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Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

kcmets May 03 2020 06:30 PM

Getting ready to rock! [FIMG=750]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/2020garden.jpg[/FIMG]

Edgy MD May 04 2020 07:13 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I've been breaking my back all week to set up a bed to put in seedlings we bought three weeks ago. Now the boss says she's reading about a cold snap coming through and maybe we should wait a few more days. I dunno how long my little aubergines are going to survive in their little boxes.

Johnny Lunchbucket May 04 2020 07:18 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

We're going all-out Farmer Ted in this joint. Even have a wheelbarrow. It's a work in progress, pics later

Ceetar May 04 2020 09:38 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

ripped out about 7 large evergreen bushes yesterday. well, chopped to the base anyway. some of them may rebound as they had a lot of growth down there, but i'll probably take them the rest of the way out when I figure out next steps for landscaping there. hops are coming up nicely. put the fencing up around the 9x9 raised garden we bought last year to try to keep the chipmunks/squirrels/groundhogs/rabbits/cats/deer/birds/other out. We'll see.

kcmets May 04 2020 10:41 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I saw your before/after pic on fb. You win project-of-the-weekend.

Ceetar May 04 2020 11:21 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

my hand is still swollen, i've got scratches on my arms and legs, and my whole arm feels weak. So if this is winning. .*shudders*

Edgy MD Jun 09 2020 07:09 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

My Tomatoes: Ugh ... Call me a doctor ... My Eggplant: A doctor? Call me an ambulance ... My Lettuce: Ambulance? Good for you. Call me a hearse. My Carrots: Golly, it's swell to be alive, isn't it, gang?! My Brussels Sprouts: It sure is! Wanna play badminton?!

Benjamin Grimm Jun 09 2020 07:17 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I'm not growing anything but my son is. Green beans are coming in big and leafy. Spinach looks straggly. Watermelon sprouts are finally showing signs of accelerated growth. Corn refuses to germinate. He planted some artichoke seeds that were about twelve years old and nothing happened, so I brought him some fresh seeds to try again with. Artichoke bushes are pretty freaky looking, so it will be fun if they take off. He's also planted tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini. All just seedlings so far.

41Forever Jun 09 2020 07:17 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

We have a little garden, and our asparagus is finally producing. It seems like the stalks shoot up overnight! But we generally don't get much from the little garden. This year I did some experimenting and planted some things in the garden, and some in pots on the deck. The stuff on the deck, for some reason, is growing like crazy. I bet the corn in the pots is twice as tall as the corn in the garden.

kcmets Jun 09 2020 07:38 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I have to stake things out today, the zucchini are about to stage a coup! [FIMG=750]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/garden2020a.png[/FIMG]

MFS62 Jun 09 2020 07:59 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Are the openings in that fence narrow enough to keep rabbits out? (That was a serious question, nothing to do with Bugs Bunny) I have a family of rabbits under a large bush in my back yard and I'd be afraid to plant anything without something like chicken wire around it. Later

kcmets Jun 09 2020 08:22 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Surprisingly, I haven't seen a rabbit here in 9 years. The deer would be an issue but they stay in the woods and don't venture down the street during garden season I guess because there's enough to eat this time of year.

Edgy MD Jun 09 2020 05:18 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

So, is there any downside to the mulching? Does it mean more watering because the much absorbs some of the water? I weeded the plot yesterday, and I'd rather not have to do that every week until fall. I never mulched a vegetable plot, but your photo makes me tempted.

kcmets Jun 09 2020 05:52 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

The mulch is only around the perimeter and is just decorative covering up plastic sheeting to cut down on weeding. Pain in the ass weeding around the plants is enough without doing the perimeter too. I think mulching directly with the veggies is a no no but that's only from mammary.

Frayed Knot Jun 09 2020 06:07 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Edgy MD wrote: So, is there any downside to the mulching? Does it mean more watering because the much absorbs some of the water? Not really because the mulch also tends to keep the ground underneath it from drying out so you may actually need less water. At worst it's probably a net neutral situation.

kcmets Jun 09 2020 07:18 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I looked at a bag out back and it says not recommended for vegetables. They may sell veggie mulch, they sell everything else, but the Scott's (or whatever) stuff you get off a palette at HD or WM ain't the stuff.

Edgy MD Jun 09 2020 07:46 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Ms. Edge says mulching the veg plot and then watering through the layer invites whatever the mulch chips are treated with to leach into the soil. That's a workable thesis. I'll much the perimeter like Kase and keep my eyes open to see if this veggie mulch is out there. Until then, let there be weeding.

LWFS Jun 09 2020 08:29 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I have seen this veggie mulch! I mean, we didn't get it, but still. Working on strawberries, blackberries, carrots, green beans, eight things of tomatoes (4 weird heirloomers, 2 San Marzanos, and a couple of cyborg cherry tomato jobbers that are supposed to survive cold snaps, hot snaps, or nuclear winters), and a whole mess of herbs. The herbs are starting, the other guys are languishing... but the beans. The beans!

Ceetar Jun 09 2020 08:31 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

yeah, my beans (or peas? whatever) are flourishing. tried cantelope. it didn't take when I transplanted it. wilted and died. alas. (no shot it wouldn't have gotten eaten by animals)

LWFS Jun 09 2020 08:33 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Kinda wanted to do lemongrass out front instead of the flowers and whatnot they settled on, but I got shouted down. TAKE YOUR SHOUTING ELSEWHERE WHEN YOUR ANKLES ARE ITCHING IN AUGUST, LADIES

Johnny Lunchbucket Jun 13 2020 10:47 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jun 13 2020 10:54 AM

Here's an aerial of the new LunchGarden taken from the deck. On the right you got your chard, lettuce, herbs, radishes. On the left, 'maters, and green beans. background right and foreground left is a buttload of broccoli. There's a grape bush, some sunflowers, roses etc also coming up https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50001528028_3aa7ccea03_c.jpg> similar view 6 weeks ago. shit's been explodin': https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50001561633_efe8805e0f_c.jpg>

MFS62 Jun 13 2020 10:49 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

You win, Jolly Green Giant Later

Lefty Specialist Jun 13 2020 12:31 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Last summer I picked up a mosquito net from Christmas Tree Store, and this year I surrounded my veggies with it. It's worked like a charm. The edge of it has a chamber you can fill with water to weigh it down, so that keeps out the squirrels and chipmunks. But it rises high enough to keep the deer from nibbling. It has an adjustable opening at the top so that my corn can fit through. Corn, cukes, tomatoes, carrots, peppers and Brussels sprouts are thriving so far. Helps that I'm working from home this year and have been able to pay better attention to them than in past years.

kcmets Jun 14 2020 12:15 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Looks very cozy back there, JCL.

kcmets Jun 23 2020 07:15 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I have a dozen 4" zucchini ready to all pop at the same time. Crazy this year, two cheap $2.96 plants from Wal-ly World tried to take over but it's not my first rodeo. Tomatoes doing well, most of the various peppers and herbs not so much.

kcmets Jun 26 2020 09:31 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 06 2020 07:19 PM

avi wuz here

LWFS Jun 27 2020 11:46 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Que robusto!

Edgy MD Jul 01 2020 01:43 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I let my patch go an extra week without weeding, as my peas were coming in and I wanted to give the pea sprouts a little time to distinguish themselves from the weeds around. That led to a pain-in-the-ass weeding session today. It looks hardier in the morning and evening, but this is what I've got right now. Most of the west side of the garden will be going in this week. More peas and more peppers planned. https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/garden.jpg>

Ceetar Jul 01 2020 02:18 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

i'm experimenting with corn. Let's see if that happens.

Frayed Knot Jul 01 2020 02:32 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I didn't know one could grow pepperoni in a garden.

kcmets Jul 01 2020 02:43 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Looks nice, Edge.

Johnny Lunchbucket Jul 02 2020 06:44 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Yeah, nice garden. We had a very strong t-storm here the other day that toppled a couple of our 1 million broccoli plants. These plants have been growing like crazy but not producing broccoli --I think it's been too hot for them to grow properly. But we've been sautee-ing the big leaves from them and can report broccoli greens are a vastly underrated food. Getting lots of green beans and lettuces, tomatoes are coming in

Edgy MD Jul 02 2020 07:35 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Yeah, my Brussels sprout plants are remarkable, but they're doing everything except producing. They're like little Jason Heywards.

metsmarathon Jul 02 2020 02:31 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I need to take some better photos of my garden, but i don't feel like going out in a thunderstorm right now. I'm growing a crap-ton of tomato plants. like, a metric crap-ton. i definitely grew too many. but assuming they don't all go mutually assured destruction, i should have a ton of cherry tomatoes of differing colors coming my way, starting in a few weeks. just getting the first few flowers now. part of my problem with teh tomatoes is, well... they're just growing all on their own. see, last year, i had tomatoes growing out of my compost pile. so i let them grow, and protected them, and suddenly we had a bunch of nice tomato plants giving us tomatoes. so i saved some of the seeds to plant this year. well, also, at the end of the season last year, there was a massive deep freeze while we were away on vacation. so a ton of tomatoes froze right there on the vine. and since they were already on the compost pile, i just plowed them under. i guess i didn't give the compost pile enough time to heat up and turn everything into inert luscious dirt, because now, i've got a shit ton of tomato plants growing everywhere i use that dirt. go figure. so a few of the plants i've been saving and relocating, and putting in pots with the intention of giving them away. but more keep growing, and the ones i've intentionally planted are getting so damned big (over 3' for some of em already) so, i've just got a massive amount of tomato plants. easily more than a dozen in a small 4x8 garden patch. i seriously hope they're not so overcrowded to the point that they compete each other to the death of them all.... but hey, learning! i'll plant fewer next year, probably. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50064248231_7e04ddd083_z.jpg> also in my garden is a sunflower that i bought as a wee seedling from the farmers market. it's now over 6' tall, taller than me, and is topped with a freakin' double sunflower. like, a sunflower with a sunflower on it's back. freaky, and awesome. you can see the blossom on teh back side starting to show here... https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50064126276_386b517076_z.jpg> better pictures incoming as soon as it gets to be fully formed. in addition to that, i have a purple pepper plant that has yet to produce, but has started to flower. i've also got a dozen or so corn stalks, spaced way, way too close together, and sharing a 4x4 square with a giant pumpkin plant (or three) that's certain to overpower everything. i'm a victim of my own success. and poor planning. we'll see what survives. i'm pretty sure that i don't actually have the space to have enough corn to actually be productive of corn to eat, but it's fun. minimm specifically requested them, so i kinda had to. ummL has named the pumpkin, well, the biggest of them, jack. ummR has named his favorite of the tomatoes as well. to keep it clear, i've given him a name tag. see below. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50063684738_3a9b976715_z.jpg> cute, the tomato, should be a regular red cherry tomato, grown from a seed from a regular batch of cherry tomatoes. ummR helped plant him in the garden when he was a seedling, so he got naming rights. the overwhelming vast majority of my other tomatoes should all be some sort of black cherry tomato that i must've gotten, and not eaten, at the farmers market early last year. plus some other varieties as well. i've really overplanted tomatoes... but what can i say. this is my first year of actually intentionally planting plants in the garden, not keeping whatever desirable plants grew all on their own or were brought home from school projects.

MFS62 Jul 02 2020 02:42 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Frayed Knot wrote: I didn't know one could grow pepperoni in a garden. Only if the garden is in Italy. Later

whippoorwill Jul 03 2020 08:08 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Have you guys been getting any rain?

kcmets Jul 03 2020 09:06 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Short-lived downpours here the last five days, haven't turned on a hose this week. Grass and weeds are happy.

kcmets Jul 06 2020 07:18 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Forgot to post pic the other day, it's even bigger now! [FIMG=750]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/garden2020b.jpg[/FIMG] This is really from tonight, I chose the wrong file name to use tonight so it changed this post's pic and I'm too lazy to un-do my stupidity.

Lefty Specialist Jul 07 2020 01:41 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

First tomato of the season today. Delicious. Many more on deck if the animals don't get them first.

Johnny Lunchbucket Jul 08 2020 04:58 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

We've got dozens of tomatoes on the way. Ate our first beets of the season last night. And a fuzzy canteloupe the size of a pinball has emerged. Still no broccoli despite some thick and tall stalks. Sunflower plants now taller than me but not flowering yet. swiss chard out the wingwang

whippoorwill Jul 08 2020 05:11 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Is Swiss chard the pretty stuff?

Johnny Lunchbucket Jul 08 2020 05:41 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

If big wavy green lettuce leaves are pretty, yes.

whippoorwill Jul 08 2020 05:54 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I meant with the rainbow stems

Johnny Lunchbucket Jul 08 2020 09:06 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

We have just regular Swiss chard, not the rainbow.

MFS62 Jul 08 2020 09:35 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Our sunflower was snapped in half and partially eaten by some critter. The break is about 8 inches above ground, too high for a rabbit or chipmunk, so it was something bigger - deer? raccoon? skunk? We don't know. We found out that sunflowers are eaten by them all. Later

Frayed Knot Jul 08 2020 09:37 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Swiss chard is chard that remains neutral during large conflicts.

Ceetar Jul 08 2020 12:22 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

most of my veggies/plants aren't doing much. I may have waited too long for corn, looks like some of it started coming up and got chomped. hops are doing well though. probably about 16-20 feet worth. no flowers yet, but probably soon.

Edgy MD Jul 08 2020 12:33 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

So, I'm new to carrots. Regarding them and other tuber/root veggies, how do you know when to harvest them? Can you cut back the greens sprouting up without effecting the tuber below? I'd be so screwed if I was on a mission to Mars and got abandoned there.

whippoorwill Jul 08 2020 12:41 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I grew carrots once. They never got big enough to eat

Ceetar Jul 08 2020 12:59 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

my understanding on carrots was you'd start to see the orange poking out, but don't quote me on that.

kcmets Jul 08 2020 01:15 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

=Ceetar post_id=40094 time=1594232542 user_id=102]I may have waited too long for corn, looks like some of it started coming up and got chomped.

I've tried corn twice and failed. I'd think it should easy peasy low maintenance.

There's usually so much cheap corn available at several roadside stands close

that I gave up. A neighbor has six foot plants along a sunny side of the house.

Maybe he's from Iowa.

metsmarathon Jul 08 2020 01:34 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

dang. i forgot to take note of when i planted my corn.... early-mid june, i think. same as my pumpkins. the corn is getting pretty big (some of the stalks, if i flipped the ears upright, are about 5' tall.) and is currently locked in mortal battle with the pumpkins with which they share too little space. my tomato plants are between 3-4 feet tall as well, and have just begun to flower. my tallest sunflower is about 7'. it has a friend that's an amazing red/orange color. (i bought one sunflower sprout that quite clearly had a second smaller sunflower growing alongside it. turns out it was a very good 2-for-1 buy, though their proximity to each other may ultimately cause one or both to topple...) thus far, my efforts to protect the garden are working well, though there's not yet any 'fruit' that would cause critters to knock down my fencing. we'll see how well fortressmm holds.

Ceetar Jul 09 2020 09:17 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

my protected garden: http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200708_163955.jpg> my lack of corn: http://www.ceetar.com/optimisticmetsfan/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200708_163717.jpg>

metsmarathon Jul 09 2020 01:45 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

wow, that looks pretty bad. I can speak from experience that deer do love baby cornstalks. had them come over a weak, low fence in my very first attempt at a garden a few years back to nibble on a pair of corn stalks that minimm had started growing in school. i've now got a 4' nylon fence all around my garden, and i'm going to be building it up to 7' later today if the weather holds, since the tops of my tomatoes, corn, and pumpkins are getting up there, peeking over the top of the fence. i know the deer are hungry because i just had a baby tomato plant that had starting growing out the side of my compost pile get its head chomped off literally the day after i first noticed it. when did you plant the corn? i just looked back and as near as i can tell, i likely planted mine around june 7th (though perhaps the week prior), since by the 21st i had some identifiable babies poking up through the soil, and they seem to take 2 weeks to pop. for mine, i had put them in some pulpy seed started pods that were filled with seed starter mix, which i then placed directly in the soil. i was gonna try to start them indoors but i figured it was getting late enough in the season that i didn't want to then transition them to the outdoors when it was really hot out, and risk them baking in the change. i actually put two seeds in each spot, and since they all seemed to germinate, i've got way too many all together, but i figure some survival of the fittest will be happening. the soil is fairly rich that they're in, being a mix of some existing good topsoil from last year, plus a healthy amount of our tomato-seed-rich compost. i think i'd also folded in a bag or two of miracle-grow topsoil as well before i'd planted. so they've got nutrients aplenty, i think. I've also been watering everything pretty consistently, especially after my initial tomato transplants wilted with the early hot spell we had on the heels of the late cold snap. the tomato plant, 'cute', in particular had needed special attention after it almost tapped out in early june. and they're all in about the sunniest spot in the yard. overall pretty ideal conditions. i hope. i'm not at all an expert, but it looks like your soil in the corn-patch is really rocky, and somewhat impenetrable. that may be holding back the corn as well. you might be best served doing a big raised bed there, too, and really trying to turn over the underlying soil before adding better dirt on top of it. and... lest you think i actually know what i'm talking about, i'm having a hell of a time getting the pretty landscaping plants we just put in the front of the house to flourish.... probably put those in way too late in the season (like, mid june), into poor soil (it looks just like yours, but with more tree roots - so many tree roots!) and maybe with not enough water and too much shade. next year, maybe i just decorate with tomatoes.

Ceetar Jul 09 2020 02:03 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

yeah, the corn was sorta a rush job, it was probably closer to june 21st when I got them in. instructions said to soak 'em in water and put them right in, 97% germination. Took me a while just to turnover that rocky soil there, and I did pour 200 pounds of soil on top of it too. (There aren't seeds under the grass tuffs, I left a path) I definitely saw some sprouting but I do think the animals got them. I don't really want a SECOND raised bed to manage and enclose. I kinda hoped there would just be enough for them to eat and that the corn would grow fast enough that maybe they'd nibble leaves but wouldn't destroy it. *shrug* at least now I've worked the plot a little, maybe I put a late season crop there or something, work it some more, and next summer at least I'll have worked _in_ nutrients and _out_ rocks (soil is a rocky disaster, yes) this is probably one of the only part of the yards without tree roots, and only because it's uphill from the trees, if i went deeper than a foot or two.. a few stakes and some tape/string/fencing will probably keep out deer, but i suspect the groundhog eats them too. and maybe the rabbits (haven't seen a rabbit this year)

metsmarathon Jul 09 2020 02:43 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

i've got some 4' or 5' fence posts marking the corners, with a somewhat skinnier post halfway between, and poultry netting stapled to the wood. the height of the netting forced me to have a little lower panel of netting that also let me reach in to pull out weeds without climbing all the way in. it also let me do some watering. ummR demonstrates the benefits here. you can also see the posts a bit on the sides of the photo. this was all pretty easy to put in - a mallet and a staple gun was all i really needed. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50027975353_c2be27f2a3_z.jpg> i don't have a good photo of it, but i also have a bit of a gate built into the netting, where one end of it is held down by some whiskeybottlestoppers with screws drilled into them, and matching holes drilled into the posts. i could've used drawer knobs, but i had drunk all that whiskey, so... to get into my garden i unscrew the two stoppers on the one side, and put 'em back in when i'm done. my tomatoes are at the top of that fencing now, btw. while chipmunks seem quite content to climb right over the nets, my local bunny hasn't, to my knowledge, made it inside yet. and they're pretty sturdy to boot. much better than the thin deer netting i started with way back.

Ceetar Jul 09 2020 04:55 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

that's similar to what I did with the raised garden that has the other stuff. 6 foot stakes on the corner, chicken wire around it. It's more of a treated wood, not sure if repeated staples is a good idea or not, i've got like, bricks leaning up against it. I think the chipmunks are tunneling under though, but at least that limits them a bit. I then threw bird netting over the top (Because the 4-foot chicken wire isn't enough to keep deer out) and that has keep it going pretty well, though the heat with no rain seems to have been too harsh for a lot of it, even with daily watering.

Johnny Lunchbucket Jul 12 2020 06:26 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

BREAKING: 2 broccoli plants now producing broccoli (out of more than a dozen we planted). One issue, I think, is we planted em too close together https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105760078_f598c050b2_c.jpg>

Ceetar Jul 12 2020 06:33 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

fresh broccoli! I tried toseed, inside, colored cauliflower. didn't work.

Edgy MD Jul 12 2020 08:29 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I always plant things too close together. I'm always certain I'm spacing properly and then then they come in and and there's nothing proper about it. It's a mistake I can't help remaking. I'm like the Mets and name-brand relievers. The problem isn't so much that the plants fail to produce, but that I can't reach between them to weed and harvest without clumsily snapping off stalks. That's a gorgeous-looking broccolo.

kcmets Jul 27 2020 06:34 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Rosemary bush from last year; yawned at the winter and is snubbing her nose at the heat wave this year... http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/garden2020e.png>

whippoorwill Jul 27 2020 06:56 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Mostly just trying to keep stuff from frying this summer Lovely rosemary

Edgy MD Jul 27 2020 08:12 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Harvesting the first of my peppers and eggplants yesterday. Lotso tomatoes but none of them ripening yet. Secret Squirrel already got at one or two. I'm here in New York but mentally, I'm building a chicken wire cage around the plot. Unfortunately, I fear that by the time I get back to Baltimore, my woodland friends wil have harvested everything.

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2020 10:33 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Edgy MD wrote: Harvesting the first of my ... eggplants yesterday. July to October is peak eggplant season. Go to a good produce store this month and you should see all kinds of eggplant varieties. I'm counting about 10 or so kinds I've seen in the past few weeks.

kcmets Jul 28 2020 06:36 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

My eggplant plant didn't fair well this year. I only post pictures of the good stuff, gardening vanity I guess. The best success I've had with eggplant is Japanese eggplant but haven't seen them the last couple of springs. They're smallish.

Lefty Specialist Jul 28 2020 09:01 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

My cucumbers are producing and I'm deluged with cherry tomatoes as I wait for the bigger ones to ripen. Peppers are getting close, corn is so-so and watermelon and Brussels sprouts have crapped out. And my sunflowers are getting very close to bursting into their 10-foot tall glory.

Frayed Knot Jul 28 2020 10:28 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=41928 time=1595910814 user_id=68]July to October is peak eggplant season. Go to a good produce store this month and you should see all kinds of eggplant varieties. I'm counting about 10 or so kinds I've seen in the past few weeks.

Counting the eggplant in the New Jersey markets

they're all grown to go in a Parmesan

batmagadanleadoff Jul 28 2020 11:23 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Frayed Knot wrote: =batmagadanleadoff post_id=41928 time=1595910814 user_id=68]July to October is peak eggplant season. Go to a good produce store this month and you should see all kinds of eggplant varieties. I'm counting about 10 or so kinds I've seen in the past few weeks. Counting the eggplant in the New Jersey markets they're all grown to go in a Parmesan

I had four different kinds of eggplant dishes this week, all homemade -- different nationalities, some hot, some cold -- including eggplant parmesan -- which I'd say is the biggest pain in the ass to make of the four that I've had this week. But now's the time of the year to get those round globe-like Sicilian eggplants.

metsmarathon Jul 28 2020 03:19 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

[attachment=0]growing_tomatoes.jpg[/attachment] so, my tomatoes are coming in... lots and lots of them. also, not pictured, but my corn has started to tassel, my sunflowers are going crazy, and my pumpkins are climbing the walls of the enclosure trying to prove that they can grow the tallest of them all. still haven't had any real success turning pumpkin flowers into future pumpkins yet, though one has started to form. my pepper plant is largely a disappointment though, as it has only yielded one purple pepper. but it has some flowers and may yet grow some more. but seriously.... holy shit do i have a lot of tomatoes incoming!

Johnny Lunchbucket Aug 03 2020 06:07 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Canteloupes getting big, these should be ready to go in a week or so hopefully https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50183657733_da6448f24f_c.jpg> First sunflowers popping. They must be 11 feet tall, only the flowers face away from us (toward the rising sun, so our neighbors have the best look and they're hard to shoot without stepping on the tomatoes) https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50184202556_038f0361a3_c.jpg> https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50184202366_907cef0c0b_c.jpg> https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50184202656_be599b1cb6_c.jpg>

MFS62 Aug 03 2020 06:23 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Since Dusty Baker is otherwise occupied this baseball season, I'm guessing it was deer that ate my sunflowers for the seeds. We only have two "crops" growing in pots on our deck, basil and gherkins, and they seem to be doing ok. Later

kcmets Aug 14 2020 05:30 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Eating cucumbers and tomatoes at least twice a day is kinda fun.

Edgy MD Aug 14 2020 08:35 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

I got sick of the squirrels beating me to all the red tomatoes. I went out and harvested about 30 green ones before the hurricane, figuring my plants would be flattened. Now I'm in a daily race rooting for them to ripen before rotting. The ones that have ripened on the windowsill, though, have been delish.

Lefty Specialist Aug 15 2020 03:11 PM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

Edgy MD wrote: I got sick of the squirrels beating me to all the red tomatoes. I went out and harvested about 30 green ones before the hurricane, figuring my plants would be flattened. Now I'm in a daily race rooting for them to ripen before rotting. The ones that have ripened on the windowsill, though, have been delish. I harvest them when they're just starting to turn and put them in a brown paper bag. If I left them until they turned red the animals would get them. Couple of days and they turn out fine.

metsmarathon Sep 17 2020 09:43 AM Re: Gardening In 2020, Crane Pool Style

chipmunks love my tomatoes. happily, i have way too many of them to care. i harvest them every several days and end up with enough to cover a large baking tray each time. apparently, i'm the only one in the family who really likes tomatoes, though... i did not do a good job with my corn. i think i failed to water them enough... also they were pretty much crowded. and the hurricane wasn't too good for them either. ended up with three decent-sized corn cobs out of the twelve or so stalks i grew, and a few more that were just too small to consider. unfortunately, with vacations and other things clawing my attention away, i'd not paid enough attention to them as they were growing, so they got less water than they needed and stayed on the stalk too late. by the time i harvested our three decent cobs, they had already turned to starch all their sweet sweet sugar. tasted like clay. but! had i picked them early enough, i think it coulda been a success. next year, minimm wants me to devote a much larger swath of yard, particularly in the front, to corn growth. i'm still not really sure that i've got enough space to be truly successful, but i'm willing to give it another shot. my purple pepper plant got me five purple peppers, and now seems to be done for the year. probably need more of those plants to be successful... and i've got six fairly large pumpkins going - one is fully orange already and i'm worried might've turned too soon. three others are turning now, and two more ore a dark green and growing strong. i'm worried the pumpkins might eventually pull down my garden walls as three of the biggest ones are growing up off the top of fence - they've got makeshift hammocks holding them up, but they're getting heavy. they're good sized jack'o'lantern pumpkins, too, not little sweet pie pumpkins. this was a very successful gardening season overall.