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Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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posted 4 months ago

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May Lotito wrote:How do you protect fruits from pests? I found PC scars on apples. I heard that unlike stone fruits, pome fruits will crush the eggs. I don't know if that's true or not. I bagged one hundred undamaged apples today for prevention.

I feel like I've spent way too much time in the past trying to do just that and have all but given up any kind of maintenance other than a bit of pruning and cutting grasses around the base!

Right now I just keep planting more trees from seed or cuttings.
Peaches particularly, starting more from seed when ever we get a crop in order to replace those dead from borers.

I wish we had put more effort here ten years ago into elderberries, persimmons, muscadines, mulberries and serviceberries but have been going that direction the past few years.

Steve spent a lot of time for a few years now trying to keep ahead of the apple borer, organically and mostly mechanical methods but both trees died last year. We still have my started from seed apple but I'm not even looking for damage on it.

Borers seem to do the worst damage here and actually kill the trees and blackberry canes...I am doing a totally unresearched experiment and planting more flowers rather than fighting insects.

After being so excited about finally getting a pear crop our asian pears are showing fireblight damage...I can hardly stand to look at them

They have never been bothered before but we think the cicada damage on all of the fruit trees has weakened them and made more openings for disease.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 4 months ago

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Finished drying in the dehydrator and jarred up ten pints dried rose petals today. They had been drying in the room with the dehumidifier for several days first
...these brown glass jar lids are getting worn but I like the jars for rose petals.
Not exactly like putting up food but they sure smell good!

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2026

Location: Zone 6b

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posted 4 months ago

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The rain in April probably made plants more susceptible too. I have only one pear and six peaches for this year so some extra protection work is worth it. My problem with peach tree is different than yours: majority of the flower buds die over the winter. I figured out it is due to boron deficiency and fixed that accordingly, so hopefully next year I will have better results. In retrospect, my plants had been showing typical boron deficiency but I didn't realize. The strawberry plants already showed symptoms three years ago ( deformed fruits) and declined afterwards with zero fruiting; my grapes had the "hen-and-chicks" clusters; kales had hollow stems and brittle petioles, concentric cracking of certain tomatoes. I already see a come back of healthy strawberry plants and normal fruits after adding borax. Next I will see how the grape and tomato fare out. So if you have multiple non native species showing same type of defect, it could be related to the nature of local soil.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

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Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

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May, how did you know how much borax to add? as a spray or sprinkled dry?

I don't doubt we have some deficiencies but the symptoms you listed for boron don't seem familiar.

I'll have to do some research...thanks!

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Riona Abhainn

master pollinator

Posts: 1171

Location: Milwaukie Oregon, USA zone 8b

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posted 4 months ago

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I have always wanted to try muscadines, after reading about them in a novel many years ago, we can't get them around here. What do they taste like?

I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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Riona Abhainn wrote:I have always wanted to try muscadines, after reading about them in a novel many years ago, we can't get them around here. What do they taste like?

Hi Riona!
I've been trying to think how best to describe their taste....there is a really tart flavorful first burst taste when biting into one and then a bit sweeter juicy pulp and then of course the seeds to spit as they are somewhat astringent.
We found they need to be almost black to be fully flavorful but we would usually pick at dark purple and put them on trays to finish ripening in the house...the aroma was wonderful!

We found them everywhere on our last property and were able to prune and trellis some vines in order to get an abundance rather than shaking a very few down from 30' feet up a tree.

There is also a scuppernong that some grow here that is much sweeter...related but not wild I think?

...and congratulations on your prospective home

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2026

Location: Zone 6b

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posted 4 months ago

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Dario Cortese wrote a series of elements important in plant health including: Sulfur, calcium, Boron, Silicon

My soil is low in Ca and plant symptoms indicated S and B as most limiting, so I add the minerals of gypsum and borax accordingly. It's good if you don't see Boron deficiency, you don't have to worry about it for now as boron has a narrow range between deficiency and toxicity. How about calcium? Any end rot on tomato or pepper? Apple bitter pit? Brown edges on new leaves etc? For lack of sulfur, new growth will appear lime green, fruits lack of flavor and flowers paler in color. Test small scale with more soluble salts such as water hardness increaser (CaCl2), or Epsom salt to see if there's any improvement.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 4 months ago

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thank you May!

I need to pay more attention to those things.

Right now my phone is making everything a bad yellow green that is not accurate but I have not found a way to correct.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 4 months ago

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'going to seed' starts!

one of the black peanuts, some of the mixed flowers, beets, amaranth, carrots

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 3 months ago

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so much Rain!
We had another 3.5 inches this week on already saturated ground.
All of our water storage is full to overflowing.

Plants are lush for the most part and thriving although I lost one foot high tomato plant to stem rot.

Cucumbers are blooming and setting fruit, blackberries also.

Beans ready to climb, sweet potatoes set in and I'm covering in the blasting afternoon sun until they take off.

Moringa leafing out and now I have three more young ones from Going to Seed.
GTS black peanuts are blooming...small plants...I don't think they are happy with all of this rain?

The pears are holding their own (I hope) against fire blight.

Peaches are self thinning and for some reason there is hardly any sign of curculio damage!

Common milkweed beginning to bloom and even had a monarch come visit.

We've dehydrated three pints of red clover blossoms so far and the last three pints of rose petals.

rye grain is lodging but only where the winter peas are growing with it...I had hoped to get a bit of seed but might scythe it soon before it becomes impossible.

lots of lambs quarters, turnip, beet and chard greens and arugula, lettuce and a bit of chicory that has not gone to bloom.

and then there's all the things in pots...many will be set in the garden soon but I 'committed' to some new dahlias from seed this year and have 45 pots of them to water over the summer.

We've left the shade cloth on one hoop house and the other has long beans that we hope will cover.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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too hot to be outside so thought I'd post some updates and photos.

We are having an unusually wet june so far...and enough hot sunny days that sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans and other hot weather crops are getting in gear.

Still a lot of fruit tree damage from cicadas and now some fireblight on asian pears and the trip apple...we trimmed some but for the most part leaving them alone.

Peaches are amazingly curculio free for a change....no ooze and they are nice size.
Mid July is when they ripen so hoping there's a break in the rain for a couple weeks to discourage any brown rot.

Echinacea, queen Annes Lace, milkweeds, rose campion, blue salvia, elder flower, daylilies, nasturtium, clovers, dianthus, comfrey, penstemon, elephant garlic all blooming...and second year parsnips and a few dahlias...a new rose at the edge that looks like a single petal wild rose of some sort.

Eating lots of turnip greens, lambsquarters, chard, arugula, sorrel, moringa, mustards...and various herbs, rosemary, oregano, thyme.

...two nice cucumbers so far! and some daikons and turnips and winter pea peas (cooked in the pod like edamame are delicious).

Pulled hard neck garlic ...smaller than usual.

eating baby carrots from gts seed.

amaranth is going to seed already...these are volunteers from last years 'going to seed' seed that were 6+ feet tall whereas this years are 2'-3'....actually shorter is better in this row as I have beets in there somewhere and cucumbers on the other side...and turnips, mustard and lambs quarters...and a few beans🙄

I was not going to scythe the rye. The plan was to let it go to seed but wind and rain caused too much lodging so I did scythe although badly....still nice mulch.

I'll add more as I think of things...later

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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Lunch🌞
Summertime the kitchen closes for cooking by 8am

...got the beginnings of a bulgur salad...more cucumbers and some moringa leaves to add...I'll grate some carrot and see if I can find young enough green onions....a little cayenne and some kelp granules....and dahlia petals!
The jar is this mornings vegetable broth cooling to chill for drinking. I added some beet powder and a bit of balsamic vinegar...it needs more zing but I forgot the cayenne when I simmered everything.....

I've been hoping for some sunny days and we've got 'em now....long beans blooming, sweet potatoes have taken off as has the corn and sunflowers....tomatoes too.

Finding an occasional japanese beetle but so far nothing like other years...only avery few slugs and a surprising lack of 'bad' bugs!

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2026

Location: Zone 6b

1244

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posted 2 months ago

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Do you leave the elephant garlic to flower and set seeds or do you remove the scapes?

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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May, I leave the elephant garlic to bloom...it's been blooming awhile now and I see butterflies, bumblebees and wasps and bees on it.

I originally liked the way it looked and had hopes I could counteract the bitter taste of the cloves by fermenting...no luck with that yet.

This year I probably over planted but it's no problem to weed out the extras. I'll pull some to save for next year in a few weeks.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Riona Abhainn

master pollinator

Posts: 1171

Location: Milwaukie Oregon, USA zone 8b

132

posted 2 months ago

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So glad to see all the lovelies in your garden! I feel like now that my plants have had sun for about a month now, as opposed to my old dappled shade balcony area, things are going to be so much better, they are already, things growing faster etc.

I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

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Thanks Riona!
This has been a particularly lush spring into summer...many times the rains have stopped by the first of June and we are well into our summer dry spell.

It's great when plants can have the right balance of sun and rain ..so happy you are seeing an improvement in your potted plants this quickly at your new home!

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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We had a surprise 1" rain yesterday!

first picking of red noodle beans (long beans)
They are sharing a row with some corn (either hickory king or bloody butcher?) that is 4.5' tall now and sunflowers, a tomato, tithonia, some cayenne and cosmos and marigolds...the summer heat is on and they are loving it!

getting a few cucumbers a day and lambs quarters and green beans...Steve dug a beautiful crop of potatoes.

We stopped dehydrating red clover blossoms at two gallons plus.

These are two shower days for us humans here in the Ozarks

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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Green bean production has slowed with the heat and now it's up to the long beans!
Red Noodle Beans, seed originally from Baker Creek...they have been a summer staple for a few years now.

Have not had a good cucumber crop for a few years and this years is excellent due to our abundant rains...all long varieties, some well over a foot long and an occasional just slightly bitter one for some reason?

And the first tomato is all mine❤️

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Riona Abhainn

master pollinator

Posts: 1171

Location: Milwaukie Oregon, USA zone 8b

132

posted 2 months ago

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I'm glad for your successful cucumbers. I planted one, this is my second year of trying to grow cucumbers, last year there was too much shade on my balcony, this year I get plenty of sun but I didn't get to plant a cucumber until early June, and its gotten a slow start, so we'll see what happens. I hear they're prolific if they take, so I reckon that's likely enough for the two of us if we get several cucumbers. I'm also growing beans, favas, they are flowering! I have three growing in a large pot and they're coexisting well, which is more than I can say for my 2 mini white pumpkin plants, I need to transplant one.

I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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Hi Riona!
I love that you are growing what you can where you can...hope you have some cucumbers soon!

We have reached our limit for daily fresh ones and plenty for some brined pickles so I've sent the word out to share the extras. Too many long beans and I dehydrate but cucumbers are limited in use.

We had 3" of surprise rain yesterday and a bit more today and cloudy so we stuck some more things in the ground ...several celosia, a peanut plant, a basil and a few more?

I do this every year...start things from seed and then pot up, then find places to set them out gradually over the summer 🙄 usually I'm complaining about having to water all those little pots about now when the drought sets in.

purple sweet potatoes are blooming.

red noodle beans prolific as are the cucumbers...have marked some of both for seed.

eating lots of gts amaranth and pulling a few carrots.

lambs quarters getting ragged but still edible.

lots of things blooming...chicory, dahlias, marigolds, cosmos, tithonia, sunflowers and the echinacea still has nice color but fading....and volunteer amaranth from last years gts seed is gorgeous! and a few scarlet runner beans.

attached photos are of our second hoop house that we decided to use as a shade house rather than winter protection although so far the beans have not covered it and the inside is growing sun loving things also.

In front on the outside I set in two kinds of sweet potatoes, a couple cayennes and a zinnia.
Planted yard long beans and sunflowers at the base of the cattle panel and then the bed inside is a mix of flowers and carrots! and I just saw a few tulsi/ holy basil there also.

Everything is playing nice and flourishing, mostly because of the continued rains I think.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 2 months ago

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Amaranth!

The flowering, going to seed plants are volunteers from last years planting of gts seed...I didn't expect that so they are growing among my planned plantings of cucumbers, turnips, scarlet runners.
I'm letting the sweet potatoes in the near bed travel over what was a path there and run among all.

The younger amaranth is this years gts mix that I planted late and we have been eating growing tips almost daily (the taller ones in that planting I'm leaving for seed along with seed from the volunteers to return to 'going to seed' now that I see how well they volunteer

)

the bug damage appears to be from striped cucumber beetles ..that's all I've seen active although none are on my cucumbers?
There was flea beetle damage early but these holes are larger and I see them eating...easy enough to shake them off and give the greens a rinse...we were eating them fresh chopped in a bulgur salad but I think they've turned slightly bitter so simmering no more than 4 or five minutes with the long beans is what we do now.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

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summer heat now after pretty moderate temps and such wonderful rains!
3" two weeks in a row most recently...all water storage filled to overflowing and the ground is nicely saturated...it's the greenest july I remember in a long time.

The gold finches are telling me it's time to cut some sunflower heads to dry for seed.

bronze fennel is blooming as is tithonia, zinnias, blue salvias, passion flower vine, elcampane, teasel, marigolds, cosmos and one lonely butterfly pea.

and peaches! more curculio than I expected but still a bumper crop that will mostly get dehydrated....picking a pint of blackberries a day along with a lot of long beans and cucumbers and tomatoes...have dehydrated most of the long beans and am brining the cucumbers.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 1 month ago

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and then there are the bugs!
bad bugs that we hand pick are japanese beetles...and hornworms if they don't have wasp eggs yet.

Otherwise, I ignore.

The long beans have had one bean with ants farming aphids each year...I leave them alone and they don't seem to spread.

I'm seeing a lot of stink bugs and some leaf footed bugs...striped cucumber beetles have disappeared after finishing off the young amaranth after we ate a lot of it...we stopped eating it when it got bitter and there were more holes than leaf left...then it died in the heat.

a few blister beetles on the tomatoes

good bugs are harder to notice here...some bumblebees and other smaller pollinators...a very few butterflies...tiny praying mantis.

tiny spiders building web across shed doorways, paths and trees...cellar spiders in the house out number the recluses...no sign of the next generation of green lynx yet.....

oh, and those tiny carnivorous ants are back with a vengeance in the kitchen🫤

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2849

posted 1 month ago

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fruit trees!
all from seed or cuttings except the asian pears and asian persimmons)

and I forgot the asian persimmons that are just out of synch here ..leafing out too early then losing leaves in a late freeze but trying again. This went on for years and now they are both coming on strong from the root stock that is likely an american persimmon.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

gardener

Posts: 2026

Location: Zone 6b

1244

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posted 1 month ago

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Brightlight cosmos is blooming! The flowers are so beautiful. I thought that plant is a buttercup before because the leaves aren't lacey as typical pink cosmos. Glad I didn't remove the "weed". Thank you for the seeds!
FYI, here is the white lotus in a 27 gallon tote.

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Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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so glad the cosmos are blooming ..they are prolific once started and the butterflies and bumbles love them.
I always thought their leaves looked like the other ragweed here and sometimes still am not sure if they are not side by side before bloom.

After reading instructions about starting lotus seed at the site you mentioned I scarified my seed yesterday and have them in some water to sprout.

I wonder if something smaller might work for planting them?
Do you have any problems with mosquitoes in the standing water?
or is your tub buried and seeping?
Thanks for the seeds and the photo they are beautiful!

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

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I do have mosquitoes but not from these tubs, at least not now. The surface is covered by duckweeds and I don't find mosquito larvae underneath. In early spring when I set up the tubs there were plenty of them, then the frogs and toads quickly move in to control the population.

The Asian pears and peaches are so productive! How do you plan on processing so much fruits?

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

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May Lotito wrote:I do have mosquitoes but not from these tubs, at least not now. The surface is covered by duckweeds and I don't find mosquito larvae underneath. In early spring when I set up the tubs there were plenty of them, then the frogs and toads quickly move in to control the population.

The Asian pears and peaches are so productive! How do you plan on processing so much fruits?

I have a lotus leaf! day two of the seed soak!
Now I better get in gear for the tub...I'll look at the site again but are yours in full sun or shade? and just set on the ground or did you dig down some?
what sort of soil? I have rain water to use.

as to the fruit, this year was unusual in that we had both steady rains and the blossoms and fruit set did not get damaged by late frosts as happens frequently especially for the peaches.

We are thinning both although the pears won't be ripe for awhile.
The peaches are ripening and damaged by curculio so the harvest by the time I carve off the good chunks is half of what it appears....tasty though...we eat them daily and soon will dehydrate as many as possible...I made some jars of lightly sweetened preserves for treats but I have a thing about not 'canning sugar' 🙄

Same with the pears...we'll eat them, share them and dehydrate many...good hiking food!

the rains were really the biggest help, for blackberries and strawberries also.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

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I am so surprised the lotus seed sprouted so quickly! I have never tried to start from seeds, assuming it would be difficult. I have no experience with seedlings but yes you can prepare for the tub now. Lotus likes full sun. Because of the small volume, I shade the sides (with weeds/burlap/cardboard etc) and introduce duckweed to keep the water body from over heating. If you can dig pond muck, it would be the best. If not, puddle some good garden soil and amend with compost. Once the roots get going, lotus is a very fast grower.

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Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

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more sprouts!
I think I scarified too deeply on the seed on the lower left...the instructions warned against that and it might be I didn't go deeply enough on a couple but there are five sprouted so far and that will be plenty for my tub

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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summer is going fast...best fruit harvest in years in spite of fire blight, cicada damage and various fungi and bug and bird damage.

Peaches had curculio but no other damage, no brown rot.
They were huge and non stop for a few weeks. We dried a lot and froze several quarts and ate and ate them every day.

Now, similar with the asian pears...dehydrating and freezing and eating many every day...we have some especially nice ones sorted to share with neighbors.

In the past I would have been canning like crazy but we love dehydrated fruit so much for hiking and car trips that we've stuck with that.

Have dehydrated many pints of long beans and their production has just slowed this week.

A few cayennes now, cucumbers have stopped . .we're collecting seeds from many things and beginning garden clean up.

Picture below of what I call the herb cupboard (whose doors are usually shut) herbs and tinctures but also dehydrated beans, pears and peaches.

May, the lotus are leafing out so fast!
Now that the water has a frog I won't worry as much about mosquitoes.
How do I store them over the winter?

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Riona Abhainn

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I have white pumpkins growing, and they're still flowering so likely will be more. Cucumbers are growing, they're a lot later than yours Judith, but I think that the way the seasons work is a lot more chill here, we don't get into autumn until early Oct. in the Portland metro area so that means that the growing season is longer and thus plants are more "lazy" and lack urgency.

I need to research how to harvest my favas, I've just left them on the stalk to dry in place which I'm hoping is fine. Plus I've got my smaller second batch growing. Still lots of calendula all summer long. Acquired some daylilies which I'm looking forward to for next year both for beauty and pollinators and for eating.

I love that you have enough space to have lots of extra bounty to share with neighbours etc. You're smart to just utilize the parts of your fruits that are safe and chop the rest, some people freak out and don't even use the good parts.

I do Celtic, fantasy, folk and shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, pirate campouts, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
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Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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hi Riona,
I enjoy following your progress at your new place!
I think that smaller spaces can be even more productive per square foot than unlimited sometimes...at lest it helps me focus more clearly?
We've downsized from 40 acres of mostly woods and plenty of spread out garden and orchard spaces to this a bit less than an acre space that takes more careful planning but we've managed to squeeze in more and more.

I haven't had any luck with favas here as it's too hot too quick in the late spring...and rarely have I hit the right temps for calendula...I keep trying though as I love using the flowers in salves.

I love that you have enough space to have lots of extra bounty to share with neighbours etc. You're smart to just utilize the parts of your fruits that are safe and chop the rest, some people freak out and don't even use the good parts.

We've always made use of every bit of our fruit crops (or any crop really), whether grown ourselves or gleaned from elsewhere or wild harvested. Just this morning I filled the dehydrator again with pear slices and also have a big pan of bits and pieces simmering, all unpeeled....I'll add a bit of sugar and we'll have it over Ice cream, in yogurt and on oatmeal.
Cores and bad spots all go to the compost although in the past shared with chickens and rabbits...
This is all a luxury of growing your own

When I'm faced with buying at the store or market though I do choose the least blemished of what's available organically.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

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Wow, the lotus seedlings are growing so fast. To store them over the winter, just let the plants die back naturally in late fall. That way the nutrients will be relocated to the very end section of each rhizome. It will be about hot dog size with viable buds for next year. As long as the mud won't freeze into a solid block, they can be left alone. In my climate, I only bring them indoors when there's a cold snap with multiple days below freezing, usually in January or February. You can wash and store the tubers in the fridge, or in damp sand or sawdust in a cooler spot in the house. I would get them out in the mud as soon as freezing threat is over. The rhizomes will start growing in May and bloom in June to July.

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

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thanks! that's good to know...I'll probably bring them in and store in sand.
Seven out of eight seeds germinated so the 'pond'is probably too full. I'll have to pass some on next year

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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Have seen two garden spiders lately, both at my big tubs of plants...the one's web caught a grasshopper as I watched!
The other has a 'buddy'...could the male be that much smaller?

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 9625

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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pears done...long beans slowed down...purple sweet potato vine tips are the main green now...garden clean up and seed collecting....fall turnips up and thinning them...watering a few things...walking into spider webs daily 🙄
...lots of sickle work now...hauling chips from the nearby town''s chipper pile...ready to plant rye and will pick up some winter peas soon to have ready for fall rains planting...cool nights in the 50's F have been wonderful!

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

May Lotito

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Are you experiencing drought as well? We had a wild year, near record wet spring followed by record dry August. September isn't looking good either. My maple tree is already turning color at the top. Do need lots of watering to keep the tomatoes and chayote going. I broadcasted leafy greens a few weeks back but they were slow. Will your turnips form big roots before frost or they are for the greens?

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

Judith Browning

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Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

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May Lotito wrote:Are you experiencing drought as well? We had a wild year, near record wet spring followed by record dry August. September isn't looking good either. My maple tree is already turning color at the top. Do need lots of watering to keep the tomatoes and chayote going. I broadcasted leafy greens a few weeks back but they were slow. Will your turnips form big roots before frost or they are for the greens?

We had the same wet spring and some rains through june...and a 3" rain mid july!
Not quite two weeks ago a 2" one...so, no, not a drought I guess but periods where it was getting quite hot and dry so some things needed water...august was the worst for sure.

We grow turnips spring and fall and are happy if they make roots but we get a lot of greens.
Something is off in our soil and it's rare to get a nice round big root for some reason.

We watered the turnip bed twice a day with a sprinkling can until the seeds getminated and now much less.

The only things we're watering regularly are the sweet potatoes and blueberries and strawberries and the things in pots and tubs.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

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