Re: New England August 2014

CapeCoddess 8/18/2014, 10:52 am

NHGardener wrote:That actually looks like a nice forecast, CC.

What's the FFD in your signature line about?

That's just to remind me when my first frost date is. I keep forgetting to add my LFD (last frost date).

Yes, it's an excellent forecast! We've had a bodaciously awesome summer this year, just like the olden days. But the tomatoes and such haven't been very happy.

Wow, Lyndeeloo, nice peaches! How do they taste? Great score on the lemon trees. I've seen lemon trees with fruit on them at Christmas in people's living rooms & such. It's amazing.

NGH, I'm going to use Ivory soap in the bottle attachment on the hose early on on my pears, and then later if the peaches need it next year. It works so well on everything else that I figure it's worth a try.

CC

lyndeeloo 8/18/2014, 11:31 am

Thanks CC! The peaches are very yummy. I may have picked them a little soon, but I was afraid of them getting too soft. What is your recipe for the ivory soap spray. Would love to try it.

Like you I have not had a banner year in the tomato department. Most of the heirlooms were a bust and had to be pulled. Just starting to get some tomatoes now. Although the beefmasters from last years seeds I saved are doing nicely.
New England August 2014 - Page 8 20140813

New England August 2014 - Page 8 20140813

Here's this years monster mutant mater weighs in at 1 pound 15 ounces.
The Russian heirloom tomatoes are doing nicely but none are ripe yet.

CapeCoddess 8/18/2014, 11:47 am

WOW!

I don't think I've seen a 2 lb tomato on the forum yet so yours could be the biggest. Anyone else seen a bigger one?

How did it taste?

CC

lyndeeloo 8/18/2014, 11:59 am

Really, really, really good. It was well worth the wait. We've decided these beefmasters are a favorite and I will be saving seeds from them again for next year. The plants seem to grow well for us here so we'll keep at it.

**AtlantaMarie** 8/18/2014, 1:47 pm

Wow, Lyndeeloo! THAT'S a 'mater!

**llama momma** 8/18/2014, 4:21 pm

Lyndeeloo

Nice looking tomato!!! Yours is very close to the biggest one I've seen this summer.
Kinda sorry but I got a pic of one in another thread that came in at 2 pounds, 1/8 oz. The variety is Hillbilly. With mostly yucky looking plants this year I am shocked I got one monster out of it. Shocked

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t18141p16-a-few-pictures?highlight=a+few+pictures

Marc Iverson 8/18/2014, 5:09 pm

Wow, lyndeloo, that tomato looks enormous and almost ... comical, like some kind of demented squash from outer space or something! Or like a single cell dividing under the microscope. Almost too cool to eat! (But I would.)

**donnainzone5** 8/18/2014, 5:17 pm

I'd devour it immediately!

lyndeeloo 8/18/2014, 5:43 pm

Alas poor mater is no more. LOL. We watched it grow for so long that when it was finally ripe we just chowed down on it. It certainly was a mutant and would not have won any beauty contests, but it truly was delicious!

Llama mama, that Hillbilly is spectacular! My Hillbilly plant didn't make it. Sad

I had terrible luck with the heirloom tomato plants I bought from a local farmstand. They all shriveled up and died. Was really looking forward to trying all the different tomatoes, but the experiment was a failure. Except for the Malinowy Olbrzym, but they are not ripe yet.

CapeCoddess 8/19/2014, 9:44 am

This mornings harvest is something to smile about:
New England August 2014 - Page 8 Photo120

Romas, Sungold, Supersonic toms w/Dwarf Blue Vates kale & a Burpless cuke.
Got a good batch of Kentucky Wonder pole beans last night for supper. Very Happy

Ever so slowly it's been trickling in...

CC

cpl100 8/19/2014, 11:16 am

Are we having Fall already? It sure has felt like it here for the past few days.

Are we tied to hardneck garlic in NE because of the weather? Or has anyone tried softneck? If so, have you tried early Italian and how did you like it? Thanks.

**camprn** 8/19/2014, 11:36 am

Soft neck garlic is all I have grown in the past.

Marc Iverson 8/19/2014, 12:17 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:This mornings harvest is something to smile about:

Romas, Sungold, Supersonic toms w/Dwarf Blue Vates kale & a Burpless cuke.
Got a good batch of Kentucky Wonder pole beans last night for supper. Ever so slowly it's been trickling in...

CC

LOL, that's very cute! I think it's Marge Simpson!

quiltbea 8/19/2014, 12:25 pm

Marc, I just have to comment. Are those your dogs in your avatar? They are absolutely lovely. I adore dogs.

I picked a few tomatoes and 1 Dunja Zucchini today. I guess I'll have to roast more tomatoes today and its a good day for it. Not hot.

NHGardener 8/19/2014, 3:13 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:This mornings harvest is something to smile about:

Just came back from the grocery store. Local zucchini/squash is $1.79/lb. I figure I have a whopping bank account spread across my kitchen island.

CapeCoddess 8/19/2014, 4:05 pm

OK NHG, I'm totally impressed with your zucchini harvest this year. I have another zuke coming for a total of 2. Rolling Eyes

What variety did you plant? Do you plant the same variety every year? Do you usually get SVB & PM but not this year?

QB, how many zukes do you think you've harvested so far of the Dunja? Also, scroll down toward the bottom of pg 1 on this thread to see more of Marcs & SG's adorable dogs:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t18429-pnw-august-2014

Cindy, I plant both types of garlic but mostly softneck. And I'm still experimenting with different varieties to see which do best in my garden. This Oct I'll be planting a few cloves around my pear trees in hopes of foiling whatever eats them in the spring.

lyndeeloo, I don't really have a recipe for the Ivory soap spray - a few good squirts. A ruff guess is about 1/2 cup in that hose bottle attachment thing filled with water.

CC

quiltbea 8/19/2014, 4:15 pm

CapeC....I've got 3 Dunja zukes so far from that plant. There are more blossoms so as long as the pests don't get it (haven't yet had any probs of that kind), I hope for more before it gets too darn cold. I've got 1 Straightneck Squash forming and this is the first on that plant.
Its been a cool summer here with nites in the 50s so it hasn't been very conducive to growing warm-weather crops so far.

Roasted another 3 qts of tomatoes to freeze and picked a dozen Fuji apples from my dwarf tree and there are at least a couple dozen more on that baby.

Lovely day here today. Can't complain.

cpl100 8/19/2014, 7:55 pm

Geeze! Where did I get confused? I thought it was hardneck that was best in the cold weather. Okay, I will try both this Fall. I am trying to find something that has a strong flavor, large and easy to peel cloves and lasts a very long time over the winter. Last year all my garlic started to go by January/February. I had Music and German Hardy and another which I forget but was a purple rocambole. Wish I could remember it because the flavor was fantastic. Thanks!

yolos 8/19/2014, 8:37 pm

cpl100 wrote:Geeze! Where did I get confused? I thought it was hardneck that was best in the cold weather. Okay, I will try both this Fall. I am trying to find something that has a strong flavor, large and easy to peel cloves and lasts a very long time over the winter. Last year all my garlic started to go by January/February. I had Music and German Hardy and another which I forget but was a purple rocambole. Wish I could remember it because the flavor was fantastic. Thanks!

I thought also that hardneck was grown in the north and softneck in the south. I guess I better start researching again. I have only been looking at softneck varieties to purchase.

**camprn** 8/19/2014, 8:37 pm

Yes, mine is really softneck garlic. I plant it at Halloween and harvest the beginning of July. I lift it, cure it and braid it then it goes into the pantry and lasts me all year.
New England August 2014 - Page 8 10177876_10203321434331455_5138449803146195416_n

New England August 2014 - Page 8 10177876_10203321434331455_5138449803146195416_n

cpl100 8/20/2014, 3:33 am

Do you have a preferred variety or one that has been the best producer? If softneck grows in NH, it must grow in MA!

NHGardener 8/20/2014, 7:40 am

CC, I haven't had this luck with zucchinis before. All I can attribute it to is that they love sheet mulching, which is basically pure compost/organic layers. They may have gotten bitten by the SVB, I know the pumpkin vines did, but I guess late enough in the season that it didn't affect their productivity. Now they are yellowing and falling apart, but that's okay. I'll inspect them when they die for SVB signs, but I think they did get bothered. And PM is now showing up on them too. I had 2 zukes that I had to wash, the PM left a sticky white on them.

CapeCoddess 8/20/2014, 11:02 am

camprn wrote:Yes, mine is really softneck garlic. I plant it at Halloween and harvest the beginning of July. I lift it, cure it and braid it then it goes into the pantry and lasts me all year.

Wow, nice garlic, camp. Are those the California softnecks? I love the flavor of those but their growing behavior was odd.

NHG, what variety of zukes are you planting?

CC

GardenGroupie 8/20/2014, 11:18 am

camprn wrote:Yes, mine is really softneck garlic. I plant it at Halloween and harvest the beginning of July. I lift it, cure it and braid it then it goes into the pantry and lasts me all year.

That's beautiful Camprn! I'm going to make some changes to my raised beds, so I thought I'd try growing some garlic in smartpots. They're definitely deep enough. Once the winter sets in with snow up to our eyeballs, do you pay them any special attention? I understand they need constant moisture. ...

NHGardener 8/20/2014, 11:35 am

CC - The zucchini seed packet in my fridge is from Fedco: Black OP Zucchini.

It may have been that type of zucchini, or I may have used another type that I ran out of seeds of, I'm not totally sure. (I'm pretty sure it was these seeds tho)

http://fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search.php?search=black+zucchini&item=1411&index=1

Sponsored content


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.