The Gardening 2014 Thread - I just spent 2 hours in a garden center.

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MoochNNoodles

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Bread and butter pickles are my favorite!!  There is a restaurant near my in-laws that serves you farm style; you and your party sit at a long table and chose a certain number of meats and then they bring out a large selection of side dishes.  The first time we went I had the most amazing buttermilk cornbread and home made pickles.  I could have eaten nothing but pickles.  Sooooo good!  My Grandmother's late-neighbor used to send over homemade pickles too.  Nothing like em!
*Only ever found in the imagination of people with 'mooch' in their name  
  Now see; I had pictured something more slimey like.  I'm glad you cleared that up!
 

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Winchester

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That is a gorgeous display, Mani! So pretty.

I don't know why threads tend to gravitate toward food; garden threads would because that's what we're raising in the long run. Food. Wonderful homemade pickles are like manna from heaven IMO.

Forgot to mention how pretty our tomato plants are this year. I need to get some pictures of the garden; it's not the greatest this year, but some of the plants are so pretty. I really hope I get enough tomatoes to try ketchup. And I want to use the skins to make tomato powder again. That powder was just awesome last year.

We did find some corn seed packs (organic) yesterday, so will plant them tonight (it rained last night). Takes just a wee bit over two months to harvest, so if everything goes OK, we should be harvesting the new corn right around the end of September. Rick may be gone by then, but I can do corn by myself.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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Pretty flowers Mani!  I've been more focused on growing my veggie garden then flowers.  Landscaping plans are on my to-do list.  I'm a little worried about attracting more bees/wasps/yellow jackets etc.  In the end it might not make a difference though.  We seem to have plenty!  Last week DS got stung multiple times on his EAR.  It took 36 hours before I could even see the sting marks his ear was so swollen and RED.  Another 12 hours and I could see more.  He got it 3-4 times.  I didn't even see it happen.  He was running across the yard to me crying; I thought because I was pushing his car into the shed for the night.  At first I thought it was a mosquito bite because those seem to swell good on him.  The next morning was when I saw his ear was so red and swollen!  DH and I were talking about planting some things that are supposed to help repel mosquitoes next year.  I've been getting bitten even with bug spray on!  I've taken to doing my gardening in pants and a long sleeve shirt over my tank top.  I come in drenched in sweat; but not all bitten up at least.  So that's something to research for next year.  We have a pond not too far from us; but it's not even within sight of the house.  There is no standing water or anything like that.  It's just bad this year. 
 

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Mooch you poor guys! That was me last year....I got bitten up so badly that I had bites even inside my underwear. It was nasty. This year, I've been saturating myself with bug spray and, so far, it seems to be working as I've ONLY about ten bug bites. Boy, do they ever itch, too. I tried all kinds of anti-itch stuff, but nothing really worked.

And so it begins.....tonight:


Honestly, those peppers look every bit as nice as what you'd find in the store. There are two zucchini on the plate, too. I washed everything and put it all in the fridge for tonight. Will slice the peppers and throw them in the freezer. We're going to saute the zucchini for dinner tomorrow.

What do you think about drying some green peppers for pepper flakes? Think it's worth it? I'm trying to figure out if I'd rather have the frozen peppers or a nice jar of flakes. It would take a lot of peppers to dry for flakes and I'm not sure I want to use them that way.

Oh! We have the cutest little butternut! It's about three inches long and it's just perfect. Such a darling little butternut.....I can't wait to eat it! 
 It has a ways to grow yet, but it's just adorable. I stood there in the middle of the garden tonight, smiling foolishly at my little squash. Rick just shook his head. It's so cute. 


Will have to cut broccoli tomorrow night, too. Some of the plants are ready and, in this heat, if I don't get it cut, the plants will bolt.
 
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I'd love to see a picture of your little butternut! 
  Tiny versions of just about anything are toooo cute!!

Getting bitten even under your undies is really bad!  When I pulled that tick off DD last month it had crawled up the back of her leg under her skort.  I've been much more diligent in checking for them now.  Bugs are why I enjoy early spring so much more; it gets warm enough to enjoy the outdoors but the bugs aren't such pests yet!

We ate our first bell pepper tonight.  It could have gotten a little bigger but DH was excited to cut it up and eat it. 
  He cut it into strips and we all munched on it like that.  Even DS went 'Mmmmm!" while nodding his head. 
  I'm watching my tomtoes start to ripen finally!  I've been picking some tiny ones here and there but now the bigger ones are starting to turn.  And the cherry tomatoes.  Some of them are awfully big for cherry tomatoes too!  Feeding them weekly seems to have done the trick for the problems I was having with them.  I'm not sure yet if it's helping the summer squash and zucchini; but at this point I've harvested more than last year so that makes me happy.  

Gardening can be awfully frustrating when thing don't go right; but when it does...its good for the soul. 
 
 

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Will take some pictures tonight, weather permitting. (I got soaked coming into work this morning. We cannot say we're not getting enough rain so far this summer!) I really want to take some pictures of our tomatoes, too.

The first pepper is always the best one! A lot of times when Rick is gone and it's just me for supper, I'll run up to the garden, just to see what's available. I might get a bit of broccoli, a pepper or two, maybe some tomatoes, a carrot or two. Clean them, slice them up and have them for supper with a bit of low-fat salad dressing as a dip. Sometimes I'll add a yeast roll from the freezer, microwaved in a paper towel. It's such a good supper, but it's something that Rick wouldn't really enjoy. He'll eat fresh vegetables and dip while watching tv or a movie, but not just as supper.

As for tomatoes, last year we started to pick them when they had a nice, healthy pink blush. Then I'd put them in the basement on newspaper on card tables to finish ripening. The year before, our tomatoes were starting to spoil before they'd get fully ripe. After googling, I learned that it's OK to pick them with that blush and they would finish ripening without spoiling. We had a really good tomato crop last year and I think that was partly why. 

I agree, Mooch. Gardening is the best way to relax. When it goes well, that is. Otherwise, grrrrrrrrrrrrr. 
 I'm glad you figured out what to do about your tomato plants and I hope it works for your squash plants, too.
 

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Here are some pictures:

Three little butternut squashes. I'm really excited about getting butternuts; I love to chunk them, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and roast. Yum.




Some of the tomato plants....I think they look so pretty this year! Lots of flowers and there are some tomatoes, too.



Here are some daylilies in back of the pool fence. A couple years ago, we needed to thin the lilies out from one of the flowerbeds. We had no idea where to go with them, so we decided to plant them here. I think they like it here! On the other side of the fence where the pool pump is, we planted red cannas. They haven't bloomed yet, but they're growing well. And at the other end, next to the arbor, we planted elephant ears. Our ears don't grow as large as my sister's......hers are gigantic. But they look nice. I'll try to get some pictures of them, too.

 
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MoochNNoodles

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That is adorable! 
  The day lilies look great too!  Ours are done here.  There is a bunch across the street where our original mailbox was when we bought the house.  They look so nice even when you just pass them growing in ditches.  I'm not a huge lily fan; especially cala lilies.  But the bright orange of these I do enjoy!!
 

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That first picture is the butternut that I first saw and I just went, "Awwwwww! It's so cute!" And that's when dear Richard rolled his eyes. But it was about 3 inches in length and it looks like a butternut. It's just adorable! I need to figure out what to lay out there, so the squash isn't directly on the ground. I'm not sure what to do yet. We got our first two yellow squashes last night; I cut them and they're in the fridge.

We tried acorn squash a couple years ago and got nothing. Oh, plenty of flowers and teeny little squashes. But as fast as they'd form, they'd drop off. I may try acorns again next year. I could probably have a whole garden in nothing but different squashes. I love them.
 
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I started buying canning supplies today.  Would you believe I cannot find a water bath canner in town?  I can get one online and wait 5 days...  I'm not sure where else to look locally before I go that route.  Oh; and my MIL has an extra one I can have...if I can wait till the fall when we go visit her to get it!  I bet if she tried to ship it it would be expensive!

I'm battling powdery mildew on my cukes, summer squash and zucchini.  The SS an zuches aren't looking good at all but I think I caught the cukes in time to have a better chance at fighting it.  I used neem oil a few days ago and it's better but not gone.  I tried the mixture of baking soda and soap tonight.  I'm trying to find out if I can apply that more often than the neem oil and commercial sprays.

I washed all the produce that had backed up on my counter this past week.  Just the cukes, banana peppers and 2 smaller summer squash filled my produce drawer!  The other squash, zucchini and a few peppers had to be put on a shelf.  I brought a bag of cukes to church today and they were happily snatched up in about 2 minutes. 
  I need to walk over to my neighbors houses with a few too.  Sharing them really is fun!
 
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mani

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My memorial garden was done, in it's basic form, yesterday, and I'm slowly getting the rocks for the border (
@AbbysMom)

I also now have a pump rigged up to my water tank which means I'm not using, and paying for, town water on my garden.


However I have discovered that the world is made up of people who can effortlessly store their garden hoses in kink-free and neat loops, and those who cannot.  I belong to the second group.


There's a knack, obviously.  It just escapes me.
 

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Did I ever tell you how I got my water bath canner? Years and years (and years) ago, Rick's mom said she had her canner and supplies in her basement for when I was ready for them. I told her in no uncertain terms that I was not canning. I was scared to death to can and she could either sell her stuff at a yard sale or give them to somebody else. This girl was no canner and I simply was not going there. And then a couple years ago, I called my wonderful MIL and asked, "Um, do you still have your canning supplies?" She started laughing and said, "Honey, everything is in the basement waiting for you!" And that's how I got my canner. I went to a local hardware store in town (they have everything! Everything!) for my pressure canner that same summer. Surprisingly, I use both of them every year. Whoda thought? (But I'm still scared to death to can anything and I'm very meticulous. Well, actually it's not the canning....it's the eating.
)

I hope you can find your canner without having to order it online. Looking for one to do quarts or pints? Local hardware store? Local kitchen store? WalMart? Our WalMart carries canning supplies.

Mani, would you mind posting some pictures of your memorial garden? It sounds very pretty and I'd love to see it.

Our squash plants are taking over the garden. There's squash in the corn, there's squash in amongst the tomato plants. The squash is finding its way into where our cucumber plants used to be before they all disappeared. The squash found their way into the other garden and is roaming along the Brussels sprouts. Orange flowers as big as dinner plates! And I"m talking about my butternuts! I'm not talking about our zucchini and the summer squash. I told Rick that maybe next year we should just till a separate 10 x 10-foot patch just for the squash plants.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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@Mani; I'd like to see the garden and the hose skills! 
  DH bought a reel for ours; it helps!  

I did end up buying one online.  I got most everything at Walmart yesterday.  It's a 30-45 minute drive to most stores for me and I couldn't figure out where else to look.  I was something silly like $.51 from free shipping on it so I found a cheap kids book and added it on...and it added to the shipping time!  I discovered if I just took the book off and paid for "normal" shipping instead of "value" I should have it by Wednesday I think.  It wasn't very expensive to ship anyway.  If I wanted to pick up in the store it would have been 5 days for free shipping.  Nice huh?  But still; it was $25 cheaper from Walmart online than Amazon.  It better last for many many years!  

I bet if I were close to my Grandparent's I would find everything I need in their basement too.  Even a pressure canner.  And now I'm thinking of the sauerkraut they used to make.  Yummy!!

I never thought I'd can either.  But now I'm seeing it's really the next step in gardening.  
 

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@MoochNNoodles @Winchester I'd feel embarrassed posting a picture till things have grown, as it looks really bare.

I remember when I used to do the graphics for an architectural firm and would do their promotional stuff.. pictures of the buildings they'd done, planning studies etc. The hardest thing to do was 'sell' the landscaping as, no matter how good it was, the trees were just just saplings and it all looked rather bare.  I'd usually put in a drawing of the finished product instead.

Mind you, nowadays they import a whole tree so it's a fait accompli.

Not in my budget though, I'm afraid.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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Haha...don't worry; you know I'm starting from almost scratch on my property.  I'm very grateful the builder left the trees and back hedgerow.  We have so many planned neighborhoods around here.  They'd throw up houses and plunk these scrawny trees in the yards.
  Awful looking.  And then those trees grow up and don't fit where they were put!  
  My mother has issues with her front landscaping because they didn't leave enough room between the concrete sidewalk and the house to put a full grown bush. The baby one they planted was fine of course; but that too grew and tried to take over the sidewalk...  They hope to downsize houses in a few years; but if they decide to stay; I think they will do some of that intensive landscaping.  And maybe add on a front porch to help deflect the wind that has destroyed 3 storm doors now. 
 

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We are right in the middle of a humungous storm!  Full on hail, rain and wind! It really shouldn't be happening here in winter

I dread to think what this is going to do to my fledgling garden.
 

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Oh no, Mani, your poor garden! I hope everything is OK now and it didn't suffer too badly.

Everybody has to start from scratch at one time or another. Good things take time. I'd still like to see it. Honest.

I don't do much canning, other than pickles, salsa, some chutney. And my onions. Most everything else gets frozen. Or dried. I truly love my dehydrator....one of the best Christmas presents I ever got.

I wanted to try to make sauerkraut, but haven't done so yet. Rick doesn't really care for it, but I love sauerkraut. We're lucky; our local Lions organization makes sauerkraut every year and it's ready just in time for the holidays (sauerkraut is eaten for good luck on New Year's Day, so dear Richard puts up with pork and sauerkraut in the crock pot over mashed potatoes on New Year's). I always buy enough to see us through for the year and then stick it in the freezer to use with hot dogs, brats, and the like.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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Yikes!  I hope the garden is ok Mani!  We've had that happen here (usually minus hail).  My tomatoes have survived 2 hurricanes. They looked a tangled mess afterward; but we still ate off them for a good month!  

I loooove sauerkraut!   I should ask my Mom if we can get it at the market where a lot of the Amish sell things.  They have a sandwich shop there we get it on a roll over their kielbasa.  With or without their honey mustard; it's amazing!  Mom is a fan of their pastry stand there too.  The cheeses, pickles and everything....all good. lol  Too bad it's only open 2 days a week and so crowded it's impossible to get in there with a stroller.  
 
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