Monday harvest, 8/31/09

Gary Jen and Ruby - thanks for following the blog!

Over at Daphne's blog http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/ , many of us gardeners join together each Monday to share photos of the past weeks' harvest. Join in on all of the fun, by providing a link to your harvest each week....
My harvests last week were pretty big, but I didn't get pictures of all of them (as usual). Oh well, maybe you'll still enjoy what I did actually shoot....
In the buckets below, I have okra, green beans, crookneck squash, cucumbers (covered by the beans), and lots of tomatoes.

Photo below - This is what I've been dealing with everyday, for the past 2 weeks. As soon as some ripen enough to freeze, more from the garden take their place on the counter. The ones in the front have been washed (as can be seen from the sink), and will be prepared for the freezer bags before I get in the bed. It's like a re-occuring nightmare, but no complaints!

Photo below - I just had to take a photo of this small Cherokee Purple. Gosh, I love those things. A bigger size would be nice, though. Early in the summer, the tomatoes were much larger.

Over the weekend, not much was done to the garden other than watering and picking. I had too many other things to get done, like getting new tires put on the family car, checking 3 central air conditioning units for a friend, repairing the drain line for my parent's kitchen sink, making puree' from the recently harvested pumpkin, installing OSB on the shed, and spending lots of time with Jude.

That's ok....next Saturday, i'll be relaxing on the beach - while enjoying an adult beverage of some kind. Ha! I just hope I don't break one of my toes like last time....Yeah, too many Silver Bullets compelled me to show the boys how to ride a skim board - even though I've never been on one. Heh. We will be traveling to Orange Beach, Alabama (where EG will get some much needed R&R). Yay!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Good doggie.....

Jude is such a good dog......I really enjoy spending time with her each day, and she minds really good. Dogs understand that only one person is their real master, and I'm definitely hers. Nobody else can control her actions, especially when she's excited to see them. Man...she jumps on everyone she sees! Ha! The difference is the fact that I spend so much time with her, and she appreciates the attention that I give her. It all started when she was a puppy, and wanted to follow me to the mailbox, which is of course across the street. Pretty soon, she would walk with me to the end of the driveway, and lie down - awaiting my return to the property. Each time she did this for me, I would reward her by saying "good girl, Jude", then pet her on the head. I can even tell her "Time to go", and she will immediately stop what she's doing, then retire to her pen. This morning, I was out in the garden taking pictures, and she was relaxing on the lawn in a nice pose, so I decided to take the next photo of her. Isn't she a sweetie?

I then decided to take some photos of some flowering plants in the wild, then noticed that Jude had locked in on something. What it was, I had no idea.......

Below is her calmly gazing at something from the edge of the yard. She doesn't stay still for very long, so I knew it was something interesting that she was looking at down the road.

With a very quiet voice, I asked her "Jude, what do you see girl?" She only acknowledged me for a second, then turned her head back to the original direction.....

This had to be something really interesting, so I just had to investigate......

I then understood what had her so deeply mesmerized.....a doe that was grazing about 50 yards away. Most dogs wouldn't pass up the chance to chase a deer, (or any other wild animal) - but my Jude just looks at them with amazement, just as I do. Good doggie........I'm just glad the deer didn't have a frisbee....Ha!

I hope my little niece Gracie enjoyed this post, as I often think of her and Jude playing together. Jude loves children, and just runs all over the yard when there's any around.

In gardening related news, it seems that I will put my twisted mind to work on designing a compost turning device for my pallet bins. Building something that works well isn't a problem - making it cheap is, though.....I'll keep my eye out on some materials that can be purchased for constructing it, but it may take a while.

The produce is really beginning to come in hard, now. Normally, one of my 1 gallon buckets is big enough to pick each day's harvest, but now it's taking two. Each evening is spent preparing beans, okra or tomatoes for the freezer, and I can't tell ya how many paste tomatoes that have been cored. Maybe 300? All I know, is it's alot! Whew! That's ok, the sauce made from them will be priceless. Also, there are at least 30 lbs. of tomatoes in the freezer for making Lin's salsa with. WooHoo!

In other news, I have just started working on the shed again, and some OSB will be put up this weekend. Hopefully the current weather pattern will continue, as it is actually bearable to work outside again. Thank God....I should be able to get all of the walls up, if I have enough OSB on hand. It's gonna be close...

Thanks to Granny, I'll also make some pumpkin puree this weekend, and freeze it in 2 cup portions. Thanksgiving dinner will be even more special this year, with a pie made from one of my pumpkins. I sure have learned alot from her over the past year, and the blackberry syrup recipe is something i'll make for the rest of my life. You rock, Granny....(talk funny, but still rock) Hehe.

Take care, and enjoy your pet.

EG

A few new things to talk about

Jamie, thanks for following the blog!

Even though the garden takes center stage most of the time, that doesn't mean it's the only thing going on around here. Shoot......I'm like speedy gonzales around our place, and usually have several things going on at the same time, and several more waiting to be started. I literally have to be doing something all the time, and I know it drives my family crazy. Hey, I'm weird! Heh. Over the next several months, you can expect to see some really interesting things happening in EG's world, as I will branch out into new areas of gardening, and make my existing garden better. Anyway, in the following photos are a few things that are familiar to you, and others that are not. As the weather begins to turn cooler, you can expect to see more of my ideas and plans to be put into action. Now, on to current developments in the garden....Here's my succession plantings of cucumbers growing very well, and already - 2 nice cucumbers have been picked.

Photo below - my first zucchini squash of the year, and many more to come in the near future. I actually expect these late season plantings to do better than those planted in early spring, because the squashbugs are nowhere to be seen. Powdery mildew is less rampant also, as the temperatures begin to cool down. I may have to do this every year, from now on.

Photo below - The yellow squash production has increased, as is evident by the 3 fruit on this particular vine. This is one of the plants that was started in April, then had a 2 month slowdown once summer heat arrived. Those 2 months were pretty trying times, because they were almost pulled from the garden. With only 215 sq.ft. of space, I need every square producing constantly.

Photo below - here's something new.....remember the cage that was pieced together around the container corn next to the woods? Well, since the new cucumber vines would need something to climb, I threw together a trellis of sorts by attaching another piece of cage to the front - then zip tied several small tree branches to the framework. I can't wait to see this thing completely covered with vines, as it should work like a charm. As it fills out more, the picture should be more revealing. The foliage in the background kind of makes it hard to see.

Photo below - a boatload of trays that I got from my local Kmart garden center for free. They'll be used next spring, as I dive head first into the world of growing - then selling all kinds of transplants to the public. Yeah....as stated earlier, things will be very interesting around here in the future. I'll even create 2 small greenhouses to accomodate all of the various types of plants that will be grown. Flowers, shrubs, small trees, and of course vegetable seedlings will be grown.
My BIL Lin will be watching this new adventure closely, I bet! Ha.

Photo below - probably the only tree that will be propagated for the public will be japanese maple, as shown here....This is the one that had just germinated in early spring, and I've been babysitting it ever since. A person can make ALOT of money from selling these babies, and I know where I can get around 40 or 50 new seedlings for free each March/April. Hee Hee...

Photo below - Here's one of the new deck rail planters that will be used for growing fall lettuce in. Kmart was having a clearance sale on the 30" long planter, which was bought for only $3.95.
They only had a couple of them, but should grow enough lettuce for our needs. It will be so nice to walk out onto the deck this fall, and just harvest a few leaves for a nice salad anytime I want.

Photo below - I picked up another load of high dollar grass clippings the other day, and two of the pallet bins are completely full. That...should be enough for the composting expansion this fall. After last year's cycle, I swore I'd never compost through the winter again - but it's just gotta happen. I need 66 cu. ft. of finished compost for the deeper garden next spring, added with around 12 cu. ft. of vermiculite. My back is hurting just thinking about it....As I continue to get older, the thought of constructing something that will turn the piles automatically for me becomes more and more realistic. The mechanical/electrical design of such a system would be easy - but the cost of materials to construct it would make it not feasible, I'm afraid.

Lastly, just look at this little surprise! Over the next 2-3 weeks, all of them should ripen - and grape jelly will be made from the juice. Oh god...it's good! It's been probably 15 years since I've made any, but I still know how....A jar of this stuff will definitely make a trip to Kentucky, along with some pickles and blackberry jam. Get ready, Gracie...WooHoo!

That's enough for this post, because I need to get in the bed! (Yawn..) I'm sleepy....

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Monday harvest, 8/24/09 - and pumpkins, melons

Although I had a harvest everyday last week, I was only able to get a picture of this one - which was picked Saturday evening. The pumpkin only weighed 8 lbs., but should be enough for one, two, three pies? I just don't know about these things....Anyway, this was a pretty diverse group of veggies to harvest, but the usual okra, beans, and tomatoes were still harvested - as always.

Photo below - here's one of my spaghetti squash that is maturing nicely.

Photo below - Here's a new pumpkin that fell from its knee high sling. The wind was pretty rough, and when it fell - it took the vine with it! Oh well, it'll just have to mature on the ground.

Photo below - Here's my other pumpkins, of which the orange one is included in the harvest photo at the top of this post. I'll grow these pumpkins again next year.

Photo below - Just a closeup pic of the one that was pulled.

Photo below - here's a new watermelon that formed on the ground. It was underneath the foliage, and was quite a surprise.

Photo below - here's another melon that formed on the ground, and a "jack-be-little" ornamental pumpkin. It's the only one I have, and some more would be great!

Photo below - here's a mountain hoosier watermelon, that might weigh 3 or 4 lbs. The melons just haven't done well for me this year. I really think the pumpkins took control of the entire box, hogging all of the water, nutrients, and sunshine.

Photo below - here's a cantaloupe that formed under the foliage on the ground. It'll just have to stay there, I reckon.

Well, that's what's going on in the world of melons and pumpkins around here, which is about 1/3 of the total garden. The first zucchini has been harvested from the new plants (as seen in the top photo), as well as the first couple of cucumbers from the succession plantings. With 7 weeks left before the first probable frost, things are fixin' to get interesting! The cucumber vines (about 25 of them) are running like crazy, and will likely make my life a nightmare before it's over. Ha! I must be mental or something, to have planted 25 cucumbers....Hee Hee.

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Joining the 200 lb. club tomorrow

Well, I don't have any pictures today, but several will be taken this weekend. I just wanted to pop in and write a few words about happenings in the garden. Oh! the concert was very good, but it rained the entire time! Yep, it was an outdoor concert, and no poncho to be had....I had to buy a new wallet the next day, and it was something i'll never forget. Ha!

In gardening news, lots of new developments have taken place, mainly with the new cucumber and zucchini plantings. I've picked 2 nice cucumbers already, and a zucchini squash will be picked on Sunday. Yay!

Of course, the beans, okra, and tomatoes are still coming in, and I've had to resort to putting the harvests in my parents' freezer. (ours is full!)

One of the pumpkins has turned completely orange now, and I'm just waiting on the outer surface to harden before picking it. I figure it'll weigh in at around 10-15 lbs, so that will be a nice boost in harvest weight total for the year. Speaking of which.... I'm only 4 ounces away from the 200 lb. club. You have no idea how good that makes me feel.....

The new lettuce and carrot seedlings have emerged from the soil, and will be moved onto the deck very soon.

Thanks to my good friend Tom, I have become really interested in propagating plants from cuttings and such, and will get into the subject really deep this winter. Tom is the propagating man! You can learn how to propagate lots of things from him, at his blog
http://seventhstreetcottage.blogspot.com/ . Get ready for alot of new happenings around here during the first 4-5 months next year, because I'll be selling a wide variety of plants - including perrenials. WooHoo!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

A time to kill, a story of BT carnage. Ha!

I certainly don't mind hand picking the harmful pests from all of my veggies, shoot... I actually enjoy it - as I'm sure you've figured out! But, certain situations call for some assistance from one of my many tools for dealing with these pests....I'm talking about BT, which is one of my best gardening friends. If you have caterpillar problems, then BT is the answer. It is used alot for my cole vegetables, but never had been used for protecting my tomatoes. That was....until my plants became so tall that I couldn't reach the worms on them. I measured the tallest plant today, and it was 9 feet....

A stroll out to the garden revealed that I had a serious caterpillar infestation on my brandywine tomatoes, as the following photos show. Why only the brandywine? I just don't know.

Photo below - black caterpillar eggs. The larval stage of these is actually quite beautiful, but still - they had to go. I crush them between thumb and forefinger, as it is quite easy - and effective.

Photo below - Here's one just after hatching, and as you can tell - is really doing a number on this leaf. There were about 10 leaves like this, and all contained tiny worms. I couldn't reach them, though....

Photo below - Here's one that's about to begin boring into the fruit itself, which isn't acceptable at all!

Photo below - here's one that has already penetrated a tomato, and that really gave me the incentive to create hell on earth for these little worms. Ha! So, I just morphed into "the evil twin"(which has only carnage and destruction on his mind all the time), and drenched every inch of my tomato plants with BT. (insert evil laugh here) heh.

Photo below - the next day, this is what I found.....Ha! See how dark looking this hornworm is? Ya, something tells me it had a painful death! No next morning continental breakfast for this party-goer. Hee Hee....

Photo below - here's another one, that was on my paste tomatoes. It's got a problem, also. Heh.

Pretty effective, huh? That'll show those worms to mess with my tomatoes! About 5 tomatoes were completely ruined, but thankfully there are several more that are untouched. With a couple of months left in the growing season, the newest plants (6 of them) that are growing in containers next to the old playhouse are finally starting to produce fruit. I'm hoping they will give me a good boost in tomato harvest numbers, so that my BIL Lin's salsa can be made later. Oh god it's good!!!!

Speaking of good, the lone honeydew was eaten last night and it was unbelievable! Holy Moly....i'll grow that one again next year, because it was very impressive...

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Monday Harvest, August 17th 2009

Cindy, Whitney, Michael, Three Sisters, and Garrett Alley - welcome to my blog, and thanks for following!

Daphne, over at http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/ hosts a weekly Monday harvest where all who participate show pictures of their harvest from the previous week. I just had to join in on all the fun, and only 1 harvest from last week wasn't photographed. I don't have time to setup an extravagant display, but wanted to share anyway.

Photo below - I've had my eye on this honeydew melon for a while, and it weighed in at 5.5 lbs. As I was trimming dead leaves from the vines today, a new little honeydew was spotted under the foliage. That's fantastic! I'd sure like to get more before the vines are finished.....

Photo below - this is the typical harvest of beans and okra that is picked every 2 days. They add up after a week's worth are frozen, and our little freezer is packed full already! I guess future harvests will go in my parents' freezer, as I'm sure they won't mind.

Since the heat is causing the tomatoes to have radial cracks on them, they have to be picked as soon as they start to turn color, then laid on the kitchen windowsill to ripen. The watermelons above were absolutely tasteless, and I threw them out.....I would classify this year's melon harvest to be a failure, but at least many lessons were learned along the way.

I hope family in Kentucky are doing well, and we'll be making that salsa pretty soon, Lin!

Tonight is concert night, and we'll be seeing Nickelback, Saving Abel, and Papa Roach in Birmingham. This show is for my wife, because she doesn't like the hardcore bands that me and the kids go to see...ha!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Watermelon festival 2009

Most towns have some type of festival each year, and Russellville's is all about watermelon. My small town only has a population of about 7,000 - but people from all around come to take part in the annual festivities. The outdoor temperature makes it brutal to withstand, but it's definitely worth it. BTW, my watermelon photo took first place, and I got $20 cash for the effort. Yay!
Anyway, below are ALOT of photos that I shot on Saturday morning, and I hope you'll enjoy them! In this first picture, you can see the main street has been blocked off to traffic, and people, booths, and all kinds of vendors are occupying the street. The festival area consumes about 10 city blocks.

Photo below - here's what everyone came for....free watermelon, and it's all you can eat!

Photos below - When I walked by this trailer, I was in complete awe....words can't explain how big these are in person, but you can use the bale of hay as reference. I would guess the one on the left weighed at least 200 lbs.

Photos below - I really enjoy some of the old equipment that people bring to this event. This first one is of a small boiler, and several small, steam operated pieces of equipment that were powered by it. It was pretty dadgum cool. Yeah, I see the sign on the post.....Ha!

Photo below - here's an old gasoline engine driving an ice cream maker. This was at a homemade ice cream vendor's booth, and was pumping out the cream, let me tell ya!

Photo below - the car show brings collectors from far away to win the various trophies and cash prizes. I really like the muscle cars, especially the 1972 dodge challengers and such....

However, I didn't enjoy seeing this next car, that had "Auburn Street Rod" above the windshield.....The tractor tires and such is just plain wrong......Must belong to an Alabama fan!

Lastly, I really didn't expect to see this when I stuck my head in the car window.....Ribbit, this is not funny dangit!!!!! I know you're laughing!

Anyway, it was a good time.....

EG

An explanation of my big garden box

Becca's Dirt and Dot - thanks for following the blog!

Ok, since some people can't view my videos, I won't do anymore for a while. There will be lots of pictures in future posts, though!

New developments on the gardening homefront:

I hit the jackpot yesterday while looking for some high dollar grass clippings at lunch! I filled the bed of my long wheel base pickup with probably....15 big bags? All I know, is that my truck was full - and I now have two pallet bins completely full of grass clippings for later use. Yay! Now, I just need about 75 bags of leaves this fall, and I'm in large - scale composting heaven. I'll need at least 66 cu. ft. of finished compost to fill the taller raised bed next spring, and this should do it.

I also sliced my first Cherokee Purple tomato in over a month yesterday, and it sure made that BLT good! Man....that is one impressive variety. It will be the only slicing tomato that is grown next year.....maybe. Hey, i'd like to try Kellogg's Breakfast too! LOL

I know most people are getting ready for their fall garden right now, but I'm only gonna plant lettuce and carrots. Yep, and it's gonna be done in planters on the deck. The lettuce will be grown in the 4 hanging deck rail planters, and carrots in a self-watering container (10 gallon, that is yet to be constructed). That'll allow me to continue growing a couple of things once the warm season veggies play out, and protecting them should be a breeze.

Anyway, as I stated earlier - this will be the last video for a while, and it shows alot about my main garden box (especially how the removable fencing works.) I literally paced the yard for hours trying to come up with this design, and my brain hurt really bad afterward. I hope you enjoy it! Ouch! It's hurting just thinking about it.....

The main garden box

Ok, here's a video of everything in the big box - as it was last weekend. No harm was done to bugs (heh), but I bet some are in there!



In current news, the garden is still producing a 2-3 lb. harvest each day, which are mostly beans and okra. The tomatoes have started coming in again (yay!), but the heat is still causing a few cracks on the fruit. Hopefully, in a couple more weeks that will change as the temps begin to drop a little.
I do have new stories to tell about the garden, and one is of complete carnage concerning a certain pest (which isn't a squashbug). Oh, this is good!

To my good buddy Dan - I haven't forgotten about the hoop cover construction project, and will start on them in October. Thanks to you and Tom, I have new ideas for their construction - and use. Needless to say, they will have a few "bells and whistles", and will get used ALOT between November and May. I can't wait!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The squashbug massacre. Ha!

While trying to show my pumpkins/melons to ya, I was interrupted by some squashbugs.

*Disclaimer - harm WAS done to insects in this movie. Ha!

Random topics

This post will be comprised of some really diverse items out in the yard, but hey....the same ol' things would be boring after awhile! Before getting started, i'd like to say that both cantaloupe have been picked, as well as a small watermelon. Blech! The big cantaloupe wasn't sweet at all....

Beans, okra, yellow squash, and paste tomatoes are being picked almost every day, but that's about it for now. Anyway...on to the photos!


This first picture is for Tom, and is of a twig that just shot up from the ground beside one of my pear trees. It's definitely from the same tree, but I don't know what to do with it. Can it be cut - then rooted? If so, when would be the best time to try?

Photo below - Here's butthead......It sure is difficult tending to everything while Jude is wanting to play the entire time. I'm just glad that's not one of my green tomatoes in her mouth right now. She loves them!

Photo below - In just a few weeks, these muscadine grapes will be used for making jelly. Yay! I only need about 3 gallons, and it's gonna be close.

Photo below - Some roma tomatoes, just waiting to start turning red. I've got 3 quarts of them in the freezer right now, that have already been prepped for making sauce with later. With the current rate of harvest, I've decided that at least twice as many plants will be planted for next year. A decent number of quarts will be hard to come by this year, I bet. Instead of 8 slicers and 4 paste (which I currently have), 8 paste and 4 slicers will be much better.

Photo below - Since so many people commented on the size of my tomato plants recently, I wanted to show a different view. Oh yeah....they're really tall! The plant in the front/left is a mortgage lifter, and it has a problem of some kind. It'll likely be removed this weekend, because I don't want the others to be infected too. It's not a blight of some kind, because it's been like that for weeks. I'm not sure if they are visible, but several small tomaotes are currently on the other plants. I really need the temperatures to go down a little, because this heat just makes the tomatoes crack like crazy. I need some better luck with the remaining tomaotes, because some of these will be used for salsa, if possible. Maybe "heatwave" will be tried next year.....

As usual, the weekend is full of activities, and i'll finish the second refrigeration unit for one of my friends tomorrow. The shed hasn't been touched in months, and I can't help but look at it everyday. It's just too humid to work very much outside - and even normal garden chores makes me sweat profusely. Hopefully, in late September I can start on the shed again - once things cool down a bit. I'm ready to put my stuff in it!

I also have to repair my parents' kitchen sink this weekend, and mow the lawn. There's never a break for EG around here....Next weekend is the "Watermelon Festival" in my town, and it's gonna be pretty fun! I like seeing the various contests - especially largest watermelon. The only contest I've entered is the "Still Life watermelon photo contest" - you guessed it! The photo at the top of my blog has been printed as an 8x10, and first place gets $20. Wish me luck!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG