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#1
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chive talkin'
yesterday i finished up removing one of the
chive patches that was taking up too much space at the bottom of the north garden. the smell of the roots and dirt make me rather sick to my stomach so i was very glad to be done. most of the clumps of roots were buried upside down under a layer of dried stuff or whatever paper scraps i had on hand and then six to eight inches of dirt. they will likely never be able to come up through that and the worms will turn them into fertilizer in time. yesterday a few piles ran out of dried stuff to use so i may see some of those again this season. probably will plant extra beans/peas on top of them because it is in an unfenced garden. still it is now a lot less cover for the bunnies to hide in along that edge with the chives gone. it is rather low there now too and since i was trying to get a low garden going with some creeping plants that like moisture and eventually i'm sure strawberries will get in there too. a layer of shredded bark would be nice there but i have to get a decent edge in place to keep it from washing into the neighboring crushed limestone. don't want to raise the whole area up too far as i sure don't want yet another retaining wall or more formal edge. that neighboring crushed limestone and flat flood plain may eventually get turned into more gardens as i can find the fill for it and if Ma will let me get away with it. the neighboring fake pond is falling apart and we're going to do something with it this year or next. hmm, too much to ponder and too many other projects in the works for me, but i better be sure to get a say in what happens next as if i don't then it more likely than not will mean more work for me later... some of the earlier plantings have sprouted and seem to be doing fine (peas, onions, turnips, rutabagas). these too are in the unfenced garden so they may get raided by bunnies at any time. the other project finished up the other day was getting the back spiral garden/green manure patch weeded and to dig out all of the garlic in there that i could find. it is much easier to do this before the alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil gets tall. this also gave me a good chance to observe the quality of the soil and to see how the late summer cover crops of buckwheat and turnips had fared. considering the condition of the soil when i started several years ago it is coming along well. i'm now going to be adding a mix of other plants into that patch in areas so that it can start being an alternate and back up food source. turnips, beets, beans, peas, fennel, bak choi, rutabagas, ..., and some other things i can find today (rainy day errand run). now that these two projects are done i can switch to the fenced gardens and getting them weeded or turned -- getting them ready for planting and seeing how they are faring. most of them have a light cover crop of winter wheat or winter rye and will not need to worry too much about the impact of that rotting down. one garden has a much higher crop of wheat and rye and i'm tempted to leave that alone and see if i can get any kind of harvest from them but i suspect the goldfinches will beat me to it. the finches have a pretty good eye for any seed bearing plants. then again, if the field to the north of us does not get turned under we'll have winter wheat galore for them over there... hmm... late last summer i also planted turnips in the north patch to see how they went. some did get fairly large and i gave them to someone who likes them and appreciates them, the rest i left to see how they survived the winter without being covered or mulched in any way other than what was provided by the snow. many did survive. i pulled some the other day to see if they were edible. no. so they are now worm food for the worm bins here in my room. the rest are out there growing and are going to hopefully be a source of seeds for future generations. yet, it is pretty likely i'll get a lb of turnip seeds today as they are a nice cover crop for bare spots and they aren't too expensive. the killdeer are out there running around in tribes (mating season i suspect). funny... songbird |
#2
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chive talkin'
On 29/04/2014 11:49 PM, songbird wrote:
yesterday i finished up removing one of the chive patches that was taking up too much space at the bottom of the north garden. the smell of the roots and dirt make me rather sick to my stomach so i was very glad to be done. :-)) IMO, you can never have too many chives. I use them so often in the kitchen. most of the clumps of roots were buried upside down under a layer of dried stuff or whatever paper scraps i had on hand and then six to eight inches of dirt. they will likely never be able to come up through that and the worms will turn them into fertilizer in time. yesterday a few piles ran out of dried stuff to use so i may see some of those again this season. probably will plant extra beans/peas on top of them because it is in an unfenced garden. Members of the allium family are reputed to stunt peas and beans so it'd be interesting to know if that same reputed impact applies to planting on top of interred alliums. still it is now a lot less cover for the bunnies to hide in along that edge with the chives gone. it is rather low there now too and since i was trying to get a low garden going with some creeping plants that like moisture and eventually i'm sure strawberries will get in there too. a layer of shredded bark would be nice there but i have to get a decent edge in place to keep it from washing into the neighboring crushed limestone. don't want to raise the whole area up too far as i sure don't want yet another retaining wall or more formal edge. that neighboring crushed limestone and flat flood plain may eventually get turned into more gardens as i can find the fill for it and if Ma will let me get away with it. the neighboring fake pond is falling apart and we're going to do something with it this year or next. hmm, too much to ponder and too many other projects in the works for me, but i better be sure to get a say in what happens next as if i don't then it more likely than not will mean more work for me later... some of the earlier plantings have sprouted and seem to be doing fine (peas, onions, turnips, rutabagas). these too are in the unfenced garden so they may get raided by bunnies at any time. the other project finished up the other day was getting the back spiral garden/green manure patch weeded and to dig out all of the garlic in there that i could find. it is much easier to do this before the alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil gets tall. this also gave me a good chance to observe the quality of the soil and to see how the late summer cover crops of buckwheat and turnips had fared. considering the condition of the soil when i started several years ago it is coming along well. :-)) Isn't it a great joy to notice those sorts of improvements? Non-gardeners never seem to understand why that gives gardeners such a thrill. i'm now going to be adding a mix of other plants into that patch in areas so that it can start being an alternate and back up food source. turnips, beets, beans, peas, fennel, bak choi, rutabagas, ..., I've forgotten what the rest of the English speaking world calls them. Is it turnips?????? and some other things i can find today (rainy day errand run). now that these two projects are done i can switch to the fenced gardens and getting them weeded or turned -- getting them ready for planting and seeing how they are faring. most of them have a light cover crop of winter wheat or winter rye and will not need to worry too much about the impact of that rotting down. one garden has a much higher crop of wheat and rye and i'm tempted to leave that alone and see if i can get any kind of harvest from them but i suspect the goldfinches will beat me to it. the finches have a pretty good eye for any seed bearing plants. then again, if the field to the north of us does not get turned under we'll have winter wheat galore for them over there... hmm... late last summer i also planted turnips in the north patch to see how they went. some did get fairly large and i gave them to someone who likes them and appreciates them, the rest i left to see how they survived the winter without being covered or mulched in any way other than what was provided by the snow. many did survive. i pulled some the other day to see if they were edible. no. so they are now worm food for the worm bins here in my room. the rest are out there growing and are going to hopefully be a source of seeds for future generations. yet, it is pretty likely i'll get a lb of turnip seeds today as they are a nice cover crop for bare spots and they aren't too expensive. the killdeer are out there running around in tribes (mating season i suspect). funny... I think I'll go and have a rest after reading of all your busyness. You've made me feel quite weary :-)) |
#3
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chive talkin'
Fran Farmer wrote:
i'm now going to be adding a mix of other plants into that patch in areas so that it can start being an alternate and back up food source. turnips, beets, beans, peas, fennel, bak choi, rutabagas, ..., I've forgotten what the rest of the English speaking world calls them. Is it turnips?????? Yes turnips or perhaps swedes (not Swedes). Other than stock feed the only reason to grow them is to get something fresh when it is very cold and not much else will grow. SWMBO puts them in winter soup, luckily there are many other things in there and you don't notice. Thinly sliced in salad - well you would have to be desperate. D |
#4
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chive talkin'
Fran Farmer wrote:
songbird wrote: yesterday i finished up removing one of the chive patches that was taking up too much space at the bottom of the north garden. the smell of the roots and dirt make me rather sick to my stomach so i was very glad to be done. :-)) IMO, you can never have too many chives. I use them so often in the kitchen. that's part of it, that we rarely actually even use them. we sure don't need 100sq ft of them. besides the two main patches (now down to one) we also have them scattered around growing in other locations. most of the clumps of roots were buried upside down under a layer of dried stuff or whatever paper scraps i had on hand and then six to eight inches of dirt. they will likely never be able to come up through that and the worms will turn them into fertilizer in time. yesterday a few piles ran out of dried stuff to use so i may see some of those again this season. probably will plant extra beans/peas on top of them because it is in an unfenced garden. Members of the allium family are reputed to stunt peas and beans so it'd be interesting to know if that same reputed impact applies to planting on top of interred alliums. hmm, these are buried quite deeply below the root zone in most of the area. i can always put beets in the shallower spots (where i didn't have enough stuff to cover). otherwise, i didn't notice any trouble in my previous years growing of beans on top of similar piles of chive sod. .... the other project finished up the other day was getting the back spiral garden/green manure patch weeded and to dig out all of the garlic in there that i could find. it is much easier to do this before the alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil gets tall. this also gave me a good chance to observe the quality of the soil and to see how the late summer cover crops of buckwheat and turnips had fared. considering the condition of the soil when i started several years ago it is coming along well. :-)) Isn't it a great joy to notice those sorts of improvements? Non-gardeners never seem to understand why that gives gardeners such a thrill. i consider it a lifelong process which i hope will go another twenty or thirty years. each year certain things get easier too. i'm now going to be adding a mix of other plants into that patch in areas so that it can start being an alternate and back up food source. turnips, beets, beans, peas, fennel, bak choi, rutabagas, ..., I've forgotten what the rest of the English speaking world calls them. Is it turnips?????? swedes, they are a type of turnip, but not the same as the purple topped globe turnips which are very common. these are pale yellow inside and turn yellow/orange more when cooked. they have a fairly mild flavor to me. turnips i like to fry up in the pan in a little olive oil until they get a little brown on the outside. to me much better than potatoes... .... the killdeer are out there running around in tribes (mating season i suspect). funny... I think I'll go and have a rest after reading of all your busyness. You've made me feel quite weary :-)) wasn't too bad as it was stretched over the past few weeks. i left out some of the great blunders and adventures in sillyness. i did find some diakon radish seeds and some dill, also restocked the buckwheat and turnip seed supplies. the earliest tulips are starting to show up. that's about when it is the time to start getting more peas in the ground. still might get some frosts here or there but the worst of the hard freezes should be over. at least i sure hope they are. oh, and the apple seeds i planted last fall seemed to have sprouted. i'll have plenty of scrub apple trees or root stock for grafting by the looks of it. all experimental as with the rabbits and deer around here i'm not sure i'll ever see a fruit tree make it very far. if i do it will because the thing has armor and fences around it. time to check the weather radar and see if i'll get out to plant anything or just keep on goofing around today. songbird |
#5
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chive talkin'
David Hare-Scott wrote:
.... Yes turnips or perhaps swedes (not Swedes). Other than stock feed the only reason to grow them is to get something fresh when it is very cold and not much else will grow. SWMBO puts them in winter soup, luckily there are many other things in there and you don't notice. Thinly sliced in salad - well you would have to be desperate. two different turnip types. swedes are rutabagas are orangy/yellow pale color. some people raise them for animal feed too i grow most of them here for worm food (as a soil cover crop). some people like the greens. (wonder how Derald is doing down there in FL with all the recent rains...?) i like them better than potatoes if they are going to be cooked. haven't tried them pickled, fermented (kraut) or raw yet. not in any hurry... songbird |
#6
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chive talkin'
songbird wrote:
I've forgotten what the rest of the English speaking world calls them. Is it turnips?????? swedes, they are a type of turnip, but not the same as the purple topped globe turnips which are very common. these are pale yellow inside and turn yellow/orange more when cooked. they have a fairly mild flavor to me. turnips i like to fry up in the pan in a little olive oil until they get a little brown on the outside. to me much better than potatoes... This is where common names don't travel very well. I think we are talking about two different but related plants. The thing you buy in the supermarket here called a 'swede' is roundish, tapering towards the root, purplish skin on top and cream below with off-white flesh that stays dirty-white when cooked. The flavour is quite strong and to my taste unpleasant. I am guessing you call this a turnip and the yellow/orange one rutabaga? I haven't seen the yellow/orange one here. D |
#7
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chive talkin'
In article
"David Hare-Scott" writes: songbird wrote: I've forgotten what the rest of the English speaking world calls them. Is it turnips?????? swedes, they are a type of turnip, but not the same as the purple topped globe turnips which are very common. these are pale yellow inside and turn yellow/orange more when cooked. they have a fairly mild flavor to me. turnips i like to fry up in the pan in a little olive oil until they get a little brown on the outside. to me much better than potatoes... This is where common names don't travel very well. I think we are talking about two different but related plants. Perhaps this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga would be useful in the discussion. To muddy the language waters, I grew up (in the USA) with my mother calling these things (boiled and mashed) "turnips." I don't care much for rutabegas, but I like turnips in moderation. The thing you buy in the supermarket here called a 'swede' is roundish, tapering towards the root, purplish skin on top and cream below with off-white flesh that stays dirty-white when cooked. The flavour is quite strong and to my taste unpleasant. I am guessing you call this a turnip and the yellow/orange one rutabaga? I haven't seen the yellow/orange one here. D -- Drew Lawson Some men's dreams for others turn to nightmares. I never would have thought this in my wildest dreams. |
#8
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chive talkin'
David Hare-Scott wrote:
songbird wrote: Farm1 asked: .... I've forgotten what the rest of the English speaking world calls them. Is it turnips?????? swedes, they are a type of turnip, but not the same as the purple topped globe turnips which are very common. these are pale yellow inside and turn yellow/orange more when cooked. they have a fairly mild flavor to me. turnips i like to fry up in the pan in a little olive oil until they get a little brown on the outside. to me much better than potatoes... This is where common names don't travel very well. I think we are talking about two different but related plants. The thing you buy in the supermarket here called a 'swede' is roundish, tapering towards the root, purplish skin on top and cream below with off-white flesh that stays dirty-white when cooked. The flavour is quite strong and to my taste unpleasant. I am guessing you call this a turnip and the yellow/orange one rutabaga? I haven't seen the yellow/orange one here. yes, you've got it, the usage i am famiar with comes from the UP of Michigan where they have pasties (a meat pie with minced onion, carrot, rutabaga, potato) and that was for the copper miners that were brought from overseas to work in the mines. supposedly of Cornish derivation, but the plants go back much further. the wiki seems to cover it well (along with the clarification on usage subtopic) and reflects what i've generally known. as usual, English borrows heavily from other languages as in i liked the comment about root bags from Swedish. neeps is a fun word. too many good pictures of food/recipes in those pages, made me hungry and it was time to sleep, with a rumbly stomach. songbird |
#9
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chive talkin'
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote: some people like the greens. (wonder how Derald is doing down there in FL with all the recent rains...?) He's getting very little of the rain. None of it that caused the recent flooding in the panhandle A whopping 0.4" overnight. hope things have improved? we're doing ok on some rain, but light rain and very scattered. frosts still here or there. not much warmth but perhaps that will change this week as we might break into the 70sF. I grow those turnips that make somewhat spherical white roots with magenta tops. You know: The ones with the creative name. The last of mine, planted in late Nov. joined the compost on April 2. I shall begin planting them again when the weather cools somewhat in October. the ones that survived the winter have surprised me the past few days, it looks like they are going to flower. i thought it would be sometime this summer or even in the fall before they would flower. learn something new all the time. you ever eat the flowers or seed heads from turnips? i was also surprised by how the daikon radish seeds were reasonable edible. Right now, have "Little Marvel" peas coming in; carrots, too. For practical purposes, the brassicas are all gone save for a handful of collards and some laggard broccoli. The celery is doing well; I had no expectations of it so any result is gratifying. Have green beans, cowpeas, okra, tomatoes, cukes, yellow squash, jalapeño peppers coming along well. Noticed some "Scarlet Nantes" carrot seedlings today. Took them 18 days to germinate; had about given up on them. Interested in seeing whether they thrive or develop much flavor as the weather warms (more). good luck with the carrots. i seem to recall that like some other veggies that they seem to get better after a bit of frost hits them. songbird |
#10
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Garden Haps WAS: chive talkin'
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote: Derald wrote: songbird wrote: some people like the greens. (wonder how Derald is doing down there in FL with all the recent rains...?) He's getting very little of the rain. None of it that caused the recent flooding in the panhandle A whopping 0.4" overnight. hope things have improved? we're doing ok on some rain, but light rain and very scattered. frosts still here or there. not much warmth but perhaps that will change this week as we might break into the 70sF. Two or three cloudy, drizzly, "wintry" days gifted us with slightly more than one inch; none since. Nighttime temps are mid-60's and daytime in mid-high 80's. As I've mentioned in the past, "spring" down here is about ten days in February or March. sometimes ours seem that ways too. i should not have spoken about scattered and light rain as pretty much then things changed and we've had plenty of rain. woken up again from thunder/lightning. for some reason i keep thinking the weather forecasts are going to be reasonably right several days in advance and then foolishly make plans around that... good thing nothing really depends upon me getting stuff done on certain days. The English peas are having a time of it: They indubitably do not prefer these hot, sunny days. This year's late planting rotated into a bed that gets early-day sun early in the year so they are adhering more closely to their normal "dwarf" stature than is usual and are covered with blossoms. Most years, the late peas are approaching the end of productivity by mid-May but this year's weren't planted until mid-March—almost a month later than in most springs. two months seems like it should be enough time. Have blossoms on the transplanted "volunteer" tomato of unknown lineage and noticed for the first time this morning a smattering of blossoms on the snap beans ("Contender"). are these the new beans (i can't remember ) that you are testing out? Spent some time yesterday evening transplanting okra into a singular bed from a community bed (a "community" bed, not the reactionary utopian misnomer). I always forget that okra is a slow starter, especially when planted early, and often is outgrown (overgrown) by its interplanted bedmates. Boy, does it compensate later in the year when the heat turns up. i wouldn't expect it to do much until it gets warmer anyways. here the one time i planted it it grew quickly enough in rock hard poor soil that i'd hate to see what it does in fertile soil. seemed to be an aphid magnet plant. ... those turnips.... the ones that survived the winter have surprised me the past few days, it looks like they are going to flower. i thought it would be sometime this summer or even in the fall before they would flower. learn something new all the time. you ever eat the flowers or seed heads from turnips? Nah; ours never stay in the garden long enough to flower. Turnips are biennials that do not thrive in warm weather so fall-planted turnips are pretty punched out by March or April and any planted after about Valentine's Day are basically just flea beetle fodder. Besides which, turnip roots are best eaten young; the longer they remain, especially as weather warms, the more likely the roots are to become fibrous or "pithy". I don't know what triggers flowering. i decided i wanted flowers/seeds and most of them are in locations which isn't in the way of anything else so they get to stay at least until they get seeds. the cabbage worm butterflies have been out the past few days -- first butterflies of the season. i was also surprised by how the daikon radish seeds were reasonable edible. Those are untreated seeds of known origin, I assume. oh yes, nothing on them, there were some other daikon seeds that did have a pink coating which i did not get. figured it was added filler to get the seed up to size to be planted by a soybean drill. good luck with the carrots. i seem to recall that like some other veggies that they seem to get better after a bit of frost hits them. I was surprised these even germinated. They were planted on 14 April. Two other varieties planted during the first half of April are no-shows, although, fall and winter plantings all did well. If the Nantes taste like anything, then they definitely are late-season candidates for future gardens. songbird |
#11
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Garden Haps WAS: chive talkin'
On 5/7/2014 1:21 PM, Derald wrote:
songbird wrote: Derald wrote: songbird wrote: some people like the greens. (wonder how Derald is doing down there in FL with all the recent rains...?) He's getting very little of the rain. None of it that caused the recent flooding in the panhandle A whopping 0.4" overnight. hope things have improved? we're doing ok on some rain, but light rain and very scattered. frosts still here or there. not much warmth but perhaps that will change this week as we might break into the 70sF. Two or three cloudy, drizzly, "wintry" days gifted us with slightly more than one inch; none since. Nighttime temps are mid-60's and daytime in mid-high 80's. As I've mentioned in the past, "spring" down here is about ten days in February or March. The English peas are having a time of it: They indubitably do not prefer these hot, sunny days. This year's late planting rotated into a bed that gets early-day sun early in the year so they are adhering more closely to their normal "dwarf" stature than is usual and are covered with blossoms. Most years, the late peas are approaching the end of productivity by mid-May but this year's weren't planted until mid-March—almost a month later than in most springs. Have blossoms on the transplanted "volunteer" tomato of unknown lineage and noticed for the first time this morning a smattering of blossoms on the snap beans ("Contender"). Spent some time yesterday evening transplanting okra into a singular bed from a community bed (a "community" bed, not the reactionary utopian misnomer). I always forget that okra is a slow starter, especially when planted early, and often is outgrown (overgrown) by its interplanted bedmates. Boy, does it compensate later in the year when the heat turns up. ... those turnips.... the ones that survived the winter have surprised me the past few days, it looks like they are going to flower. i thought it would be sometime this summer or even in the fall before they would flower. learn something new all the time. you ever eat the flowers or seed heads from turnips? Nah; ours never stay in the garden long enough to flower. Turnips are biennials that do not thrive in warm weather so fall-planted turnips are pretty punched out by March or April and any planted after about Valentine's Day are basically just flea beetle fodder. Besides which, turnip roots are best eaten young; the longer they remain, especially as weather warms, the more likely the roots are to become fibrous or "pithy". I don't know what triggers flowering. i was also surprised by how the daikon radish seeds were reasonable edible. Those are untreated seeds of known origin, I assume. good luck with the carrots. i seem to recall that like some other veggies that they seem to get better after a bit of frost hits them. I was surprised these even germinated. They were planted on 14 April. Two other varieties planted during the first half of April are no-shows, although, fall and winter plantings all did well. If the Nantes taste like anything, then they definitely are late-season candidates for future gardens. Wife likes turnips but she's of German descent, I'm Native American and English and I don't eat turnips. In my youth they were grown as animal fodder. Wife planted spring carrots again, I know for a fact they will not mature. Our temps here in Harris Cty, TX are already in the low to mid eighties. We are getting a light rain drizzle right now and we badly need it. Last week I installed all new soaker hoses in the raised beds and they seem to be working better than the rain we don't get. Crowder peas are climbing the fence, Hopi red lima beans are climbing their netting as are the cukes. We actually have little tomatoes and cukes making and an eggplant is about ready to pick, the fruit is bigger than the plant. Leeks need pulling and will most likely given away to neighbors, they're way to strong for my taste. The fig tree has baby figs and the blueberries have very few berries coming on due to a late frost. Looks like we will go to a pick-your-own farm this year for blueberries and blackberries, the native dewberries and blackberries didn't get enough rain this year and are small and very seedy. I am happy for the rain we are currently getting. |
#12
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Garden Haps WAS: chive talkin'
Derald wrote:
songbird wrote: Derald wrote: Most years, the late peas are approaching the end of productivity by mid-May but this year's weren't planted until mid-March—almost a month later than in most springs. two months seems like it should be enough time. Oh, it is; it's just that, when they're planted later, the risk of losing them to the sun or to something like powdery mildew just as they're hitting their stride increases a whole bunch and they don't have the sweetness one expects from fresh garden peas. Gonna find something with which to shade these and see whether that helps. Of course, I've probably tried doing so in years past but who remembers? Shading helps with the herbs so why not peas? as long as you aren't cutting down on air flow it seems like it should help some. i don't think the plants are daylight sensitive in terms of shutting down as i can plant peas any time here during the summer and they will grow. Have blossoms on the transplanted "volunteer" tomato of unknown lineage and noticed for the first time this morning a smattering of blossoms on the snap beans ("Contender"). are these the new beans (i can't remember ) that you are testing out? Yes; one of two new (to me) varieties. The other is "slenderette". They're three weeks behind the "contender" beans. Time and space permitting, will add some "provider" and some "tenderette" beans later, although, they may have to wait until fall. good luck! Spent some time yesterday evening transplanting okra into a singular bed from a community bed.... i wouldn't expect it to do much until it gets warmer anyways. Yes; I habitually plant them early in the vain hope of having okra by the time the first cowpeas come in. Boy, talk about repeating the same action in hopes of a different result.... Cowpeas cooked in combination with okra is/are a traditional "po' folks'" favorite in parts of the US South. hehehe... here the one time i planted it it grew quickly enough in rock hard poor soil that i'd hate to see what it does in fertile soil. seemed to be an aphid magnet plant. By the end of the season, most years, I harvest from a stepladder. Hadn't noticed any particular aphid affinity for okra. i'm only basing it upon a very small sample as the one time we did plant okra they had some black aphids all over the pods. nothing else in our yard had those aphids that season. we have tons of lady bugs all over so i'm not sure what happened with those particular plants. the cabbage worm butterflies have been out the past few days -- first butterflies of the season. Are those white with black stripes? yes, i'd call them a medium sized butterfly. the next butterfly that comes out is a small pale blue one which i'm not sure comes from what larva. some time when i'm more ambitious i'll look it up. Except for the coldest periods, we have butterflies and moths (grasshoppers, too) year 'round. I don't know enough about them to know whether they're full time residents or migrant stragglers. i don't think they migrate. we have several flights of them during the warmer weather. When the crawlies become pestiferous, I hit the host plants, except for parsley, with Bt. When the parsley is at risk, enough gets covered to supply the kitchen and the animals have the balance. I will admit to relocating "caterpillars" that I know (hell, or even suspect) to be those of "pretty" leps. Some sort of orange thing, along withs a zebra swallowtail, was fluttering around in the garden this morning. They came to the party for the Spanish needles flowering just outside the garden. we pick up crawlies a lot too and move them to safe areas. Have flowers on peas, beans, and mustard greens. Leaving the mustard greens "just because". Nothing is eating them save a handful of honeybees and a couple of familiar carpenter bees. Daytime temps are approaching 90 (89 yesterday) so the honeybees are showing more interest in water than in flower juice. finally have been seeing more of the larger bumblebees with the many thousand tulips and daffodils out along with the hyacynths and now the dandylions. not seeing too many honey bees. i'm not sure what you are calling a carpenter bee? here they would be what i am calling the large bumblebees as they can dig rather sizeable holes into wood if they find the right site. a few times i've had to caulk holes they've put in the sides/eves of the house. they aren't singular either as they do have rather large hives in the ground. looks like turnip flowers are yellow - so they get to stay. the diakon radish seedlings are rather cute (about three times the size of a turnip sprout). think i may be approaching the too late for planting on the pak choi but i'll put a few seeds in and see how they do now and hold some back for the fall/cooler weather and perhaps those plants will over-winter like the turnips. also hope to get some of the beans and more peas planted this week. never hurts to be an optimist on the beans as i have plenty of extra seeds to plant. like to have plenty to harvest all at once when i want to put some up. strawberries starting to bloom. that's two years in a row they've started to bloom around May 11. the wild strawberries started a few weeks ago. plenty to keep me busy if the weather cooperates. songbird |
#13
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Garden Haps WAS: chive talkin'
On 5/9/2014 12:02 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote: Wife likes turnips but she's of German descent, I'm Native American and English and I don't eat turnips. In my youth they were grown as animal fodder. Wife planted spring carrots again, I know for a fact they will not mature. Our temps here in Harris Cty, TX are already in the low to mid eighties. We are getting a light rain drizzle right now and we badly need it. Last week I installed all new soaker hoses in the raised beds and they seem to be working better than the rain we don't get. I used soaker hoses for a few years. They were those black things constructed of shredded tires. I wish now that I'd put the money I ****ed away on them into drip irrigation, which I now use. Crowder peas are climbing the fence Two questions: What variety of peas; Can (and will) you provide a trusted source for certified seed? Can't, we save seed every year and have for about fifty years. My family used to grow black crowders developed by a great uncle of mine back in the nineteen teens in Central Louisiana. My Mom tossed the frozen seeds when she moved to a nursing home while I was working overseas. Lost that strain so just bought some plain crowders at a farm store in Orange, TX, been saving seed every since we came home from Saudi in 1986. I reckon they're heirlooms now. G They were in a bulk bin at the store at about ten cents a lb at the time. The pods get about six to eight inches long and about as big around as a grown man's little finger with eight to twelve peas in the pod. Easy to string and shuck and taste good. There are some good heirloom seed places online though. I'd be happy with most any heirloom variety of crowder or conch peas. Any change from blackeyes and pinkeyes is welcome. Last spring, a nostalgia attack induced the planting of "zipper cream" crowders purchased from an organic seed exchange; mistake. Resulted in a bad experience and three beds that "technically" should be quarantined to legumes for three years. Looks like I'm back to more resistant varieties until I can find a source for disease-free seeds; bummer. , Hopi red lima beans are climbing their netting as are the cukes. We actually have little tomatoes and cukes making and an eggplant is about ready to pick, the fruit is bigger than the plant. It'll be interesting to have a correspondent whose gardening year more closely resembles mine than do those of the other participants in the NG. Shoot: Where I am, even the Carolinas is "up north" ;-) I'm a little south of you at a latitude closer to that of Corpus Christi so the solar timetable is similar but with warmer winters. We only had one frost this year, not unusual. What's your USDA heat zone, we're probably much cooler than you as we are in heat zone 8b. In SW Louisiana we were in 9b, edging into 10, probably more like your area. In a normal year we plant in late February, this year we had frost, hail, sleet, and snow into April. In Louisiana our last frost day was generally February 18. While them folks "up there" are anticipating finally being able to spend some meaningful time outdoors, I'm anticipating picking the green beans that are in full enflorescence. "Contender"; new to me. Planted on 04 April, fully emergent by 10 April and covered with flowers today. I think they and I might be friends. We generally grow Contender but am not growing any green beans this year. Had a giant crop last year and canned ninety percent of it, still got tons in the pantry. Will be good up until about mid-2015 unless the house burns. My cukes will get a fence wire trellis later today. In containers, I can grow eggplant as perrenials for a few years but winter eventually takes them out. Haven't grown eggplant for a couple of years, though, and it seems that I may have lost the touch: Having a hard time getting any started this year. Seeing nascent yellow squash but, if these follow the pattern of the past few years, those blossoms will be sacrificial due to the absence of pollenizers. We have cukes about two inches long now, I spent an hour putting the tendrils of the limas and cukes up on the nylon netting so they will continue climbing. We have four foot wide raised beds so the trellises are needed. Much smaller backyard than our old house. oh yeah, we've been eating yellow squash since very early May. Grandson is trying to give some of his away he has so many. Leeks need pulling and will most likely given away to neighbors, they're way to strong for my taste. No leeks. Only allium are onions, garlic, chives About twenty years a friend gave me a bag full of bunching onions. Still have them growing. Pull the bunch, take one out, cut off the top and replant, two months later you've got another bunch. We did that a month ago and the replants are already bunching. The fig tree has baby figs and the blueberries have very few berries coming on due to a late frost. Looks like we will go to a pick-your-own farm this year for blueberries and blackberries, the native dewberries and blackberries didn't get enough rain this year and are small and very seedy. I am happy for the rain we are currently getting. Dewberries and rabbiteyes never amounted to much in this part of Florida but the advent of heat-tolerant highbush hybrids has instigated commercial farming, even this far south, in pursuit of the very early, primarily Asian, market. The commercial season is pretty well over by late April, after which some growers open up to the handy homeowner market. Most, though, just prune and be done with it. Native blackberries have all but disappeared from these parts but those little tiny seedy things that travel under a different name (which I forget) persist, although, deforestation passing as "development" is likely, eventually, to get them, too. In my old age I've gotten clumsy so I no longer grow anything with briars, I end up looking like the aftermath of a scary movie with blood all over my arms and hands. We will go to one of the better pick-you-own places a little later this month and pick a few gallons of blackberries and blueberries. I will can them for later use in pies and cobblers, they're one of the easiest things to can around here. |
#14
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Garden Haps WAS: chive talkin'
Derald wrote:
.... I'd be happy with most any heirloom variety of crowder or conch peas. Any change from blackeyes and pinkeyes is welcome. are you talking for fresh eating, shelling or for dried use? songbird |
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