New England, August 2015

I think I'll just separate leaves from stems, blanch, and freeze.  I'm lazy!

donnainzone10 wrote:I think I'll just separate leaves from stems, blanch, and freeze.  I'm lazy!

Lol. That's what I was aiming to do yesterday, but had lots of other things on my to do list.

Thanks, camp and Donna. How do you do your squash? I have quite a few patty pans in the basement....

donnainzone10 wrote:I think I'll just separate leaves from stems, blanch, and freeze.  I'm lazy!

I'm lazier.  I eat the stems so no cutting involved during prep, but you could cut them before rolling:
Start a pot to boiling, pick the greens, hold greens by stems in a bunch, slosh around in an SFG bucket of water, don oven mit, dunk greens into boiling water while holding the stems, dunk into cold water bath, squeeze out water, roll like a burrity using unbleached parchment papert, then roll in a grocery bag, rubberband the ends, write name on the bag, stick in the freezer.  Fill the grocery bag with more of the same flavored 'burrito' thru the season.  When needed, take out a burrito and cut to size what's needed from one end.

I never get enough squash to preserve.

Um. Gee. Where was this rain during growing season?

We've got as far as the eye can see here forecasted for rain. Better late than never I guess.

Some things I noticed during this season, didn't know if you all might have also. Japanese beetles seem to be really late in coming, not until August, and they weren't as heavy as years past. The blackberries never quite made it, but the raspberries are actually still producing, usually they're over by now. The leaf mulch on the beds did not decompose as much this summer, presumably because it's been too dry. I'll bet the earthworm population was way down too.

I was busy with other things this summer and didn't get to watering enough, and that made a huge difference in the veggie harvest, which was down this year. Water is so important. Things seemed to be late ripening too, like the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. The "hots".

But that's okay, still have squash decorating the counter, new peas are about 6" tall and this rain will really help them. Dug a bunch of potatoes. At first frost when things die off I'm sticking the chickens in the garden and letting them deal with cleaning up and hopefully intimidating the crowded urban mole/vole population. With the garden fenced off, they're having a party in there.

NHG, why are you talking about first frost already???  Dun do dat...

I hear ya about the water.  I'm sticking to my twice a week schedule even tho I know the SFG's want more.  The perennials are lucky if they get it once a month.  A neighbor that grows great lettuce 3 seasons came by this morning and said she waters everyday and that's why she's harvesting tons of lettuce, cukes, peppers, etc.  

My SFG V-8 this morning (a pepper is hidden under the kale leaves):

Also, what's going on with this cherry tree seedling?  Is it going to bloom???


Would you cut that bud off and plant it now?  
Hmm...do they even look like cherry tree seedlings?  There are 2 in that pot.

Where did you get these plants?  Did you grow them from seed?

To me, they don't much resemble cherry trees.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Thanks, camp and Donna.  How do you do your squash?  I have quite a few patty pans in the basement....

If the patty pans are mature, they will keep by themselves for a few months.

What's a cherry tree?

Camp,

I don't quite understand your question.  However, here's a photo of one:

I think camprn was kidding because of our climate.

But guess what. I have a sweet cherry tree that I planted this spring and if the Japanese beetles haven't destroyed it, hopefully it will grow. And I have a I think sour cherry bush growing (I'll have to look at what I ordered, if it's sour, I think it is), and that's looking real healthy, altho I wouldn't say it's grown a whole in 2 yrs., but hopefully it's establishing roots down there.

My grandmother in eastern Penn. had 2 cherry trees in her yard - one sweet and one sour cherry. Boy did she make good pies out of that sour cherry tree.

So we'll see!

By the way, I got zero peaches, plums, pears, apples from my new trees this year, I guess I'll just have to be patient. I planted them a year ago in spring, altho the apples were grafts planted about 3 yrs. ago. Also my grapevine on its 2nd summer, no grapes yet. Boy do they dawdle.

Yes, Donna...I grew them from about 1 dzn seeds in that pot.  Most of the seeds were from a friends cherry tree but 2 of the seeds were from a jar of Morello cherries from Trader Joes that just about broke my teeth.   I think these 2 are the Morellos because I planted many pots of the others and they just wouldn't sprout.  But actually they could be anything from the compost that they were started in.

Speaking of fruit trees, Fruitees...look what my car made me buy during lunch today:
$28. The apple was on it but fell off as I was unloading the tree from the car.  
This solves my apple tree problem.  I was going to grow those 2 little ones I started from seed - Pink Lady and Honeycrisp - but now I will graft those 2 onto this one to cover the  pollination.  My neighbor, who is a landscaper/gardener, thinks this is a great idea and will help me with that come late winter/early spring.  

Exciting times ahead, kiddos.  Meanwhile, I've got a ton of research to do on grafting.

Yeah, stoopid auto correct. Never mind.

That doesn't look like a cherry tree at all to me. They have shiny leaves, and wouldn't top like that. Loosestrife, or hops?

Good news about the patty pans, thanks! They are in my basement with my taters.

Honeycrisp are my absolute favorite apple, it is like biting into a glass of cider!

Yep, you win the gold ring, SR. I concluded this morning that these cherry trees were loosestrife and placed them in an area where I would want loosestrife. How crazy is it that I put in about a dozen seeds and instead compost volunteers come up ...2 of the same ta boot!

Today's tomatoes...comin' fast & furious now:

Brandywine, Striped Romans, Super Beefsteak. Cherries: Sweeties, Black Cherry, volunteer grape?, Sungold.

The first group will be given away, the second group is mine for snacking.

Why is it so hard to find a place to plant an apple tree? I'm having a difficult time because apple trees are not that attractive so I don't want to see it from the windows, it needs to be have a lot of sun, and I don't want it shading any sun lovers or bumping up against any of the other trees on the property.  Oiy...

Easy, CC. You just need a bigger lot.

Too funny about the loosestrife! I believe here they are considered invasive, but the honeybees love them I hear. And they're pretty.

CapeC....What's so ugly about apple trees?  Get the dwarf ones and they are easy to shape as you want them and take up much less room, only about 10 feet between each of them.

Here's my two along the driveway above:  Left is Malus Honey Crisp and on the right is the younger one by 2 years, Benji Shogun Fuji, both with apples this year.

Lots of greenies starting to turn, on the Honey Crisp right now and they are the best tasting apples when they are ripe.  Mmmm good.  Harvested some last year and this year there's many more.

Red ones on the Fuji already.  I'll be harvesting these in a few days probably.
I see some apple desserts in my future.  Yippee!

AW... your trees are lovely, QB. We like color when we look out the windows and I wasn't sure if apple trees have pretty flowers in the spring and/or turn in the fall, do they? Anyway, I finally found its planting place it's perfect and it looks pretty from one side of the box bay window. I'm hoping to get away with only one tree as I plan to graft a Honeycrisp and a Pink Lady to this one in the early spring. This Red Delicious is a semi dwarf and is about 8 feet tall right now. Semi dwarf grows 12 to 15 feet high and wide.

Guess what!? We have rain! They're calling .02 inch. That's fine with me since I just finished planting the tree & a few other things, and watering the SFG. Now everything will get a good washing off. What a great welcome for my new little tree!

CapeCoddess wrote:

The first group will be given away, the second group is mine for snacking.

What a beautiful bunch! That would make a huge hit as a salad, either as-is or with a little red or green onion.

Why is it so hard to find a place to plant an apple tree? I'm having a difficult time because apple trees are not that attractive so I don't want to see it from the windows, it needs to be have a lot of sun, and I don't want it shading any sun lovers or bumping up against any of the other trees on the property.  Oiy...

The apple trees we have down at the park in our development are all quite pretty. Maybe you just met some damaged ones in the past? We have an asian pear tree that was ravaged by a bear once and it's all lopsided with big gaps now, but it wasn't the tree's fault.

Unfortunately most of our apples get worms in them.

Apple trees have very lovely blossoms in the spring.

This is my Fuji in early May.

and above is the Honey Crisp.  Its early and they are just forming their blossoms.  I'm sorry, I didn't take pix of them in full blossom.  But lots and lots of white, aromatic blossoms all over the trees.

QB, those apple trees and apples are beautiful! Do you treat the trees at all? Prune them?

Loosestrife can be invasive when it is planted in a wet spot for sure. Gotta know where to put it!

I like the look of apple trees, the flower in spring, and then make pretty red/green/yellow fruit! And the trimmings of the branches smell amazing in a fire, make for nice smoking material in the grill!

NHG......I prune mine in the early spring before they bud out.  I cut away any branches that are pointing inwards, any damaged and any that may rub against another.  I haven't pruned back a leader yet but I will on the Honey Crisp this spring.  Its getting too tall to handle.

And no pesticides, QB? I'm growing mine au naturale. I haven't even pruned yet, but might next spring. I'm not using any sprays, but some growers think you have to. But mine aren't to the fruiting stage, so who knows.

Thanks for the pruning instruction, QB. Your trees look great so it must be the way to go. I will do it that way also.

I, too, am using all-natural methods on my fruit trees. The only things I've done so far is to plant garlic around them and in the spring I sprayed them down with soapy water. Seems to have worked as they are loaded with fruit even tho some of the pears are a little warped looking. But, and it's a big but, I just found out that you shouldn't plant an apple tree within four hundred feet of a cedar tree. My whole back property line is a huge cedar hedge about 12 feet tall. The apple tree is about 10 feet from it. Duh roh. Exciting times ahead...stay tuned, kids.
:/