Garden thread

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  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member
    @mtaratoot those golden raspberries look amazing. My neighbor at the community garden has loads and shares them with me. They are spectacular! What a bounty!! If memory serves, you're in Corvallis? Get ready for the heat... ;)
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 451 Member
    Something is eating my zucchinis! 😡 Something big, that's biting off chunks. Magpie? Squirrel? The pot is on the patio table so it's not a rabbit. When I went to water yesterday two had been eaten and a third had a big bite out of it. Two leaves that would've blocked access to them were bitten off, and there were bites out of the table cloth over the pictures of leaves and berries. It's definitely hungry, whatever it is! Mom has some sort of critter netting that she's going to give me to protect the plant. I was looking forward to eating those! 😢
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member
    OK friends, how do I protect my veggies from extreme heat? I did DEEP watering this morning, but we are not accustomed to 100F+ weather. I understand that the lettuces that have been hanging on might just throw up their leaves and bolt (or die), but what about my tomatoes? Will they just fry? They're barely fruiting yet because I live in a temperate place (or so I thought). I have half a mind to take a golf umbrella or two and try to shade parts of my box, but that would also involve going out and moving them and honestly, I'm not planning to leave the house much until this passes. It's a 400sqft raised bed. Help! :worried:
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    Draping with cheesecloth and misting frequently might help - but 100F+ is tough to overcome. Just a few days of 85F+ caused all my spinach to bolt.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,152 Member
    girlwithcurls2 wrote: »
    OK friends, how do I protect my veggies from extreme heat? I did DEEP watering this morning, but we are not accustomed to 100F+ weather. I understand that the lettuces that have been hanging on might just throw up their leaves and bolt (or die), but what about my tomatoes? Will they just fry? They're barely fruiting yet because I live in a temperate place (or so I thought). I have half a mind to take a golf umbrella or two and try to shade parts of my box, but that would also involve going out and moving them and honestly, I'm not planning to leave the house much until this passes. It's a 400sqft raised bed. Help! :worried:

    Tomatoes love heat. They grow 'em in the Central Valley of California in the summer for goofiness sake. But you won't hurt 'em to screen some of the light. I think they might do that down in the Central Valley at times.

    Stress, to a certain level, seems to make a plant decide to make more delicious fruit. If the plant "thought" it might not make it, it might invest more resources into making its fruit tasty to spread seeds.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member
    Well, I get it that they grow these things in hot places. I just wasn't sure if mine were going to just give it up from shock. It's NEVER hit 115F here. EVER. The beans have some crispy leaves. I pulled lettuce that was starting to bolt. Everything else looks OK. The tomatoes in containers aren't doing as well. It's harder to keep those roots happy. My "drought tolerant" flowers are saying, "We're not, actually." There's also a very dry wind blowing around. I guess I should be more concerned about my kid who is on-call for fire duty during summer.

    @mtaratoot I did go pick raspberries last week before the heat ramped up. They were gorgeous and plentiful! I'm waiting for the Liberty or Legacy blueberries to ripen. I'm guessing it will be sooner this year :)
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,152 Member
    girlwithcurls2 wrote: »
    Well, I get it that they grow these things in hot places. I just wasn't sure if mine were going to just give it up from shock. It's NEVER hit 115F here. EVER. The beans have some crispy leaves. I pulled lettuce that was starting to bolt. Everything else looks OK. The tomatoes in containers aren't doing as well. It's harder to keep those roots happy. My "drought tolerant" flowers are saying, "We're not, actually." There's also a very dry wind blowing around. I guess I should be more concerned about my kid who is on-call for fire duty during summer.

    @mtaratoot I did go pick raspberries last week before the heat ramped up. They were gorgeous and plentiful! I'm waiting for the Liberty or Legacy blueberries to ripen. I'm guessing it will be sooner this year :)

    I have had to water my potted tomato twice day. It wilts more than just to say, "Holy ocelot, it be damn hot!" but to say, "I am approaching permanent wilt point." Pot is black and intentionally put in a hot microclimate. I haven't done potted tomatoes, but I had so many, this one is an experiment. San Marzano, so will likely get end rot at some point.

    Got some strong winds, and the temperature has finally moderated a few hours sooner than forecast. Whew. It's now all the way down to 84 inside my house.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    edited June 2021
    girlwithcurls2 wrote: »
    Well, I get it that they grow these things in hot places. I just wasn't sure if mine were going to just give it up from shock. It's NEVER hit 115F here. EVER. The beans have some crispy leaves. I pulled lettuce that was starting to bolt. Everything else looks OK. The tomatoes in containers aren't doing as well. It's harder to keep those roots happy. My "drought tolerant" flowers are saying, "We're not, actually." There's also a very dry wind blowing around. I guess I should be more concerned about my kid who is on-call for fire duty during summer.

    @mtaratoot I did go pick raspberries last week before the heat ramped up. They were gorgeous and plentiful! I'm waiting for the Liberty or Legacy blueberries to ripen. I'm guessing it will be sooner this year :)

    Oh my. :( 115?? You must live in the same area as my dd. I sent her a text yesterday telling her to be careful, go home from work if she needed and drinks lots of water(yep, always the mom). She said it got to 115 yesterday. :( Unreal. That's like Death Valley temps. Be careful!!!
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 451 Member
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    Trying to thwart the magpie. I also set up a snack station for him half way across the yard, but he's got some stiff competition there from a squirrel. Hopefully it'll keep them both happy. The beans I re-planted are up, and I re-planted to fill in large gaps in the rows of beets and Swiss chard. Now to see if I can keep the seeds moist enough to germinate in 30+ degree heat!

  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member
    @SuzanneC1l9zz that's what my potted veggies look like! I am keeping squirrels and crows (?) out. I have these things so wrapped up, if they actually produce fruit, I'll be on an obstacle course of my own making to get to it!
  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 451 Member
    @girlwithcurls2 both cages have "doors." I just have to unthread a piece of thin wire from the mesh and I can peel them open. Mom also reminded to cut out some larger holes for the big bumble bees.

    @Ironwoman1111 you're in western Canada too? So far the only heat-related casualty in my garden is one kind of shriveled zucchini, but RIP to my water bill lol!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,152 Member
    Some of my shrubs, trees, and bonsai suffered some from the heat. I think it was the last day when the wind was blowing 30 knots. When it's that hot and that dry, plants shut their stomata to try to limit moisture loss. As hot as it was, once the wind added to the demand, the roots just couldn't keep up with how much water was leaving through the leaves. Just some brown and crispy leaves; the plants will recover.

    The raspberries just kind of stopped ripening. When it cooled off, they resumed. I kept the garden watered pretty well. I might harvest today; I have the day off. I can hardly keep up with them and the blueberries, and now there's marionberries too. I need to dig up my garlic; what hasn't been eaten by worms. Something got to them this year.

    My neighbor planted some young trees to replace a failing birch he had to remove. I don't think they will survive.
  • Ironwoman1111
    Ironwoman1111 Posts: 3,913 Member
    edited July 2021
    @SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »

    @Ironwoman1111 you're in western Canada too? So far the only heat-related casualty in my garden is one kind of shriveled zucchini, but RIP to my water bill lol!

    “Shriveled zucchini”😂 My flowers are around the house and I think the heat radiating from the stucco is cooking them! But my corn is a happy camper🌽 it’s taking it all in!🙌🏽😀

    Today is looking more like a normal summer day for these parts, yes, western Canada, way up north. It’s so strange to walk outside into a wave of heat!😳 The next few days are going to be so nice!
    My water meter broke last year. I called the county and they said they couldn’t come and replace it because of covid and to enjoy not paying for water 🤷🏽‍♀️ okay, we’ll take it. I’m sure they’ll come any day now that the restrictions were lifted.
    I hope you get a break on your water usage soon!🤞🏽😀🌱
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,893 Member
    After three days in the mid-upper 90 degrees F, we are in a cool, rainy period. I leave a bucket out as a rain gauge and we got a whopping 3" overnight!

    My strawberries are done :(

    (But honestly, in the month that they are popping it goes from a joy to a chore to harvest them so I'm always ready for them to be done.)

    My peas had a really good year. I use snow peas (edible pod) in bean salad this time of year. I kept up with the first batch of sugar peas but have SO MANY snow peas...

    I just looked out the window to see how tall the pole beans are (4"; no blossoms yet) and noticed the second batch of sugar peas are leaning so off to fix that and think about doing something productive with my day.

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