2016 SFG in Brooks, Ga

Geez, they ARE expensive. But seems to be worth it with the yield you're getting. I see they are hybrid so we won't be able to save seeds from them. Are there even any seeds in them?

CC

PS How weird is this....a coworker just put an elderly Persian cuke into my office compost bucket. I'll be dissecting that baby as soon as I get home!

CapeCoddess wrote:Geez, they ARE expensive.  But seems to be worth it with the yield you're getting.  I see they are hybrid so we won't be able to save seeds from them.  Are there even any seeds in them?

CC

PS How weird is this....a coworker just put an elderly Persian cuke into my office compost bucket.  I'll be dissecting that baby as soon as I get home!

This is probably more than you want to know, but here is the write up that Botanical Interests put inside the package.




If they cross pollinate with other cucumbers, they will get seeds.  If grown away from other cucumbers, they have almost no seeds.

Very very interesting! Not too much info at all. Thanks for posting that! I will read it again right now.

CC

Japanese Beetle have arrived.  Of course their favorite food is my Fortex Pole Beans which are the tallest veggie out in the garden.  They prefer the top of the vines of course.  They are also about 15 feet from our bee hives so there is not much I can spray on them without it drifting to the hives.  This year I am trying the bucket of soapy water placed under the beetles and then gently shaking the vine.  Supposedly, the beetles will drop down and end up in the soapy water.  I really can't tell how effective it is because the beetles are 8 feet up the trellis and the bucket has so much foam in it that I can't clearly see the number of beetles in the soapy solution.  But there are some there, I just don't know how many missed the bucket.

yolos wrote:... This year I am trying the bucket of soapy water placed under the beetles and then gently shaking the vine. ...

I do something similar but I actually knock the beetles off the plant into the container of soapy water. Hopefully, "shaking the vine" will work as well.

Cucumbers anyone.  Baby Persian cucs sown outside in a whiskey barrel size pot on about 4/28.  The directions say to pick them between 4 and 6 inches.  I like them about 7 inches but we are having company for dinner so I went ahead and picked some the appropriate size.

Nice!

Heat and drought are unbearable.  Finally resorted to shade cloth.  I am only growing summer crops so should not need shade cloth but it is so relentlessly hot and humid.  I had to use my Agribon 19 cover to srting across 1/4 of the garden.  The winter squash and cucumbers were just drooping by midday.  They do not need water because they bounce back after the sun goes down.  I do have regular shade cloth but it blocks out 75% of the sun and I felt like these summer veggies needed more sun.

Those cucumbers look delicious!

Smart use of your resources with the shade cloths.  I can't take this heat one bit.

More cucumbers anyone!  Windmere, I will be in Fayetteville Thursday AM if you want any.


How about some tomaotes!

Oh gosh yes!  If you can spare any. 

I harvested this one potato plant today.  Russet Norkotah - largest was 7 inches long and weighed just over 1 lb.



I have a total of about 32 potato plants so if I get this much from each plant, that sure will keep me and friends in potatoes for a while.

Holy cow.  You really are having a great deal of success.  More than I've noticed in the past.  Does being retired now seem to make a difference?

Windmere wrote:Holy cow.  You really are having a great deal of success.  More than I've noticed in the past.  Does being retired now seem to make a difference?

Yes, I have time to putter around and look for anything that might be going wrong.  All so, I have more time to plant many different things. Unfortunately also more time to water the garden.  We got about 100 drops of rain yesterday.  Not even enough to make me leave the garden.  My daughter was driving thru Fayetteville when you all got that rain yesterday.  I even had to water my cowpeas this morning and they are very drought tolerant.

Sanderson is going to make a road trip next year and help me with my irrigation system after she stops off to see Jimmy Cee.

Today I was trying to renovate an older 4 x 8 bed that I had not used in two years.  It had become infested with ants and then chipmunks also.  Apparently when the ants and chipmunks were digging their tunnels, they raised up the red Ga clay into the bed.  It was a nightmare to try to get that clay broken up.  I get about 3/4 thru with the bed and what do my wondering eyes see, a yellow jacket nest I had just punctured with my hoe.  Oh no!  I scammed out of there real fast.  I went back a few minutes ago and almost all the jackets were back in the nest.  Now I have to figure out how to get rid of the nest.  I guess a google search is in order.

Well this looks promising.  Maybe I just wait until next year to redo this bed. But first I better determine if they are yellow jackets.  How to get close enough without being stung is now my problem.   Here is something I just found on google.

The yellow jacket colony will remain active for only one summer, after which the queens will fly away to start more colonies. The remaining ones die at the end of the season, and the nest is not reused.

yolos wrote:Today I was trying to renovate an older 4 x 8 bed that I had not used in two years.  It had become infested with ants and then chipmunks also.  Apparently when the ants and chipmunks were digging their tunnels, they raised up the red Ga clay into the bed.  It was a nightmare to try to get that clay broken up.  I get about 3/4 thru with the bed and what do my wondering eyes see, a yellow jacket nest I had just punctured with my hoe.  Oh no!  I scammed out of there real fast.  I went back a few minutes ago and almost all the jackets were back in the nest.  Now I have to figure out how to get rid of the nest.  I guess a google search is in order.

Well this looks promising.  Maybe I just wait until next year to redo this bed. But first I better determine if they are yellow jackets.  How to get close enough without being stung is now my problem.   Here is something I just found on google.

The yellow jacket colony will remain active for only one summer, after which the queens will fly away to start more colonies. The remaining ones die at the end of the season, and the nest is not reused.

Well, I guess I hope they're yellow jackets?  That sounds odd to say

Wow you dodged a bullet.  I normally don't get bothered by any type of bug, but in that case I would have freaked out.  Glad you are ok and left the scene in time.

I looked out at my lawn today, and it magically turned greener over night.  I mowed the front and the back and I'm exhausted.  I'm gonna feel it tomorrow. 

No rain here.  None.  Well maybe about 100 drops.

yolos wrote:Sanderson is going to make a road trip next year and help me with my irrigation system after she stops off to see Jimmy Cee.

Okay, everything is starting to come ripe at the same time.  I have been busy harvesting potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and Fortex pole beans.

Harvest 06/09/12




Harvest 06/12/16


Harvest 06/14/16



Harvest 06/15/16


Harvest 06/17/16


I need to find something to do with all these cucumbers.  I planted a lot thinking I would try pickles but I just don't feel like it.  I did make a trip to give a lot of the previous harvests to friends and employees of my former job.

Wow!  Looking good!  We are really enjoying the produce you brought.  Last night, my wife sliced the Gilbertie and put it in sub sandwiches.  Sliced length-wise, it was a perfect fit.  She's really glad I'm growing some of those.

What was the name again of the smaller tomatoes?  They look like they could be Juliette.  They are really sweet!  In fact, all the tomatoes we've tried so far are really sweet.  Thank you again!

I have a ton of green tomatoes.  Like you, a bunch will probably begin to be ready to harvest all at the same time.

Looks fantastic, Yolos!

Windmere wrote:What was the name again of the smaller tomatoes?  They look like they could be Juliette.  They are really sweet!  In fact, all the tomatoes we've tried so far are really sweet.  Thank you again!

The small grape tomatoes are Juliet Hybrid.  The one thing I do not like about them are the tough skin.  But they are very prolific and a little bigger than a cherry tomato.

yolos wrote:

Windmere wrote:What was the name again of the smaller tomatoes?  They look like they could be Juliette.  They are really sweet!  In fact, all the tomatoes we've tried so far are really sweet.  Thank you again!

The small grape tomatoes are Juliet Hybrid.  The one thing I do not like about them are the tough skin.  But they are very prolific and a little bigger than a cherry tomato.

I didn't mind the skin.  I looked them up and saw that they produce fruit in 60 days.  I might try those next year.

Beautiful veggies, yolos! Everything does hit at once, though.

That is true about the yellow jackets. I had a big nest of them in a chink in the mortar in my patio last summer RIGHT next to the spigot! Taking your life in your hands every time you watered was no fun. So I bought mortar caulk, of course, misplaced it, and lo and behold, no yellow jackets there this year! YAY! So, yeah, I hope they are yellow jackets, LOL!

My solution this year to the dreaded and very prevalent (in Ga.) Squash Vine Borer.  It is way too tall but I did not want to cut the tulle so I can use it for something else in the future. If I need to get inside the covering, all I have to do is remove one clamp at the top of the structure.  

I have two whiskey barrels with 2 Zucchini per pot.  One pot is Partenon Hybrid and one pot is Perfect Pick Hybrid.  Both are parthenocarpic and do not need pollinators.  So I will only have to get inside the covering to harvest.  I will not need to hand pollinate.