What you got planted ?

[Col4570]

Use it to make a milkshake!

I must confess I have never tried that.Would I just whip it up with milk and sugar ?

[MaryB]

Milk, some ice cream to whatever thickness you desire, add rhubarb sauce to desired taste(I like mine tart so use a lot). I make the sauce by simmering down the rhubarb with sugar and a bit of water until it thickens a bit.

[johnson1942]

all my vinning crops are starting to blossom. as usual the male flowers come on first and nothing comes of that. when the female flowers start to come on ill be doing a lot of my own putting male pollen on the female flowers. the cukes and melons can be done by the bees but i want to really get a winter squash crop this year so i will help that along my self. working on developing a strong, hardy, productive landrace squash so will do a little mixing of them. a lot of tornado weather of late. watched one dance in and out of the clouds for a 1/2 hour two days ago. finally broke up. really really been hot early also. potatoes have the largest vines i have ever ever seen. hope their are potatoes under the vines. every ones potato vines have gone nuts around here this year. after a lot of research finally found a straw berry type for the 4000 ft high dry hot climate we have here. got the name from a denver research station. red chief, if you live in a similar climate. will put a row in next spring and see what they do. the raspberries i put in this spring that was recommended for our area and climate are growing way better that any other type i tried before. they are fall bearing and may give me a good crop in september. i guess it pays to do research.

[crowbuster]

Found another pumpkin out back, going to have to cook these things eventually.

Derekp, those blossoms are awsum floured and deep fried. just soak in salt water to get out all the bugs. Kinda taste like mushrooms

[Iowa Fox]

I hate to say this too loud but things are looking good here. Peach trees, apples, and pears. Had a great raspberry crop, grape vines are loaded. We picked our first ripe tomato on July 1st, it is a Kimberly and we saved the seeds. Zucchini, cucumbers, various cabbage varieties all looking good. We make sauerkraut out of the Late white Dutch and its hard to eat boughten after good homemade kraut.

Special thanks to Roger for sending me the knife river and Guatemalan squash seeds. They are looking good and have baby squash on the vines. I have them on opposite ends of the garden so they hopefully will not cross pollinate.

Biggest problem is animal control. We don't just have deer, we have herds of them. Last year they broke the 8' fence around the garden down and totally mowed everything off. They want in there bad. Hope the bad storms miss us.

[DerekP Houston]

Derekp, those blossoms are awsum floured and deep fried. just soak in salt water to get out all the bugs. Kinda taste like mushrooms

Either the heat or the bugs got the vines, I walked out back and just saw orange pumpkins in the grass

If I took the bugs out I'd have to add more protein!

[johnson1942]

two days ago it was 114 degrees on the bank building sign and this morning it was 49 degrees. thats even nuts for here.

[Col4570]

Milk, some ice cream to whatever thickness you desire, add rhubarb sauce to desired taste(I like mine tart so use a lot). I make the sauce by simmering down the rhubarb with sugar and a bit of water until it thickens a bit.

Tried your recipe Mary,Delicious with vanilla Ice cream thanks for the info.

[WebMonkey]

we've put up 16 pints of rutabaga/purple carrot/purple bush bean mix.
getting ready for paul Robeson tomatoes to turn.
3 batches of jalapeno so far (1 hot sauce,1 dehydrated,1 frozen)
pintos were a flop this year as well as the bulk of my onion.
few apples and pears. few raspberry.
grapes are looking really good.
cucumbers and plumpkins (you have to say plump kins, it's fun) are growing.
'monkey

[johnson1942]

i do good at gardening. i need the help of a gardener much more experienced than i. i got two large round bales of straw. last fall i put some good potting soil on the center top of them and soaked and soaked them through and through. planted my own land race winter squash on the them and they were doing really good. one of the bales looked a little heat wilted so i put the water hose on slow at the roots and watered it all night long. in the morning it really looked wilted and was going to die. i took off the water and said what will be will be. this morning it is coming back with no ill affects. can a plant be over watered? also i put some blood meal at the base of that squash a couple of days ago. could that have been too strong mixed with all the water i put to that bale? dont want to repeat that and ruin my squash vines. someone must know what i did wrong?

[farmerjim]

With the nitrogen from the blood meal and the moisture you may have heating inside the bale (spontaneous combustion) just not enough to start a fire. If you have a metal thermometer stick it down in the bale to check the temperature. I have never had one catch on fire, but I have had smoke come out of them.

[DerekP Houston]

finally got around to clearing out all the weeds and junk that took over my garden. It is quite hot out now, any recommendations for something that might grow and survive or should I just leave it till the winter.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

Picked the first of many to come cucumbers yesterday. It was delicious with a little celery salt on it. Picked my 21st zucchini yesterday too. These are the only vegetables I have planted this year. Deer ate all my tomato plants last year. Didn't even try this year.

[gwpercle]

Can a plant be over watered ....sure can, I've killed a lot of container plants that way. Plants in the ground seem to survive my waterings better, but I've learned don't water anything unless it hasn't rained for at least 7 days. I gave up on container gardening and did some raised beds, much more sucessful .
Gary

[DerekP Houston]

Can a plant be over watered ....sure can, I've killed a lot of container plants that way. Plants in the ground seem to survive my waterings better, but I've learned don't water anything unless it hasn't rained for at least 7 days. I gave up on container gardening and did some raised beds, much more sucessful .
Gary

I gave up on containers during the summer here. Watering twice a day and still bone dry the next morning. Raised beds have been much easier. I typically don't bother watering at all unless it looks wilted. I've killed more things by over fertilizing and watering than by neglecting them. Only real preventative I do is a dusting of pesticides to keep bugs away.

[johnson1942]

you know, you guys hit my funny bone. if i looked out the window and saw my two roundbales on fire along with the squash growing on them, that to me would be funny. too much over doing for my plants. i tend to do that. i just put a over fed 30 pound house cat on a diet. man is he mad at me. i need to do the same for my squash plants. thanks guys. containers do well here, i water them every other day. the raised bed get dry very fast. my climate is the same as denver.

[DerekP Houston]

you know, you guys hit my funny bone. if i looked out the window and saw my two roundbales on fire along with the squash growing on them, that to me would be funny. too much over doing for my plants. i tend to do that. i just put a over fed 30 pound house cat on a diet. man is he mad at me. i need to do the same for my squash plants. thanks guys. containers do well here, i water them every other day. the raised bed get dry very fast. my climate is the same as denver.

are you mulching heavily? I put around 6" of leaf debris chopped up by my lawnmower, then a layer of wood chips from the big box store to keep it from blowing away. Solved a lot of my moisture issues and the leaves break down before next season.

[johnson1942]

mulch with anything i can get my hands on, sure brings the snakes. i can never ever get used to a feeling of just stepping on a snake. i am thankful for my garden and that i have a good well and a piece of land to garden on. the bible was right when it said wrestling or something like that with the ground. the critters also. matt my son, got a big raccoon in the garden last night with his baseball bat. might of got more than one, he takes them across the road and the vultures find them. easy meal for them. love gardening, now matter how it goes, love reading about every one of you guys gardens. my pole green beans grow from 6 to 10 inches every day now. should start flowering soon. going to grill them on a grill. anybody got other favorite ways to eat them. i am listening. i also love them smothered in a bacon cream sauce over mashed potatoes with a big lob of butter on top.

[dragon813gt]

Picked green beans for the first time over the weekend. Only enough for one dinner. Threw them in a frying pan w/ some butter and hickory salt. I should have a lot to pick by the end of the week. Hopefully there is enough to warrant getting out the pressure cooker. Only being home on the weekends will make canning everything interesting this year.

[MaryB]

Quack grass holds soil moisture pretty dang good! Area I planted tomatoes this year was "lawn" this spring so grass is fighting me. I have just been breaking it off at ground level and the garden is using a lot less water... Next spring soon as snow is off I need to cover it with black plastic and kill off the roots...