2018/2019 SFG in Brooks, GA

My Hardy Hibiscus is finally blooming.  Hopefully that means my Okra should be following shortly.

Hibiscus


Okra (member of the Hibiscus family) is 4 feet tall but no blooming.

sanderson wrote:Yolos, it's beautiful.  Now, you can't post a photo with skinny sticks without explaining what they are for.

Okay, the skinny sticks are 4 foot bamboo sticks.  They were used on my first planting of corn to keep the stalks from being blown over.  But the raccoons knocked over the stalks and ate all the corn so I was cleaning up the garden and set those aside.  See the bamboo sticks in this picture before the raccoons attacked. 


Here is after the 1st attack.  They eventually came back a few times to this bed and destroyed every stalk/cob.  The raccoons seem to know exactly when the cobs are almost ripe.  They have now destroyed all three corn beds.  That is about 100 cobs that the raccoons got and none for me.  I have cleaned up the mess and am now thinking about planting a second planting of corn.  If it gets close to being mature I will try to set up an electric fence.  If no electric fence, then I can just incorporate the foliage into the bed to enhance the soil.

Oh, Yolos, I'm so sorry....

Garden Update 07/16/19

Replanted my three beds of corn that the raccoons ate.  If they get to maturity stage before frost, I will set up an electric fence.


My Okra is now 5 feet tall and has just started flowering.  Should get Okra soon.


Rattlesnake Beans are still producing but in this heat they have slowed down.  So far I have harvested 35 pounds, which equals 37 side dishes, and equals 111 cups of beans.  


Here is my latest planting of tomatoes.  I had to add three foot extensions to the trellis because some of the vines have already reached the top of the earlier setup.



Trombone Squash is about 10 feet tall and impossible to reach even with a step ladder.  I made a mistake and angled the cattle panels to the middle of the bed so I can not reach the top by putting the step ladder on the outside of the 4 foot bed.

First year I finally started my own fall transplants.  Usually at this time of the summer I am tired of gardening.  Four Sungold tomatoes (trying for the first time), 20 Broccoli, 4 Brussel Sprouts.  I will be planting them around Sept 1 - 15 depending  on the temperatures and shade cloth available.


I still have Okra growing.  Getting about 10-20 Okra pods per day.  Plants are over 6 feet tall.



Tomatoes are still growing but not too much setting of fruits except for the grape tomato Juliet.  Pinkeye Purple Hull peas are coming in but some varmint is stealing the pods and stripping the peas out.  So I have only gotten a few peas.  Cucumbers, zuchinni and squash are all  getting hit by heat, downy mildew, and powdery mildew and are not doing well.

After the raccoons ate my whole crop of corn, I started some additional seeds.  Something ate the seeds.  Then I replanted and covered seeds with burlap.  After germination I took off the burlap and them some varmit (probably birds) pecked up the corn shoots and ate the seeds attached to the shoot.  So out of 50 shoots, I now have about 20 corn plants.  Oh well.

Okra plants are now 8 feet tall.  I am headed out to prune them so they will not be so high and hopefully they will branch out and keep producing.  I think I will cut 1/3 back and let the others keep bearing okra.  Maybe cut back 1/3 of the plants every week until they are all pruned.  I am afraid I will cut them back and have to wait a few weeks until they start producing again.  We are eating them about twice a week as a side dish and I am freezing some about twice a week.



Me standing at the top of the above ladder and trying to harvest the upper okra.

sanderson wrote:Yolos,  How you you freeze your ears of corn.  Fresno State is selling corn and it is delicious.  I would like to freeze 2 half ears per Food Saver bag for winter eating.  Do you par boil or microwave first?

Our family hated my frozen corn so I no longer freeze corn on the cob.  I did blanch it first.  We all like very fresh, pop in your mouth kernels.  My two grandsons actually like it fresh, not cooked.  So if we have extra, I blanch the cob, cut off the kernels and freeze the kernels.

sanderson wrote:Thank you.  For saving the kernels, how long to you boil?  Do you just use a knife removing the kernels?  Thank you

I blanch the corn on the cob for 4 minutes.  Cool for 4 minutes.  Allow to dry.  Set cob on the middle hole of a bunt cake pan and use a knife to remove the kernels.

Info from Blanching table.
CORN, WHOLE KERNEL
Select corn in sweet milk stage. Husk, silk, trim and wash. Blanch and cool. Cut from cob at about two-thirds the depth of the kernels.
4 min.

Today was too hot to work in the garden.  But I made a few quick trips outdoors to harvest a few things.

Rattlesnake Beans.   I already have 42 packs of beans frozen for side dishes.  I have given away 24 pounds of beans after I harvested all that I wanted.


Tomatoes harvested today.  I am giving most of these away because I have way too many and still have a lot of sauce frozen last year.


Leeks getting  ready to either dehydrate or freeze.


Okra

Nice haul, Yolos!  Our tomatoes are almost zero here this year.  Too wet, then instantly super hot and no blooms.  The only thing I have had at all is cherry tomatoes.  My big maters have hard shoulders and start to rot before they even come off the vine.  Late year for peppers, just one of those years.  I didn’t even grow beans due to the JBs.

sanderson wrote:Dang!  Those tomatoes are beautiful!

+1

Terrific harvest yolos.

Still harvesting tomatoes and okra. I will be cutting down the tomatoes planted between April and June.  I still have a few planted very late that are still producing but not ready to harvest yet. Having to give away about 1/2 of my tomatoes harvested and all okra harvested because my freezer is full.  

Still too hot to plant cool weather plants.  It it supposed to drop down below 90*F for the next 5 days and then return to between 90-95*F for the following 5 days.  So I think I will plant my cool weather plants tomorrow and try to keep them cool after the temps go back above 90*F.

My Okra plants have gone wild.  Harvesting side dishes every other day.  Now giving away all Okra harvested.  Here is a picture of my okra growing.  The tallest plant is 12 feet tall.


Harvested the only and the last of my corn.

Yolos, don't you have a dehydrator? I've been told that dehydrated okra is really good.... And it would work on your tomatoes too!

AtlantaMarie wrote:Yolos, don't you have a dehydrator?  I've been told that dehydrated okra is really good....  And it would work on your tomatoes too!

I have never successfully dehydrated tomatoes.  Maybe impatient.  It would be easy to experiment with dehydrating okra.  Thanks, I may try it.  I kind of wonder what about the gooy substance that comes out.??  I assume I should cut it in rounds.  I guess I will google it.

Haven't tried it personally. But I've been told that the slimy stuff isn't a problem when dehydrating. And that they become crispy & a really good snack. I've also been told about seasoning them with the ranch dressing mix, etc...

Temps finally came down below 90*F today (they are going back up above 90*F on Monday but I gotta get the Broccoli plants in the ground)so I planted some of my Broccoli.  So far I  have planted 22 transplants.  20 Broccoli and 2 Brussel Sprouts.  Most, hopefully, will mature at different dates.