New England August 2014

RJAR....My hostas are in full bloom right with purple and with white flowers stalks.  Lovely.  And they are huge this year.  I have about 6 or 7 varieties.

camprn wrote:

RJARPCGP wrote:Is it just me? The purple hostas are still blooming! And still a lot of purple hosta flowers, too!

mine are almost done.

IIRC, at this time in 2013, there would be hardly any left!

quiltbea wrote:RJAR....My hostas are in full bloom right with purple and with white flowers stalks.  Lovely.  And they are huge this year.  I have about 6 or 7 varieties.

My hostas out front are looking better than in the past. I hardly have any holes in the leaves, if at all.

I gave up on hostas a few years ago.  They are the number one favorite of the deer.

Before today, I haven't been on here in quite a while. Checked here to see some of "the local action" elsewhere in New England.     I love seeing everyone's pictures.   After reading and looking at this thread, I have some questions for 3 of you:

Mips, twice you mentioned your Spacemaster. Is that some sort of container garden/Earthbox type thing? I don't think I've heard the term before.     

NHG, What is (or was originally) that white slatted object, that is doing an excellent job as a garlic drier?  

And C.C.,  What is that one item in your lettuce box, between the kale and tomatoes, sort of pointing to the red (lolla rosa?) lettuce?   

Welcome back, Nicola! The rack thing is an old closet sweater shelf unit. I actually checked walmart.com and some other online places yesterday and they don't sell them like that anymore. I think that was from Bradlees or Caldors if anyone's old enough to remember them. Anyway, just goes to show, never throw anything away, you never know when it will come in handy.   

Nicola wrote:Mips, twice you mentioned your Spacemaster. Is that some sort of container garden/Earthbox type thing? I don't think I've heard the term before. 

Nicola, it is the cuke variety I am growing.  The vines are shorter as are the cukes which come off them.  I am still growing them vertically but I don't need an overhead trellising system.  With mel's mix, the vines are lapping at 6 feet but that is easily managed.

http://myfolia.com/plants/26-cucumber-cucumis-sativus/varieties/4597-spacemaster

NHGardener wrote:Ooh, so pretty CC!

So now. Did you plant your carrots in an SFG box, and how deep was the soil in the box? And did you cover the box after you planted carrot seeds?

I had to look it up in my notes because your question reminded me that I'd added organic fertilizer to 2 boxes as an experiment in the spring but couldn't remember which ones.  And this 12" hi box was one of them.  Interesting.  I also got beets from it.  Which means that for roots I need fertilizer apparently.  I covered the carrots with screen after planting the seeds...a splatter screen to be exact.  It was just the right size for the square.
 
Yup, I tied a bunch of garlic leaves in a knot at the top, spread the garlics in half and hung them over the line in order of first picked first served.  Love the sweater bins - how thrifty!

I miss Bradlees. 

My hostas are on schedule.  We usually start cutting them back the beginning of Aug. In full sun they are finished and we cut them Saturday, the ones in full shade are still going but nearing the end. 

   Nicola!  You still growing with your SFG?  Yes, lolla rosa lettuce.  The pointy thing is an accidentally wintered over onion that never amounted to anything this year, even tho the leaves sprouted beautifully.  So I pulled it. 

QB, where'd you get the Dunja seeds?  Are you happy with it?  Do you think you'll be saving seeds this year for trade?

CC

NHGardener wrote:QB, there is a lot of bee activity here too. Those bumblebees make honeybees look lazy. It's nice to hear the constant buzzing.

 + 1  - hear, hear!

Aha, CC - double high boxes and screen over top. That sounds about right.

One of my projects soon is to double the sides of most of my boxes. I just feel more comfortable with 12" high walls than 6". Plus, they seem to sink into the ground. Next season I will plant carrots in a double high like you did, and I will cover with agrabon. I covered the spinach seed with agrabon this spring and it actually grew. When I threw more seed all over in that bed later to grow more, but didn't cover it, guess what, no germination. My garden critters must be so fat I'm surprised they can even jump a 6" wall.

In other news, hmm, looked at my beautiful butternut squash bed today, and they're starting to turn yellow, and these are all sizes, from medium size to adults. Wonder what that's all about. I hope something is not attacking the roots. Supposedly SVB doesn't go after butternut squash. Maybe yellowing this time of year is normal???

Also, the pie pumpkins look like they're starting to turn orange!

And I have one baseball sized watermelon out there, fun.

CATERPILLARS!

What kind of caterpillars? Hornworms? Cabbage worms?

CapeC....I get my Dunja zucch seeds from johnnyseeds each year. They are F1 Hybrid so I don't save seeds.   I'm not a lover of zukes and squash, but my family love them so I guess they must be pretty good.  They all taste the same to me but I'll eat them in a baked mixed dish with other veggies.
In fact, the first one is going into the family's veggie dish with tonite's supper.  I just harvested it today.  Lots more blossoms on the plant and its looking very healthy so I hope to get lots more zukes this year.

NHGardener wrote:What kind of caterpillars? Hornworms? Cabbage worms?

Based on reading on the internets, looks like there's a fracking fly dropping larvae onto hibiscus leaves. They're green.

One web site said that a fly uses hibiscus leaves for their landing pad!

Looks like I found the hibiscus-leaf-muncher!

RJ - I googled "fracking fly" but couldn't find anything - LOL.

I guess you're talking about the sawfly. Can you manually control them by picking them off?

NHGardener wrote:RJ - I googled "fracking fly" but couldn't find anything - LOL.

I guess you're talking about the sawfly. Can you manually control them by picking them off?

I said "fracking", because I was frustrated. Sorry. LOL.

quiltbea wrote:CapeC....I get my Dunja zucch seeds from johnnyseeds each year. They are F1 Hybrid so I don't save seeds.   I'm not a lover of zukes and squash, but my family love them so I guess they must be pretty good.  They all taste the same to me but I'll eat them in a baked mixed dish with other veggies.
In fact, the first one is going into the family's veggie dish with tonite's supper.  I just harvested it today.  Lots more blossoms on the plant and its looking very healthy so I hope to get lots more zukes this year.

Wow, I'm so glad I took a peak at New England in August!  I planted Black Beauty this year.  I read that it is pretty disease resistant, but I am now having some mildew issues.

Dunja zucchini is now on my seed priority list.  I love the information available in this forum!  Much thanks quiltbea for that nugget of experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_(expletive)

camprn wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_(expletive)

I remember that from the 1978 Battlestar Galactaga (my favorite show at the time; I was nine). And... I was proud owner of a Commodore 64 and I owned "Frak" the game.  (Video games have come a LONG way since then.)

What a trip down memory lane camprn!

P.S.  My wife tells me that one of the reasons she married me is because I am a "geek."  I guess the above admissions are proof of my geek status.  This is in some way different from a "nerd."  If I had been the latter, she says we would have never gone beyond the first date.

 

camprn wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frak_(expletive)

LOL!

Exactly what I think when I hear another well water supply compromised....

Around my household, it's "freaking" tho.

Windmere.....Thank you for mentioning Battlestar Galactica.  I loved the one from way back when with Lorne Greene.  One of my favorite SciFy series.  I'll have to check about getting that on DVD.  I have it on VHS.  I don't care for the current B Galactica series.  No comparison.

Ok, for those that are in the know, what's the difference between a 'geek' and a 'nerd' please?  I thought they were the same.  Duh.

quiltbea wrote:Windmere.....Thank you for mentioning Battlestar Galactica.  I loved the one from way back when with Lorne Greene.  One of my favorite SciFy series.  I'll have to check about getting that on DVD.  I have it on VHS.  I don't care for the current B Galactica series.  No comparison.

Ok, for those that are in the know, what's the difference between a 'geek' and a 'nerd' please?  I thought they were the same.  Duh.

Interesting question as I called my husband a nerd and he corrected me quickly and said - not a nerd, I'm a geek. He explained that he is a comic book, pop culture geek which means he's a serious fan. I remember as a kid we understood a nerd was someone who wore a pocket pencil protector and was always serious. That is definitely old school thinking. Nerds nowadays are those folks who hide in basements and laboratories doing what drives them.

Are you a Geek or a Nerd?

  I think I'm a nerd...

mollyhespra wrote:
Are you a Geek or a Nerd?

  I think I'm a nerd...

That was an interesting read.  Well, I thought the Oxford definition had some similarities that blurred the distinction for me.  Regardless, there are positive aspects to both and I embrace those!

Nerd to the 9th degree here.    

I'm losing tom plants one by one to many different things and in many different circumstances.  So I've just been yanking them out.  There hasn't been much growth, if any, on the remaining plants.  I think it's just been too cool for them.

And now a pepper plant is on the way out.  My cukes & summer squashes seem to be hanging in there but if we don't get some warmer weather soon I don't know how long they'll keep going.  The winter squashes are still only about 3 inches & not budging. 

So, even tho I'm loving this weather, theres' something to be said for heat waves on Cape Cod.  


Oh, and all the fruits on my 2 varieties of cukes are curved and point UP:

Molly,  I don't think my Molly squash has ribs.  But it's looking good!  
What do you think about it?

CC