daj59 wrote:Take a look in the blocker. There's probably a place to view blocked pages. You might have imageshack in there (www.imageshack.us) instead of just a few graphics from imageshack.

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testing

imageshack*tagworld is a subscription. Do I want to delete that?

well with the storm last night, the tomato plants have fallen over. Didn't have time to inspect them before leaving for work this morning. hopefully they are ok.

GWP, we need pictures and an update on your garden.

pooflady wrote:GWP, we need pictures and an update on your garden.

OK. Fine.


Corn


Pumpkins (with Cukes against back fence)


Tomatoes


Squash


More Squash

Picked a dozen HUGE cukes this afternoon. Sterilizing canning jars for pickling as I write. A few tomatoes were ready, and more nearly there. Tons still green.

Some ears of corn visible, some looks as if it might be ready in a week or so (an early variety), the rest will be a month or so. I pulled one carrot just to see how they were doing. Delicious!

I'm afraid the beets are probably lost, as are the leeks and onions. The weeds won. Maybe I should only plant large, aggressive crops that can fend for themselves. Or weeds. I seem to have plenty of luck with them. Too bad you can't convert them to ethanol easily at home. I'd be rich.

Yeah, it does. I want to see a picture of the taking-over-the-earth weeds. Husband wants to know if they have thorns near the base and are kind of sticky.

pooflady wrote:Yeah, it does. I want to see a picture of the taking-over-the-earth weeds. Husband wants to know if they have thorns near the base and are kind of sticky.

No thorns. Tiny little blossoms between the topmost pair of leaves. Leaves are serrated and spade shaped.

I'll take a pic and post it as soon as I can.

Edit: Sounds like he might be talking about vetch. I have some of that too, but not much, and none in the garden this year.

pooflady wrote:Yeah, it does. I want to see a picture of the taking-over-the-earth weeds. Husband wants to know if they have thorns near the base and are kind of sticky.

Detail

GWP, how is your garden growing? We have lots of tomatoes (Whoppers) but they're small this year. On the other hand, they have a great taste. Husband says he has some of those weeds, too. Just pulls them when he sees them, but we don't have nearly as big a garden as you do.

pooflady wrote:GWP, how is your garden growing? We have lots of tomatoes (Whoppers) but they're small this year. On the other hand, they have a great taste. Husband says he has some of those weeds, too. Just pulls them when he sees them, but we don't have nearly as big a garden as you do.

I've canned 18 quarts of pickles so far, and yesterday made a huge batch (13 pints and 2 quarts) of fresh salsa.

Have had about 4 dinners of corn on the cob so far, and have probably another 2 or three left on the stalks.

There are dozens of tomatoes still ripening on the vine, and more cukes as well. I have enough cukes just picked to can another 4 quarts or so.

I probably have 2 dozen nice, big butternut squash nearly ready, and maybe a dozen acorn squash, though all very small.

There are probably 2 dozen pumpkins, some pretty big.

There is one bell pepper on the vine still. It was one of three. All of the hot peppers got choked by the weeds. (dammit)

Sounds great. Do you can tomatoes for anything but salsa? What do you do with the squash?

pooflady wrote:Sounds great. Do you can tomatoes for anything but salsa? What do you do with the squash?

Made sauce last year, but it barely stays in the jar. It's all used up before WInter even gets here. Where's the fun in that?

I might make Bruschetta later too. Had some store-bought Bruschetta earlier tonight as a snack, and thought as I was eating it: "I could make this." Checked the ingredients -- Tomato, garlic, basil, oregano, olive oil, lemon juice. Seems easy enough.

gwp wrote:Made sauce last year, but it barely stays in the jar. It's all used up before WInter even gets here. Where's the fun in that?

I might make Bruschetta later too. Had some store-bought Bruschetta earlier tonight as a snack, and thought as I was eating it: "I could make this." Checked the ingredients -- Tomato, garlic, basil, oregano, olive oil, lemon juice. Seems easy enough.

Shouldn't be a problem. I guess what I can would be classed as stewed tomatoes. Just use them for chili and goulash. What kind of pickles are you canning? I've done watermelon rind pickles in the past, but only as gifts within the family. My grandmother used to make them and I have her recipe. In her handwriting. It's covered in plastic.

pooflady wrote:Shouldn't be a problem. I guess what I can would be classed as stewed tomatoes. Just use them for chili and goulash. What kind of pickles are you canning? I've done watermelon rind pickles in the past, but only as gifts within the family. My grandmother used to make them and I have her recipe. In her handwriting. It's covered in plastic.

My grandmother used to pickle watermelon rind too. (She lives in the Watermelon capital of North Carolina, and they have to do something with all those shells ... I loved it, but being so sweet, I'd never be able to eat it anymore.

I make what resemble kosher dills. Big quarter cuke slices, a lot of dill and garlic. They're delicious (at least last year's were). I have a better recipe this year thanks to son and daughter-in-law, who got me a nice cookbook for Christmas that has a lot of salsas, pickles, jams/jellies, relishes, chutneys, etc.

gwp wrote:My grandmother used to pickle watermelon rind too. (She lives in the Watermelon capital of North Carolina, and they have to do something with all those shells ... I loved it, but being so sweet, I'd never be able to eat it anymore.

I make what resemble kosher dills. Big quarter cuke slices, a lot of dill and garlic. They're delicious (at least last year's were). I have a better recipe this year thanks to son and daughter-in-law, who got me a nice cookbook for Christmas that has a lot of salsas, pickles, jams/jellies, relishes, chutneys, etc.

Hmmmm, sounds good. Lots of garlic.

pooflady wrote:Hmmmm, sounds good. Lots of garlic.

Can never have too much garlic. The salsa had twice the listed amount. Garflic goes in everything I make.

Bump.......
Because I like this thread!
I canned a bunch of salsa with the tomatoes and peppers I grew this year. Also made pepper jelly, apple butter, and grape jelly. Canned a couple of jars of banana peppers.
Still picking tomatoes and peppers, although it is supposed to get really cold here in a couple of days so that will be it.
Planning a much bigger garden for next year, so I'm sure I will be needing advice from the gardeners here!

The garden is full of young Devil Rays!!!

Go RAYS!!!



And the real heros!

acemom wrote:Bump.......
Because I like this thread!
I canned a bunch of salsa with the tomatoes and peppers I grew this year. Also made pepper jelly, apple butter, and grape jelly. Canned a couple of jars of banana peppers.
Still picking tomatoes and peppers, although it is supposed to get really cold here in a couple of days so that will be it.
Planning a much bigger garden for next year, so I'm sure I will be needing advice from the gardeners here!

We took the net of the tomatoes this afternoon and picked the last of them. Had a little frost this morning, expecting more tomorrow. Got nearly a basket, but they're the size of ping-pong orbs. About two for a sandwich.

pooflady wrote:We took the net of the tomatoes this afternoon and picked the last of them. Had a little frost this morning, expecting more tomorrow. Got nearly a basket, but they're the size of ping-pong orbs. About two for a sandwich.

Yeah, a lot of my tomatoes were very small like that as well.
I put a LOT of Miracle Gro on the ones in pots on the deck and those were much bigger.
There are still a lot of green tomatoes on the plants, I guess I will pick the rest in the next couple of days rather than lose them to the cold.
Will they ripen inside once they are picked?

acemom wrote:Yeah, a lot of my tomatoes were very small like that as well.
I put a LOT of Miracle Gro on the ones in pots on the deck and those were much bigger.
There are still a lot of green tomatoes on the plants, I guess I will pick the rest in the next couple of days rather than lose them to the cold.
Will they ripen inside once they are picked?

Hi Acemom, I always pick them green at the end of the season. If you put them into a paper bag they ripen nicely.

acemom wrote:Yeah, a lot of my tomatoes were very small like that as well.
I put a LOT of Miracle Gro on the ones in pots on the deck and those were much bigger.
There are still a lot of green tomatoes on the plants, I guess I will pick the rest in the next couple of days rather than lose them to the cold.
Will they ripen inside once they are picked?

If they are potted could you pull them inside? Or would they not get enough light?

FenStar wrote:If they are potted could you pull them inside? Or would they not get enough light?

You probably could bring the potted ones in. By this time of year, though, the plants could be HUGE.

By the way, I think that if they have any color at all they will ripen into a decent tomato. If not, they aren't going to be great, but you might be able to use them for sauce. Alternatively, you can make green-fried tomatoes out of them. slice 'em thin.

I can't wait till things are in full bloom. Much too dreary lately.

Happy Birthday Dear GWP...Happy Birthday to You~!

killingtime wrote:Happy Birthday Dear GWP...Happy Birthday to You~!

Thank you, but you're a day early.

Edit: And 3:23AM ??!!? Go back to sleep, will ya?

DA59 wrote:How about now?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GWP!!!!!

Wow! That's an amazing cake. I'll just eat some of the "vegetables" from the top and convince myself that they are healthy.

garlic is going great this spring. tomatoes are in the ground, just starting to get some growth, but a long way to go.
Asparagus is midseason, much stronger growth than last year. a few more years, and we'll have some awesome asparagus.

Josephus wrote:garlic is going great this spring. tomatoes are in the ground, just starting to get some growth, but a long way to go.
Asparagus is midseason, much stronger growth than last year. a few more years, and we'll have some awesome asparagus.

Husband put the tomatoes in about a week ago and they're already growing. He hasn't put the cages on them yet just in case of frost. I think he's putting the green onions in tomorrow. He's a little late on that.

Bump.
Because I like this thread and I have a very big garden this year.


Edit:
and I'm bored right now.

acemom wrote:Bump.
Because I like this thread and I have a very big garden this year.


Edit:
and I'm bored right now.

Hi Ace!

I went simple this year in an effort to keep the weeds at bay -- just corn, watermelon, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and cukes. No radishes, carrots, beets, onions or any of the other plants that the weeds smother.

I also didn't till this year, as I read that over-tilling and improvement of soil can give the weeds an advantage.

I've been using RoundUp wherever I can, but there are a fair number of weeds still making it.

One neighbor has the same weeds in his vegetable garden, and has tried everything he can think of too. If it gets any worse this year, I may have to dose the whole plot with "total vegetation killer" and skip a year to make sure it's all gone.

Garden update:
Spinach & lettuce are harvested and done.
Green beans & sugar snap peas are getting bigger.
Banana peppers & jalapenos are almost ready to pick the first ones.
Tomatoes have tiny baby tomatoes.
Zucchinis are about 3" long.
Cantaloupes are blossoming.
Sweet corn is about knee high.
Weeds are flourishing.
I think that's about it.

Oh, and yuck..... a bright yellow slime mold has appeared on the mulch in my borders. I googled it and it is not harmful, just really really disgusting-looking.