Garden thread
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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.4 -
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
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@mtaratoot: the frozen cherries I've bought at the supermarket were terrible. Do you freeze yours and how do they come out?0
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I haven't tried to freeze them, but I might. I don't know how well they freeze. Certainly they'd be ok for pies. I don't know if I'd pit them or not. For drying, I pit them. I will make more brandied cherries, too. I'll wash them and jar them up and then sneak out to get another bottle of brandy. I usually don't pit them, but I did one batch pitted; more can fit in the jar, so it takes less brandy. I don't add sugar - just cherries and brandy. They aren't really good on their own when done, they need to be coated in chocolate, or I can use them as garnishes for things like Old Fashioned or Manhattan cocktails.
I'm just taking a break from picking. I'm only picking the high ones right now, and I am about half or two thirds of the way around the tree. I am borrowing a neighbor's orchard ladder; I can return that and if they don't rot can pick the lower down ones. I'm leaving PLENTY for the birds. We share....
The quart yogurt container is for scale so you can tell the bucket is about two gallons.
The good news is I think I might be caught up with the berries....
The blonde raspberries are awesome. Yeah, I know. Those are sugar snap peas, not berries, but they grow in the same area. Salad for lunch today!5 -
Never heard of blonde raspberries, interesting.
I'd LOVE to have a nice productive blueberry patch!
Very very nice!1 -
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.3 -
SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »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.
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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? 0
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Rabbit fence.2
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Rabbit fence will not keep the deer away. They may or may not figure out the flashing thing eventually.
They make motion-detection devices you attach to a hose and when triggered they throw water towards wherever you've set them to. That does seem to startle the critters away when they come up. I worry, though, that there would be a broken hose and you'd dump five or eight gallons per minute (or more) onto the ground for hours and hours and hours.0 -
My garden is surrounded by ~ 18"/50cm of low chicken wire that keeps the rodents out. Then I added long pieces of rebar and strung garden netting tall enough to keep away the deer. The net goes all the way to the ground - over the chicken wire.0
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Just a gardener history story:
We used to put chicken wire around individual sections of the garden, to keep out small critters, but also put the lines of fencing close (narrow) enough to discourage deer (not roomy for them, mostly worked).
One day I was out working in the yard, scared up a baby rabbit (small but big enough to be independent). At full speed, s/he dashed through one of the tiny chicken-wire hex spaces, across the veggie bed in a split second, and out another tiny chicken-wire hex space on the opposite side . . . without slowing down even half a beat at any point.
So, chicken wire works on *some* rabbits, I guess. 😆2 -
Just a gardener history story:
We used to put chicken wire around individual sections of the garden, to keep out small critters, but also put the lines of fencing close (narrow) enough to discourage deer (not roomy for them, mostly worked).
One day I was out working in the yard, scared up a baby rabbit (small but big enough to be independent). At full speed, s/he dashed through one of the tiny chicken-wire hex spaces, across the veggie bed in a split second, and out another tiny chicken-wire hex space on the opposite side . . . without slowing down even half a beat at any point.
So, chicken wire works on *some* rabbits, I guess. 😆
Yep, at my last place the wide chicken wire kept out the mama wood chuck, but not the babies >.<
I reinforced it with plastic chicken wire that has the smaller holes.
While that was in progress I tried blood meal, and bird scare tape - none of that worked.
Putting a radio out in the garden blasting Metallica DID work
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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?
This worked for the wild rabbit I had in my yard before we got the cat and rabbits stopped digging into our yard. It's only 18" though, and kind of expensive. If she has a larger area I'd use at least 2' tall fencing that comes in rolls.
Also, rabbits can dig. One of the reasons it worked for me is that I used it inside of raised beds.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NB1EECB/
Here it is around my strawberries:
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To keep deer out of large gardens you need a tall fence. This site recommends 7', but says you can use a smaller fence for smaller areas. My mom has a 4' fence around an area that is around 8'x 8' and they do not jump into that.
https://www.critterfence.com/resources/how-to-deer-proof-your-garden1 -
There's also a thing that I believe is officially called "rabbit fence" or "critter fence" that is a metal-wire fencing with smaller holes near the bottom, larger holes further up. It probably costs a little more than chicken wire, but I don't think hugely much more.1 -
So glad about all the go-away-rabbit ideas! Will talk with my sister again to see if she wants my help implementing any of them. Evidently her rabbit's been helping himself for a few years now.
Now....some suggestions as to how to keep one of my very creative persistent dogs out of my strawberries.
We have a fence but she jumped it. So we put a taller fence around the outside of that. Somehow she made it between the 2 fences and jumped it again. So we tied it all together tighter. She then went under. So we put boards around the places she was finding, supported them with tools and large rocks. Placed another tool at the gate that hooked it together. I wedge it in there really well when I leave the garden area. I put the dogs in the back yard while I mowed for half an hour yesterday. Came back out to find the tool on the ground, my strawberries had been trampled, but there she is, looking oh so innocent and pretty in one of her dug-out holes on the other side of the yard. There is something in that particular soil she wants because she doesn't bother the plants except for digging and she doesn't bother anything else.
Good thing she's such a sweetie in all other ways. 2 -
SuzanneC1l9zz 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.
Pantyhose!! I have used my husband's old t-shirts and other things, but I'm SURE I have pantyhose that I'm not going to wear again, lol. Perfect! I need to support mine to the stakes. They're getting tall and bushy.3
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