Quote :

"you can bring those knocked off ones in and they will ripen!"

I wondered about that but they were mostly the result of some really bad storms that we've had and were pretty beaten up & bruised so I just tossed them. I also didn't think it was going to happen over and over and over again. Oh well. Next year I'll know better!

7/27/2011 9:54:36 PM

Picked a few handfuls of figs this morning.

For whatever reason, the deer, raccoons, rabbits, bugs, etc. has left that tree nearly alone. For this reason love figs. also, they're tasty.

7/28/2011 8:47:30 AM

Quote :

"are you talking about the squash vine borer?"

Well in the end that does appear to be the culprit. I thought it was the squash bugs that were all over the plants, but it turns out it was the borer. I was finally able to diagnose it because 1 day the plant would look amazing, the the next day totally dead.

And yeah, a lot of the okra is too big. The issue with okra is if you don't check it every day, or if you miss one, you are screwed. We still cut them up and sometimes they aren't too tough to eat, but for the most part we end up tossing the really big ones.

7/28/2011 10:10:37 AM

Tonight's Harvest. We also have 3 cantaloupes that are ready, but I am waiting to pull them until our party on Saturday. Enjoy

7/28/2011 8:41:23 PM

^ impressive

7/28/2011 9:07:32 PM

^^ WOW!!! Amazing!

And for the vine borer, I read about a bunch of remedies but they're all pretty time intensive for a garden of your size. The best method was to just accept that borers are going to eat your squash and stagger the planting. That way when one plant dies, the next will be maturing and you still get a steady supply of squash.

I decided to not even bother with summer squash this year They also go after pumpkins, but not butternut like I said before.

7/29/2011 7:57:50 AM

2 german johnsons and 1 best boy ready to harvest this weekend
beans are getting pulled out of the garden after a really good run
parsley died
basil going strong
about 20 scallions ready to eat

leaving the watering up to the roommates this weekend. i trust them

7/29/2011 8:06:11 AM

Here is tonight's harvest. Anyone want Romas? And before anyone says anything about the size of the okra, you should see the size of the ones we threw over the fence. Porn star status. And I threw over a cucumber that was easily the size of my forearm.



[Edited on August 1, 2011 at 9:54 PM. Reason : a]

8/1/2011 9:40:02 PM

^ I've been canning some salsa from a few of my tomatoes mixed in with some from the farmer's market. Wanna swap some tomatoes for salsa?

8/2/2011 1:00:11 PM

I think there's something up with my cucumber plant(s). The cucumbers get massively huge, and just.. stay white. We actually cut the first huge one off, and looked to see what it looked like inside.

The seeds were not fully developed all the way inside, and it definitely smells like a nice cucumber. Tastes a little sweet. So my guess is that even though it's almost as big as my forearm, it's still growing and ripening?! WTF. I don't even...

The plant itself, the leaves are getting all splotchy. I think this may have to do with having a rabbit early in the garden, who liked to chew up the cucumber plant (not all the way through, just a little). Must've exposed it to something.

8/2/2011 3:31:09 PM

I would cut them off when they're still small, the big ones tend to be bad for eating

maybe they're just mutants with white skin? Try tasting a small one. They'll also produce more if you cut when the fruit is still young

PS ... djeternal, I am extremely impressed! I wish I could have a haul like that!

8/2/2011 4:04:04 PM

I pulled off a couple of ~1 inch long banana peppers yesterday that had started rotting near the stem. What gives?

8/2/2011 4:12:53 PM

Quote :

"The cucumbers get massively huge, and just.. stay white"

My aunt grows white cukes...infinitely better thant the green ones imo. Gotta harvest them when they're ~3 inches

8/2/2011 4:34:16 PM

smcain


xtine's cucumbers did almost the exact thing last year. I have no idea why this worked, but i pulled every cucumber from the vine, and pruned back the plants and weeded the garden really well and the cucumbers grew back and started ripening properly and were nice and green.

8/2/2011 6:28:29 PM

Tonight's harvest. First pic is just what we got tonight. The second pic is a wider pic to show HOW FUCKING MANY tomatoes we have. Seriously, someone drive to Greensboro and take some of this shit.

8/2/2011 7:49:38 PM

I'll have to pull off a small one to see what it looks, and tastes like. I grew cukes for my fiancee's benefit (I don't like them), and he just gobbles them up whatever they look like. We'll see which form he likes better.

The plant itself is massive - but not growing much fruit. I hate to admit it, but the cukes that have gotten so large have only gotten that way because I can't find them through the foilage - it seems like they grow that big in a week.

8/2/2011 8:18:45 PM

haha, you better get busy with the canner this weekend djeternal

8/2/2011 8:39:52 PM

^ I am already way ahead of you on that one. Although I am considering selling a bunch of this stuff to my neighborhood gas station. I am pretty sure i could at least break even.

8/2/2011 9:09:19 PM

DANG if I lived in Raleigh still I'd be all over this!

such a dilemma ... I have this dream of selling my car and moving to New York City ... but then I could never fulfill my dream of having an awesome garden!!

8/3/2011 7:52:35 AM

I'm gonna put this question in here versus asking a landscaping thread be btt'd

I have a Japanese maple at our new home that desperately needs to be pruned as it has overgrown the walkway. It's the delicate leafy kind. Anyone know an expert? I was gonna go ask the guy at the farmers market that sells them/specializes...but didn't know if any of you knew a guy.

8/10/2011 10:18:47 AM

So my earthtainer I posted on the previous page has worked out well enough I made a new one modified as a greenhouse for winter stuff. I've had a steady supply of lettuce, arugula and cilantro.


Anyone try to grow tomatoes from clipping? I cut off a small branch and stuck it in a small pot. It's been a few days and hasn't died yet.

8/10/2011 10:56:14 AM

The garden has been underwhelming this year for me. We've got some decent arugula, chard and herbs. My red brandywine tomato is producing like a champ--the tomatoes are a little on the small side, but tasty and plentiful. But my sungold isn't producing like last year's, my cherokee purple is being slow to reload after having a really good run in July (there is only one new fruit on it, about 2-3 weeks after we pulled the last ripe one), my Jaunne Flaumme tomato died, and my yellow brandywine and "classic" brandywine each produced one fruit, neither of which survived to ripeness, and are now doing nothing. (Well, except trying to die in one case.) Not sure what gives.

My pepper plants are also kinda small but I know what the problem there is--I need to give them bigger pots next year. Might go the drilled 5-gallon bucket route.

8/10/2011 11:23:50 AM

My tomato plant hasn't grown shit. It just blooms, the flowers die, annnnnd nothing.

8/10/2011 11:28:50 AM

A pretty reputable landscaping guy told me to plant some lantanas in my yard...and they kinda suck. I planted five and only one of them has a constant flower. Another one blooms every now and then and two others have just bloomed a couple times in the three months since they've been planted. One hasn't bloomed at all. And they are starting to spread at a fairly rapid rate (I knew I would have to keep them trimmed and cut...but if you're going to spread, at least do so with some colorful flowers).

Definitely going to pull them out when it's time to replant next year. No point in doing it so late in the game now.

Also getting some heavy fungus and aphids on my Crape Myrtles (brown patches and black spots). Bought some fungicide and sprayed them this past Saturday. Going to wait a couple weeks (like the bottle says) and spray them again. Going to spray the insecticide for the aphids again today. Finally doing all the PITA stuff I saw my mom doing when I was a kid, just never paid attention to.

On the positive side, saw a drunk neighbor the other night who said that everyone in the area has been talking about my yard as being the "yard of the year." We don't actually do that, but nice to know it's getting recognized. My grass has been growing like crazy in this dry summer and I put up some flower boxes a couple months ago that are continuing to look amazing. Pretty proud of my green thumb that's developing. Haven't done too much of the herbs/vegetables (just some really good Basil)...but I'll take some more of that on next year now that I've got a good grasp on what my yard can do.

8/10/2011 11:43:50 AM

Figured I would sneak this into here from my thread in The Classifieds.

Quote :

"Your Tomato Plants Suck Has summer been too hot for your tomatoes? Don't have quite the green thumb you hoped for? Who knew slugs LOVED tomatoes? It's okay, I'm here to help. You're standing there in your garden contemplating both the twilight of summer and your now brown and scraggly tomato vines and thinking to yourself, "What in the hell am I going to do with these tomato cages now?". That's where I come in. Luckily for you I need to borrow three tomato cages until the end of autumn to help prop up my morning glories that have overgrown their dowel rod supports. I will be more than happy to return them once my plants begin to die off for the season so that you may once again shoot for that perfect tomato sandwich next summer. So go ahead and shoot me a PM and I will even drive to your house (that's right! for FREE!) and take those tear-stained tomato cages off of your hands...at least temporarily."

8/17/2011 8:55:27 PM

i'm going to pull my tomato plants next week. late-summer disease got to them and they're not yielding anymore

help me with some fall veggies -- what does well around here, when to plant, etc

I'm thinking brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, squash

8/20/2011 9:43:49 AM

^ that is what i'm thinking. if i can find a sunny spot in my new house's yard, i'm doing a fall garden.

red leaf lettuce, Brussels sprouts, spinach

but what kind of squash do you do? the yellow kind and zucchini are summer veggies right? do you do like butternut or something?

i would like to also know more fall veggies!

8/20/2011 9:28:23 PM

I pulled my tomatoes last week. The heat destroyed them.

8/20/2011 10:01:44 PM

Quote :

"My tomato plant hasn't grown shit. It just blooms, the flowers die, annnnnd nothing. "

Shake the blooms. I just tap them with my fingers. It helps pollinate the flowers, some types of tomatoes pollinate better than others. Fertilize if you haven't been.

8/21/2011 11:14:22 PM

^^^^

Right now is time to plant winter squash, according to the N&O this past saturday. Butternut, acorn, etc.

8/22/2011 8:05:30 AM

We are about gardened out at this point. We are still getting so many tomatoes, peppers, and okra that we are just giving it all away because we can't eat it all. The GF cooked down and froze a shit load of tomatoes over the weekend.

8/22/2011 10:34:34 AM

People without food dehydrators, ITT.

8/22/2011 12:12:22 PM

I'm starting to get some peaches on one of my peach trees.

Last night, I was out watering some sprigs of grass I had moved around, and a deer walks into my neighbors yard. It was maybe 7 at night. I see it, she sees me. I keep doin what I'm doin. I walk through the fence into the backyard and it walks across the cul-de-sac, straight towards me, and into my garden. It got to about 15 feet and I said 'Helloooo'. Then it kinda sauntered away. and scene.


I think I'm gonna try to lasso one or something one day.

8/22/2011 1:29:21 PM

Yes, I googled but I thought I might ask here as well. Do pomegranate trees grow well here in NC (mainly the mountains)? And if so, why don't more people grow them because they are super healthy but ungoldy expensive.

9/9/2011 1:00:16 PM

Phase 2 of awesome garden is underway.

The earthtainer turned out to do really well. Although I do need to make some minor adjustments. The 2nd one I made has an optional green house for winter garden

9/11/2011 7:44:36 PM

My super bush tomato plant is slowly dying. Has 4 tomatoes on it though.

9/11/2011 7:58:58 PM

^^ What changes would you make?

9/11/2011 8:20:54 PM

Quote :

"Do pomegranate trees grow well here in NC (mainly the mountains)?"

My parents have three pomegranate trees at their house in Raleigh. To date not a single one has produced fruit though they have beautiful blooms. Those trees are at least 6 years old now. Granted, I think part of it has to do with my parents not pruning the things properly, but you'd think they'd make at least one fruit in all that time

9/11/2011 8:44:05 PM

^^^^any reason you used tees instead of unions?

9/11/2011 8:57:28 PM

^^^ the main change would be to put some landscape fabric or black plastic over the dirt. Which was an oversight when I built it. The fragile lettuce leaves stick to the dirt when it rains.


^ the clips are only there to hold the plastic to the PVC. Those were the only clips I could find locally.

9/11/2011 9:58:35 PM

oh, i see now. they're not actual plumbing fittings. they just clip on the pipe and sandwich the plastic in between.

9/11/2011 10:00:33 PM

Have finally moved into our new place and can start gardening

What are some good plants for the fall? I know flower bulbs and fruit trees should be planted once it cools down but what else can go in the ground at that time?

9/27/2011 11:33:52 AM

My butterfly bush has started to get yellow leaves with brown spots on it. How can I save it

10/3/2011 1:06:20 PM

Just finished all of my fall/winter plantings. Had to cut back all of my crape myrtles because of some bad fungus. Same thing happened last year and I didn't keep up with spraying (I actually didn't spray at all...durr). Hopefully I'll do better at keeping that shit off next spring. Here are some pictures of my back yard and front window boxes that I've worked on over the spring/summer/fall:

- Area that was all mulch and pine straw (former owner/contractor was going to pave a driveway, but stopped short and just put shitty mulch in). I cleared it out and sodded it:



- Post sod-installation:



- Sod all blended in and looking nice:



- Front of house window boxes. This was at the beginning when they were first planted...they grew and filled out the box a lot better throughout the summer:





- Some lantanas I planted in front of my semi-fence. They were recommended by a landscaper I know...but I'm not too happy with them. This was the best they got, and they didn't look like this often. Way too much green in that area. Definitely going to take them out and put in something more flowery/colorful next spring. That being said, this picture looks nice:



- New wolf statue I got for my birthday:



- Winter/fall window box. Hopefully these will fill out a little more like the spring/summer ones did:



- Backyard view with crape myrtles trimmed and new (small) bushes planted and some more patio plants:



[Edited on October 24, 2011 at 10:29 AM. Reason : .]

10/24/2011 10:24:21 AM

You could try nasturtiums in front of the fence next year.

10/24/2011 10:41:06 AM

Quote :

"You could try nasturtiums in front of the fence next year."

Hmmm...I've looked at those. They kind of remind me of the lantanas except their flowers are bigger. They still have a ton of green in them. Do they stay bloomed for the majority of the spring summer??

My thing with the fence is that I don't want to completely hide it. I love the jasmine vines that are already covering the fence, but I have to keep those trimmed because they can completely cover it. And there are two loquat saplings anchoring the sides of the fence. So that's about as much green as I want. Whatever goes there in Spring will have minimal green (leaves) and I would like for it to stay in bloom for the majority of the season.

10/24/2011 11:05:31 AM

As long as they're in partial shade they should keep blooming. Full sun in NC heat is a killer for most flowering plants in the summer.

10/24/2011 11:36:10 AM