Garden thread

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Replies

  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    So as I mentioned, I'm in zone 3 so my veggie bed is just sprouting. I have kale. I have carrots. I have beans. I have one thing that's definitely a beet and a whole bunch of "eehh... you could potentially be a beet... I'm gonna weed around you for a bit and see." And I have a feeling I need to re-plant my Swiss chard 😕

    Haha I can so relate to your comment about 'weed around you for a bit and see'. My elderly neighbor's dd helped him plant his garden this year, then left for a month+. Well, a lot can grow in a month besides veggies. :/ I'm hoeing all the grass out(and there is a ton!), scrutinizing everything else that's left and not finding a whole lot. :(

    My own onions aren't doing very well and I'm not sure why. :( Everything else seems to be coming along okay. My strawberries should start turning from green to red soon, can't wait!
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    Well dang, Just checked my garden and a couple of my tomato plants have what I suspect might be blight on the leaves. :(
    Anyone have this issue and what can I do besides rip out all my tomatoes? Plus it affects potatoes too, like sweet potatoes?
    I am so bummed. I read to try a baking soda/oil/water solution so I'll make up some of that and try it. But any other ideas?
    It's just a couple leaves on the bottom of a couple plants.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Well dang, Just checked my garden and a couple of my tomato plants have what I suspect might be blight on the leaves. :(
    Anyone have this issue and what can I do besides rip out all my tomatoes? Plus it affects potatoes too, like sweet potatoes?
    I am so bummed. I read to try a baking soda/oil/water solution so I'll make up some of that and try it. But any other ideas?
    It's just a couple leaves on the bottom of a couple plants.

    First, are you sure it's blight?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4PuEKaQpY
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    Grazing.

    How the heck do I guess about that?

    One of my favorite things as the harvest starts is standing in my garden and picking fruit or whatever and just eating it. It never makes it inside. I just went out and ate maybe a handful of sugar snap peas, a third of a pint of blueberries, and maybe almost a pint of raspberries. So tasty..... but it would take away the fun if I picked them, brought them in, weighed them, and THEN ate them. I love the grazing part.

    Oh well. I shouldn't complain. Lots of good phytochemicals. And tasty.

    My peas are just starting to pop. I brought the scale out there this evening. Our patio is right near the garden so that works.

    I have eaten so many unlogged strawberries the past week though...
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Well dang, Just checked my garden and a couple of my tomato plants have what I suspect might be blight on the leaves. :(
    Anyone have this issue and what can I do besides rip out all my tomatoes? Plus it affects potatoes too, like sweet potatoes?
    I am so bummed. I read to try a baking soda/oil/water solution so I'll make up some of that and try it. But any other ideas?
    It's just a couple leaves on the bottom of a couple plants.

    Please post a picture.

    I've often had sickly looking leaves at the bottom of the plants which was never a big deal.
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 460 Member
    @kshama2001 it's not that bad growing here, you just have to know what plants will do well. Of course I've lived here my whole life, so it's what I'm used to. I don't have a ton of veggies in the ground because my bed is only 6' x 6' though.

    For perennials I have some raspberries that are doing amazing this year, and I just put in strawberries this spring so I won't get a crop from them until at least next year. They're struggling, but it's because my sister who I got them from over-watered and very nearly killed them. I lost one, but the others seem to be hanging on so far. No perennial veggies though.

    My Swiss chard has made an appearance, and I now have two things that are definitely beets. Waiting for the others I'm weeding around to show me definitively what they are. I had a large gap in my row of beans so I re-planted that section yesterday, and the rest of the bed is doing well. Each of the pot veggies has also produced at least one flower so I should get at least a bit from them, too. It's been a few years since I've had more than the raspberries, so I'm just so excited that everything seems to be doing so well!
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Well dang, Just checked my garden and a couple of my tomato plants have what I suspect might be blight on the leaves. :(
    Anyone have this issue and what can I do besides rip out all my tomatoes? Plus it affects potatoes too, like sweet potatoes?
    I am so bummed. I read to try a baking soda/oil/water solution so I'll make up some of that and try it. But any other ideas?
    It's just a couple leaves on the bottom of a couple plants.

    First, are you sure it's blight?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4PuEKaQpY

    From all the pictures I searched through I couldn't find any that resembled it exactly but came darn close. :( Teeny little white holes all over the affected leaves and I looked again(with my glasses this time) and there are more than a few leaves involved. :/ I always am second guessing myself on everything so IDK 100%.

    I'm terrible about posting pictures but will see if I can figure it out later.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,372 Member
    edited June 2021
    @ReenieHJ

    Flea beetles.

    Edit to add: See if you can increase air circulation around the plants and try to keep the leaves dry.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Well dang, Just checked my garden and a couple of my tomato plants have what I suspect might be blight on the leaves. :(
    Anyone have this issue and what can I do besides rip out all my tomatoes? Plus it affects potatoes too, like sweet potatoes?
    I am so bummed. I read to try a baking soda/oil/water solution so I'll make up some of that and try it. But any other ideas?
    It's just a couple leaves on the bottom of a couple plants.

    First, are you sure it's blight?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4PuEKaQpY

    From all the pictures I searched through I couldn't find any that resembled it exactly but came darn close. :( Teeny little white holes all over the affected leaves and I looked again(with my glasses this time) and there are more than a few leaves involved. :/ I always am second guessing myself on everything so IDK 100%.

    I'm terrible about posting pictures but will see if I can figure it out later.

    If it's blight, or some other similar thing (fungal, not bugs, some other nonfungal disease, or nutrient deficiency) then a copper spray solution may help a little. Technically, last I knew anyway, these were considered "organic" for official organic produce purposes. You buy a concentrate, spray the plant with a solution of it (being especially sure to get undersides of leaves, entire stem).

    I have terrible blight in the soil here, pretty much gave up on tomatoes even before getting too lazy to have a veggie garden anymore, but using copper spray per directions did stave off plant death for a while, I think, when I used it.

    Oddly enough, blight didn't seem to destroy the other nightshades that I grew (tomatillos, eggplant, etc.).
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    Well dang, Just checked my garden and a couple of my tomato plants have what I suspect might be blight on the leaves. :(
    Anyone have this issue and what can I do besides rip out all my tomatoes? Plus it affects potatoes too, like sweet potatoes?
    I am so bummed. I read to try a baking soda/oil/water solution so I'll make up some of that and try it. But any other ideas?
    It's just a couple leaves on the bottom of a couple plants.

    First, are you sure it's blight?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4PuEKaQpY

    From all the pictures I searched through I couldn't find any that resembled it exactly but came darn close. :( Teeny little white holes all over the affected leaves and I looked again(with my glasses this time) and there are more than a few leaves involved. :/ I always am second guessing myself on everything so IDK 100%.

    I'm terrible about posting pictures but will see if I can figure it out later.

    If it's blight, or some other similar thing (fungal, not bugs, some other nonfungal disease, or nutrient deficiency) then a copper spray solution may help a little. Technically, last I knew anyway, these were considered "organic" for official organic produce purposes. You buy a concentrate, spray the plant with a solution of it (being especially sure to get undersides of leaves, entire stem).

    I have terrible blight in the soil here, pretty much gave up on tomatoes even before getting too lazy to have a veggie garden anymore, but using copper spray per directions did stave off plant death for a while, I think, when I used it.

    Oddly enough, blight didn't seem to destroy the other nightshades that I grew (tomatillos, eggplant, etc.).

    Flea beetles? Never heard of such a thing. :( Will have to do a search. Thanks for the info about the copper spray.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,372 Member
    Flea beetles are pretty common where I am. I'm pretty sure that's what is eating MY tomatoes. Well, above ground. Below ground, the mole population seems to be growing, and they are tunneling under so many things.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    I looked up flea beetles and if it was that, wouldn't I see the beetles on the leaves?
    I'm beginning to think it might have something to do with the way I've been watering my garden; I use a hose but will try using watering jugs instead so as not to water all the leaves. I'll take all the affected leaves off tomorrow; I did make up a baking soda solution but it's supposed to rain tonight so will wait and use it tomorrow night instead.
    Even after all the pictures I've seen and articles I've read it still doesn't fit anything 100%. :/ It really doesn't look like blight at all, maybe a fungal infection of some kind or the beetles so I'll keep an eye out for nasty critters. I had such great luck with tomatoes last summer so this is a bit disheartening. Oh well.....
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,142 Member
    I just came home from the food bank farm, it's right around the corner so the same things are doing well. We harvested sungold tomatoes, fennel, turnips, and green garlic and weeded the onions. Here and at home the lettuce is bolting. I pinch my blossoms off tomatoes until they're a few feet high so I'm just starting to get my first one now though I've been bringing in zucchini for a few weeks then harvesting a lot of herbs. My snap peas are dust, we're in the 100s this week in Sacramento so it's going to be a lot of watering and staying inside when possible.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    Something got my broccoli and I have no idea what 😩 had two plants given to me, they were growing well, baseball size heads, checked on them yesterday. Was walking by the garden to go in a walk with hubby and stopped in my tracks… just nubs left! Like when a toddler just eats the soft bits off the top. WTHeck?? There is bird netting around it so I don’t think the chickens could get to it, nor would that be their first choice with all the cicadas, clover, and other goodies around (it’s clear on the other side of the house so it wasn’t convenient for them the couple hours they were out, they normally go other places). Blah!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited June 2021
    OMG love the doggie on the kneeler!

    I don't have roses in my yard, but I do trim the wild multiflora roses on the trails, and have been meaning to get gauntlet/rose gloves for forever. They come up to or past the elbows.

    https://www.homedepot.com/s/rose%20gloves?NCNI-5
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,142 Member
    @Ironwoman1111 I just bought that kneeler too, it's awesome! I borrowed it from someone at the food bank farm to prep veggies, the only problem is I have my seated walker hogging the trunk so I haven't taken it there yet but I'm going to take it out and put it in there instead since I'm more likely to use it than the walker. Your dog is adorable!
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 460 Member
    It's been really gusty and when I looked out the kitchen window this morning I saw that the wind had knocked over my tomato. The wind also seems to have dried it out faster than usual so I gave it a drink when I picked it up. Hopefully that's a one off!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    It's been really gusty and when I looked out the kitchen window this morning I saw that the wind had knocked over my tomato. The wind also seems to have dried it out faster than usual so I gave it a drink when I picked it up. Hopefully that's a one off!

    I'd consider staking it, especially if there's stem damage or still-shallow rooting. FWIW, if you have any old pantyhose or similar thin knitted socks that are worn out, those make really excellent plant ties, cut into strips. They're very soft, flexible, don't cut in like strings.
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 460 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    It's been really gusty and when I looked out the kitchen window this morning I saw that the wind had knocked over my tomato. The wind also seems to have dried it out faster than usual so I gave it a drink when I picked it up. Hopefully that's a one off!

    I'd consider staking it, especially if there's stem damage or still-shallow rooting. FWIW, if you have any old pantyhose or similar thin knitted socks that are worn out, those make really excellent plant ties, cut into strips. They're very soft, flexible, don't cut in like strings.

    It is staked, and thankfully didn't break. The wind was so bad it actually tipped the pot over.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,372 Member
    So.

    Many.

    Cherries.

    Only some of them split from the rain. The rest are getting PERFECTLY ripe. I've been eating them not-quite ripe because I figured they'd all be devastated from rain, from birds, and from that damn spotted wing drosophilla (D. suzukii). They are turning DARK red and getting full color from the skin to the pit.

    I found a new way to pit them yesterday, suggested by a friend. Stainless steel straw pokes them out nicely! So I filled the dehydrator again. I might fill some jars today and go get another bottle of brandy, and I'll pick a bunch to refill the dehydrator whenever this batch gets done. And I'll eat a few pounds fresh. Such a bounty of cherries like I haven't seen before from this tree.

    Neighbors are also getting so many cherries. Neighbors to the north have a tree full of yellow cherries. Birds don't notice them as much, and they will be picking today. Another neighbor around the block has a HUGE red cherry tree. She and another neighbor will be picking today. I think they should chop the top half of the tree down and harvest all the fruit way up high and then she can work on shaping the tree so it grows lower to the ground.

    So.

    Many.

    Cherries.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    So.

    Many.

    Cherries.

    Only some of them split from the rain. The rest are getting PERFECTLY ripe. I've been eating them not-quite ripe because I figured they'd all be devastated from rain, from birds, and from that damn spotted wing drosophilla (D. suzukii). They are turning DARK red and getting full color from the skin to the pit.

    I found a new way to pit them yesterday, suggested by a friend. Stainless steel straw pokes them out nicely! So I filled the dehydrator again. I might fill some jars today and go get another bottle of brandy, and I'll pick a bunch to refill the dehydrator whenever this batch gets done. And I'll eat a few pounds fresh. Such a bounty of cherries like I haven't seen before from this tree.

    Neighbors are also getting so many cherries. Neighbors to the north have a tree full of yellow cherries. Birds don't notice them as much, and they will be picking today. Another neighbor around the block has a HUGE red cherry tree. She and another neighbor will be picking today. I think they should chop the top half of the tree down and harvest all the fruit way up high and then she can work on shaping the tree so it grows lower to the ground.

    So.

    Many.

    Cherries.

    I usually make cherry clafoutis when they go on sale this time of year, but am just eating them plain this year. Great tip about the stainless steel straw. I only pitted them once. After that, I left the stems in for the "rustic look"

    I think I mashed up this recipe or one from the NY Times and the one in my Joy of Cooking.

    It's like a baked cherry pancake.

    https://www.food.com/recipe/julia-childs-cherry-clafoutis-239454

    2huwqto16pyj.png
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    @mtaratoot: the frozen cherries I've bought at the supermarket were terrible. Do you freeze yours and how do they come out?
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    Never heard of blonde raspberries, interesting. :) I'd LOVE to have a nice productive blueberry patch!

    Very very nice!
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 460 Member
    I've never tried blonde raspberries. Do they taste similar to the usual red ones? Those are my favourite fruit with blackberries a close second.

    It looks like I'm going to be getting my biggest crop ever from mine this year. Two years after hubby didn't realise the fence keeping the dogs out came down and they bit off almost all the canes to the ground. I came home for the weekend from university in another city and was so upset thinking they were done for!

    There is an actual eggplant growing on my eggplant. In zone 3. I don't consider myself to have a super green thumb so you're all going to get sick of how excited I am about this! If you aren't already. Sorry lol.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,372 Member
    I've never tried blonde raspberries. Do they taste similar to the usual red ones? Those are my favourite fruit with blackberries a close second.


    They taste very similar, but I think I might like them better. The actual berries on the plants I have are different sizes with the red ones smaller. They also seem to fall apart more. Neither really have seeds to speak of. Also, I think the blonde ones produce all season and the red ones just flush one big time and one small time. Next year I will prune much harder. Still learning. I used to have raspberries at a house I rented. They were big red berries, and they were delicious. They grew like upright shrubs. The ones I have now need to be supported.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    My sister has a garden scarecrow, an electronic device that beeps and lights up when something passes by or enters the garden. Now she also has a wild rabbit that's eating all her green beans and isn't afraid of the noisy scarecrow. Any advice of any other garden deterrents for her to try, short of trapping/relocating him? :)
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,372 Member
    Rabbit fence.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    Rabbit fence.

    I'm going to see her and talk with her about it today. :) One day she saw 5 deer in her garden; this was before she planted and that's when her dd bought her the beeping lighting scarecrow thingie. :) I also read that blood meal can help repel rabbits.