2023 gardens

i just picked and pulled my green beans. then before i knew it i had the garden all weeded!!!!!

i was most impressed by the amount of moisture in the ground. not muddy by all means but still enough that i wont need to water today!!!!!!!

Cucumbers are thriving.

Photo won’t attach. Darn it

Been hangin out with the Belle in the Carolinas for the past 12 days.
Got home today not knowing what to expect.
The Garden is flourishing (along with the weeds) Tomato’s are looking great, carrots are getting there, peppers, basil, sage, rosemary are all good, the cukes however are a bit anemic.

EPG…….give them cukes some miracle grow. i switched to that this year instead of epsom salt………and very pleased with the results, even without the lack of rain!!!!!1

Can’t remember if I started a pickling and canning thread, couldn’t find it

Managed enough cucumbers for a 2 gallon jar of these!!

glenn57 wrote:

EPG…….give them cukes some miracle grow. i switched to that this year instead of epsom salt………and very pleased with the results, even without the lack of rain!!!!!1

Thanks Glenn, I’ll give that a shot.
I’m really surprised my maters haven’t got the wilt yet this year. Still crossin my fingers.

i have some wilt but not near as bad as the past 2 years. but i was more diligent in snipping off the lower branches and extra careful when watering!!!!!

i just snipped off those not so good looking leaves. need to get them out of the garden too!!!!!

i also have been giving my tomatoes the miracle grow!!!!!! peppers too!!!!!

Sweetcorn is finally ready.

My first eight tomatoes (Amish paste and beefsteak) all had blossom end rot. Yesterday I sprinkled some bone meal around them and I hope that takes care of it. The first four were pretty bad, but after I cut out the dark end they were tasty. I didn’t like to waste half of each one. I noticed the next four a lot earlier and picked them right away. They ripened on the counter and had just a small bit of it on the bottom. None of the green ones have it, so maybe it just effected the first ones. Crossing my fingers. Ate a few cukes on sandwiches and hot dogs last week. Pickling cucumbers are way behind from the rabbit attack but should start producing in a week or so.

Here’s a few cucumbers I picked last night. This is my first year trying a garden so I’m pleasantly surprised.

Those are good looking cukes. Do you remember the variety? Got bored at lunch and did a rough count of tomatoes. 55 Amish paste and 145 various beefsteak types out there now. I see a few beefsteaks that might be over #2 when they’re ready and several Amish paste that are over #1. I didn’t count the 12 determinate plants or the eight cherry plants.

picklerick wrote:

Do you remember the variety?

I’ll see what I can dig up. I don’t remember off hand. I started them from seed the second week in May.

I’ve pulled about six Spacemaster 80 cucumbers at about 5-6″ off my six plants so far. Not sure if it’s the skin or seeds that give me hiccups and/or reflux but it seems to only happen if I let them get big. All my pickling cucumbers are seedless (burpless) so I would assume it’s the seeds that do it? Oddly I always scraped out the seed “channel” with a spoon if I did eat a bigger one.

My wife said they are the Burpee Burpless Beauty Cucumber brand from Menards. I picked 3 more last night.

I have Patio Companion cukes planted in aa tub/tower and they have anywhere from 5 to 7, 8″ to 10″ cukes a day. They’ll start to slow down in another week or two. I have Straight Eight and a Black something [maybe black magic] cukes on a shaded fence and they yield a couple cukes on each hill every third day or so and they’ll keep producing until they freeze.

I picked a bucket of Roma style tomatoes this morning and will make sauce on Saturday. Pasta for dinner and we’ll freeze what’s left.

I’ve been drying herbs for a couple weeks now. Had to get a new dehydrator. Got a six shelf LEM w/digital timer. So far, I like it real well.

Wind took down my garlic a month ago and the tops started to dry so I pulled it. The onion tops are beginning to lean down now pretty much. I almost pullet the onions a couple weeks back but left them and many are now softball sized so I’m glad I waited.

Picking the green beans every day just to keep up with them.

Thanks. Are the Burpee Burpless Beauty Cucumber bush type or vining? They look really good and if the seeds are minimal I think I’ll give them a try next year.

picklerick wrote:

Are the Burpee Burpless Beauty Cucumber bush type or vining?

Vines.

I have Staight 8 and Bushmaster cukes. Both like to climb so I picked up a metal folding A-frame at Menards. Cukes produce well and the A-frame helps keep them fairly well confined.

I put my Spacemaster80’s in cheapo tomato cages then ran some string above it. Looks pretty janky but it’s working for the three plants that refuse to acknowledge they’re bush cucumbers.

The tally is 10 bunnies with a Winchester 77XS and .177 Gamo rocket pellets since 7/17. Ranges from 10-30yds. Tried for one at about 5yds and put a hole in the garden hose. Oops. It was close to the nozzle so it’s about 4′ shorter now.

The past few years I’ve been getting powdery mildew on my zucchini. Probably cuz I never thin the plants like you’re supposed to and the leaves are too close together and don’t dry off. I gave them a trim this morning taking out about 30% of the leaves. We’ll see if that helps. It would be OK if it slowed the growth down some also. I’m going to do this for the acorn squash also.

After watching others post about tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and other things I don’t grow/eat all summer long, I’m glad to finally be here!

Dug up a little less than a 5 gallon bucket full of potatoes yesterday. Seems early for them but my dad said he has started so I dug up enough for a few days for us.

Also notice our previously decent looking sweet corn has a lot of the silk chewed back, which I’m thinking is from the abundance of grasshoppers we’ve had around lately.

Dan, if you grow red potatoes, about the time they flower, you should be able to start digging some up. depending on when you plant them, usually around the 4th of july! they will be small but those are the baby reds you can boil up and eat with the jackets on them…..of course you need a 1/2 lb of butter with them!!!!!

my cucumbers are rather disappointing this year. i switched to livingston seeds for all my stuff and generally been happy with them except the cukes. pretty sure i tried a different type of cuke as my go to are the straight 8 i will be going back to them next year. not sure if its the hot really dry weather or what???//

When I was working in the garden today I heard buzzing. The honey bees were sure working on the sweet corn. Took some pics and video (regular and slow motion) and you could see the pollen being knocked of the tassels.
Here’s a pic of two bees with their pollen baskets quite full and one of a bee lifting off the tassel and pollen falling off its body.

We are getting 2 five gallon pails every 2 days of picking now. We only use a pickling cucumber. Even if the cucumbers get bigger they are still good for slicers. Lots of canning going on now.

And a whole nother deal for tomorrow.
31 heads of cabbage going into kraut.

Netguy wrote:

When I was working in the garden today I heard buzzing. The honey bees were sure working on the sweet corn. Took some pics and video (regular and slow motion) and you could see the pollen being knocked of the tassels.
Here’s a pic of two bees with their pollen baskets quite full and one of a bee lifting off the tassel and pollen falling off its body.

Less than a week ago my sweet corn looked great. My dad commented on it and I said “it did this time last year too,just wait and see what happens. ” Since then I’m guessing grasshoppers have chewed back all the silk on many of the ears and chewed some of the kernels. Growing a patch of corn is fun for the kids but as soon as they let me I’ll be moving on to something else.

I did cut up potatoes last night and throw them in the fryer and had some great French fries!

With the rain we were supposed to get petered out I pulled the Jalapeno peppers. I have enough and the rest I vacuum packed and froze them and will give the rest to one of the union secretaries.

Does anyone have a recipe they are willing to share for Canned Dill Green Beans? The beans are coming like mad and I love good Dill Green Beans. Unfortunately the recipes I have tried haven’t been up to snuff. Thanks.

Brad Dimond wrote:

Does anyone have a recipe they are willing to share for Canned Dill Green Beans? The beans are coming like mad and I love good Dill Green Beans. Unfortunately the recipes I have tried haven’t been up to snuff. Thanks.

back when I did them I used the same recipe as my dill pickles. Add the same ingredients, dill, onion and garlic.