Gardening

[Jaybird]

Surprise of the Summer, I actually like this crap. Marsha got me involved planting and now we have plants growing all over the place. We planted Tomatoes, Cukes, Watermelon, Cantalope, Roses, and the BlackBerry plants we moved from her house have went nuts with new growth. I am going to even try some canning with my favourite Bread and Butter Pickles from a old receipe I have. Best pickles I have ever ate. Maybe I should have been a farmer like some of my family.....Nah

[redarrow]

Looking good. My tomatoes are doing great as well as the squash,but the stinking rabbits and groundhogs destroyed my beans and okra.Guess I need to build some fences next year.

[HuntnMa]

first year in several that I have no maters..... love the pics

[Grumpy]

HuntMa, my tomatoes are really bad, first year that they also done nothing, haven't grown more than 2 inches in 2 1/2 months since set out. Maybe Jaybird Appleseed can help with some secret tips....

[ICDEDTURKES]

Looking good. My tomatoes are doing great as well as the squash,but the stinking rabbits and groundhogs destroyed my beans and okra.Guess I need to build some fences next year.

Didn't think anything would eat Okra.

Looking good Jay..

[redarrow]

Looking good. My tomatoes are doing great as well as the squash,but the stinking rabbits and groundhogs destroyed my beans and okra.Guess I need to build some fences next year.

Didn't think anything would eat Okra.

Looking good Jay..

Only us Rednecks and whistlepigs.

[Jaybird]

HuntMa, my tomatoes are really bad, first year that they also done nothing, haven't grown more than 2 inches in 2 1/2 months since set out. Maybe Jaybird Appleseed can help with some secret tips....

Wife used composite manure on all the plants, when they were planted, and they really like that crap.

[Grumpy]

Usually I plant about 6 varietys of tomatoes, some years one variety will do good and the next year it will be a dud. I planted all Early Girls this year and they are duds. Lakota Squash, best winter squash there is, is doing great as the carrots and onions.

[Jaybird]

Wife planted 4 different type of Tomatoes with a less acid one she calls Yellows. They are now becoming ripe with 4 more about ready to pick of the red variety. First Cuke, but there is a bunch ready in next couple of days. Melons are not even close. Looking at early September on those.

[Grumpy]

I grew the yellow tomatoes one year, great producers but just didn't have the "twang" like a red tomato.

[Ticeman]

Started a garden for the first time this year, had no idea what I was doing, didnt turn out to well, weeds and more weeds. I think this means i'm getting old??

[Jaybird]

I grew the yellow tomatoes one year, great producers but just didn't have the "twang" like a red tomato.

True, they do not have the acid content of the red. I do like the reds better, but being my system can't handle acid very well, these are better for me. They do get big and produce quicker than the reds.

[GOLD HUNTER]

[Jaybird]

2 dozen cukes from the garden gave us 4 jars of bread and butter pickles. Because of all the sugar you use with me being diabetic, Marsha used Sorghum and a sugar substitute called Whey Low in her canning. If the taste doesn't match we will drop the Sorghum. Brown pickles is a bit strange. Taste test will be tonight. I am really curious on this one.

[Jaybird]

1st batch did not hit the taste I am looking for, but this second batch I am sure will nail it.

[Shooter]

Lily wanted me to post this to show ya'll some of the crazy Chinese stuff that she has grown.
Long beans, and bitter squash. The beans are 2 to 3 feet long, and the squash are,... Yes, bitter. I don't eat them,...lol.
Some kind of health food in China. It must be one heck of a health food, cause it will curl your toes,.... YuuuuKKK!!!!
Don't ask what the spiked one is,... we have not figgered that one out either.

Had over 30 mater plants, so we have maters!!!! Everything in our 1 acre garden did well this year. I was gonna list, but there is just too much. Even had some Kohlrabi. Only thing I didn't have this year was cabbage. Never does that well here, and they are cheap enough at the store.

[Jaybird]

Wish we had the growing season you have down South. We are still having freezing into May. We planted way too late this year. We are going to grow indoors the plants taking longer to come to harvest, especially melons. We have some small melons the size of large marbles, but they are not where I would like to see them in August. Wish we had more land to plant, but we have more than most in the city. Wife will plant probably twice as much next year. I probably won't need to mow the back come July next year, which is cool with me.

[Grumpy]

Dug my spuds yesterday, good crop, some were the size of peas and a lot of little ones too.

[Jaybird]

Marsha canned up the Tomatoes into Salsa, and I finished off a pint in 2 days by myself. Just enough bite that it didn't tear up my acid reflux. Yesterday she turned 40 Cukes into 7 quarts of relish using her new food processor to speed up the job.

[Jaybird]

Today's harvest. This is probably going to be our only Watermelon this season, but we learned from our mistakes, and next year will be a lot better.

[redarrow]

Looks good. Whistle pigs ate all my beans and okra but this was probably my best year ever for tomato's .Squash and pickles were good too.

[Jaybird]

We canned up dill slices today, and one jar of spears for Bloody Mary's.
The Roses are really blooming like crazy right now, beating the cold weather, low 40s next week.