CANADIAN REGION: What are you doing in September 2016

On another thread I am doing a small experiment of dehydrating and powdering tomatoes, weighing them at the beginning and then at several
stages with the end result of seeing how much lighter they are by the powder stage.

Not very scientific but of interest to me.

Mimi2 wrote:Just changed my Avatar. We are loving this year's selection of tomatoes.

Nice avatar Mimi.  I could eat it all up.

Kelejan wrote:

Mimi2 wrote:Just changed my Avatar. We are loving this year's selection of tomatoes.

Nice avatar Mimi.  I could eat it all up.

Thanks Kelejan! There is not quite as many, or as much diversity as there was when I took the pic...but we still haven't had to buy any tomatoes for months. 

I love gardening- and eating what I've grown. It is so fulfilling. Sometimes it feels like garden therapy.

Look what just arrived in my mail box from Amazon Canada. The "Square Foot Gardening With Kids" book! The grandkids should like it but first I can't wait to read it. 

trolleydriver wrote:Look what just arrived in my mail box from Amazon Canada. The "Square Foot Gardening With Kids" book! The grandkids should like it but first I can't wait to read it. 

This is a great book. I've read it from cover to cover. There was something about the eleven year old kid in the book building his own boxes, etc, that made me think:hey, I can do this!"

This afternoon as I did my bit watering my friend Persis' pot(ted) plants, I saw an insect that I had not seen before. It was a European Mantis, Mantis religiosa. It was about four inches long and bright green.

I brushed off my shoulder what I thought was a leaf. It fell to the ground then I realised it was new insect that I had not seen before.  I thought right then about a praying mantis and so it turned out.  It just sat there, probably in shock, so I left it alone and went home.

Years ago in 1982 my DH gave me this book, Reader's Digest "North American Wildlife." Inscription inside, "To my lovely Janice on your 1982 birthday from your Bill".

Since then, over the years, as we saw birds, flowers, animals, insects etc, we marked down on the pages when and where we saw them. Going through that book brought back many memories.

Given that there is a forecast low of 3 Celsius (37.4 F) for Ottawa on Sunday night, maybe I should make sure that any delicate crops that have not yet been harvested are brought in.

The following webpage may be of interest to others concerning the frost tolerance of vegetables.

https://www.botanicalinterests.com/articles/view/26/Frost-Tolerance-of-Vegetables

Also
https://www.botanicalinterests.com/articles/view/90/How-to-Extend-Your-Season-With-Fall-Sowing/category:secrets-to-success

And
https://www.botanicalinterests.com/img/site_specific/uploads/Fall-Sown_vegetable_Crops_chartv2.pdf

Today I took to our Pass Creek Fall Fair the following:

Vegetables:  Potatoes (4), Tomatoes(4) , Peppers (2).

Canned:       Cherries, Peaches, Plums, Green Beans and Beet Pickles.

I was not able to take the potted geranium as it was losing its flower petals, and the chrysanthemums  that I had earmarked have only got to the tiny bud stage and in spite of taking them indoors have not progressed very far at all.  Next year I will transplant the Chrysanths to a sunnier spot to give them encouragement to flower earlier.

I did have some very colourful sedums but luckily they were not on the list of flowers.  I was happy about that as those sedums looked wonderful where they are.

My neighbours were happy to take me to the fairground and also to wait for me while I presented my produce for labelling.  In the hall I met several people who I had not seen for some time since I retired the first and second times and it is nice to catch up with people who were my customers while I owned the business.

This is the first time I have exhibited anything in a show, apart from one attempt in the 1980s when I entered a hand-sewn patchwork cushion consisting of hexagons where I gained a third prize out of three entries.  The last two years I have visited this show and full of good intentions said that next year I would enter.  Further back in this month's thread I stated my intention and at last I have come through. Pat on the back for me.

Friday at 5:00pm the judging begins and I will know on Saturday if I managed to get anything.  All is not lost if I am not successful as I will have a good look round on Saturday and see what it takes to get a winner so I will know better next time.

My hope that I may get a mention for my tomatoes and peppers. I did not really realize how hard it is to get matching produce.  I picked  out four potatoes of the    fingerling type, got three good ones and could not get that fourth one so I had to downgrade to slightly smaller ones. With the tomatoes, I had four good ones then thought one of them was blemished only to discover that the blemish was a piece of dried leaf that had got stuck there.  I only hope that the tomatoes will not soften before the judging. For the two peppers I do have hope.

TD, thanks for the frost information.  I picked all my green tomatoes and peppers today, getting ready for our Fall Fair, so if we have a frost now I will not be unhappy.

I have had a good harvest this year of tomatoes, in fact,  previous years I have managed a pound or two but with the five plants I had, the total yield was a minimum of 36 pounds.

Plant 1, 3 lb:
plant 2, 3 1/2 lb:
plant 3, 5 lb:
plant 4, 3 lb: that included one at 1 1/2 lb:
plant 5, 14 lb: that included one each at 1 3/4 lb & 1 1/2 lb.
Many one-pounders in that lot above.

Miscellaneous pickings totalled 7 lb plus those that I previously used, including Black Krim, which must have weighed quite a few extra pounds in total.  All the tomato plants were top heavy and mostly lying horizontal so next year I will invest in some rectangular supports.

Of the peppers, I had the one plant that produced five good peppers, two of which have been entered in our Fall fair this weekend, and three plants that barely made one each.  Next year I will plant the peppers touching each other as some one suggested recently.

You have done very well Kelejan and I sure hope you get excellent recognition at the fair for your efforts.

I'm a bit disappointed with my big beef tomatoes and green peppers. This is the second year in a row that the peppers have not done well. A few years ago we had wonderful crops of peppers ... so many that we had to give some away. This year has been pathetic for the green bell peppers and Mrs TD has had to resort to store bought peppers. The banana peppers and hot peppers have done much better. 

Looking forward to finding out how you do at the fair.

Have not posted much, but have been lurking in the shadows.  I know that a while ago I said that I was disappointed in my beans as they seem to have been done at the end of August, but by the jump'in, I am still picking about 1.5 pounds now every third day or so and I still have lots to come.  Although with the cooler weather and shorter day coming, I do not know how much longer it will last, but I will take all I can get.  I stopped calculating after 8 pounds as that is when I thought the bulk of the harvest was done, but I betcha I got close to 20lbs now.  I have a ton froze, and have been eating them almost every day.  I love beans.

I did plant some spinach, lettuce and radish and peas a while ago when I thought I would be pulling the beans, but as they continued to produce, they sorta choked out the all of that.  They are still there but coming slowly.  I got 2 old small windows from my neighbor and am going to try a cold frame this year, just to see what I can do for greens this winter.

I was sorta disappointed in my red bush beans.  I thought they would remain red, but they boil green.  I guess they are made for salads to keep the color. 

Have a great day

PeaShooter, glad you are still harvesting that you thought were done.  It is nice to get surprises like that.

Best of luck with your windows, I hope they work for you.  It is about time I started looking for some windows and stry to extend my season.

I know what you mean by those red beans.  But I did read that they boiled up green so I was not disappointed but I doubt I will bother with them next year. In any case, I can get all the beans I want from a friend of a friend who just grows them to give away provided we do the picking ourselves which is fair enough.  I know of people who when offered veggies or fruit, will refuse just because they have to pick the stuff themselves.

Kelejan

trolleydriver wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with my big beef tomatoes and green peppers. This is the second year in a row that the peppers have not done well. A few years ago we had wonderful crops of peppers ... so many that we had to give some away. This year has been pathetic for the green bell peppers and Mrs TD has had to resort to store bought peppers. The banana peppers and hot peppers have done much better. 

TD, I use banana peppers green if I need green peppers.
CC

CapeCoddess wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:
I'm a bit disappointed with my big beef tomatoes and green peppers. This is the second year in a row that the peppers have not done well. A few years ago we had wonderful crops of peppers ... so many that we had to give some away. This year has been pathetic for the green bell peppers and Mrs TD has had to resort to store bought peppers. The banana peppers and hot peppers have done much better. 

TD, I use banana peppers green if I need green peppers.  
CC

Yup ... we have done that as well. I guess I forgot to tell Mrs TD that we have some banana peppers so this past week so she got store bought green peppers.

KJ, Good luck! You did it! I'll check tomorrow to see how you did. If you have a cell phone, would you take pics. I'll help you get them posted.

P14, Congrats on the late beans. While I was ripping out my KY wonders, thinking, stupid plants, I saw lots of little beans.

sanderson wrote:KJ,  Good luck!  You did it!  I'll check tomorrow to see how you did.  If you have a cell phone, would you take pics.  I'll help you get them posted.

 

Right now my efforts, along with everyone eslses, are being judged.  Please send a little vibe to the judges to look kindly on my efforts.

Nearly 10:00 am  and shortly I will be leaving to go to our local FAIR, to check on my entries in the veggie and canning sections, to listen to music, to meet people that I may not have seen for some time, and generally enjoy myself.

The clouds have rolled away and the sun is shining, nevertheless I will be taking my small brolly with me. The forecast is no rain for two days. It has been raining this week so the weather is co-operating.

We have a free bus, to save people having to park.  Parking is $2 so I will be giving my $2 to the bus driver as he or she is a volunteer.  Bus goes every half hour from two or three places, then returns.  Half-hour is not precise, they just go back and forth as soon as there are enough people to make it worth while.

The money I take consists of $5 bills, Toonies and Loonies and a few quarters, it makes it easier for the small traders,

The music includes my favourite neighbours, Duane and Dianne and their third partner Earl.  They will already have done a stint from 9am and will do another from 11am.

Looking forward to your evening message regarding your day.

sanderson wrote:Looking forward to your evening message regarding your day.

Me too.  I'm cheering for Team Kelajan.

Here goes: Kelejan reporting on her efforts and results at the 2016 Fall Fair at Pass Creek Park.

Summary: out of eight entries, I garnered 5 ribbons.

It sounds good for a first time effort so I will start with the failures then work up.

The peppers, on which I had high hopes, nothing won in nine entries. Looking at the winners, I feel that if there had a fourth place I may have got that, as my two peppers looked nicer than the other also-rans.  If my peppers had been  a little bigger I may have made third. IMO of course.

Canned Peaches; nowhere, but that I expected.

Green beens; nowhere, but that I also expected.

Cherries and Plums, I got a third place each, but there were only three entries in each class. If there had been no other entries then I would have two firsts.

Potatoes;  Another third but there were eight entries in that class.  My potatoes looked good but were a little smaller than the second place winner as I could not find that fourth potato to match the three I was going to enter.  I am happy with that result.

Tomatoes;  Another third place out of nine entries, but I was happy with that result as well as I was only beaten on size and could have made second if I had not used the larger ones in dehydrating them.

I had one winner that was out of the blue; Pickled Beets, first out of eight entries.
That was my biggest win but the least expected.  I have no idea how that was judged as I do not know how they do it.  Do they open the jars and taste them?

All in all, I am very happy with the results for a first time competitor.  Seeing as  the canning was just taken off my shelf, and the potatoes were planted late and just left to get on with things, I know that with a little effort and foresight I may do better next year.

It was fun today going round and seeing my stuff against others' efforts.  My friends had got there before me and excitedly told me I had won something but I asked them not to tell me as I wanted the pleasure of looking  myself.

The weather was lovely, not too hot, and I met a number of people I had not seen for a long time, including a former City Mayor who remembered that we had won a curling competition together  many years ago.  She also remembered my surname and that I was connected to a family of McKinnons (my husband's inlaws.)

I also met my new doctor's family and was introduced to his smiling wife  and their two small children.

I walked all around and talked to a young man by the Vintage Car display and who was very interested to know that I took my driving test in a 1935 Austin Seven. I did assure him that the car was twenty years old at the time.

I watched the kids having fun on the roundabout, and the carriage ride as well as the tractor ride , I enjoyed the chickens and rabbits etc., and noted the fact that in the baking display the delicious looking cakes and pies etc.  were all behind security netting.

Spent some time listening to the music, partly because the seats were in the shade, but the music was nice anyway. The surrounding trees and mountains made for a wonderful backdrop. I also had a look at the garden they had in the park, raised bed etc.  Lots of produce still growing and the whole was surrounded by many flowers growing round the perimeter. I would have loved for them to have the walkways covered in wood chips.  I may suggest it to them as no doubt the city would give them for free.

Caught the free bus there and back, only waiting  ten minutes each time.  Been home, had a siesta and now writing this report.

Tomorrow afternoon I will go and collect my produce and the five ribbons, four white and one red.  Seconds were blue, I would have liked to get one of those.

Incidentally, there was no entry fees to be paid which was a surprise to me as I thought there would have been a token entry fee.

I think the Fair has done very well this year with people still streaming in as I was leaving.  Some years ago things were going badly but with a very good group of people they have turned it around.

I hope they have as good a turnout tomorrow, Sunday. The weather forecast is good.

Congratulations Kelejan.  You did really well. You are #1 in my opinion. A gold medal performance.

Thank you for those kind words, TD. 

 Kelejan! Loved the report, too. 

How fun!  Kelejan, sounds like a good time was had by all!  Great job on your maiden fair entries, very well done!  

Thank you, Country Naturals and Scorpio.

I really had a wonderful time and I enjoyed writing the report, hoping it was not too long.  But I know that most gardeners do have an attention span far surpassing the average. 

I feel I will be sleeping well tonight after having an active and satisfying day.

Also my friend Diane II will collect me tomorrow to go and collect my trophies and produce so I can forget about taking the free bus and then cadging a ride home from some one.