SUGA 2018

• Woohoo, the Cavalry is here!
  

• Reliance grape vine is coming along nicely.
  

• I may have to put the table dainty out of its misery
  

• The rain garden perked up and the plants around the pond are doing OK.
  

• Not sure what is happening with the 3rd tomato plant from the left (Brandywine Red). It hasn't put on any new flowers or grown anymore in the last few weeks.
  
  

• two of my Texas tomato cages got blown over in the storm today. The problem is these are Hugelkultur beds and I can't get the cages in deep enough for support before they hit logs or sticks, next year I'll beat in a few pieces of rebar.
  

• Getting a 2nd harvest of strawberries and my Giant Leader Cabbage is starting to form a head, its only been 4 months!!
  

• Chia sees for living mulch.
  

• Tossed some water lettuce in the pond.
  

• Haul for the shore
  

• At the condo (OC MD)
  
  

• Fried Eggplant, Poblanos stuffed with cheese and sweet peppers, fried poppers..
  

• Jimmy Nardello peppers fried with Burrato Cheese and French Bread, everyone raved over this. Toasted french bread would have even been better.
  

• Tried this Eggplant Bacon recipe and it was a fail, however the marinade was awesome, I may try it on something else. I tried recycling it into a dip and it was OK, barely!
  

• Mountains of oyster shells we found while hiking.
  

• Garden pics when I got home
  

• Haul when I got home
  

• Hardening off a few spaghetti squash
  

• Poblanos are going crazy
  

• Canned some salsa
  
  

• Why I love oregano in the garden.
  

• Friendly garden critters.
  
  

• Spaghetti squash, feta, basil and tomatoes.
  

• But first, I had to get rid of this guy.
  

• Harvest after work today
  

• Pond is doing well but I really need to clean the filters.
  

• Made some lunches for work, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Jalapeno, Oregano, Basil.
  

• I really need to get some trimming done.
  

SQWIB wrote:That's actually a great idea, I may do that but use bungees. Thanks

• This weekend was a bust, had to work Saturday. On the way to work, I liberated one of these for my Butterfly Garden, I also grabbed a Milkweed, but sadly I dont think it's going to make it.
  

• I got a few fall crops planted and I thought I was being pretty slick using old Tortillo shells to plant my fall crops, that was until the little rat dog came by and ate all the shells.
  

• Artichoke
  
  

• Laura had asked Stephen to shred the mail and I thought, Hmmm, mulch and said, "I'll do it", so for the next several hours I sat on the floor painstakingly going through all the mail, separating it then shredding while watching SG-1 on Hulu. I even shredded the packing kraft paper that comes in shipped packages, I then got a little crazy and started shredding the pizza boxes.
  

• Frittata - Havarti Cheese with dill, Perpetual Spinach, Red Onion, Ham, Milk, Eggs. The Frittatta was excellent.
  
  

• Got some canning done made a double batch of "Ball's Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Puttanesca sauce". I learned two things from this go around with canning,
  

• I am totally disappointed and can kick myself in the @SS, I canned 8 jars and have 7 to go, it was a lot of work and I sacrificed 4 pounds of eggplant and 10 pounds of tomatoes from the garden.
  

• Was very happy to see a bunch of Honey Bees visiting the Spearmint Flowers.
  

• Starting to get a bunch of Maypop Fruit, hopefully I'll toss together a Maypop Jam in a couple of weeks.
  

• My Reliance Grape plant is coming along nicely.
  

• Definitely need to work on the tomato supports in the hugelkultur beds next year. I'm loosing my Box Car Willie, I may cut it down once the tomatoes are ripening a good bit. Marigolds are taking over, I need to trim them back a bit.
  

• Hardening off the Spaghetti squash, note the one in the center was green when I pulled it from the plant, (bottom picture). I'll pull seeds from it just in case I decide to grow it again.
  

• The garden is doing very well. With all the recent rain it looks like the tomato plants shot up a good bit, they outgrew the Texas Tomato Cages, the poblano on the left center is nearing 6' tall and is loaded with peppers. I turned off the irrigation and have been watering with my rain water barrel this week. I'm going to see how far I can go before I need to turn it back on.
  
  

• The Reliance Grapes are doing better than I could have hoped for.
  
  

• Did a bit more trim work on the trunk and cordons.
  

• Harvested my first batch of Yard Long beans, and cooked them, I don't like green beans and would rather eat these instead. I don't think anyone else cared for them but I think my family felt bad and really didn't say much. They were OK but I don't think I'll grow them again. I'll finish the year with them and make dilly beans.
  
  

• Cooked another spaghetti squash, this was the one that was green (pictured above) tried it with a Sage Butter. I liked this squash much better than the first one we tried but not enough to regrow it next year. It had a very pleasant smell when cut open, reminded me of cantaloupe. I did save seeds from this just in case.
  
  

• I had to cut back a lot of stuff. Alot of the trimmings were chopped and remained in the beds as mulch, other trimmings went into the compost heap and questionable trimmings went into the firepit.
  

• I planted some Detroit Radish on the back hill, left and right of the tiger lilies, around the playhouse trellis and in the front Hugelkultur bed. Here I am trying out my shredded paper mulch.
  

• The pond is doing real good this year, no string algae... KNOCK WOOD!! The pepper plants aren't doing too good in the veggie filter this year, they are still producing but look stunted, I usually fertilize twice in a season but just added some 10-10-10 to the peps this weekend... long overdue. I'm pretty conservative with adding anything for the plants that reside in the veggie filter for the safety of the fish. If they don't bounce back a bit, I may try to find something else to grow in the veggie filter next year. The water lettuce will make a fine compost this year, I may even just plop these in the hugelkultur beds as mulch. I am very pleased with the Rain Barrel I hooked up to the pond, I have only had to top it off twice this year, the rest has been supplied by the Rain Barrel, it's on a timer that cycles on and off twice a day for an hour, the feed line is a 1/4" hose.
  
  

• Maypops are going nuts, next year I'm going to figure out an arbor or something for them to climb a bit neater.
  

• Wasn't sure if this was a thread waisted wasp or Mud dauber.
  
  

• Some crazy looking spider.
  

• Looks like a frog with 4 eyes!
  

SQWIB wrote:August 8th

• Hardening off the Spaghetti squash, note the one in the center was green when I pulled it from the plant, (bottom picture). I'll pull seeds from it just in case I decide to grow it again.
  

CapeCoddess wrote:

sqwib wrote:

Spaghetti squash envy here.  I've never been able to grow them.  Maybe next year.
CC

• Making some mulch
  

• A couple peppers for my Sausage Peppers and onion I am canning.
  

• Ruby King center, the others are store bought.
  

• For the 2019 season, I think I'm gonna replace my Corno di Toro Giallo's and Rosso's with the Red Marconi.
  

• First Batch
  

• Canned 21 quart jars and only had one that did not seal, that was lunch yesterday and today, half the jars have whole sausage links for sandwiches and half are sliced. My wife doesn't care for the hots but they are my favorite, but for her, I done a 25% hot, 75% sweet ratio. The sweets are cut on a diagonal and the hots are cross cut. The "Links" jars have 2 sweets and 2 hots in each. The last batch of links (4 jars) I added a few poblanos, a can of RO*TELL to the existing peppers and onions and blended with an immersion blender for a smooth sauce.
  
  

• Saving some seeds.
  

• The compost is doing well, these are Bio-degradable packing peanuts.
  

• I have seen a few more yellow finches here and there, they really love the sunflowers. Sorry no picture, they're just too dam skittish.
  

• These are probably the only insect that really bother me, for some reason they like to get in your face and buzz all around you. They seem really attracted to alcohol, these pineapple chunks were sitting in grain for quite a while.
  

• I really haven't noticed any difference between the Giant Marconi and Red Marconi, both plants are doing equally well. The seeds were graciously sent from a forum member.
  
  

• Picked 3.5 pounds of Jalapenos for a batch of cowboy candy, the reds that were not crisp are set aside to dry and make chili powder. Roasted and canned some poblanos a few of the reds that weren't firm were set aside for chili powder.
  

• Got 8 jars and canned the remaining syrup for another 4 batches of Jalapenos
  

• Roasted and peeled the poblanos, used trimming and simmered for a broth to use as a canning liquid.
  

• In retrospect, I wish I would have canned in 8 oz. jars.
  

• Chili powder. These will be dried and placed in the refrigerator in a mason jar unsealed then processed in a coffee mill. I'll continue to add Jalapenos and Poblanos til the end of the season.
  
  

• Red Marconi and Buratta cheese. We usually make this with Jimmy Nardello peppers, these are Red Marconi and just needed to be cooked twice as long. The family liked these just as much as the Jimmy Nardellos.
  
  

• Basil, mozzarella, grape tomatoes (store bought tomatoes)
  

• Nachos
  

• Fried garden peppers, chives and cheese omelet with fried butter, garlic, crushed red pepper toast and a side of fried hard salami. Apple juice and coffee.
  

• Played in the garden a bit. I had this piece of bark that I decided to cover up one of my 4x4 posts.
  

• the Garden is still producing, the eggplant on the hill exploded.
  

• Mac n' Cheese omelet with fried sweet peppers
  

• Working on my canning stuff, Canned some Roasted Red Marconi peppers and a few Ruby Red Bell's then made some Turkey Taco Meat and canned that. Tweaking the pantry for more goodies.
  

• Stopped at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve and Bowman's Hill Tower. Picked up some plants for my Butterfly Garden - Butterfly Weed, Swamp Milkweed, New England Aster, Purple Cone Flower and some Black eyed Susan's. Got everything planted right away.
  

• I saw this Aphid Eater Block House for sale but they didn't have any, I may research this and make one from a piece of log and keep in a few of my gardens.
  

• I started planting my cover crops
  

• The garden is starting to get a bit out of control, everything is growing out of their cages and flopping over. I was up on the hill trying to support the poblanos and eggplant plants. The eggplant plant ripped the cage out of the ground. The poblanos are growing out sideways about 2' past the cage. The tomatoes grew out of the TTC's and are growing anywhere they can. I may need to start cutting some stuff back and tying things up a bit.
  

• Tabascos are starting to come in, a lot of my pepper plants really start producing in September.
  

• This will give you an idea on how wet it has been, I haven't seen the sun in nearly a week. Needless to say, I turned my water off September 6th.
  

 

• The water lettuce in the pond has done real well this year and I have been harvesting a lot of the lettuce during the growing season as a mulch. Here I am gathering some water lettuce to top portions of my beds for a cover crop.
  

• Another bed done the same way but using the potting soil from my retired Vertical Tower.
  

• The "True Black Brandywine" and the "Cherokee Purple" really produced this year but more than half was not worth saving. The Brandywine Red tomatoes are not producing near as much but have had more salvageable fruit.
  

• Volunteer Bok Choy.
  

• Artichoke that will probably be removed and used as mulch.
  

• Oats sprouted after 4 dayss
  

• My rain barrel came in Friday the 14th, so I played with that a bit. Full post coming soon.
  

• Speedy digging a nest
  
  

• [size=18][size=18]Anyhow last week, I noticed a hole where she was digging and the hole looked like it was made from the inside out, sorta looked like a cave. [/size][/size]When I peered inside I saw an egg that was broken open. I told the family that their may be a baby in the yard but there would be no way we would ever find it.
  

• They all thought I was nuts, because both turtles in the yard are female. Well...this morning armed with a weed whacker I was cutting the lawn an noticed this little brown spot, I thought it was a leaf when I went over it with the weed wacker but then it started to move.
  

• My daughter was working on her essays for vet school when I walked in and plopped it in front of her and with a smile on my face I said, "so ya'll thought I was nuts". She couldn't be happier. She went into care taker mode and made sure he/she was hydrated. Her assumption is it's at least two weeks old because the egg sack is completely absorbed, however she is worried that it may have been born too late in the season to survive.
  

• Made some more mulch.
  

• Drying some herbs and making some infused Olive oil.
  

• Chopped and dropped around the tree then mulched.
  

• Mulched the grapes with coffee grounds and shredded cardboard mulch
  
  

• My compromise pot, she wanted flowers and I wanted veggies.
  

• Oats are coming up nicely.
  

• I forgot all about the Okra seeds that I tossed in here a while back.
  
  

• Maypops are going nuts in the back yard.
  

• I had my buddy over and loaded him up with some veggies to take to his moms, she was thrilled. I'm now trying to get him into gardening, we'll see!
  

• This poblano plant is so loaded with peppers that branches were snapping off.
  
  

• This is from one branch that snapped.
  

• My first year with yacon
  
  

• I have no idea what this is.
  

• Finally got a chance to work on a few stumps, I got tired of tripping over them.
  
  

• Sour Cream and Chive scramble with sweet peppers and a side of Garlic toast with Olive oil and crushed red pepper.
  

• Some cleanup, I removed the trellis and will be using these for sweet potatoes in the raised beds on the hill next season.
  

• I think I'm gonna try a few Okra plants where the trellis was next season.
  

• Sacrificed my Artichoke plant, there just wasn't enough room to grow this plant and I have no doubt that this would have come back next year!
  

• My plants came in from, FastGrowingTrees.com. I was extremely impressed with the packaging. I was informed that these are pruned when shipped out but I'm not too sure.
  

• Spaced them 26" apart, I did notice that there were roots on the scion that was grafted to the root stock so I just brushed off the tiny roots and made sure to plant with the graft 3" above the soil level.
  
  

• Celeste Fig. I'm most likely going to put this in the basement bathroom this winter then may up-pot, the following year.
  

• My ginger seems to have grown, now I'm not sure If I should pot this and bring it in during the winter or plop in in some peat and put in the basement.
  

• I have been very careful with removing flowers this year, I have been trying to leave as much as possible for the wildlife to enjoy. Funny thing, a lot of the flowers blooming now were plants that were tossed in the trash at one of my daughters events.
  

• During work today, I liberated a "Roadside Goldenrod" Common Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis for the butterfly/hummingbird garden.
  

• Tried a batch of my Cowboy candy. I'm really happy with how these turned out.
  

• Roasted and canned 5 pints of Poblanos.
  

• Tore out my yard long beans. The hardy kiwi was all tangled up in them so I wanted to get the hardy kiwi vines untangled and start training them. The neighbors hedges or whatever they are are becoming a bit of a pain. I had to climb up on top of the fence and cut a lot of the hedge back.
  

• Going to harvest the beans from these. I may grow these again next year and pick them immature and make "dilly beans" again. I made a batch a few months ago and we just tried a jar at my parents house and they were pretty darn good.
  

• A few red Marconi's that I picked last week and some Jimmy Nardello's from the pond. Saved some seeds from the Jimmy Nardello's and made a batch of Fried peppers with Burrata cheese.
  

• Was at my parents house Saturday and I seeded their Hugelkultur bed with oats and crimson clover.
  

OhioGardener wrote: 

I planted two Goldenrod plants in my butterfly garden, and have been battling them ever since. They really became invasive and try to smother out everything else - they spread both by seed and root spread. I make sure to cut off the dried blooms before they seed.

• Got some work done on my Rainwater Diverting project.  Winterized the drip lines and the Koi pond.
  

• Stopped at the recycle center and picked up some compost, double ground mulch and single ground mulch. I worked on my neighbors garden, laid out some cardboard and mulched.
  

• Cleaned up the yard a bit.
  

• Installed a hanger for my Texas Tomato Cages.
  

• Harvested my beans.
  

• Harvested my one and only Zucchini of the year.
  

• I have a few pepper plants still growing.
  

• Gathered some Maypops from the ground
  

• Cover crops are growing nicely, I added some diluted urea to the cover crop beds @ 10-1.
  

• Found out why my grapes were suffering, this cardboard seemed like an ant narcotic.
  

SQWIB wrote:
Installed a hanger for my Texas Tomato Cages.

OhioGardener wrote:

SQWIB wrote:
Installed a hanger for my Texas Tomato Cages.

This is something I need to do. I took all of my Texas Tomato Cages down, cleaned them up, and sprayed the bottom posts with WD-40 to prevent rust on them.  But, right now they are just leaned against the all of the garage. I need to find a hanger sturdy enough to hang them up out of the way until they are needed next summer. Love the convenience of those cages, though!

• Fig and cover crops, I may transplant this to the deck planter.
  

• Laura picked up her fall Mums.
  

• Cut back the Listada di Gandia Eggplant and put the planter to bed.
  

• Kale and perpetual spinach in the Koi Pond Hugelkultur bed.
  

• Passion flower still going like gangbusters
  

• Still getting Ruby Red peppers, just eating them green, tomatoes and Tabasco peppers, Kale and Perpetual Spinach and chard are growing nicely, parsley is doing great.
  

• Harvested my horseradish
  

• Made my tomato sauce and canned.
  

• I really love my immersion blender.
  

• My last stop at the recycle center for the season. They close on the weekends at the end of October till the end of May, so I got some compost, single ground mulch (wood chips) and double ground mulch that I will be putting down when the cover crops die back.
  

• In situ composting
  

• Mulch
  

• Winterized the drip lines.