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George Shirley[_3_] · 06-10-2017, 08:58 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

On 10/6/2017 12:38 PM, wrote:
songbird wrote:

i'm not sure where September went. too quickly
by for sure...
Yep; just remain living for a few more years and watch what
happens!
It's becoming the norm, I guess, but October's here and Derald is
'way behind in fall planting. Got mustards up and running and some
green beans that are 90% emergent a/o this morning. Late okra, planted
in mid-August, is beginning to produce. Field peas are away and gone to
compost and summer okras seem to be retiring but the eggplants are going
strong. Did plant a few tomatoes–about a month "late"–but don't know
yet where to put them. Planted three specimens each or three varieties:
Beefsteak, Homestead, Mortgage Lifter. First time for Mortgage Lifter.
Of the tomatoes claimed to have been "developed" for Florida (and that
I've actually grown), only the Homestead performs in my garden, so it
made the cut. Beefsteak, Big Boy, Better Boy, Early Girl all are
dependable here and hold out well in summer's heat, when in beds; not so
well in containers above ground.
Began prepping a bed for turnips and peas yesterday (10-4; really)
but the weather turned crappy early on and remained so, driving me
indoors I guess my days of gardening in the rain have passed. Today
seems to be following yesterday's pattern or, at least, not getting
sunny enough to dry the foliage.. More tropical goings-on down south,
in the Gulf, I suppose. 'Tis the season.

garden news, still working on the first strawberry
patch.
Man, I think the strawberries here are doomed. Mine have a few
stray daughers that need to be relocated but not sure I'm going to fool
with any that I'm not actually walking on. Some of the aerial offsets
are taking root in the side walls of the bed. I'll probably leave
those. Most of them are on the East side of a N/S bed so they'll be
shaded in afternoons. Since they're already in place, probably shall
leave the strawberries unmolested until spring, for another winter
harvest and then send them to compost. From last winter's crop, I ate
maybe three, DW ate maybe zero and getting the plants through another
Florida summer just wouldn't be worth the effort. I know now why
commercial producers in the region where I grew up raise strawberries as
annuals: For most of the year one is looking at non-productive green
stuff that must be watered, fed, and shaded from the sun from early June
through later in the year than now. I can always grow peas in that
space; they love the heat and the sunshine. Besides, the aphids really
like the peas, as do ants. Neither seems to think much of the strawberry
plants.

The boss lady and I turned out the 22 cubic foot freezer after lunch.
Found frozen stuff back to 2012 tucked away into corners. Still good
mostly but it seemed that several bags that were vacuum pumped didn't
actually seal. The contents went into the big pot to turn into soup for
later and the ones with frost bite went into the composter after thawing.

Took us over two hours to get everything back in the freezer and
properly labeled as to where what is. I don't think we will need to grow
certain vegetables for another two or three years. G Especially okra,
twelve bags for two of us to eat will last a long time.

Tomorrow we're going into the small freezer on our refrigerator, side by
side. Most of that is meats, sweets, etc. so should be easy. At least I
hope so. The big freezer now has a map magnet held to the door so we can
actually find things again. Will do the same with the smaller freezer. I
do need to clean out the refrigerator and give it a good cleaning and a
new container of baking soda to hold down scents.

The fall garden is in, green beans again, summer peppers are still
producing, the winter greens, etc. are up and growing. Kumquats are
starting to turn so will be harvesting by January, maybe, depends on
Texas weather. The pear tree still has several small pears still getting
a little bigger. Was afraid there would be no pears nor kumquats after
the hard freezes of last January. I would like to put in another fruit
tree but am not sure there is enough room in this small property.

George