What's Growing in the Garden

[Mike Hill]

If Lil Mikey had to rely on his garden to eat - he'd starve. Much too much shade. But flowers can do well here and there. My frilly cancan girls have blossomed again this year. All their cousins have not. After last years drought and the onslaught of moles/voles, they have started to show some signs of damage from last year. Smaller flowers, not as frilly, some don't open all the way, not as much foliage, etc... Maybe next year! (The Aggie Motto!)

 

[djg]

Weeded my newly planted asparagus bed and gave it a good 30 mins. watering with the soaker hose. Noticed only about half of the 20 plants sprouted. Still a week or so on the "up to 6 weeks" seller described. Guess we'll see. Can more be planted in Fall?

My strawberries in my raised beds are loh sunlight pass through?osing leaves. Guess I haven't been watering enough. But I was really surprised to see was some of the leaves have been clipped off by some animal? The top of the bed is at least 12" high so I wouldn't think rabbits. No deer tracks either.

Would it bee a good idea to place a black net (mess) over the berries to reduce the heat on them or would it just magnify it? Enough sunlight pass through?

 

[trc65]

Don't think you'll find any asparagus roots in the fall. Rather look for some as early as possible next spring.

On the strawberries, I wouldn't shade them, just keep lots of water on them. Being in raised beds, they will dry out a lot quicker than you think.

My strawberries are done and I need to get going renovating them. Been waiting, hoping for just a little bit of rain. Supposed to get a decent amount tonight (0.5-1.0"). If we get that, I'll renovate the bed early next week.

 

[djg]

Don't think you'll find any asparagus roots in the fall. Rather look for some as early as possible next spring.

On the strawberries, I wouldn't shade them, just keep lots of water on them. Being in raised beds, they will dry out a lot quicker than you think.

My strawberries are done and I need to get going renovating them. Been waiting, hoping for just a little bit of rain. Supposed to get a decent amount tonight (0.5-1.0"). If we get that, I'll renovate the bed early next week.

As much as I don't want rain now, we need it. I currently have tar paper covering my roof, waiting for the roofers. Renovate your strawberries?

 

[William Tanner]

Don't think you'll find any asparagus roots in the fall. Rather look for some as early as possible next spring.

On the strawberries, I wouldn't shade them, just keep lots of water on them. Being in raised beds, they will dry out a lot quicker than you think.

My strawberries are done and I need to get going renovating them. Been waiting, hoping for just a little bit of rain. Supposed to get a decent amount tonight (0.5-1.0"). If we get that, I'll renovate the bed early next week.

Tim, that much rain would be called a flood in my neck of the woods. Hope you get what you need.

 

[trc65]

Tim, that much rain would be called a flood in my neck of the woods. Hope you get what you need.

We are behind over 6" for the year, but don't want that much. If we got an inch, it would at least take some stress off the crops and let them recover. It appears the rain we're going to get tonight will be the start of a shift towards a more normal pattern for us.

 

[trc65]

As much as I don't want rain now, we need it. I currently have tar paper covering my roof, waiting for the roofers. Renovate your strawberries?

That really sucks, hope the system tonight doesn't cause you too many problems.

Renovating strawberries. Mine are June bearing berries (Honeoye) and for best production, they need to be renovated every year after harvest.

Mine are planted in a slightly raised bed about two feet wide in the middle, but with plants in a 5' wide area.

The basics of renovation are mow off the plants above the crowns, till the area roughly, fertilize and spray any herbicides. Then keep watered well while regrowth occurs.

I'll try to find a reference for you for more specifics.

 

[trc65]

Here is a decent guide for strawberry renovation. https://strawberryplants.org/strawberry-renovation/

Note: renovation is only for June bearing varieties.

 

[Sprung]

We just got back in town after being gone since Monday night. A lot of growth happened while we were gone. Had some garlic scapes ready to harvest - got them in the freezer now until I have time to do something with them. Lettuces are just about ready to harvest some more, so we'll be enjoying more salads later this week.

 

[trc65]

Well we got a half inch of rain. Not enough to really make a difference in our drought, but enough to give me a break for a day or two hauling hoses around to water.

It's a little early, but I dug the first variety of garlic. Normally would have waited for another leaf or two to yellow, but many plants were starting to lodge, so dug them a little early to make sure the bulbs had good skin coverage. These are the variety "Armenian", a porcelain type garlic with large cloves.



They are hanging in the shed to dry and will stay there until November when we start to get freezing temps.

 

[Nature Man]

Well we got a half inch of rain. Not enough to really make a difference in our drought, but enough to give me a break for a day or two hauling hoses around to water.

It's a little early, but I dug the first variety of garlic. Normally would have waited for another leaf or two to yellow, but many plants were starting to lodge, so dug them a little early to make sure the bulbs had good skin coverage. These are the variety "Armenian", a porcelain type garlic with large cloves.

View attachment 244031

They are hanging in the shed to dry and will stay there until November when we start to get freezing temps.

View attachment 244032

Would you please explain lodging. Thanks! Chuck

 

[trc65]

Would you please explain lodging. Thanks! Chuck

Simplist definition is a plant's main stem bending over. Can be caused by a breakdown in stem tissues causing it to bend over. Can also be caused by root damage which will result in the entire plant being partially uprooted. The uprooting may also be caused by the soil matrix being saturated during rain storms compounded by high winds.

In this case, the stems of the garlic have internally broken down and bent over.

 

[Nature Man]

Simplist definition is a plant's main stem bending over. Can be caused by a breakdown in stem tissues causing it to bend over. Can also be caused by root damage which will result in the entire plant being partially uprooted. The uprooting may also be caused by the soil matrix being saturated during rain storms compounded by high winds.

In this case, the stems of the garlic have internally broken down and bent over.

Thanks! A few years back I grew onions, and after some time their stems bent over. I'd never seen a name for that condition. Chuck

 

[djg]

Well we got a half inch of rain. Not enough to really make a difference in our drought, but enough to give me a break for a day or two hauling hoses around to water.

It's a little early, but I dug the first variety of garlic. Normally would have waited for another leaf or two to yellow, but many plants were starting to lodge, so dug them a little early to make sure the bulbs had good skin coverage. These are the variety "Armenian", a porcelain type garlic with large cloves.

View attachment 244031

Driving around on the rural roads here I noticed all the corn leaves have curled up. Some yellowing stacks too. Didn't realize the drought was so bad. Hope we get some rain.
How does the the Armenian garlic compare to the other varieties you you have? I'm still looking for some garlic to plant this year.

With all the watering I'm doing, I've been considering getting a tote and making a rain barrel. Use a small put to service soaker hoses. I've got buckets of water setting around the garden that turn green. Still usable? If not, how do you keep your rain barrels clear? I've used Dowacide A commercially to prevent growth. Would something like that be harmful to plants? Or maybe just add bleach to the water? Do nothing at all?

I know you said you have a well so maybe someone else using rain barrels might know.

 

[2feathers Creative Making]

Algae is not generally harmful to plants. Not always beneficial immediately, but in a few weeks when it breaks down, it is a mild fertilizer. Not as favorable for your animals. I have a running fight with green algae in my watering buckets and they generally only sit a day or 2 at the most. The air around a chicken run isn't exactly sanitary...

 

[Nubsnstubs]

On the 25th, about 2PM, I planted over 45 seeds in this small bowl. Yesterday at 5:30 pm, I decided to check to see what was going on. To my surprise, I saw that one seed had germinated. That surprised me as I always thought that it would take at least 3 days to do that, not the 26 hours that the seeds have only been on the ground. In the center of this picture is the most aggressive Saguaro. Several others have some sign of possible germination as indicated by the one seed to the upper right in this picture, plus the seed to the immediate left of the new born cactus in the center has a crack that is an indicator of the innards getting whatever it requires to start growing.

Today, about 9:25am, I checked them again. I got 9 of them starting. There are approximately 45 seeds in this bowl. I planted them with a quantity noted to check and see how many seeds will actually grow. I should have an answer to that by July 2nd, which will be a week since I started this.

Jerry (in Tucson)

 

[trc65]

That's great Jerry!

I too was surprised how quickly they germinate. I suppose that is an evolutionary trait to germinate as fast as possible when conditions are good, as fleeting as those conditions may be.

 

[trc65]

Don't normally want to see this under an apple tree.



However, I'm the one that did this. Unbelievably high fruit set on this Honey Crisp tree. Needed to thin the fruit to promote better size and quality, but maybe more important to protect the structure of the tree. Branches were drooping heavily with a long time to go before harvest.

This is a picture before thinning.

 

[T. Ben]

Don't normally want to see this under an apple tree.

View attachment 244129

However, I'm the one that did this. Unbelievably high fruit set on this Honey Crisp tree. Needed to thin the fruit to promote better size and quality, but maybe more important to protect the structure of the tree. Branches were drooping heavily with a long time to go before harvest.

This is a picture before thinning.

View attachment 244130

Can you do anything with the young ones?

 

[trc65]

Can you do anything with the young ones?

Nothing that I know of. I'm going to rake them up and throw them in the fence row to try to keep deer away from the garden.

They are high in pectin and some people suggest adding small amounts when making jam instead of powdered pectin, but I'm not making any right now. Besides, powdered pectin is cheap and predictable in it's use.

Somebody also suggested making apple cider vinegar from them, but the flavor from these wouldn't be good.