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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:32 am
by GoDawgs
I dug the Russian Inferno garlic last evening, 38 bulbs. It didn't size up as big as I wanted it to. It was originally planted fall 2019 and replanted last year so this is the second go-round for it. I'll replant the largest cloves come fall and see what happens. Next to be dug this evening is the Siberian.

Pickles picked the first Chinese String eggplant yesterday. That's one of this year's toys. You're supposed to be able to just cook it with skins on as they're very tender. We'll try them today. Of course, they're not as big as the ones in the photo on the seed packet. Baker Creek. LOL! Those look to be 8" long. LOL! Maybe as the plant matures the fruits will get bigger.

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The deer and raccoons haven't been back....so far. It's a good thing.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:14 pm
by GoDawgs
The cool reprieve we've had is gone and today we're back to another streak of hot weather again. I remember someone suggesting that I shade my tomato buckets too so the soil temp won't get way up there. It's a bit late to be painting buckets white since they're already in use BUT I have some old bed sheets that I use for protecting shrubs on the few winter nights that it's needed.

So this morning I folded them lengthwise twice and attached them to the cages at bucket height with clothespins on both sides of the pallet row. I think that might do the trick! I also need to buy a long compost thermometer so I can check soil temp in these pots. The regular old 5" long soil thermometer I have just won't cut it for that.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:25 pm
by GoDawgs
Yesterday I trimmed the roots, removed the outer layer of dirty wrapping, tied the Lorz Italian garlic in bundles and hung them from the trusses of the tool shed where It's nice and dry. No humidity and damp morning air in there and it has worked well before. After a few weeks I'll bring them into the house where they'll hang in an interior closet for the duration.

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Last evening I dug the Russian Inferno (37 bulbs) and remembered Pure Harvest's tip to pull the outer wrapper layer off while it was fresh and pliable. They cleaned up beautifully and quickly. Since we're heading into a dry spell, I laid them out on the big screen under the pole shed. However this time I'll keep an eye out for any pop-up storm and be ready to cover them with a tarp if the weather thinks about getting feisty. That leaves just the Siberian yet to dig.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:27 pm
by Amateurinawe
They'll be no vampires in your neck of the woods. They all look so great.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:32 pm
by GoDawgs
Thanks, AA. They're never the same two years in a row, ya know? And I didn't get that Siberian dug tonight either. Oh well, tomorrow's another day in the life. At least before coming in I did put a cover over the Russians as it looks like a stray storm might be bubbling up. Time for a very cold brew...

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:21 am
by GoDawgs
All of the garlic is out of the ground now. 81 bulbs in all. It's almost time to dehydrate some and make garlic powder as I'm almost out.

Babies in the house! The five fall tomatoes all poked up yesterday, joining the fall eggplant and parsley that are already under way.

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Besides the two usual fall 'maters of Early Girl and Red Siberian, just for fun I'm trying three new dwarf tomatoes I got seed for. Those are Bonté Tigret, BrandyFred and Bushy Chabarovsky. I'll be really interested to see if the Chabarovsky really are fuzzy at first as the description says!

Speaking of babies, there are some coming on the zuchetta rampicante. Just little things now but we'll see how big they get on the trellis. Indeed, I'm thinking of ways to make slings for them. Already there are more babies on the two trellised plants than last year when the one plant just ran on the ground.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 9:40 am
by MrBig46
For the first time, I grow corn in circles as described by GoDawgs here. I have nine circles with six plants. It looks good and I hope it will be successful.
Vladimír
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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:49 pm
by GoDawgs
And I hope they are successful too!

I don't think I mentioned when I fertilize and what I use. Pre-plant I make a 3" deep trench outside the planting ring, lay in some 5-10-15 and ammonium sulfate and cover.

The next fertilizing is is when there are 5 leaf collars on the stalks. Depending on the variety, you could say the plants are knee high. I use the 5-10-15 + ammonium sulfate again.

The last fertilizing is at the first sign of tassels starting to appear. Then I use 15-0-15 and some superphosphate. Why? Because I had some 15-0-15 on hand and am trying to use it up and adding the superphos to fill that middle 0 in the formulation. :D You could use 10-10-10. But since I started using that for the last few years, I've noticed no purplish streaks at the base of the stalks indicating they're hungry.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:56 pm
by GoDawgs
The first corn bed is done so it's change over time. The first rain from TS Claudette was supposed to come around noon so we got out there early to get some stuff done. Grass has been growing like crazy so Pickles mowed between the beds with the push mower while I dug out the Seneca corn stalks.

Seneca bed pre-removal with shaggy grass:
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Then I pushed the leaf mulch back, loosened a row of soil on each side of the bed and planted Red Ripper field peas. I didn't add any fertilizer to the soil. There should still be plenty in there as the corn probably didn't use it all. Pull the mulch back in place, do some weedeating and voila! Bed changeover! The last of the scallions are still there so they'll get yanked as onion and legume families don't get along.

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We did get some rain right around noon with just some drizzle on and off since then. They say it will be heavier tomorrow. I moved the garlic screen from the table "just in case". In case of blowing rain it's been set over the garden cart right in the middle of the pole shed and covered with an old shower curtain held down by a few bricks. You make it up as you go along!

Oh, this morning I discovered another potato plant has emerged among the volunteer cone flowers in the old pea bed where I found that other potato volunteer. That's the bed just above the one in the photo above. I'm going to let this one grow as there's nothing scheduled for that bed.... yet. :D

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 5:34 pm
by GoDawgs
Happy Summer Solstice! It's hard to believe that tomorrow the days will start getting shorter already. Time flies when you're having fun. :D

More rain today from Claudette who is now officially in a state of depression. So far she has donated 2.4" of tears since yesterday. It looks like we'll get one more blob of rain before she has totally tootled away. This afternoon was basically on and off short showers subsiding to bouts of mist. I have no problems with getting misted (unless it's Canadian Mist) so I quickly got a few marigolds, asters and Tithonia torch flowers plugged into the garden. They were overdue for transplanting and today as a perfect day.

There are two Heavy Hitter and two Choppee okra plants out there and all are doing well except one runty Choppee. It looks healthy but it just isn't thriving like the others. I have started four more seeds to make sure I get one good plant (collected seed from last year).

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But the bush beans and Silver Queen corn are doing great. I see baby beans making so it won't be long before it's picking time. The Contender beans are in the front and the taller Blue Lake are behind them in the pic. The SQ is tasseling and I see ear shoots forming but no silks yet.

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Earlier in the week we dug the 11' row of Yukon Gold potatoes. A total of 16.5 lbs. What a mix of nice sized ones and little marbles. The marbles will boil up into nice little buttery bites. All in all, not a bad return for the $1.36 spent on seed potatoes at the feed and seed. Red Pontiacs are almost there but not quite.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:52 pm
by PlainJane
Jeez, we got a ton of rain from Claudette, several inches at least. This on top of rain nearly every day this week.
Your garden is looking so good!

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 8:14 pm
by GoDawgs
[mention]PlainJane[/mention], thanks for the encouragement! in my notes the other day I wrote, "The garden is looking so good. I'm holding my breath." It's like waiting for the ugly bomb to drop. LOL! There's always that sweet spot late June when everything's right, before the heat of July and the bugs and the funks hit. I think that's where we are right now. I need to get out the step ladder and for the record take an all-garden shot from each end.

During a break in the rain this afternoon I took a walk through the garden and noticed the zucchini had flopped. I thought I had it tied to the stake. How can this be? Well, it had grown when I wasn't looking, got top heavy (even though it wasn't that tall) and now it's too heavy to safely force it back to the stake without snapping! Maybe put another stake near the end of the vine and see if I can encourage it up that one. It's always something!

First Tomatoes and other stuff

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 8:28 am
by GoDawgs
The first two regular tomatoes have been picked a little early so they can finish ripening in the safety of the house. That’s Early Annie on the left and an OP from Russia called Vladyka on the right. That one is a heart tomato.

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However the other side of the Vladyka has a seam or crease and there are faint lines on either side that seem to indicate that the skin was being pulled towards the crease. Does anyone know what caused this? Some kind of damage to the skin where the crease is?

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The Silver Queen corn is going nuts with all the rain and the first silks are emerging. Yesterday afternoon a front was coming through and the wind was getting up. After I took the pic I decided to add another string as high as the tops of the t-posts on the downwind side of the bed. I’m glad I did as I had visions of corn bent in half at the lower string line.

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There’s a volunteer plant that looked familiar growing behind the pole bean/watermelon trellis. Suspicions confirmed! It is a tomatillo and starting to make fruit.

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And finally, the sweet potato vines are nearly covering the trellis. There’s been a slow down in new vines coming from the plants so it’s mostly a matter now of directing the vines already on the trellis. I’ve run out of trellis vertically so the vines are being directed sideways. They’re ok with that and almost seem to prefer it as that's how they're directing themselves naturally now.

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Meanwhile, more rain today. Yesterday I spied the first tomato leaf munching by a hornworm. Little damage and I couldn't find the worm so maybe a bird got it. If tomorrow is dry, I need to spray the bT and reapply the Sevin around the bases of all the squash plants except the one that's getting DE as a treatment comparison. SVB's, beware!

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 9:46 am
by Seven Bends
I believe your Vladyka issue is just tomato zippering, which occurs when the anther sticks to the developing fruit. It tends to happen when fruit sets in cool weather and is just a cosmetic issue. Nice to see ripening tomatoes! Still a few weeks away in my garden.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:47 am
by GoDawgs
[mention]Seven Bends[/mention] , thanks for that! I've never run into that before.

Never Let A Trellis Go To Waste

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:58 pm
by GoDawgs
In the bed that had trellised peas on them early spring, I left one of the two trellises up “just in case”. Since then I’ve decided to put pole beans on that trellis and bush beans on the other side of the bed. Never let a trellis go to waste. :D So today I planted half of the trellis with Kentucky Wonder and four weeks from now I’ll plant Rattlesnake on the other half. I’ve never planted beans this late so we’ll see how they do once the real heat comes. The bush beans will be planted in August.

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Meanwhile, in the middle of that bed are all those volunteer purple cone flowers. They need to be relocated and that will take some thought.

There’s another empty bed where the garlic had been. There are currently newly planted zinnias and marigolds down the middle. The fall map shows carrots being planted there down each side in September. Why not stagger out the carrots? I’ve never tried planting them this late but today I planted one side, half with St. Valery and half with Scarlet Nantes. The other side will be planted in September. It’s seed I’ve had in the freezer for a couple of years and a good time to test it. If they make, fine. It will extend the carrot season. If they don’t, I’ll plant both sides in September as planned.

Good news! With the rain the Red Ripper field peas planted popped up in three days.

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And finally, the kitchen counter is starting to look like summer too. I put up six half-pints of pickled jalapeno slices yesterday. Then there’s the ingredients for today’s lunch. Pickles is trying a new “eggplant pie” recipe that includes our eggplant and onion and some tomato sauce canned up last year. Fresh picked squash ready for steaming in the microwave. A few dastardly store bought tomatoes next to some Chibikko micros picked yesterday. Collected seeds soaking in shot glasses. The only thing missing are the first green beans picked yesterday. Life is good.

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Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 2:55 pm
by Whwoz
Your beans should be okay with the heat, but the humidity might be a different story.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 5:08 pm
by PlainJane
Even here in Florida I just keep planting beans about every 6 weeks. I’ve got a lot of seed and I’ll get something, anyway. The Romanos struggle but pole beans do ok. What’s driving me crazy is the white fly infestation on my beans; the sticky traps just aren’t helping. On the other hand no pickle worm this year :D
Hope I haven’t just jinxed myself.

Re: The Dawg Patch

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 6:29 pm
by goodloe
Wow, [mention]GoDawgs[/mention] , it almost wears me out looking at all you do in your gardens!! The jalapenos look great; what method do you use? I "cold pack" mine, and keep them in the fridge...

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:46 am
by GoDawgs
[mention]goodloe[/mention], the hard part of the garden, getting it ready to go and initial planting, is behind me. These replanting putters are fairly easily. Push back the mulch, do some minimal spading for reloosening soil and maybe some fertilizer incorporation, planting. Weeds get pulled as they appear which I've found to be the easiest way to keep ahead of them.

I use the hot pack method for canning up the pickled jalapeno slices. Just 15 minutes processing. There's a sprig of fresh dill and a garlic clove in each jar. If you'd like the recipe I'll post it. Super quick and easy, very refreshing and low cal; great for snacking!

The cukes are making so Pickles made the first quart jar of a refrigerator dill that's just wonderful! So very easy and they're like Claussen's fresh dills. I will post that recipe in the recipe section later today along with the jalapeno recipe.

Today I'll pick more Contender beans. It will be an "every other day" thing for a while as the Blue Lakes are close but haven't needed picking yet.