SQWIB
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Re: Applestar’s 2018 Garden

That's crazy, mine aren't near budding, I'll check tonight

I believe mine did get at least 10 days of 40 degree weather so I'm hoping they bud this year.

Feb 3rd - started seed
Sprouted Feb. 10th.

Feb 22nd
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March 23rd
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March 27th outside
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March 30th, planted
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applestar
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Thanks for the artichoke time-line SQWIB — I’m pretty sure there would be some varietal differences, but it’s also clear yours experienced different growing conditions than mine. I suspect ideal would have been somewhere in the middle since yours seem to have gotten a bit overgrown before being planted out, though you did keep up with them by uppotting them. It will be interesting to see and compare what happens later in the season as they develop.

I have a knack for (barely) keeping them alive and rely on that a little too much — meaning I tend to stunt them until I sense they are not going to be able to take it much longer and then plant them out. It generally takes them a while to recover.

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applestar
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These squashes are another example — they were pre-germinated and sprouted, planted in starter containers, ... then got overgrown and stunted. They look like they are recovering though —

Apple Guild bed (AG) — My Thai Kang Kob cross that grew into a field pumpkin shape last year (normal TKK is a flattened kabocha-type)
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— little volunteer yellow peach tree growing just on the other side of the rabbit fence (trying to train it espalier style ... need to add 2nd tier wire support) ... not sure if you can see the green fruits (should have moved that green bucket :oops: )
— Enterprise Apple tree ... you can see some of the fruits which are already blushed red but they won’t be even greenapple ready until late August, and not harvest-ready ripe until late September, with fully ripe eating quality after storing until October).

Sunflower House Extension (SFHX) — Mrs. Aquillard’s Striped Cushaw in the middle surrounded by Nutterbutter butternut squash which has begun to bloom. Japanese Purple sweet potatoes on the other side of the mini-compost pile/worm tower.
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applestar
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Today was another day I didn’t get to do any of what I had planned for the garden.

I was picking the berries — raspberries and then a little bit of strawberries that are left in the Spiral Garden — when I realized that the little bunny had snuck inside the enclosure again. I knew where it had found access, and with the beans starting to sprout, it was just a matter of time... plus my stunted Applestar’s Medley #sweet# corn is taking their time recovering, and they are still small enough for the bunny to take down — in Fact, there had been one laying on the ground the other day that I had attributed to a cutworm, but it might have been the Bunny.

When I moved the piled up bamboo and wood stakes leaned against the suspected gate corner, and pulled the obscuring weeds, I realized the bunny’s access was really wide open and this area of the fence needed immediate attention. I had to remove the existing section of the fence and replace it with a more secure fencing — get the roll of chicken wire from the garage, fence post digger and driver from the shed ...wire cutters... and before a I knew it it had turned into a big project.

I ended up cleaning up the gate area and replacing the cobbled together gate panel as well. Boy oh boy do I hurt all over today, but upside is now I can actually use the gate, which had been inaccessible and unusable since last season.

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— if the bunny can get in through the gate fence, I’m going to have to chickenwire the bottom half of it.

Harvest —
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applestar
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I didn’t have the time to prep the bed for early spring planting and it sat idle, but the “Sunflower House” Bed is joining the party for the summer —

Botelya squash ( or gourd )
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Greek Sweet Red squash (C. moschata)
Snow Leopard melon (I believe this is F2 or F3 ...original commercial seeds are F1)
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Sweet Freckles melon
Rocky Ford melon
Sugar Baby watermelon
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...didn’t take a pic today but also 2 pre-sprouted and overgrown/stunted OrangeGlo watermelon that were planted out on 6/3 — starting to establish and looking better.

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applestar
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Planted some of the micro-dwarf tomatoes in the main opening of the strawberry jar in the Kitchen Garden
- Jochalos
- Birdie Rouge
- Yellow Canary
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Some of the others are in small containers on this toddler bench on the patio (Kitchen Garden:Patio)
- Yellow Canary
- Jochalos+Pinocchio Orange
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Decided to plant drought tolerant herbs in the windowbox, also on the patio (Kitchen Garden:Patio)
- Rosemary (several years old...overwintered in Garage V8 Nursery)
- Sage ( started from seeds this year)
- Broadleaf Sage (started from seeds this year
...found a fuzzy caterpillar munching away at it where it was located before :x )
- Greek Oregano (overwintered in this exposed windowbox)
- Sweet Marjoram (overwintered on the Garage Shelf across from the V8 Nursery ...colder/near freezing)
- Garlic Chives (overwintered in this pot in a more protected location on the patio)
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applestar
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Tatume squash has started to sprout and earned their place in the Sunflower House roster:

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applestar
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Well, these 4 artichokes are determined — at least two of them are already lining up a side bud :o

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None of the others -including these 2 in the same PSRB’s- show any hint of forming a bud. I guess it was some kind of environmental trigger, but darned if I know what it was... which means I can’t replicate it :roll: :|

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applestar
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Elderflowers are starting to bloom. The ones in the Spiral Garden entrance and in the back yard by the shed are suffering a set back from winter die-off, but the one in the Front Yard Edible Fence Row is going bananas. I suspect they do better with drought than when waterlogged. The FYEFR suffers from drought when dry, but also gets saturated when it does rain or when I over-irrigate, and the plants also have “access” to extra water from the HBR swale•path if they have water-seeking roots.

I picked enough flower umbels for a small batch of elderflower syrup. Tons more on the way, so I believe I can manage to harvest enough elderflowers as well as elderberries, if onion bag some of the fruit clusters to save them from birds, like I did last year.

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SQWIB
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Your artichokes are amazing.
How the hell do you have buds already?

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applestar
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I wish I knew....

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applestar
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Today’s harvest — garlic And garlic chives scapes, handful of yellow and red raspberries, 1/2 dozen Arabian jasmine blossoms, and a bouquet’s worth of elder flowers. :D

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Garlic scapes were frozen to be made into pesto with basil later. Garlic Chives scapes were minced, and along with “shredded” cabbage leaves, Swiss cheese, and Jochalos and Yellow Canary cherry tomatoes, were used for a garlicky green omelette. yum!

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applestar
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I’m desperately trying to get the rest of my peppers planted so I can be done and relax.

I planted two more of the grocery bagged overwintered peppers. They were stunted from neglect and poor soil (barely nursed along by wormyworms, which I transferred to their new containers of enriched potting mix). Most of them were too difficult to separate without breaking their already limited root systems, so I group planted in inadequate community pots... but they are in far better situation than what they had been in. I believe I have one more grocery bagged pepper left, then the others are in containers but could be simply fertilized ...or Uppotted.

I got the last of the started-from-seeds-this-spring peppers planted in these black nursery pots in front of the KGP.SIP#3 (Kitchen Garden Patio Sub-Irrigated Planter No.3)

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...But there was a mysterious mischief-maker at large. The potting mix in the #3 had been all dug up, and 3 of the seedlings had been uprooted and tossed in a heap, though nothing was eaten (tomatoes, peppers, celery, chard). The fruit tree branches and twigs I am saving to burn later had been disturbed and almost laying on top of #3. The uprooted plants were not dried out — I Think this happened near dawn this morning — I remember hearing some crashing noise, but I had thought it was one of our indoor cats climbing around on the shelves of the Green Room, not right outside the window of that same room.

My immediate suspicion was neighborhood cat, but the digging activity didn’t look quite like a cat’s. Even so, I decided to add something to inhibit further attempts to dig in it — I needed something to make it uncomfortable to dig in the SIP. I needed citrus prunings... but I’d already pruned my citruses and most of them are de-thorned anyhow — I don’t like plants that attack me when I’m trying to take care of them.

Then it occurred to me :twisted: — my Trifoliate Orange ‘Flying Dragon’ needed to be pruned.... if you zoom in, that’s what’slaying on the surface of the potting mix. Flying Dragon has wickedly curved talon-like thorns. I also took some cuttings sinc eai’ve been meaning to try rooting them. I don’t know if this is the right time of the year, but I got them rooting in perlite now. We shall see.

Later, I realized that an old, lidless picnic cooler that is used to collect water (and had a goldfish in it) has been emptied of the water, although the cooler is sitting upright where it is supposed to be. (I’m not going outside to look ...it’s just possible the old cooler has sprung a leak between yesterday and today....) No way a cat would have been playing with the cooler full of water, even to try to catch the goldfish, I think? It would have to be pretty big to tip the cooler over and why would an animal push it back upright? A raccoon?

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applestar
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I hav been trying different ways to supply the extra warmth that peppers, eggplants, and melons seem to lack in my garden.

In the last post and other recent posts, you can see that many of the peppers have been planted in the SIP’s and black containers and situated on the brick patio.

For the melons as well as this year’s later maturing and tropical-sourced squash, I’m trying something different — I have been covering the seedbed with low-hoop tunnels. I do think this might have helped them sprout and get growing faster despite the unusually low overnight temperatures we have had recently.

Since I don’t want them to get fungal issues, I’m not covering them tightly. And today, I upgraded their hoop structures and covers, and also put up a sturdy remesh trellis for the Botelya and Tatume squashes.
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Update photo collages of the SFH (Sunflower House) Bed and SFHX (Sunflower House Extension) Bed which are in cucurbit rotation this year:
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applestar
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applestar
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Harvested —

- Tronchuda cabbage, Solstice broccoli, and overgrown Veronica ronanesco cauliflower,
- Lemon balm, aka shiso (red perilla), carrot flowerheads (mostly pruned away from a tomato plant, but will use as garnish... maybe dry and see if useful as herb/spice like celery flowers.
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- Echinacea leaves, a flower bud, and a flower — making a whole plant extract/tincture this year — keep adding parts of the plants including stem, submerged in vodka (or everclear), then dig up some roots in the fall to finish the tincture ingredients
- Dwarf Moringa leaves — added these to a soup along with the Tronchuda cabbage and overgrown Romanesco — yummy!
- Yarrow blossoms and leaves/stems — will dry for later use
- a couple of small elderflower clusters which I added to already elder flowers soaking in cold water for making more cordial
- tea jasmine blossoms

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- Broccoli had a cabbageworm that had been finished off by braconid wasp babies underneath. I removed the cocoons and put them inside a cabbage.

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- I have 2 more tiny Veronica Romanesco that are starting to unravel — I don’t think they will survive this heatwave. I may be better off just cutting my losses and harvesting them at this stage.
- Do you see the Harlequin stinkbug? :evil: I didn’t notice until I saw the uploaded photo, but when I searched later, I did find 2. I have to see if there is an egg cluster.... :x

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- first of the named cultivar lowbush blueberries (I believe I have Elizabeth, Blue Jay, and Duke) as well as the Yellow Anne raspberries all of which I have been diligently bagging as they blush.

- But I discovered why I have never had good highbush blueberry harvest. I only have one and I assumed it was incompatible with the lowbush kinds, but this year, I supported the branches up to open them up more in case they were too shaded... and found a bunch of green blueberry clusters. Then they started disappearing. Even found a scattered cluster on the ground. I realized that the catbirds who always start visiting berry bushes and trees before they are ripe are “tast-testing” the conveniently higher placed high bush blueberries while they are still green and unpalatable. :evil: ...I bagged a bunch of green ones. I need to find more bags. I may have to go a step further and string fishing lines around the blueberries, but I don’t really want to injure them....

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applestar
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Korean red pepper - Gochugaru yon Gochu
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applestar
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First Thai Kang Kob x Seminole (pumpkin shape) female blossom. I hand-pollinated it just in case.

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Beds in my garden that can grow good garlic are limited because most of them are completely shaded by houses and/or trees during the shorter days of the year and they don’t get the chance to establish good root systems and leaves to support bulb development... or the area is low-lying and becomes completely waterlogged during the frozen winter until spring thaw.

This year, I found another location that is NOT suited to growing garlic.... :(

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SQWIB
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Looking good

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applestar
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Random photos —
- Sunflower & House — Pink and Purple Mexican corn behind Shimofuri#2 F5’s which have less variegation but is taller and fruits were larger. Possibly indeterminate, but not sure yet. Last year, #2’s tasted richer than #1’s. Korean Melonnon the fence to the left of gate. Shimofuri#1 F5’s supported with Spiral tomato stakes to the right side of the gate/path. Japanese Striped Maize and Black Aztec in the back.
- Overwintered cabbage is the first to head up. Protected under insect screen tunnel.
- Blueberries (4 kinds) and Triple Crown blackberries. Yellow Anne raspberries.

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applestar
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...I’ve been super-busy with some family stuff, snatching a couple of hours after dawn for gardening... just barely able to water and harvest before self-allotted time was up. Then some critter started raiding — starting with ALL of ripe and blushed micro-dwarf tomatoes. :evil: Then any tomato past color break in the Kitchen Garden, Patio, and Sunflower&House, ALL of the ripe raspberries and some of the blueberries... ripping through the organza bags intended to protect the berries from birds.

...I was frantic...

I spotted the culprit last week — a Chipmunk — and started out with 1 DIY bucket trap. Then got a 2nd trap. It had been sprung and bait taken a couple of times without success.

...MANY Shimofuri#1’s on the ground and with holes in the still attached fruits. This was getting serious, and I hardened my heart.

The traps were empty this morning. I was anxiously looking at all of the blushing fruits and stressing myself out. The big tomatoes are starting to color break and blush in the Spiral Garden....

That’s it. No more kid-gloves — I put dabs of peanut butter on the outside, and inside on the death-trap. I came back to the patio at 9AM after watering and doing various chores in the garden. I know I walked past the patio several times, so with me outside and in the area ... 9am, 1 dead chipmunk. RIP. O:)

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applestar
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It’s almost 5am... first light at 5:10 and sunrise around 5:45am. Waiting to see if it had in fact been safe NOT to harvest any of the halfway blushed tomatoes (mostly the determinate Shimofuri#1 and Jack Frost’s Early Love) yesterday....

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applestar
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Relieved find all undisturbed this morning —

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...I did see little Bunny-Bunny by the pond — have not been in the enclosed gardens and beds. There Are plenty of wildlife forage everywhere else because I’ve planted them for them to eat.

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applestar
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Vegetable Garden raised beds, etc. update —

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First Thai Kang Kob cross pumpkin-shape segregate:

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Gary350
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The variety of plants that you have is amazing, it makes me wonder what all those taste like and how do you manage to keep up with all of it.

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applestar
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Thanks, Gary350 :D
I think partly, my secret is separate beds :lol: Haha seriously, I originally started with one 10 ft x 6 ft area, then relocated the vegetable garden to a 10 ft x 10 ft area, which was expanded to 14 ft wide. Then I had to have a Kitchen Garden — 10 ft circle, then another circular garden this time 12 foot circle... and so on and so on, adding the Sunflower House, Haybale Row, Sunflower House Extension, Then the biggie — Spiral Garden... I think if I added all the areas up, I would be astounded and frankly overwhelmed to think how much area I have in cultivation.

But because they are separate areas and compartmentalized, each space is ....or at least seem... more-or-less manageable.

I plan during the winter with maps and charts, and take lots of pictures during the growing season that are pasted in (I have a thread somewhere explaining the apps I use.) When it gets too much to keep everything in my head, I start keeping ToDo and DoneToday lists.

For the tomatoes and sometimes peppers, I use round removable labels to tag fruits — at least one representative one is tagged — many of my varieties are unique looking enough that that is enough. I also use berry baskets, etc. to keep fruits in groups.

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applestar
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Today’s harvest

- I thought Dwarf Lemon Ice was only blushed, but was starting to give a little to touch. Same with the runty Uluru Ochre. You really have to touch and feel to verify with these unusually colored varieties.
- Many Shimofuri#1, also #2 and Jack Frost’s Early Love —

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... these all come right off with or without fruit stem when certain level of blush is reached, even though they get darker pink n the house after harvesting. I will have to take some photos of the full-ripe ones.

- Kale leaves (Tonchuda and Dazzling Blue) and Solstice broccoli side shoots. The kale are from the insect screen covered VG-A bed (but you can see something got in — I think a moth)
- Napa Rosé and Sweet Aperitif cherry tomatoes, blackberries, Gochugaru yong Gochu pepper, Nasturtium flowers
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Cabbage moths are here, leaving egg clusters that look like dabs of yellow wax. They hatch out dozens of baby caterpillars that mass feed and turn the leaves into tatters. Cabbage Whites are egg dumping and laying dozens of eggs per leaf instead of single eggs here and there. It’s just about time to pull the plug on the unprotected crucifers, but I’m still waiting for the cabbages to head up.... :?

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applestar
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It is amazing. I am envious of your bounty. I let my garden go fallow this year to try to get rid of the more persistent weeds and because I still haven't fixed the sprinkler valve. I have had to buy produce I would otherwise have grown and the prices are shocking and the vegetables are not nearly as fresh or as good as what I have grown.

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applestar
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Thanks, @imafan. I do leave some beds “fallow” too, but more to try to leave the weeds to the insect micro-cosm... and give the bed (and me) a break. Typically, I end up using the weeds for cut and come again mulch and compost or sheet-mulched greens eventually.

I know what you mean about store-bought produce. You do get spoiled by the fresh-grown/harvested from the garden, don’t you think? Even when it’s just enough for a meal — or More so because they are right there when you want/need it. I have to admit sometimes, I make something and think “Oooh Naturtium leaves (or ginger, or an herb, or something else) would be perfect in this!” ...then either enthusiastically take the trouble to go out and get it ... or I might become so used to having them that I would be too lazy to go out in the heat or the dark. I shouldn’t take them for granted....

DH likes to tell anyone who brings up the subject that I have “ruined him” where tomatoes are concerned. Especially in the height of the big tomato harvest and fall. He simply cannot eat the poor excuse for tomatoes served in sandwiches and salads, even at some better restaurants, and would turn his nose up at supermarket tomatoes.

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applestar
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I planted watermelon in the middle of the VG-A bed, thinking the crucifers would be done by middle of the summer and then the watermelons would take over the bed. I was thinking the plentiful nightcrawlers that seem to be living in the clay subsoil under the bed might provide extra fertility. I was thinking that even though VG-A is a high raised bed (12-18 inches deep) the flooding swale-paths water would supply enough water.

So far, I’m not convinced that I was right. The surface of the bed is constantly dry-looking. The watermelon leaves have not enlarged as they usually do as they grow, and the kale and broccoli are still going strong. So the protective insect screen cover need to stay on, But the watermelon vines HAVE been growing. I’ve hand-pollinated 4 female blossoms so far.

Here are Two of them —

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— By their shapes, these are the two varieties — Cream of Saskatchewan and Orangeglo

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applestar
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So the chipmunk has been dealt with as mentioned elsewhere, but the raccoons came back last night. They made a HUGE mess on the patio — they basically rummaged in and turned over anything with water in it. Dug around in container plants and pulled out anything loose like rocks, cups and containers I left half buried as pseudo-olla watering cup, even some marbles and plastic utencils. The plants had grown enough to escape uprooting, but loose push in soil or stick-type plant tags and labels were scattered. They even rummaged in my broken pottery and ceramics collection bin. They then washed their paws in 2 gal buckets of clean water I leave out to outgass chlorine for watering sensitive plants and topping goldfish buckets.

They caught a goldfish out of one of those buckets and left it dead on the flagstone off the patio. It makes me mad that they killed it and didn’t even want to eat it.

They nibbled at a couple of tomatoes and left them on the ground. But just when I thought my garden mostly escaped with no more than mischief, I discovered that my already lackluster patch of Applestar’s Medley #sweet# had been thoroughly raided. The ears weren’t ready to eat, but they sampled every single one anyhow. “You know, I don’t think this corn is ready.” “Well, try another one.” “OK.”

I can safely declare that this has been a disaster corn year in my garden. (I guess I should have planted 400 :wink:) At this point, I won’t hold out much hope or expectation for the Japanese Striped Maize that are just starting to silk, and the 6 ft and still growing Pink and Purple Mexican corn, both in the Sunflower & House bed.

Why didn’t they wash their paws in the pond — when they pushed the turtle spitter’s birdbath and another bog plant container off the pond-edge ledge into the deeper level.

They did leave the Patio SIP#2 alone, some of those wicked claw-studded trimmings look like they’ve been moved around. I do believe the “Flying Dragon” needs to be pruned a little more. There is also a large bramble-rose that has been left to grow a little too big in the unused corner of the yard, and more of the bristly wild blackberries have been popping up....

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One thing they did that helped — it rained yesterday, so by turning over the water filled, potential mosquito-breeding containers, they took care of one of the tedious chores I would have had to deal with this morning....

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applestar
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Recent Harvests

7/16
- Runty Prudens Black and Allons-y, Dr.X F4 (these were both deformed by the fused blossoms and delayed development/pollination of the secondary blossom)
- Good looking King Aramis
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Today
- Dwarf Lemon Ice was damaged by some critter (probably the raccoons) and split from yesterday’s rain
- Seeing the xploratory damage to DLI, I decided to harvest the Dwarf Chocolate Lightning Early, since last year, chipmunks favored these and chewed them up at barely blushed state. I think it has great flavor and must develop the sweet front-end flavor early.
- I had an unlabeled purple fruit last year that tasted great and marked it as either Faelan’s First Snow or Bear Creek. Well the seeds are growing into some kind of a cross — one Plant is producing cherry sized fruits, and this one ripened at salad size.
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Female blossoms on Nutter Butter squash and Thai Kang Kob cross —I think/hope there is enough pollinator activity. :D

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applestar
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Today’s Harvest —

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— you can see the difference in the color of Molten Sky variant F4 when compared to other white and yellow tomatoes here. I’m naming the variant Molten Sun F4

Squashes and melons are starting to take over the garden —

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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

First two watermelon babies :-()

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Yesterday was rainy and I was under the weather, so I skipped harvesting for a day. I thought the birds would have picked at all the blackberries but I guess they didn’t want to be out in the rain much either because there were many to be harvested. :D

I just love how cute the stem-end sun-print looks on antho cherries — I try to grow at least one variety every year — these are Helsing Junction Blues.

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...the pink-faded jasmine are from yesterday — I picked some up from the ground, though most had fallen on a lower leaf. They only open for one day then fall off.

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Sorry to hear about the critters having a field day.
However, everything looks great.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I need to be more pro-active about the critters. The raccoons were here again last night. I did some things to deter them but not enough.

Yesterday, I set up three motion-activated closet lights. I like that they are pretty sensitive, bright white LED lights, and turns off again.

This morning, at least two apples were missing, but they made off with the smaller of the two and left a good larger fruit on the ground in blemished condition. (still way too early for this late September ripening variety though) but at least I can make apple butter with this and others.

I think the one on the patio really scared them because the turtle spitter — heavy Cement — had been tilted off it’s pedestal rock and the birdbath saucer under it had been pushed into the pond. I am imagining the light blinded raccoon blundering into the turtle hard enough to knock it off its perch... and falling into the birdbath. I really REALLY hope that’s what happened. :twisted:

I bought 2 more motion sensors, these are intended to be door chime/alarm. Can’t wait to set them up when they arrive. I will also tinker with my two tiny scale electric wire garden barricades and see if I can get them working again. These and the lights are all movable and hopefully by randomizing their locations, they will help to deter the rascals.

I wish they would just stay in the neighbor’s yard and eat the cat food they leave out for the strays.... :?

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applestar
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I picked some really lovely Triple Crown Blackberries today, so I had to take the obligatory “quarter” scale photo :()

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

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