Re: Mark's first SFG

markqz 2/6/2023, 11:35 pm

So, I can grow tomatoes in winter. But I would say they're more like "vine-mouldered" then "vine-ripened". The Cherokee developed cracks, even though we had more rain than ever. So not sure about the "under water" theory. Seems like maybe it's just something the Cherokees do.

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**sanderson** 2/7/2023, 4:55 am

To me, they are prone to splitting. Yet, here I am again, starting another Cherokee Purple seed pot for this summer. Razz

markqz 4/7/2023, 2:39 pm

I told myself I wasn't going to keep the perennial kale. Then the kale started to perk up. We'll see.

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OhioGardener 4/7/2023, 3:51 pm

markqz wrote:I told myself I wasn't going to keep the perennial kale. Then the kale started to perk up. We'll see.

What gardener hasn't said, "I'm not going to....., but then...."? rofl

markqz 5/3/2023, 4:17 pm

Even a small compost bin can reach some high temperatures if you stay up all night reading it Shakespearean sonnets. Here it is less than 12 hours after start-up. The top-level has already dropped 8 inches. Actually, I'm not sure if the sonnets were entirely necessary.

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markqz 5/5/2023, 3:16 pm

Less than 48 hours later, and the temperature is hot (per my thermometer, anyways).

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**sanderson** 5/5/2023, 3:39 pm

Lift off!

markqz 6/29/2023, 5:53 pm

It's not too hard to get high temperatures when you have enough material! This year it rained and rained, so I actually was able to put up a "big" bin of compost.

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This is the bin I got for all the extra material I needed to compost this year. I didn't want to spend a lot, because most years there isn't even enough material around to fill my small compost box. And if you say, "Just use chicken wire" -- you haven't priced chicken wire lately. Wink

**sanderson** 6/29/2023, 10:41 pm

markqz wrote: And if you say, "Just use chicken wire" -- you haven't priced chicken wire lately.

I believe it.

markqz 7/9/2023, 1:56 pm

My kabocha is bored and has taken up macramé.

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**sanderson** 7/9/2023, 3:28 pm

markqz 7/12/2023, 12:45 pm

There are 10 principles outlined at the start of the All New Square Foot Gardening (3rd ed.). Principle 1 is ...

All New Square Foot Gardening wrote:1. Plant densely. Don’t waste space. You can grow a lot of produce in much less space that you dreamed possible.

So what happened is that year after year I would see most of my squash die. So this year I decided to just overplant, and then use the squares where the squash failed for something else. You can guess what happened next ...

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**sanderson** 7/12/2023, 4:14 pm

markqz 7/18/2023, 12:37 am

This picture doesn't do it justice. Usually the Cherokees have all sorts of cracks. This one's too nice to eat. I'm thinking of having it bronzed.

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**sanderson** 7/18/2023, 3:35 am

My 4 were unusually nice looking, also. I'm giving credit to the cool spring and early summer. Now it's in the 100s for days to come. They have my permission to be cracked, lumpy and disfigured.

**Scorpio Rising** 7/25/2023, 10:31 pm

My absolute favorite tomato…beautiful specimen!

My squash bed is bursting with produce! CRAZY

markqz 8/13/2023, 5:42 pm

I feel like Crocodile Dundee:

"You call that a zucchini? That's not a zucchini. This is a zucchini."

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OhioGardener 8/13/2023, 6:05 pm

Just turn your back, and that is what happens! Very Happy

**sanderson** 8/15/2023, 12:51 am

markqz 9/28/2023, 11:53 am

I started these cucumbers very late. Seeing if I can squeeze in one little crop before years end.

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markqz 10/27/2023, 1:32 pm

One of the reasons I'm currently growing so much lemongrass in the front boxes is because of ceaseless skunk (probably) attacks on my plants. I don't know what it thinks I'm hiding, but it always attacks the recently planted plants. In the backyard I've surrounded everything with deer netting, which mostly works. But I'm not sure what to do in the front, where the boxes are 2 X 8 and harder to protect.

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markqz 10/27/2023, 11:50 pm

As they say on Monty Python, "And now for something completely different"

Our local Ranch 99 market has a wide variety of things you don't see at most markets. Maybe that just means I'm behind the times and everyone knows about it.
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It's called Don qua, and Mr. Internet tells me that it's something like watermelon with white, slightly sweet flesh and a waxy exterior that lets it store for months. Fruits can range from 30 to 50 pouinds.

Which means that at only 79c a pound, one of these fruits would be about $25. I didn't ask. I thought it was interesting that the one could almost pass for a giant zucchini.

markqz 11/9/2023, 3:56 pm

It's November, but the Zucchini doesn't want to die. It also doesn't want to fruit, though it has flowers. And actually, it has had some fruit that was attacked by a critter. Thus the netting. But I actually have 5 zucchini's that are still alive, or at least pretending.

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One other:

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**donnainzone5** 11/9/2023, 6:00 pm

I think the powdery mildew indicates impending mortality.

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Mark's first SFG