Gardens

We finally had fresh corn on the cob yesterday!!! And I see my tomato plants are full of little green tomatoes, so it won't be long now!

I even had some Okra to fry up last night!! My cucumbers and eggplants are doing awful!! I think the hot, dry weather has been really hard on them. Most of my pepper plants died also, but I do still have 2 plants that are starting to produce little green peppers.

How is everyone else's gardens doing? Just curious. I planted 18 tomato plants, so if they do well, I will be canning some.

We have about 15 rows of corn, but thank god hubby planted them at 2 week intervals, so they won't all be ready at once! I LOVE sweet corn!!! We planted the regular yellow kind, and the honey & pearl, the speckled is the best kind, I think.

Next year I want to plant peas, I was wondering, when you go to freeze them, do you have to partially cook them like you do when you freeze corn?

No garden this year, but harvested our cherry trees today. Anybody want a homemade cherry pie? I am pie-crusted out right now, made 5 pies today and gave all by one away to neighbors. Our black niagra cherries were really sweet this year, I will make cherry jelly this weekend.

Well here in Australia, it is the middle of winter. There is not much happening in the garden at present. Everything is wet, boggy and leafless. Luckily hubby has a tropical hot house which he keeps tropical orchards in, so on a gloomy winters day, you can go inside in the warm and admire all the tropical orchards in flower. It is our own little piece of paradise in our back yard.

Hubby does the gardening and he mostly just plants different kinds of hot peppers and tomatoes.
He says that his peppers are doing amazing, but he is having issues with the tomatoes - they are very small - probably not enough water as we haven't had rain in a long time and there is only so much watering you can do.

Oh Hissy! Can I be your neighbor?? I would love a cherry pie!!

Debby I had a nice garden! We have a groundhog eating everything! He is on my S list right now!

I could loan you my dog, Scruffy....that groundhog wouldn't stand a chance!! I keep finding dead ones in the yard.

One cherry pie for Apple Hill, pleeeeeese! (yum!)

Not 100% sure about the peas Debby but I have bought frozen ones before (Green Giant) and they are partially, if not almost fully cooked.

My in-laws have a huge vegetable garden and they supply us so it is not necessary for me to have one but....what is better than fresh from the garden vegetables? I hope they continue to make a garden for a long, long, time! LOL

I have rabbits attacking my flower beds now. Squirrels ate most of my bulbs and the rabbits ate all of my lilies. I could just scream! I have tried all the suggestions posted in the past. Moth balls galor adorn my flower beds now and the back yard has an interesting smell to it since then!!! But...the animals keep coming.

DO you think Scruffy could spend the week with me????

Debby I think that would work real well! He would never come back then! Thanks!

Can I live on the other side from Debby?
Bengal Cats, too bad I can't lend you my Fred. He drags moles and groundhogs right out of the ground. He will sit and watch for hours to see where a burrowing critter goes, then he will make a small opening in their path and pull them right up and bring them to me for dinner! He's such a good provider for his helpless humans that can't catch their own food. He will also protect us from marauding squirrels and bunnies.:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

We didn't plant this season as we aren't (weren't) sure how long would be here..... I miss my pepper plants and sandies vegies.

Debby, did you have to polinate the corn yourself? I read somewhere that if you don't grow a large crop of it, then you have to.
And ummmmm is it possible for you to fry up some okra and ship it over night??????????

Farmer Bill isn't doing too well, with the veggies. Birds got most of the blooms off of his tomato plants. After we got Ike, that stopped but, he got just one tomato and it was no good. His pregnant onion is looking puly, too.

The catnip and catmint are burgeoning, though. I have a catnip plant, in the house and the other stuff is in boxes and pots, on the patio. Despite regular maulings, the houseplant is flourishing. Bill is going to bring some of the catmint inside, to see how the cats like it.

I don't think that my bougainvilla is going to bloom. Grasshoppers have been nibbling it. Bill has put bug dust on it but, they keep coming back. I, really wanted pretty purple flowers on the front of the house.

Originally posted by Imagyne


Debby, did you have to polinate the corn yourself? I read somewhere that if you don't grow a large crop of it, then you have to.
And ummmmm is it possible for you to fry up some okra and ship it over night??????????

Click to expand...

Ken...all we did was just bought the corn and planted it. We bought two kinds...Illinois hybrid and Honey and Pearl...from the Earl May store. We alternated them, planting some one week, waiting two weeks, and planting the other kind, etc...so it wouldn't be ready all at once. we didn't have to polinate it. We have quite alot of sweet corn every year, and it grows really well.
I wish I could send you some Okra! Hubby doesn't like it, so I am the only one eating it. This is my first year growing it, and it came up really well! I dipped it in egg and then flour, before frying it, but it is best in egg and cornmeal, so I need to buy some cornmeal.

OK - I am moving IN with Debby as I just LOVE sweet corn. I will eat about 5 ears in a sitting and leave everything else on my plate! Debby and I will hide out in Hissy's basement and sneak up there and steal the pies.....heheheehehehehe... I say with a snicker and evil laugh!

I have concentrated on flowers this year - putting in two beds and an herb garden. My tomatos and peppers are in big pots on the deck and seem to be doing ok. The animals here seem to get more of the veggies than we do if we plant in the yard. Oh well......

I wish I had the space for a garden, living on the second floor makes it hard. I do have lots of potted flowers and some herbs, so that helps.

Lancaster also has an amazing farmer's market. I love getting local produce, since some of it is grown by the Amish, I hope it doesn't have as much fertilizer, etc. Corn and peaches are really good right now.

When I have a house, I plan to grow a lot more herbs and veggies.

This is MY version of a garden. We grew this catnip, from a seedling and,despite regular and frequent maulings, it is thriving.

Here's a clearer picture of Opie's and Rowdy's plant.

I can't believe you keep it inside. I keep my catnip on the porch, when we moved, I had it inside for about 2 minutes, and Faile was all over it. She loves all plants, so I keep them up or out.

Opie and Rowdy seem to ration themselves. This may be a particularly hardy plant, too.

Debby: Fresh corn already? I'm so jealous! The growing season has been so odd here. Between an unusually cold spring (snow on May 28th) and now ten days of 90 degree weather (which has hatched an amazing number of grasshoppers) with no significant rain in the last little while, we're still about three weeks behind where we should be.