Tennessee 2020 Garden

[Gary350]

Dinner, potato salad with garden potatoes & garden onions & garden Bread & Butter pickle relish. Garden green beans cooked 8 hours with pork. Rudger tomatoes are so good we are so spoiled we never want to grow any other tomatoes flavor is the best. I made a small home made bread it is hot enough outside that I put bread on the patio table outside to rise. Homemade bread is better than any pastry or desert. Fried yellow squash will just have to wait until tomorrow. Kielbasa sausage on the BBQ grill. I was going to make another Blackberry cobbler but I am being lazy.

[Gary350]

I picked another basket of blackberries. It is very hot & dry no rain in a week berries are doing good. I ate the rest of the homemade bread. Freezer is almost full I need to make Jam and pancake syrup soon to make room for corn.

[Gary350]

It was a FUN day in the kitchen. I canned 8 quarts of tomatoes then gave the remaining 20 lbs of tomatoes to my son. Wife said 8 quarts are enough we need to use up tomatoes from years past. I made 2 loaves of bread it was so easy to do I set them outside to rise it was 98 degrees. I made 5 more pints of Blackberry Jam this should be enough for the pantry a total of 8 pints. Another blackberry cobbler it was very good with ice cream.

[TomatoNut95]

That's beautiful bread, Gary!

[Gary350]

More vegetables. 5 more Qcombers for the pickles bucket. Another basket of blackberries. Berries are getting harder to pick because they are no longer on the surface. Berries are down in the danger zone among all those long evil thorns. It took 45 minutes to pick these berries, it usually takes 30 minutes. I could pick another 1/2 gallon of berries if I wanted to spend another hour digging deeper into the bush.

[Gary350]

Today we tested herb butter. I found recipes online then used my garden herbs to make herb butter. It turns out, butter, sour cream, Philadelphia cream cheese, are all good with herbs. Philadelphia cream cheese and butter are probably the longest lasting without going bad. We had garden baked potatoes for dinner with 2 types of herb butter. We had home made bread with 2 types of herb butter. They are both good. I decided butter is a good storage place for herbs so tomorrow we make several jars of, basil butter, fennel butter, dill butter, tarragon butter, thyme butter, marjoram butter, parsley butter, rosemary butter, garlic butter. I have a dozen 1 cup mason jars that will be good for herb butter project. 1 stick of melted butter in each jar then fill it full of minced herb or your choice. Then herb butter mixes can be made on the spot.

Recipe 1
1 stick of boiling hot butter
1 tsp basil
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp dill
1 tsp tarragon
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Recipe 2
1 stick of hot boiling butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp rosemary

[Gary350]

2 pm sky got very dark, thunder, lightning, high wind, radar says, storm is 3 miles north of us. All this wind makes 96 degree hot weather feel like 70 so I went out and picked blackberries. I only made 4 jars of herb butter I need to buy more butter.

[Gary350]

Every morning another dead rabbit at the back door. The dog keeps moving this one around and setting next to it. I think I finally figured out who killed all these rabbits. I was not sure if it was the cats or the dog.

Remaining cucumber plants are growing larger and average about 1 new cucumber per day. I got no cucumbers yesterday but got 2 today. I bought 3 kinds of cucumber seeds but am not planting them until Aug 15 there is always a very noticeable weather change it is easy to tell fall is on the way.

Yellow squash are died. It is always nice to have a few yellow squash but I think squash is not a very productive crop only 4 squash this year. I almost did not plant yellow squash this year and probably won't next year its a waste of garden space.

I finally got 2 zuchinni plants to grow but so far no squash. Wife said, soon as you get 2 squash for zuchinni bread pull the plants up. This is another plant I probably will never grow again.

9 melon plants are staying in a nice straight row. Not enough rain to have large plants or large melons yet. It has rained all around us for a week. Radar shows big rain storm 10 miles away going south. It looks like I should start watering melons.

I am doing absolutely nothing to the 4 sweet potato plants grass is taking over. Even with no rain they will probably make 50 lbs of potatoes. Wife said she only wants about 5 good size potatoes. I will only did up the mother plant potatoes not the satellite potatoes. No reason to grow these next year either.

Corn never did stand itself up straight on its own after that big storm blew it down a few weeks ago. I tested corn this morning I think 2 or 3 more days it might be ready to harvest.

The tomato crop experiment with no stakes is doing ok but not great. I sure is easy work not having tomato stakes. It is interesting every tomato plant laying on the soil grew roots that helps add more moisture to the plants. These plants appear to be producing about 1/2 as many tomatoes as the plants in cages. 40 years ago I remember cage tomatoes were always more productive than plants laying on the soil. Cage tomatoes makes it possible to grow more tomatoes in a much smaller space.

This morning I pulled all the frozen blackberries from the freezer it will be several hours before they thaw out so I can squeeze juice out with the wine press. Maybe I can speed things along if I microwave berries 1 gallon each time.

[Gary350]

I used the wine press to squeeze juice from about 7 ½ gallons of blackberries. This morning I made 6 gallons of wine. We have about 3 gallons of pickles. We picked our first corn today. We have too many tomatoes. I got 1 more cucumber and 1 more yellow squash. We also have ripe peppers, sweet bells, Tabasco, Jalapeno, 5 color peppers. Blackberry bush is loaded I guess the birds can have them. Tomorrow is corn harvest day.

[Gary350]

This morning I put 20 lbs of ice in each of the 2 ice chests then added enough water to cover the ice. Then we put about 40 clean corn ears in each ice chest for 30 minutes. Cold stops sugar from turning to starch. Then corn went to the kitchen where it was cut from the cob and put in bags. Each bag is 1 pint plus 1/2 cup = 20 ounces of corn per bag. We put 30 bags of corn in the freezer. There should have been 376 ears of corn in the garden but 158 seeds did not germinate. We harvested 218 good ears of corn. I cut down all the corn stalks. Corn cobs were a big attraction for butterflies. There were 3 wheel barrel loads of corn cobs and corn shucks. We saved 19 ears of corn to eat for dinner for a week.

[TomatoNut95]

I envy that corn. I wish I could grow some, but unfortunately I don't have the space, nor good protection from nasty, stinking raccoons.

[Gary350]

22 lbs of tomatoes, Rutger, Bradley, Big Beef.

I found 2 very special tomatoes today. LOL

[Gary350]

I was hoping cut corn stalks would dry out but it rained 3" yesterday evening & forecast for this evening has changed to 3.9" of rain expected today. I wish I had a machine that chops corn stalks into tiny pieces so I could till them into the soil. Corn stalks are a lot of work in the past I scatter them all over the yard to dry then mow them but lawn mower will not suck them up into the blade. 400 corn stalks in a pile lay there in the way for 2 years before they are finally gone. Last year after stalks were dry I raked them into a pile and burned them. Next year the plan is to plant only 200 plant but put 3 seeds in every hole 6" apart this should solve the poor germination problem and the extra unwanted plants can be pulled up. This should give us 200 plants and about 30 bags of corn for the freezer if we decide that is what we want next year. This year I learned not to replant corn if seeds do not germinate first crop shades out the second crop and small plants have small ears with no kernels.

This year I learned beans produce 1 lbs of green beans per foot with seeds planted in single rows with seeds 2" apart. If we decide we only want 20 lbs of beans next year then I only need to plant a 20 ft row of beans.

I have learned potato plants produce 1 lb of new potatoes per plant in our garden. If we want 40 lbs of potatoes I only need to plant 40 potato cuttings with 1 eye per cutting for 40 plants spaced 8" apart 2" deep.

Tomato crop was terrible this year blight was worse than ever but baking soda spray saved the plants. Tomato plants always get blight about 2 months after being planted so next year I will not plant early even if we are having 80 degree weather April 1st. Tomato plants get planted no earlier than April 20.

Melons are doing well in this hot blistering sun because they are hot weather plants but melons are small from no rain. Lots of rain in the forecast maybe we will have melons soon. After 5 ripe melons I can't get anyone to eat another melons. I wish I still had my juicer I would make Mexican melon drinks.

I planted 30 cucumber seeds today in the mud. It rained so hard yesterday evening the garden was under water for an hour. I have 3 different kinds of seeds I need to learn which cucumber grows best in TN.

I have 12 Rutger tomato plants in a 2 gallon pot growing from my own saved seeds they germinated and grew plants in 3 days. It will be 3 weeks or so before plants are large enough to transplant to the garden, I want to plant them about Aug 15.

The ground crawler tomatoes are doing very well. In the beginning these are less work than cages but I have to bend down to pick tomatoes plus they are hard to weed. I have to crawl around on my hands & knees to pull grass & weeds. Big advantage to cages plants take up less garden space and grass & weeds are few & very easy to deal with. I was thinking about doing all ground crawler tomatoes next year but now I don't think so. I picked 3 ½ lbs of tomatoes from the grown crawler plants this morning.

[Gary350]

3 cucumbers today. I have been watching these 3 cucumbers grow for several days they started out goofy shaped and stayed goofy shape to the end. I have seen other cucumbers do the same thing if they start out weird shape they never correct them self. If I continue to get an average of 1 cucumber per day I will have 50 cucumbers by mid Sept. Plants seem to live long enough to grow 3 cucumbers then die. There are about 10 new plants that are almost large enough to start growing cucumbers too.

I planted a row of 30 cucumber seeds. Row is not very straight I did not want to make a special trip to garage to get a string. I planted 10 Gharkin cucumber, 10 National cucumbers, 10 Wisconsin cucumbers, I decided to take advantage of all the rain & cool weather in the forecast and plant seeds now. Plants should start making cucumber about mid Sept.

I counted 19 baby Rutger tomato plants in the 2 gallon pot today. When they are about 4" to 5" tall I will transplant to a row where corn use to be they should be making ripe tomatoes about Oct 1st. Tomatoes have tiny black bugs this year that I have never seen most of the bugs are on the Rutger tomatoes. Bugs are 1/4" long shaped like black color rice pointed on both ends. These bugs drill holes into the tomatoes. I often see several bugs in the same hole. I have not tried to kill these bugs yet water spray is hard to wash them out of deep holes.

[Gary350]

Blackberry bush is loaded with berries. I tried to pick some berries but just can not get in the mood after picking 8 gallons. I have not picked berries for 2 days I bet there are 2 gallons of berries on the plants. I picked 1 quart of berries then quit. I advertised blackberries $2 a quart pick your own on market place, now the radical organic people are driving me crazy. When I sold unwanted beans & tomatoes no one wanted to know, How organic are they? Do you spray? Do you fertilize? Do you put anything on berries? Do you know what organic means? One person has asked a dozen questions and still not happy. Berries get nothing from me, mother nature gives them rain & sun. I think this is more trouble than it is worth not sure I want those radicals coming to the house they might claim they were poisoned and who knows what else. I have never seen so many blackberries I bet if I could shake the bush 2 gallons of berries will fall off.

[Vanisle_BC]

Do you know what organic means?

Organic is one of those words (like 'gay', 'queer' and some others I won't quote because I'd be accused of racialism or worse) that have been hijacked by 'special interest groups,' so now it's used with 'special' meanings - which vary, by the way. Some folks probably don't even know its original real meaning. From those people you're likely to get a dirty sneer or a puzzled look if you use words in their 'proper,' ordinary sense.

All life forms are organic.

[Gary350]

WHAT are these worms on my basil? They don't seem to be causing a problem but it would be nice to know what they are. I hope they are beautiful 12 foot wing butterflies. LOL

[Gary350]

An hour ago it got very dark & over cast with lots of thunder & very windy so I went out to pick more blackberries, wind & over cast makes it feel much cooler than 88 degrees. I got about 3/4 gallon today ad that to what I picked yesterday it makes another gallon of blackberries. This makes 9 total gallons of berries so far. We were thinking it might be nice to have, blackberry muffins, cobbler, other things this winter so I decided to pick more berries. Blackberry wine is in the 6 gallon jug fermenting for a while.

[Gary350]

Yesterday morning I saw a cucumber that was too small to pick. I totally forgot about it yesterday evening. This morning it is almost too large, cucumber on the left. I made very thick double thick slices these will be interesting. I picked another Qcomber I could have waited until it gets larger but variety is good in the pickle jar.

Sweet bell pepper plants are starting to make peppers. I picked 1 full size Big Bertha and 1 smaller Big Bertha. I will wait and let all the other Big Bertha grow to full size.

I picked 3 ripe Rutgers from the plant that makes only small tomatoes. The 3 plants that make large tomatoes have no tomatoes I picked them all a few days ago. Wife is planning to make tacos for dinner.

I lost all the tags for my small spicy hot peppers I can only remember Tabasco. I know tabasco are always green sold in jars not sure if they turn red. Not sure which plant is the multi 5 color peppers. I cut the end off of this little red pepper wow it is fire hot maybe as hot as cayenne peppers. This little red pepper has no flavor at all it is just HOT.

I can never remember the correct name for this wire grass I have to look it up to compare photos to the name. I searched online 20 minutes I can not find a photo with a name that says what this grass is. I think maybe it is called Bermuda grass??? This grass is driving me nuts it keeps growing into the garden from the yard. This grass grows roots every 2" if you cut into small pieces all the pieces grow new plants.

[TomatoNut95]

That grass looks kinda like the garbage that's growing in my raised bed. Roots were really long. Love that Big Bertha! My plant hasn't been very productive. I fertilized the plant, I hope that gives it a boost.

[applestar]

If those caterpillars are same as the ones I get on my basil, they will get fuzzier/hairier and are likely to be
Species Spilosoma virginica - Virginian Tiger Moth -

White hairy caterpillar - Spilosoma virginica - BugGuide.Net
https://bugguide.net/node/view/220119

Hodges#8137 - BugGuide.Net
https://bugguide.net/node/view/498


...I have similar kind of grass that I sometimes let grow in pathways between raised beds and in the lawn because they stay relatively short and grow much slower than the lawn grass (I’m trying to re-imagine my backyard lawn —my domain vs. front yard which is hubby’s ...with diverse types of grass and plants that are useful and less care/needy) I don’t let them grow in garden beds.

Mine are called bentgrass — not native to this area but does belong in the North AmericaN biome (originally from the west coast).

[Gary350]

Tomatoes on the left side of photo came from 10 plants in cages. Tomatoes on the right side came from 11 plants with no cages. Plants in cages produce more than plants in no cages, I learned this 40 years ago. Plants with no cages shade them self and prevent tomatoes from getting sun burn. Both groups seem to have equal bug and rot problem. Baking soda & water spray on both groups of plants is doing a good job preventing blight. Wood ash fertilizer is much harder to apply to ground crawler plants the plant stem is very hard to find among the leaves. I was considering planting tomatoes with no cages next year to avoid tomato cage work but 5 plants in cages will produce about the same amount of tomatoes as 10 plants in no cages. To save garden space cages are the best choice.

One more observation, plants laying on the soil have grown roots every where plants touch the soil these plants have a larger root system that provides more moisture in 95 degree hot weather compared to cage plants. Plants laying on the soil have several times more large green leaves than plants in cages. Typically plants in cages loose 50% to 90% of their leaves during August drought season. Plants laying on the soil show no signs of having a drought problem. It appears all 11 plants laying on the soil will survive hot dry August weather. Often 95% of the cage tomatoes are dead by end of August. Plants laying on the soil have a big advantage over cage tomatoes in hot 95 to 100 degree dry weather with a larger root system.

[MsDDC]

now the radical organic people are driving me crazy. When I sold unwanted beans & tomatoes no one wanted to know, How organic are they? Do you spray? Do you fertilize? Do you put anything on berries? Do you know what organic means? One person has asked a dozen questions and still not happy. Berries get nothing from me, mother nature gives them rain & sun. I think this is more trouble than it is worth not sure I want those radicals coming to the house they might claim they were poisoned and who knows what else.

I get into this with people all the time (not people I'm buying or giving (I don't have enough to sell) produce from/to...if I was skeptical of the place I was buying food, I just wouldn't buy it; neighbors are usually grateful for whatever I give them, but one won't take any produce from me because "there are bugs outside," so I don't think that organic is a concern for them! ...but in general conversation). They usually don't know who they've spouted off to before they start, though. One of my specializations before I started the job I currently have is agricultural trade (international), so I know USDA, EU, and other countries' OFFICIAL definitions of organic. While most of my job involved sitting in an office and responding to requests from importers and exporters, I've been to farms growing to all standards, as professional development. I am not a person you want to cross with your (general "your," not you specifically) "understanding" of organic.

As for me, "natural" (which is not regulated or defined, but works fine when you're actually talking to the grower) is fine (and what my garden *mostly* achieves...I do actually use broad-spectrum pesticides early in the season about half the time, but never ever ever once plants start to set buds since I don't want to hurt the pollinators) and I only care about organic certification for *commercial* dirty dozen (ish) produce and some animal products. If I were buying berries from you, I probably wouldn't even ask, and if I did, it would just be "have you used any pesticides or manure since the plant set fruit?" That's just so I know whether or not I can snack on them on the way home, before washing (my neighbors who are squicked out about the bugs cringe when they witness me pick something off a plant and eat it without washing it...which I do all the time!).

[Gary350]

now the radical organic people are driving me crazy. When I sold unwanted beans & tomatoes no one wanted to know, How organic are they? Do you spray? Do you fertilize? Do you put anything on berries? Do you know what organic means? One person has asked a dozen questions and still not happy. Berries get nothing from me, mother nature gives them rain & sun. I think this is more trouble than it is worth not sure I want those radicals coming to the house they might claim they were poisoned and who knows what else.

I get into this with people all the time (not people I'm buying or giving (I don't have enough to sell) produce from/to...if I was skeptical of the place I was buying food, I just wouldn't buy it; neighbors are usually grateful for whatever I give them, but one won't take any produce from me because "there are bugs outside," so I don't think that organic is a concern for them! ...but in general conversation). They usually don't know who they've spouted off to before they start, though. One of my specializations before I started the job I currently have is agricultural trade (international), so I know USDA, EU, and other countries' OFFICIAL definitions of organic. While most of my job involved sitting in an office and responding to requests from importers and exporters, I've been to farms growing to all standards, as professional development. I am not a person you want to cross with your (general "your," not you specifically) "understanding" of organic.

As for me, "natural" (which is not regulated or defined, but works fine when you're actually talking to the grower) is fine (and what my garden *mostly* achieves...I do actually use broad-spectrum pesticides early in the season about half the time, but never ever ever once plants start to set buds since I don't want to hurt the pollinators) and I only care about organic certification for *commercial* dirty dozen (ish) produce and some animal products. If I were buying berries from you, I probably wouldn't even ask, and if I did, it would just be "have you used any pesticides or manure since the plant set fruit?" That's just so I know whether or not I can snack on them on the way home, before washing (my neighbors who are squicked out about the bugs cringe when they witness me pick something off a plant and eat it without washing it...which I do all the time!).

I eat things from the garden too without washing it and if my wife sees me she yells at me. Few days ago before we decided to pick corn I had already checked silks every day for several days then I decided it was time to taste the corn. I pulled back the green then took a bite it tasted good and was sweet. I did kernel test and it looked like milk. Then I took a bite of corn from 3 other places never washed it. Last week I pulled a carrot wipes off the soil on my shirt then took a bite to see if hot weather made it woody or bitter. Carrot tasted good so I pulled 30 for wife to cook. There was a Rutger tomato with a bad place on 1 side I hate to throw away a good 1/2 tomato so I eat the good side while standing in the garden. Week or so ago when I picked green beans I ate several to compare how small beans compare to larger beans. I ate a parsley leave few days ago hot weather has made it bitter so I did not pick more. I tasted, dill, fennel, thyme, basil, in the garden before making herb butter. I grew up on a farm I have probably eaten a whole gallon of soil in my life time a little bit of soil never hurt anyone. LOL. I try my best to be organic if it is not others peoples idea of organic too bad. I never spray toxic poison on my plants or garden I just don't trust any of it. I took chemistry in college I under stand factory made fertilizer is 100% identical to organic only difference it is many times more concentrated. I spray baking soda & dish soap on plants for blight.

[Gary350]

I looked at okra yesterday for the first time sense I planted it. About 1/2 the plants have very large okra pods too tough to eat so I cut them all off. Today I need pods that were too small yesterday were the correct size to cut today. I put 2 cups of flour in a 1 gallon bag with 2 T salt, 1 tsp black pepper then cut the okra and threw in the slices and zipped the bag shut. I shook the bag to flour the okra then put it in the freezer. Every day there is more okra to pick the slices all go into the flour bag. Soon there will be a gallon bag of okra. Anytime we want okra pull out enough to fry.

I picked another 1/2 gallon of blackberries today. Plants have made new canes with large leaves and long thorns it has gotten very hard to pick berries with the berries covered up with so many new canes. Usually I don't get poked very much picking berries but today it was bad I lost count my, fingers, hands, arms, elbows, legs all have thorns in them. I made just enough extra blackberry juice to fill the 6 gallon jug closer to the top. Jug is slightly up past the 6 gallon mark. I poured an extra quart of juice in the wine yesterday and another quart of juice today. 1 or 2 more quarts of juice might fill jug all the way up the neck. I'm not sure I am picking anymore berries wait and see tomorrow there is not many berries left to pick anyway.

My computer says today is July 30 but there in an internal clock that show July 31 and 12 noon in midnight. I have not figured out how to change the internal clock so 12 noon really is 12 noon this post will show up as July 31 time 1:45 am and today is July 30.

[MsDDC]

I eat things from the garden too without washing it and if my wife sees me she yells at me.

I had a friend over a few days ago who wanted to check out the garden, and I plucked and handed him a semi-mature purple bean to taste, without even thinking. As I looked around for another to pluck and taste myself, I realized he was hesitating and I said "sorry...you can wash it before you eat it. Here..." and handed him the hose. He hesitated and I said "oh come on...it's the same water as in my sink inside. Rinse it off and eat it!" I did not rinse the bean I found, and he looked at me like I was crazy. I don't use manure (I use leaf compost (LeafGro, available in DC, MD, VA, and maybe parts of PA), and that's only in March and October) and haven't touched the plants with anything but neem oil since early June (even that was last used a few weeks ago). I'm very much so not religious these days, but I do still adhere to the "god made dirt, and dirt don't hurt" mantra. Manure can make you sick, chemical treatments can make you sick, but a little grit is just...extra crunch. And bush beans don't even have that.

[applestar]

My computer says today is July 30 but there in an internal clock that show July 31 and 12 noon in midnight. I have not figured out how to change the internal clock so 12 noon really is 12 noon this post will show up as July 31 time 1:45 am and today is July 30.

If the time stamp for your posts are incorrect, the time zone setting in your profile may not be set correctly.

...top-right of window — click on the INBOX tray icon between New Posts and the bell icon
...You are now looking at your personal messages ... tap/click "Board Preferences" tab
... change time zone to correct setting

[Gary350]

My computer says today is July 30 but there in an internal clock that show July 31 and 12 noon in midnight. I have not figured out how to change the internal clock so 12 noon really is 12 noon this post will show up as July 31 time 1:45 am and today is July 30.

If the time stamp for your posts are incorrect, the time zone setting in your profile may not be set correctly.

...top-right of window — click on the INBOX tray icon between New Posts and the bell icon
...You are now looking at your personal messages ... tap/click "Board Preferences" tab
... change time zone to correct setting

I assume your talking about garden forum window not my computer window start up page? I don't see an inbox icon and no bell icon? After clicking everything that clicks I am not finding personal messages?

[applestar]

...Hmmm I have to be careful of what I say — I use an iPad so the website page elements might be mobile-type and not desk-top type, and I am using Safari web browser.

Anyway, here is what I see and am talking about —

...OH! I just realized— maybe you opted to continue using the previous design of the website when webmaster updated the forum?
Shoot, I can’t remember what the site looked like before.... Look under your PROFILE if there is a link for that, then “board settings“ or something to that effect?

(In the new design, The tiny avatar image is the Profile link and you can get there, but for this purpose, it was easier to get to Board Preferences from the Inbox icon.)

[applestar]

OK I found a set of directions I posted for resetting for Daylight Savings back in 2013. maybe this will help?

— @Gary350, in your case, make sure your Time Zone is set correctly and change if necessary, and verify the Daylight Savings status.

Subject: TIME TO CHANGE THE CLOCK

If Daylight Savings Time is over in your area, it's time to reset your forum time to Standard Time --

- Click on PROFILE in the black toolbar at top of the page.
- Choose "Board Preferences" from the menu selection to the left.
- DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE THE TIME ZONE pull down menu.
- Just below it, choose (NO) for DST is in effect.
- Don't forget to SUBMIT (don't click Reset)

...voilà !

Now just use your bookmarked link or choose (View New Posts) or other means to navigate to where you want to go on the forum.

[Vanisle_BC]

...OH! I just realized— maybe you opted to continue using the previous design of the website when webmaster updated the forum?

?? Applestar, I must have missed that option, and despite my whines about the new design no one has mentioned an alternative. Please, where can I find & activate the go-back option?

[applestar]

I’m on my iphone right now and it’s limiting my search capabilities
I do remember webmaster posting a way to choose/ opt out of the new look but don’t know where to find it.

[Gary350]

This morning I picked 2 more cucumbers for the pickle bucket, 1 zucchini, and several tomatoes. The green bell pepper I picked a week ago is about 50% red already. I picked 2 cucumbers yesterday. I had 6 jalapeno peppers in the house they all turned red in about 2 weeks I cut them in 8 slices each to dry out so I can make hotter chili powder. The jalapeno plants in the garden are slowly loading up with peppers. I sliced 1 Poblano pepper and baked it in the oven like cooking show said then added it to chili but we are not very impressed with the flavor, 3 cooking shows claim flavor is exceptionally good. Maybe Pablano plants will make a lot of peppers before first frost we can put these is the freezer too flavor is very different than sweet bell peppers. The 30 cucumber seeds are coming up a week of rain is exactly what they needed to germinate. Green peppers turn red quicker inside the house than on the plants not sure why? My little pepper plants are loaded with 100s of peppers I forgot to mark them the only one I remember is Tabasco. Weather already feels like fall 2 weeks early 64 degree last night & in the 80s during the day. All these corn cobs in the garden are a big attraction for night time animals last night it was a very big possum. Security camera night before looks like a coyote..

[TomatoNut95]

That's beautiful produce, @Gary! I cannot wait for my okra, but I do wish it would hurry and finish by September and October, I'm already planning my winter garden: cabbage, turnip greens, lettuce and maayybbee spinach. I don't have good luck with spinach so I don't know about it yet. Also have seeds for some kind of broccoli. Romanseco? Something like that. The heads are light green and look pointy. I'll have to dig for that packet.

[Gary350]

I know I said, I am not picking any more blackberries. It is hard to walk past a quart of ripe berries and pretend they are not there. This will be pancake syrup. I hope I have an empty clear glass wine bottle with screw on cap.

My computer still says it is tomorrow but forum has been corrected.

[Gary350]

Today I had to do chemistry experiment to learn how many cucumbers to add to pickle brine. Recipe says, 1 gallon of vinegar, 1 gallon of sugar, 1 gallon of water from the cucumbers. HOW do I know how much water is in a cucumber? I think I need about 30 more cucumbers.

I measured 1 gallon of vinegar and 1 gallon of sugar. I know from chemistry class when I mix 1 gallon of each I will not get 2 gallons. After heating mixture to 170 degrees sugar dissolved into vinegar total volume is 1 quart short of 2 gallons. Molecules are like mixing sand with gravel. Now I know the brine mix makes 7 quarts. After I add enough sliced cucumbers to make 11 quarts of liquid pickles are finished. Stir every day wait 30 days before putting pickles in jars.

Once pickle level gets to the correct level I can mark the 5 gallon bucket with a black marker then next batch of pickles will be very easy, keep adding cucumbers until bucket fills up to the black line. I already have about 4 gallons of brine and cucumbers in the bucket.

Who was it that said, when I graduate from school I will NEVER need to know MATH or Science in the real world. LOL Yea right.

I learned a quart jar holds 32 ounces of liquid when filled up to the very top edge of the jar.

I learn after pouring sugar into a measuring cup or quart jar it only contains 28 ounces but after hitting the jar many times on the side for 30 to 45 seconds the sugar settles to the bottom making more space for another 4 ounces of sugar.

I tilled the garden this morning just deep enough to kill all the grass and weeds. I have not tilled in 3 months. I like my new camera but it takes terrible pictures in the sun often pictures are bad. Tilled garden pictures will not upload.

Bugs finally found my Russian Red Kale leaves look like Swiss cheese. Oh well no problem this plant grows better in cold weather bugs will be dead then. This plant is great for, lettuce, sandwiches, tacos, salads, etc. As long at it is in full shade from 12 noon to dark our hot weather is no problem.

[TomatoNut95]

@Gary, is it possible to take cuttings of wild berry bushes so I could possibly start a second patch?

[Gary350]

@Gary, is it possible to take cuttings of wild berry bushes so I could possibly start a second patch?

I have done that you need to baby the cuttings for several months to keep them alive. I tried that with blackberries but not very successful yet. I think the trick for blackberries is to use a cutting from new plant growth. Last year I did cuttings that died quick. After watching YouTube videos I did cutting early spring plants lived all summer until 2 weeks ago then died. Few weeks ago I see my blackberry plants grew new canes maybe the trick to rooting blackberry cutting is cut them from new growth. Every thing I tried in the past was 2nd canes. 3rd year canes always die. Videos all say use 8" long cuttings put them in rooting power then put them in soil. Put several in a mini green house to hold moisture they root in 2 months. All that works good but blackberry plants are 2 year plants they grow new canes with no berries then 2nd year canes grow berries then 3rd year canes die. When I tried to root 2 year plants they were doomed to die anyway. I think if I cut new cutting soon from the new 2 week old canes they should do better but have to try it and see. Keep these mini green houses outside in full shade. Cuttings do best about 75 to 80 degrees. Once they grow leaves they need sunlight but not direct sunlight.

Here are photos I posted may 25. Put soil in Styrofoam cup. Dip cutting into rooting powder full length of cutting. Push several cuttings into soil in cup. Poke holes in side of cup near bottom with pencil so water gets in. Put cup in plastic coffee container and 2" of water in coffee container. Cut bottom off 2 liter soft drink bottle put bottler over cuttings like mini green house this holds moisture until canes grow roots an leaves. Once you have good roots plant cuttings in larger pots. This Styrofoam cup has 10 cuttings.

I have had much better luck with cuttings of plants that have a longer life cycle they are easier to grow than blackberries. In the past I never knew blackberries grow new canes in August I always see new canes in May.

[TomatoNut95]

So I guess it's much too late to take cuttings now, my patch finished months ago and looks semi dormant. Finally found some jar flats, YOU CANNOT FIND CANNING SUPPLIES, so hopefully I'll make berry jelly. Only got one jar of last year's left in my pantry.

[Gary350]

This morning I made almost a whole wine bottle full of blackberry pancake syrup. I made a large 10" soft taco for lunch with Rutger tomatoes. After lunch I helped wife make a pot of garden vegetable soup with our own, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, green beans. I picked 3 more cucumbers for the pickle bucket.