK#2 on the Bucket," same as the other onion/Seminole-shaped ones. I tried to adjust the collage so they represent the relative sizes of the fruits.

The fully mature one was harvested on 10/25. The 2nd immature one and the large pumpkin-shaped surprise had to be harvested before the stems hardened due to imminent freeze. Hopefully there will be some mature seeds in the big one because it's the biggest pumpkin I've ever grown (15 lbs.), but I won't cut these open until after waiting for a couple of months to see if they change color and cure in storage.

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Both Thai Kang Kob and Seminole are rather late maturing in my location. Usually I can only get one fully mature fruit and maybe a 2nd one that doesn't have time before hard freeze to mature per TKK vine. Seminole is said to be productive, and I can get at least 4 fruits per vine in various stages to grow, so I'm looking for better production in this cross.

Being *C.moschatas*, they are resistant to SVB's -- none got into these, though I have had them infest Tromboncino in the past -- along the thinner, more tender vines rather than at the base of the plant. Squash bugs do lay eggs on them, but only the individual leaf on which the nymphs hatched and started feeding on seem to (no more than) yellow -- at which point, you can find them and squish them if you are checking for them fairly frequently.

They seem to be pretty resistant to powdery mildew as well, though I do have summer drought so not as well tested under frequent rain conditions (I do irrigate via overhead sprinklers and up-spraying flat hose so the foliage gets wet).

Their TKK-shaped (warty, ribbed, flatted) mother fruit was the one that was cut open this May after full 6 month winter "storage" and had wonderfully tasty flesh.*

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-edit- *...hmmm... looking at these photos, I'm wondering the May fruit was the hanging one -- sorry... I am not sure anymore.

(BTW -- Even though the shape of the fruit is consistent, my original Thai Kang Kob which I got from Baker Creek -- and subsequent offspring generation fruits -- have tended to have spots on them that reminds me of their Thai Rai Kaw Tok. Don't know what to think about that.)

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applestar
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We've had temps down to low-20's so garden is mostly done and I've been procrastinating on the remaining fall cleanup.

I hadn't been out since before last weekend, and look what the late-planted saffron decided to do in my absence :o :D

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Clipped everything from the opened and flattened by two-day rain blossoms to the handful of unopened buds, quick rinse and float in cold water to shake and sink the rain-spattered dirt, then leisurely plucking of the red stigmas yielded this much. :()

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applestar
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How the squash are looking now. (Yes they are dusty -- get over it :P )

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If you look at the group of 5 in the photo collage posted on Nov. 12, we ate the smallest dark green one which was too immature to cure properly, and the seeds inside were immature.

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Rendered with brushstroke app just for fun :()

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applestar
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The variety I have been growing is Thai King Kob or that's what the package from Baker Creek said, but looking at the photos at their site, the fruits can look some what like the other Thai Rai something variety they sell (originally from the year there were some mispacksging complaints too so who knows). But these are yellowish when still green or mottled tan and somewhat ...I don't know... spicy? After they have fully cured outside and indoors -- I've never eaten them earlier than about 4 months after harvesting -- they turn completely buff-colored with full waxy coating on the outside and dark orange inside, and sweet.

My line has crossed with Florida Seminole pumpkins, which is another good one from all the reviews, and more productive according to many. So I'm hopeful that the cross will amount to something interesting. Some of these are producing the fig/chestnut-shaped Seminole-looking fruits rather than the flattened ribbed and mottled TKK shape. I have saved seeds if you are willing to gamble on these and give them some of your space.

I'm waiting on a late to grow and mature (aaaargh it's going to freeze!) harvested one of these to hopefully mature.cure some more in storage -- it is actual, field pumpkin-sized -- 2.5 times the normal TKK height. (Good doorstep jack-O-lantern size and shape) It is still solid/mottled dark green when looked at from the top, but bottom has turned yellow/tan. Maybe some of the seeds will be/become viable? ...but I won't try to open it until the very last minute before spring planting season (maybe late March or April) unless it starts to show signs of deterioration.

At some point, I want to try the Greek Red moschata type from Baker Creek. Another one I have my eye on is Georgia Candy Roaster but that one's a ...maxima (svb vulnerable). I hear the big Hubbard (another maxima) takes up a lot of space, but have heard really good things about it. I wish I dared to try growing them.

I'm going to try REBA Acorn squash this year, and Sibley Banana is on the bench -- I might but I have limited squash space this year. Others like Burgess Buttercup, etc. that were recommended in Subject: Winter squash for smaller gardens? are under consideration while I armchair garden and noodle about what to plant where.... :-()

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applestar
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BTW -- That bright yellow is a mature Shintokiwa cucumber and the green and white one is a H-19 Littleleaf. I wasn't sure about the Littleleaf, but the fact that they are both still OK after all this time on the counter probably means they are both fully mature with viable seeds to process and collect for planting. :-()

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Lindsaylew82
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Oh I've enjoyed catching up on your thread! Glad to see such successes!

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applestar
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Thanks, lindsay! :()



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