Re: Mark's first SFG

markqz Mon Feb 06, 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 ARp9np4

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 ARp9np4

**sanderson** Tue Feb 07, 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 Fri Apr 07, 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 F6if0p8

OhioGardener Fri Apr 07, 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 Wed May 03, 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 RHbZ1uN

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 RHbZ1uN

markqz Fri May 05, 2023 3:16 pm

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

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 FfADgAD

**sanderson** Fri May 05, 2023 3:39 pm

Lift off!

markqz Thu Jun 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 JMqcJEc

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 JMqcJEc

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

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 5GrbUPl

**sanderson** Thu Jun 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 Sun Jul 09, 2023 1:56 pm

My kabocha is bored and has taken up macramé.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 E6KoHh9

**sanderson** Sun Jul 09, 2023 3:28 pm

markqz Wed Jul 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 ...

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 8X35dU3

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 8X35dU3

**sanderson** Wed Jul 12, 2023 4:14 pm

markqz Tue Jul 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 CjpIEH7

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 CjpIEH7

**sanderson** Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:35 am

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 3170584802

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** Tue Jul 25, 2023 10:31 pm

My absolute favorite tomato…beautiful specimen!

My squash bed is bursting with produce! CRAZY

markqz Sun Aug 13, 2023 5:42 pm

I feel like Crocodile Dundee:

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

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 G8Nasjs

OhioGardener Sun Aug 13, 2023 6:05 pm

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

**sanderson** Tue Aug 15, 2023 12:51 am

markqz Thu Sep 28, 2023 11:53 am

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

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 HKfcKKi

markqz Fri Oct 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 OyEdo9v

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 OyEdo9v

markqz Fri Oct 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.
eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 P6NVfTc

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 P6NVfTc

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 Thu Nov 09, 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.

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 VPnv0QP

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 VPnv0QP

One other:

eggplant - Mark's first SFG - Page 11 CzLPegG

**donnainzone5** Thu Nov 09, 2023 6:00 pm

I think the powdery mildew indicates impending mortality.

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Mark's first SFG