Tennessee 2020 Garden

[TomatoNut95]

Wow, what a big, beautiful bush! My wild blackberry patch has already been picked clean, I got two or three bagged gallons of berries all frozen and ready to make juice from.

@Gary, on your old Cayenne pepper insect-killer recipe, is it necessary to have the salt in it? I'd like to make that to spray on some young pea plants to kill those stupid aphids since the DE did NOT work, but I don't want to risk salt-burn.

[Gary350]

Wow, what a big, beautiful bush! My wild blackberry patch has already been picked clean, I got two or three bagged gallons of berries all frozen and ready to make juice from.

@Gary, on your old Cayenne pepper insect-killer recipe, is it necessary to have the salt in it? I'd like to make that to spray on some young pea plants to kill those stupid aphids since the DE did NOT work, but I don't want to risk salt-burn.

I tried it with no salt it worked good. A little dish soap in the spray water helps it stick to plants. Grind peppers in water when they are still green they puree into the water better.

[TomatoNut95]

Oh, I was going to look for some Cayenne pepper powder, but now that you mention using a whole pepper: I do have ONE hot pepper, it is one of your New Mexico chillies still green on the plants. Would those be hot enough to kill aphids? And how do I go about pureeing a whole pepper in water, please? Should I remove the seeds, or aren't the seeds the hottest part of the pepper?

[Gary350]

I am ready to plant peppers if it ever stops raining. 4 days of rain & 7 more on the way. It is finally going to get warmer than 69, Saturday will be warmer. It rained hard all day today. I put a lot of saved Jalapeno seeds in one of these 2 gallon pots not knowing germination rate is near 100%, I have too many plants I only intend to put 2 plants in the garden. I have about 10 Big Bertha peppers from saved seeds in with 2 Napa Cabbage I only want 4 plants. There are probably 30 Mexican chili plants from saved seeds in another pot I only want 4 plants. I can plant pepper plants between rains. It is easy to grow seeds in large pots soil does not dry out easy then all I do is separate the plants.

[TomatoNut95]

Can you tell me how to puree a whole pepper to make liquid spray from, please? I have one of your New Mexico chillies peppers I can use since my habanero isn't producing yet. I'm really shocked at how slow growing Habaneros are....

[Gary350]

Can you tell me how to puree a whole pepper to make liquid spray from, please? I have one of your New Mexico chillies peppers I can use since my habanero isn't producing yet. I'm really shocked at how slow growing Habaneros are....

Boil peppers in water long enough to make them soft 10 minutes is usually enough. Let water cook then put water & pepper in kitchen blender on high speed about 1 or 2 minutes. Pour liquid through coffee filter to remove any pieces that might clog up the sprayer. Put water in sprayer empty sprayer bottle.

[TomatoNut95]

Thanks a million, @Gary!

[Gary350]

I have a 5 gallon rain bucket that over flows none stop. I use to have the 30 gallon trash can full of water over flowing none stop but it gets full of mosquito larvae and is had to dump. I use this water to fertilized the garden. I can pour in 1 gallon of wood ash to water tomatoes or fertilizer for other plants. 5 gallons is a good size at the moment. Hotter weather 30 gallons will be better to fertilize 5 rows of corn. Warmer weather is on the way but still none stop rain. I could over flow a 1000 gallon container if I had one.

[Gary350]

It has rained hard all morning. Rain stopped for 20 minutes so I looked at the garden, corn is coming up, potatoes are 5 ft tall, some tomato plants are 4 ft tall. It will be 83 Sat and 85 Sun but 7 more days of rain. Too much mud to plant beans, melons, squash, peppers, Qcumbers, okra, or anything else. I tried to walk in garden shoes sink 7" is mud. I need to check see if basil plants are coming up but can't get there. When potato plants bush out they take up too much space, no more blossoms.

[Gary350]

The garden is finished. Today I planted 2 rows of Roma flat pod beans 40 ft long rows with 170 seeds in each row. I planted a cucumber patch 45 seeds. There are 8 pepper plants, 2 jalapeno, 2 Mexican chili's, 4 big Bertha. 5 cantaloupes, 5 round water melons, 5 long shape water melons, 35 okra seeds, 5 yellow squash, 5 zucchini squash, Potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, onions are looking good. 4 sweet potatoes not looking good but still alive too much rain.

Weather update. Today Sunday 5/24/2020. It is 88 degrees, sunny and hot. I didn't cut my hair all winter it is 6" long, time to cut my hair. I need short pants for this hotter weather.

[TomatoNut95]

Looks good, @Gary!

[Gary350]

I think I have learned something new about planting corn. Last year I bought new corn seeds germination rate was about 75%. Every year I have the same problem with low germination rate. This year I bought new corn seeds but I planted last years corn seeds in rows, 1, 2, 3, 4 to use up old seeds. I planted new seeds in row 5 that I bought 4 weeks ago. Row 5 germinated and had plants coming up 1 day before rows, 1, 2, 3, 4. Row 5 has 100% germination while rows 1, 2, 3, 4. is about 75% germination. 2 days later row 5 plants are 3 times bigger than rows 1, 2, 3, 4. Row 5 looks like it has been fertilized and rows 1, 2, 3, 4 has not. I crawled through the garden on my hands & knees this morning and planted 2 new seeds on each side of each missing plant. If the missing plant never grows there will be 2 plants but if the missing plant decides to grow there will be 3 plants.

We talked about corn planting last year several people said they have low germination problems with corn too. 1 person said he plants 2 seeds every place he wants a corn plant if 1 seed does not grow he has 1 plant every 6" and if 2 plants grow in the same spot he pulls 1 up. Next time I plant last years corn seeds I am planting a minimum of 2 seeds every place I want a corn plant.

After watching that corn video I posted I want to know how well 2" & 3" seed spacing works. Years past I have done 4" seeds spacing many times it works great. I have made an 8 ft long test row with corn seed spacing 2" apart. I made another 8 ft row with 3" corn seed spacing. This year I will learn how well this works. Next year I might be planting my whole corn crop 2" seed spacing. I might be able to plant 2 rows of corn that produces a crop = to 6 rows of corn. This will free up 4 rows for planing other things.

I talked to a man that use to work for Farmers Co-op seed packaging company. He said, they mix 1 year old seeds with new seeds to get rid of old seeds. That could account for why corn germination is low sometimes.

[TomatoNut95]

Plus maybe the kernels from which the seed are saved weren't pollinated good or something? I wish I could grow corn, but no space for something that big in my backyard, plus fence is not secure enough against stupid raccoons. I HATE raccoons.

[Gary350]

Plus maybe the kernels from which the seed are saved weren't pollinated good or something? I wish I could grow corn, but no space for something that big in my backyard, plus fence is not secure enough against stupid raccoons. I HATE raccoons.

I have done small corn patch experiments that turned out very well One time I planted seeds 6" apart in a 3 ft square. 7 rows of corn with 7 seeds in each row planted in full sun. Keep it watered and fertilized. After plants had tassels and ears had silks I put a bed sheet around all the plants to contain the pollen for a whole week. Then removed the tarp and a few weeks later I had 49 ears of corn that all pollinated. Corn turned out good. A crop that small is easy to weed. I bet you have room for this in your garden.

Several times I have planted corn is a 10 ft x 10 ft square with rows 1 ft apart, 21 seeds per row in 11 rows. No bed sheet was used to contain pollen all the ears were pollinated and corn was good. This size crops is very hard to weed. You need to be very careful use the hoe to weed. It is harder to fertilize too.

[Gary350]

Today I checked my tiny table top green house with 10 cuttings. I did this a month ago and totally forgot all about it. I saw it setting under the shade tree then went to see what it is. Styrofoam cup is full of potting soil mixed with 10% garden soil. Cup has holes in the side 1" from bottom. Cup sets inside a plastic container with 3" of water inside. Soft drink bottle with no bottom sets over the cup to hold in humidity for the cuttings. There are 10 cuttings with rooting powder in the cup. It has been outside in full shade for a month. 3 of the cuttings have grown leaves. Another 1 or 2 months cutting might be ready to plant. I need to do several blackberry cuttings like this I can increase the size of my crop much quicker. Maybe this warmer weather the other 7 cuttings will grow leaves too.

[Gary350]

These are the plant trays I tried to grow 100 tomato seeds March 1st. Nothing grew setting on a 100 degree hot pad. After last frost I put trays outside where it rained for a whole month still no plants. We had 88 degrees for 2 days full sun now 1 tomato plant finally grew, bottom right. Too late plant I don't need you now.

5 gallons of Bread & Butter pickle relish I made last summer will be gone about August. We opened another jar for dinner tonight, relish in potato salad and relish on German sausage cooked on the grill. I have a new Bread & Butter pickle recipe from Master Gardener this will be 40 times easier & faster than the recipe I used last summer. I planted 45 cucumber plants we hope to have enough Q-cumbers to make 5 gallons of pickles in 1 day about July package says 50 day crop.

Potato plants are too tall they are falling over.



.

[Gary350]

It rained hard all night & rained hard all morning and its still raining. My 30 gallon trash can was full and over flowing early this morning. I wish I could save water in the other 5 trash cans I need some way to get rain gutter water to them. Oh well this is enough water to fertilize plants. I can throw in wood ash and any other fertilizer I need to fertilize plants. I will need this water when I fertilize corn when it is 18" tall & again when ears have silks. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, melons, need fertilizer a few times too. I have a 30 gallon trash can full of wood ash inside the building. Garden has standing water everywhere. Beans do not like too much water.

[Gary350]

Today I sliced up a 3 lb cabbage. We made fried cabbage in the skillet for dinner, coleslaw for lunch, and 4 pint jars of Sauerkraut. I am trying a new sauerkraut recipe after putting cabbage in jars it only took 1 minutes to add the other 3 ingredients. Water bath cook 15 minutes then 1 month in the pantry it is ready to eat.

[TomatoNut95]

I just might ask you for that saurekraut recipe this fall @Gary. Normally I just boil my cabbage heads, but it might be interesting to try something different.

By the way, I wasn't sure if you had gotten my message about those big white legged worms you are finding in your garden; those are grubs. You did wtih yours what I like to do with mine: use them as bird seed. However, if you plan a fishing trip, those grubs will come in handy there to.

[Gary350]

I just might ask you for that sauerkraut recipe this fall @Gary. Normally I just boil my cabbage heads, but it might be interesting to try something different.

By the way, I wasn't sure if you had gotten my message about those big white legged worms you are finding in your garden; those are grubs. You did wtih yours what I like to do with mine: use them as bird seed. However, if you plan a fishing trip, those grubs will come in handy there to.

Sauerkraut Recipe for quart jars. Slice cabbage thin in about 2" long slices. Pack jars with cabbage. Put 1 tsp salt in each jar, 1 tsp white sugar in each jar, 1 tsp white vinegar in each jar, fill jars with boiling water, tap jars on counter top to remove air bubbles trapped in the cabbage. Add more boiling water if needed. Put seals & rings on jars. Water bath boil for 20 minutes. Cool naturally for a few hours. Boil pints 15 minutes.

[SQWIB]

It rained hard all night & rained hard all morning and its still raining. My 30 gallon trash can was full and over flowing early this morning. I wish I could save water in the other 5 trash cans I need some way to get rain gutter water to them.

You could run a hose from the bottom of your trash can to the bottom of the other trash cans and if they are somewhat level, they will all fill up to the same level.
OR
You could run a hose from the top to each trash can and they will fill up one at a time in the order you place them.

You could use old hoses or PVC and various fittings, it's actually pretty easy.

[TomatoNut95]

It rained hard all night & rained hard all morning and its still raining. My 30 gallon trash can was full and over flowing early this morning. I wish I could save water in the other 5 trash cans I need some way to get rain gutter water to them.

You could run a hose from the bottom of your trash can to the bottom of the other trash cans and if they are somewhat level, they will all fill up to the same level.
OR
You could run a hose from the top to each trash can and they will fill up one at a time in the order you place them.

You could use old hoses or PVC and various fittings, it's actually pretty easy.

My gutters are cut high enough that a five gallon bucket sits under each one, so when it rains, water runs right into the buckets. I have a wire screen cover for each bucket that prevents most of the gutter rubbish from pouring into the buckets. Then I empty the buckets into my big barrel. (not sure how many gallons it is) I have a new, tighter fitting cover for my barrel now, so frogs and mosquitos cannot get into the water to lay eggs.

[TomatoNut95]

@Gary does it hurt to put semi-dry pieces of peppers back in the dryer if they didn't finish drying the first day? My Poblano pieces were still mushy at the end of the day and I put them in the fridge. Pieces are still mushy so I put them back in the dryer this morning. I sliced up a bunch of Jalapenos this morning, I think I will make just some Jalapeno powder.

[Gary350]

@Gary does it hurt to put semi-dry pieces of peppers back in the dryer if they didn't finish drying the first day? My Poblano pieces were still mushy at the end of the day and I put them in the fridge. Pieces are still mushy so I put them back in the dryer this morning. I sliced up a bunch of Jalapenos this morning, I think I will make just some Jalapeno powder.

It does not hurt to keep dehydrating peppers until they are finally dry. Are you checking dehydrator temperature with a thermometer? If you have to much ventilation it might not be hot enough. Cover screen with, black paper, black plastic, or black cardboard but leave a 1/2" air vent at bottom and top. Heat rises it will come in the bottom and flow out the top all the moisture will leave with the air. 12 years ago I dehydrated peppers on a table on the screen patio. I cut thin pepper strips they dry fast, I laid them all over the table it took 3 days to dry in summer 100 degree heat with a window fan blowing on them. Screen patio kept bugs away. 3rd day peppers were crispy like potato chips at 5pm.

[TomatoNut95]

I'm afraid I don't have a thermometer, I hunted for the one but all my thermometers I've had get weather worn and bust or thrown away. I didn't get a new one this year, I normally keep one on hand to keep in the greenhouse. However, I plan to order one. My digital thermometer says DO NOT expose to high temperatures and DO NOT leave in full sun.

[TomatoNut95]

One more question. My first Roma's are turning red and I want to attempt the tomato powder in my solar dyrer. But I want to do it without screwing up, so how do I cut the tomatoes correctly so they'll dry good? Just lenghtwise and remove seeds, or cut into small strips like the peppers?

[Gary350]

I have 1 Egyptian walking onion it was looking puny trying to make a seed tops but not much was happening so I gave is a hand full of 15-15-15 fertilizer then the 2 ft tall plant grew 4 ft tall seed top grew very large. It tried to grow a 2nd seed top but stalled out and just set there but after giving it another hand full of 15-15-15 fertilizer the 2nd leaf grew much taller and made another seed top. Now the onion plant is growing 4 more leaves I think it might be time to give it more 15-15-15. In the past tops grow about 35 onion sets it appears to me these tops have more than 35 sets.

This is very interesting I wonder if my 150 garden onions could use some 15-15-15 fertilizer.

[TomatoNut95]

Have you ever tried growing onions from seed? If so do you notice if they do better than growing them from sets or transplants? I've never tried onion from seed, I tried onion chives from seed once and they didn't stay alive long.

[SQWIB]

I'm pretty sure that's not an Egyptian Walking Onion

[SQWIB]

[SQWIB]

Flickr mobile really sucks

[SQWIB]

https://flic.kr/p/2j7f6w1

[Gary350]

https://flic.kr/p/2j7f6w1

That picture is how I remember Egyptian walking onion sets. I just don't remember went sets grow. I was thinking blossoms must become onion sets. If this onion is not making sets then it must be making seeds. I got rid of all my Egyptian walking onions a year ago after they were gone I found 1 onion laying on the soil so I was thinking I must have dropped an onion. I kept the onion alive all winter now I learn its not an Egyptian walking onion. LOL. What should I do with it now it has become a tall plant with a small bulb. Its not a problem where it is growing I will let it grow and see what happens.

[Gary350]

I believe sweet corn is not as robust as field corn. Replacement seeds have germinated plants are coming up this morning.

[Gary350]

Tomato plants are already starting to get early blight. I need to start spraying tomato plants this year with something but not sure what to use for blight? I see a lot of golf ball size green tomatoes already. I have been seeing a few red lady bugs on tomato plants an potato plants but can't find any this morning, 53 degree in the garden. Something has been eating bean plants I suspect it is a rabbit. Last night about 2:30 am dog was crazy mad barking very loud and very mean sounding and would not stop barking. We looked outside but could not see anything with the spot light. This morning I found a rabbit head with no body, I think beans will be good now. We have a BIG cat in the area several people have seen it and some have security camera video but we have not seen it yet. I think the big cat ate the rabbit last night. Neighbor woman said the big cat is the size of a dog what ever that means she is not good at describing it. Corn & beans look good I need to put a few bean seeds in places where beans were eaten. We have had so much rain garden is covered with millions of very tiny chick weed plants. If rain ever stops weeds will be dead they have not grown a good root system yet.

This evening I tied tomato cages to the cement rebar stakes with hay bail twine and made sure all the plants were staying inside the cages. A week ago I laid boards in the mud so I had a place to walk it is time to take the boards away. No rain in 5 days & no rain in the forecast for 3 more days. It was 52 degrees this morning I think that may be a record low for June 1st.

[Gary350]

I learned something new about corn plants. 2 plants got broken off. 2 days later I see the plants are growing new tops. I never knew corn would grow new tops. I often plant extra seeds to transplant no need to do that anymore.

Is this bug called a Praying Wasp? It looks like a praying mantis on left side and a wasp on right side.

I'm getting ready to start spraying tomatoes for early blight.

[TomatoNut95]

If I saw a bug like that in my garden I'd want to swat it. You're right, it looks like a hyrbid cross of a praying mantis and a paper wasp. I can't find anything simialr in my North American bug book, but maybe it's a type of parasitic wasp that helps elimate hornworms by laying their eggs on the worm and the newly hatched larvae eat the worm. Gross.

[Gary350]

Last night 2 very large storm systems with, tornadoes, hail, lightning, bypassed us so we went to bed at 10:15 pm. Then 2:30 am a big storm woke us up, lightning, thunder, wind, rain, shook the house, flash/boom, flash/boom, flash/boom, I don't think we will ever get use to living in tornado alley it scares wife to death but I love lightning & thunder. No rain in about 2 weeks garden needed this rain. My mosquito malaria water container is full again I will use the water before mosquito larvae take over. Garden looks good today. Blackberry patch is freaking me out I have never seen this many blackberries. I started this blackberry patch with 1 plant 3 years ago.

[TomatoNut95]

Covering those buckets with a small screen will prevent mosquitos from breeding in your water.

Your wife is like my mother, and my ex co-worker. They both freak during thunderstorms. I admit the cannonball fire thunder gives me a bolt, but they don't bother me unless it starts hailing then I get concerned about a tornado.

[SQWIB]

That's one freaky looking bug.

https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postde ... er%20wasp.