New England September 2014

Yikes. 47F tomorrow night. I don't know if I'm ready for this.

camprn......Lovely garden.  I love seeing the pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. A lot of good compost and tending to things quickly are what makes it work well for me.

Camp, Your garden is something to which to aspire. Thanks

Trying to get caught up on seeing the latest posts...

Camp - your garden looks wonderful!  And so nice & neat...!

AtlantaMarie wrote:Trying to get caught up on seeing the latest posts...

Camp - your garden looks wonderful!  And so nice & neat...!

thanks. The lawn mower works great.

My house is not this neat, just sayin'.

No rain here last night.    But does this weather get any more beautiful that today is?!

When I came home from running errands just now there were donations of worm food awaiting me. After removing 5perfectly good melons, this is what it looks like once I open the lids:

The 2 trash bags have very mushie-to-the-point-of-being-liquidy salads in them.  I'll pour those on tomorrow after I pick up some more shredded office paper.

Wanted to show you folks my experimental lettuce box.  I'm letting them go to seed in hopes of getting lots of volunteers next year:

Just can't figure out how or when to put more compost in the box.  I could do I now if I don't mix it in, or mix it in later but then the seeds get buried.  And I don't want to save the seeds because that's not the idea.  Any suggestions?

CC

Also,
 camp! 

Thanks!

My lettuce has gone to seed like that CC, maybe I'll do what you're doing and just leave it in there. I think some kind of lettuce may have seeded itself this year in there but I wasn't sure so I didn't eat it.

Don't know what to say about when to add your compost tho.

I went to a fall planting workshop today and the instructor mentioned starting spinach now, let it grow an inch or 2, then use a row cover over it and leave it there I think is what she said (or it might have been a light layering of straw), until it starts to grow again in March, and you get sweet early spinach. This way the spinach does not bolt 3 weeks after you plant in summer.

CC, dont fret too much about the wild seed, because they are going to fly anyway. Just add the compost.

Just got this in the email:
After 23 years, the UMass Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Lab is leaving West Experiment Station!  While we love this old building with all its character and charm, we are looking forward to our newly renovated space in the basement of Paige Laboratory on the UMass Amherst campus. The move is scheduled for Tuesday, September 16, 2014.

The lab will be closed on Tuesday, September 16, 2014.

Thanks for the info.

Okay, this is basically what the instructor was saying in the fall gardening workshop, about overwintering seeds.

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-winter-growing-guide-overwintering-scheduling.aspx?source=W_WinterGrwngLanding_082014

"The most calculated approach to schedule seeding for overwintered crops involves seeding in the late fall, so germination and the first stages of growth occur before the plant goes dormant during the Persephone period. Growth will begin again when days begin to lengthen."


I have never heard of a Persephone period before. 


Anyone thinking of trying this?


I have no luck with carrots during regular season, maybe the birds get the seed. If I try seeding them in the fall to get started before spring, it might work better.

This morning's b'fast is sauteed veggies. Figure I should eat more from the garden.

But as I was getting some kale from the garden this morning, I saw a bunch of squash bugs walking on the squash leaves, and I realized that if I had been more diligent my squash plants would still have life in them. Around late August you can kind of get lulled into "it's over" -- too soon.

So besides the kale, this morning I gathered several handfuls of green beans, that have been producing more now that I've been watering more. I water more now because I planted oat seed on some cleared beds, for green manure. But I realize also that with more watering the plants are still producing.

So the message there is, don't give up on the garden too soon.

NHGardener wrote:I have no luck with carrots during regular season, maybe the birds get the seed. If I try seeding them in the fall to get started before spring, it might work better.

I overwintered carrots and this spring they were awful, like eating sawdust & wood.  blech!

But I have done it with spinach, and have some going now.  Along with the lettuce, scallions & tomato seeds, I don't know what else I could try it with.  Guess I should read the link you posted. hehe

I've got beans and peas coming out of my ears, and I can't believe how many cukes are forming on the late seeded plants - like every 6 inches there's another one on each vine.  The bees are having a field day! 

I also divided and transplanted lettuce babies yesterday, and I'm eating greens & radishes out of my fall garden already.    The summer squash & maters continue to trickle in.  Nada for winter squashes yet.

Just planted 4 Dunja zuke seeds this morning.  I'm hopeful that the 47 days listed online is true but I'm not holding my breath.  I have until beg of Nov for first frost so I could squeak by.

CC

PS I just read NHG's link and found out that my last 10hr day is just about the same as my first frost date. 8 more weeks to go...

CapeCoddess wrote:I can't believe how many cukes are forming on the late seeded plants - like every 6 inches there's another one on each vine.  The bees are having a field day! 

I'm jealous! One day I'll have cucumber success, but for now I just have cucumber envy. Must be nice having so many! I go through cukes fast when I have 'em.

I've picked some little lunchbox peppers today and they are finally turning red.  Very tasty little buggers.

I planted my cukes 3rd week of June. So far so good.

Marc Iverson wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:I can't believe how many cukes are forming on the late seeded plants - like every 6 inches there's another one on each vine.  The bees are having a field day! 

I'm jealous!  One day I'll have cucumber success, but for now I just have cucumber envy.  Must be nice having so many!  I go through cukes fast when I have 'em.

Marc, I'm with you...I could eat 1 or 2 cukes daily if I could get them.  But having ANY is a first for me and I'm thrilled.  I switched varieties from Straight 8's to Marketmore & Burpless this year due to PM killing them off in the past, so that must be it.  Mine aren't as big as my neighbors & coworkers but that's because it's so cold by the lake.  Regardless, I'll take it! Today will probably be the last of my warm days so we'll see what happens to all these baby cukes that have formed recently.

Camp, I planted my 2nd batch of cukes beginning of August per the New Victory Garden book.  The first batch was probably planted the first warm day of spring.

QB, I hope you can save seeds from those lunch box peppers!  I'd gladly do a trade with ya.  I have a bunch of Boxcar Willy seeds if you want them.  I'm not going to grow those any more.  For the small space I have I need my maters to be outstanding in flavor & I didn't get that from Willy.  I continue to taste test others but so far I'm still sticking with SuperSonic, Super Beefsteak, Black Cherry & Sungolds.


CC

CapeC....I didn't save any Lunchbox pepper seeds.  For some reason I was thinking they were Hybrids but they aren't.  I have some left from Johnnyseeds this year.  Let me know next spring (make a note on your calendar) and I'll send you some.  PM me in the spring and I'll send you some.  They grew perfectly in pots in my flower garden.

I had some sliced Red Zebra tomatoes at dinner tonite and I have to say they are my absolutely favorite tomato in the world.  They don't need any salt or anything else.  An indeterminate just bursting with flavor.   I said it last year and I'll say it again, fabulous in my book.  Not the most productive tomato, but with disease resistance and lovely form.

My favorite cherry tomato is Matt's Wild Cherry for its bright, tart flavor, a determinate with lower productivity than most due to its wild forbears.  This is one I picked while working in the garden and chomped them down as fast as I picked them except for a few for salads.

I also planted Boxcar Willy but they didn't measure up to the flavor I prefer.
Unfortunately my Supersonics and Sungolds didn't make it this year in that horrid seed starting soil I bought at Walmart this year.

Cukes are mad crazy right now - like there are 5 on this 1 ft of vine!  This sight is repeated throughout the 8 other plants.  I don't get it...unless all they wanted was a week of heat.

Supersonic & Sungold tomatoes  still trying - no sign of blight yet.  I attribute that to aspirin put in the hole at the time of planting out and again mid season when I heard the blight was on it's way:

QB, I think I may have taste tested a Red Zebra the other day here at the office, but the gal didn't know the name.  And I may have saved the seeds - I'll know better this weekend when I get thru all the jars of seeds I have fermenting.
Is this it?

CC

Aspirin to prevent blight? Wow - never heard of that one.

That looks like a red zebra to me. After QB's comments about them yesterday I checked and neither Johnnys nor Fedco carries them. I guess they're fairly new. Cross between a green zebra (which they do carry) and some sort of red tomato. Neat.

CC, what will you do with your extra cucumbers? Pickle them?

That looks just like the red zebras I've seen other pictures of, and just like a red version of my green zebras. Love how pretty both those are! I'm actually hesitant to cut my green zebras up, because the wonderful visual effect of the skin gets lost that way.

Aspirin I've read of as something that can stimulate the plant's immune system somehow, but I forget the specifics. I'd heard of spraying it in, but not putting it in the planting hole. I tried it as a spray last year, and it didn't do anything to prevent or cure late blight. But perhaps it prevented or cured other things? Impossible to tell, in those ordinary garden conditions with so many possible pest and disease culprits.

CC, I know I'm going to try at least a third year of growing cucumbers, and hopefully I won't get a third year of failing. I'll try to keep in mind your recommendations for disease-resistant varieties, especially since they seem to be fruiting so well for you, too.