dontwantaname wrote:What happened to your sig line?
That is a very pretty weed.
Then again, lots of weeds are pretty.

Is IS pretty.
But it crawls all over my shrubs and kills them.
On the other hand, I could just say, screw the shrubs and pretend like I want this in my borders. No other weeds grow where this one is rampant.

dontwantaname wrote:What happened to your sig line?

My server is ill at the moment. I haven't been motivated to spend the time to try to fix it yet. (The server is in the basement, and I'm not eager to spend an hour standing in front of the rack craning my neck to see the display ...) I'll get to it if it rains again later this week though. Can't do outdoor things on the rainy days ...

acemom wrote:Is IS pretty.
But it crawls all over my shrubs and kills them.
On the other hand, I could just say, screw the shrubs and pretend like I want this in my borders. No other weeds grow where this one is rampant.

We have this horror too. It is painful to grab- has tiny stickly thorns.It literally seems to swarm over the plants.You pull on the bottom of the plant and it seems to get pulled up.Grows back though.I tend to let it grow until its pretty big and then pull it all off in a big gob. I'm hoping thatif I pull it off it'll not get ripe berries and I can eventually kill it off. If its perennial, I'm without hope.

It did kill the obnoxious bamboo that was also threatening to overgrow everything.

Josephus wrote:We have this horror too. It is painful to grab- has tiny stickly thorns.It literally seems to swarm over the plants.You pull on the bottom of the plant and it seems to get pulled up.Grows back though.I tend to let it grow until its pretty big and then pull it all off in a big gob. I'm hoping thatif I pull it off it'll not get ripe berries and I can eventually kill it off. If its perennial, I'm without hope.

It did kill the obnoxious bamboo that was also threatening to overgrow everything.

Wow... you could sell that weed down here on the NC/SC border! I've seen some bamboo that needed taming!

Josephus wrote:We have this horror too. It is painful to grab- has tiny stickly thorns.It literally seems to swarm over the plants.You pull on the bottom of the plant and it seems to get pulled up.Grows back though.I tend to let it grow until its pretty big and then pull it all off in a big gob. I'm hoping thatif I pull it off it'll not get ripe berries and I can eventually kill it off. If its perennial, I'm without hope.

It did kill the obnoxious bamboo that was also threatening to overgrow everything.

Yeah.
i always wear leather gloves when I pull weeds because of those nasty thistles.
This weed even keeps those away, lol.
There's a lot of it out there, I need to go out and pull it up.

acemom wrote:Yeah.
i always wear leather gloves when I pull weeds because of those nasty thistles.
This weed even keeps those away, lol.
There's a lot of it out there, I need to go out and pull it up.

yes leather gloves, tried dickies cotton ones once, went right through

I have a question. Planted some tomato plants, now for a long time they have green tomatoes. Not turning red, must not be getting enough sun. They are turning white. Do you think they are not gonna turn red. Should I pull the vines up or keep hoping.
My first endeavor. It seems they are just toying with me.

Raining wrote:I have a question. Planted some tomato plants, now for a long time they have green tomatoes. Not turning red, must not be getting enough sun. They are turning white. Do you think they are not gonna turn red. Should I pull the vines up or keep hoping.
My first endeavor. It seems they are just toying with me.

If the plants are green and growing, then the tomatoes are just doing their thing. They can take as long as 90 days to get ripe. Mine are big, but whitish green, and I don't expect them to ripen for another 3-4 weeks. I planted them in middle of May.

Josephus wrote:If the plants are green and growing, then the tomatoes are just doing their thing. They can take as long as 90 days to get ripe. Mine are big, but whitish green, and I don't expect them to ripen for another 3-4 weeks. I planted them in middle of May.

The plants are green. Didn't realize it took so long for them to turn red and ripen.
Thanks,

Raining wrote:The plants are green. Didn't realize it took so long for them to turn red and ripen.
Thanks,

Good to see you Raining! I hope you have some lovely, nice, ripe-red tomatoes soon. Keep watching! Mine are taking a long time, too.

gwp wrote:My server is ill at the moment. I haven't been motivated to spend the time to try to fix it yet. (The server is in the basement, and I'm not eager to spend an hour standing in front of the rack craning my neck to see the display ...) I'll get to it if it rains again later this week though. Can't do outdoor things on the rainy days ...

I wish we had a basement. My "server" is so noisy it would be nice to have it somewhere I couldn't hear it.

FenStar wrote:I wish we had a basement. My "server" is so noisy it would be nice to have it somewhere I couldn't hear it.

radon gas fen, just be glad you don't have one

FenStar wrote:I wish we had a basement. My "server" is so noisy it would be nice to have it somewhere I couldn't hear it.

That was one of the reasons I put up a communications closet and rack in the basement. My server is an HP LANserver with dual processors and a 6 disk RAID array. It makes a sound like a jet airplane when the disks are spinning up, and the big fans make a lot of noise as well. It also produces a lot of heat.

And mostly, I don't have enough electrical power in my office to run all of this stuff. I moved the router, server and my domain contoller into the basement to stop blowing circuit breakers...

I conducted my first (potentially evil) experiment in pickling this weekend.

6 pints of pickled yellow banana peppers were put in jars. I'll have to wait a few months to see how they turned out.

I used a 5:1 vinegar to water mixture, with a half-cup of pickling salt. Each jar contains pepper slices, and between the banana pepper slices and the jar are green cayenne peppers. There are a couple of sprigs of freshly dried dill in the bottom of each jar. About 4-5 cloves of garlic in each jar, 2 whole and the rest crushed.

The house smelled good afterwards, and no jars have exploded yet, so I have my fingers crossed.

Next experiment will be making green chili sauce.

gwp wrote:I conducted my first (potentially evil) experiment in pickling this weekend.

6 pints of pickled yellow banana peppers were put in jars. I'll have to wait a few months to see how they turned out.

I used a 5:1 vinegar to water mixture, with a half-cup of pickling salt. Each jar contains pepper slices, and between the banana pepper slices and the jar are green cayenne peppers. There are a couple of sprigs of freshly dried dill in the bottom of each jar. About 4-5 cloves of garlic in each jar, 2 whole and the rest crushed.

The house smelled good afterwards, and no jars have exploded yet, so I have my fingers crossed.

Next experiment will be making green chili sauce.

If you end up with any watermelons, I have a great recipe (my grandmother's) for watermelon rind pickles.

Edit: If the rinds are thick enough.

pooflady wrote:If you end up with any watermelons, I have a great recipe (my grandmother's) for watermelon rind pickles.

Edit: If the rinds are thick enough.

That is the only part of the watermelon I like

Sadly, all watermelon fell victim to Mama Deer and the Weeds That Ate My Garden...

On a brighter note, looks like I may be buried in pumpkins this year (after having none last year...), and there are plenty of pickle cucumbers on the vine. I can see the beginnings of a few ears of corn too, but not many. Many of the stalks have no signs of ears at all.

Edit: And the tomatoes are coming along beautifully. Looks like I'll get to put up sauce.

gwp wrote:That is the only part of the watermelon I like

Sadly, all watermelon fell victim to Mama Deer and the Weeds That Ate My Garden...

On a brighter note, looks like I may be buried in pumpkins this year (after having none last year...), and there are plenty of pickle cucumbers on the vine. I can see the beginnings of a few ears of corn too, but not many. Many of the stalks have no signs of ears at all.

Edit: And the tomatoes are coming along beautifully. Looks like I'll get to put up sauce.

I've always canned tomatoes for various recipes, but I've only tried sauce once and it seemed like it took so much time and electricity to cook it down that it wasn't worth it.

pooflady wrote:I've always canned tomatoes for various recipes, but I've only tried sauce once and it seemed like it took so much time and electricity to cook it down that it wasn't worth it.

I'm intimidated by canning, but have made enchilada sauce & regular tomato sauce. We should have our first tomato from the garden for dinner tonight. Woo Hoo!

I guess I should go make dinner then.

kalyha wrote:I'm intimidated by canning, but have made enchilada sauce & regular tomato sauce. We should have our first tomato from the garden for dinner tonight. Woo Hoo!

I guess I should go make dinner then.

Nothing like the first tomato of the season.

Canning tomatoes is a piece of cake. It's when I have to use the pressure canner that I get real nervous.

pooflady wrote:Nothing like the first tomato of the season.

Canning tomatoes is a piece of cake. It's when I have to use the pressure canner that I get real nervous.

We enjoyed our first tomatoes. They probably could have stayed on the vine just a little longer, but we got impatient.

Had a salad topped with chicken salad that had walnuts & dried cherries in it. Salad dressing for the greens was a basil vinaigrette so I could beat down the basil plants a little.
On the side was an herb foccacia that hubby made with fresh herbs from the garden.

When the foccacia came out of the oven the other day we were dipping it in home made basil oil with dried porcini mushrooms. It was melt in your mouth!

DH thought that determinate tomatoes grew to a determinate height instead of ripening all at the same time so some of our plants are going crazy.
At least they are slightly off from one another so I could make fried green tomato soup (cold) and gazpacho (also cold) the same weekend. put them together, along with a little chipoltle crema and you get this

the lighting isn't the best, but the soups were!

gwp, how are your tomatoes doing? Our plants are just about dead. No amount of watering makes up for no rain. We usually have them well into September, sometimes October.

pooflady wrote:gwp, how are your tomatoes doing? Our plants are just about dead. No amount of watering makes up for no rain. We usually have them well into September, sometimes October.

They have just begun to ripen pretty well. Have made three good pickings so far, about a dozen each time, which have allowed us to have fresh sauce on spaghetti one night, goulash another night, and (with the help of the 6 bell peppers that grew) stuffed peppers last weekend. There are another 4-6 dozen tomatoes still on the vine, ripening or close to it. Another week or so and they ought to all be done.

Cukes have been doing great as well. I canned another 4 quarts of big 'kosher' dills last weekend. Probably have to do more this coming weekend as well. Canned another 4 quarts (and a couple of pints) of banana peppers last weekend as well. It'll be time to string up Cayennes for drying and make pepper sauce soon too.

The mutant corn is pissing me off. The corn smut has ruined so much of it. The stuff is gross looking. I'm about to try to pick some ears off stalks that don't look infected, but I won't know till they've been shucked. What a PITA.

I haven't had to water for a few weeks. We've been getting fairly regular rains lately. Still running at a seasonal deficit, but at average or a little above for the month.

Picked a bunch of cayennes today, and put them in the food processor with some vinegar, and a little onion and some tomato. Made a hot sauce that burned my eyes from the fumes before I could get it in the jars. Ought to be good. Not sure what I'll use it on, but it sure smells hot.

On the smutty side of the news, had to pull several more corn stalks today because of corn smut. I sure hope this hasn't ruined my garden forever. I really do enjoy fresh corn. (without the fungus infections, of course)

Picked a dozen ears (of non-smutty corn) on Friday night for dinner. Half yellow, and half Early White something-or-other... The white was delicious! As long as I got one good meal out of that corn, I'm happy. I'll be even happier after I pick another dozen later in the week...

gwp wrote:Picked a bunch of cayennes today, and put them in the food processor with some vinegar, and a little onion and some tomato. Made a hot sauce that burned my eyes from the fumes before I could get it in the jars. Ought to be good. Not sure what I'll use it on, but it sure smells hot.

On the smutty side of the news, had to pull several more corn stalks today because of corn smut. I sure hope this hasn't ruined my garden forever. I really do enjoy fresh corn. (without the fungus infections, of course)

Picked a dozen ears (of non-smutty corn) on Friday night for dinner. Half yellow, and half Early White something-or-other... The white was delicious! As long as I got one good meal out of that corn, I'm happy. I'll be even happier after I pick another dozen later in the week...

I canned 14 quarts of tomatoes last week. Takes a while when your tomatoes are about the size of Ping-Pong balls. We didn't get any green beans in this year. I doubt if they would have made it anyway with no rain. But I think husband is stopping the green beans. After 37 years, he's decided they're too much trouble. We'll buy what we want to eat. I won't regret not canning those. The pressure canner always made me nervous.

I got my first eggplant...woohoo!
I was beginning to think that maybe they just didn't grow out here, I waited all summer long and finally now I get an eggplant. I have three more starting to grow also. They are so pretty, I'll have to take a picture to post soon.

thelutes wrote:I got my first eggplant...woohoo!
I was beginning to think that maybe they just didn't grow out here, I waited all summer long and finally now I get an eggplant. I have three more starting to grow also. They are so pretty, I'll have to take a picture to post soon.

Congratulations! Patience is a virtue. Or so they tell me. Where's "out here"?

thelutes wrote:I got my first eggplant...woohoo!
I was beginning to think that maybe they just didn't grow out here, I waited all summer long and finally now I get an eggplant. I have three more starting to grow also. They are so pretty, I'll have to take a picture to post soon.

my eggplants are done for the season. i wish i had more! i'd roast them with baby taters, onion, garlic heads, mushrooms...really good since i'd pick them when they were small and slender so they would be less bitter.

i still have so many tomatoes and have too many canned now. i put up sauces, paste, etc so now i just need to give the rest away and save some for fresh. i really need to spend a day in the garden and finish picking it.

pooflady wrote:Congratulations! Patience is a virtue. Or so they tell me. Where's "out here"?

Las Vegas...I don't think we are supposed to garden in the summer so I think my eggplants were in shock from the 115 degrees heat with no clouds in sight. Now that it's only 100 or 105 they started producing. Next year I'm just planting a spring garden and a fall one and resting in the summer.

The fruits of our labor:

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Well, it's official -- one pumpkin. One. About the size of a large grapefruit.

Just one lousy pumpkin. I guess that's better than the zero that we got last year. If I'm lucky, I might get a squash or two this year too. Last year I had a ton of them. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the bees dying off.

Tomatoes are still going nuts though. Lots and lots of them. And the peppers have re-awoken and started blooming again, just in time for the first frost.

Should I be anticipating an invasion of locusts next year? Maybe something in a nice flood or plague? I'd give up on the gardening, 'cept I enjoy digging in the dirt too much.

I take it you're not going to carve your pumpkin for Halloween?

I can't imagine being a farmer. I'd have ulcers on top of ulcers.

pooflady wrote:I take it you're not going to carve your pumpkin for Halloween?

I can't imagine being a farmer. I'd have ulcers on top of ulcers.

Might still carve it. It's little and pitiful though.

I guarantee we'll head for a farm down the road a bit and pick up way more pumpkins than any family has a right or purpose to have, and they'll sit there until I hear the fateful words: "Oh, we can't carve them til you get all the yucky stuff out of them..."

Oh joy. Let me go get the chain saw and the shopvac.

gwp wrote:Might still carve it. It's little and pitiful though.

I guarantee we'll head for a farm down the road a bit and pick up way more pumpkins than any family has a right or purpose to have, and they'll sit there until I hear the fateful words: "Oh, we can't carve them til you get all the yucky stuff out of them..."

Oh joy. Let me go get the chain saw and the shopvac.

lulz
You're a softie. My parents made a rule - if you wanted to carve it, you had to clean it.

pooflady wrote:lulz
You're a softie. My parents made a rule - if you wanted to carve it, you had to clean it.

Um, that was a parent doing the whining... The kid takes after his mother though. He'll print out patterns from the Internet, but he's not so keen on being in the gourd up to his armpits.

Wimps!

gwp wrote:Um, that was a parent doing the whining... The kid takes after his mother though. He'll print out patterns from the Internet, but he's not so keen on being in the gourd up to his armpits.

Wimps!

Pumpkins like that are expensive around here! I'd have to drive across the bay bridge to get cheap ones, the drive'd make it just as expensive.

-bet there's a lot of pumpkins in the Tshirt contest this week.

Opened the first quart of pickles from August this weekend. Holy crap! They are delicious! Excellent kosher dill flavor. Very garlicky. A little softer than I'm used to with the commercial brands, but no big deal. I can't remember my youth well enough to remember whether the koshers from the barrel at the butcher were like that. Probably.

Peppers will be ready to test next week. I'm hoping they're as good.