Gardening

[Bullwinkle]

       Got several cantaloupe almost ready, they have been growing steady. Probably try one this weekend. Sugar Baby melons got about five inches and just quit . have gotten a handful of bell peppers and Jalapeño's. The Poblano's quit growing also. Black Diamonds are coming along nicely. Beets and turnips haven't done too hot. Cucumbers have gone crazy.

      Since the rain, the grasshoppers have moved in en force. Already decimated the iris leaves and hibiscus.

[Growit1]

Jar - Had the Pink Girl for supper last evening. Good tasting and meaty to top it off. Can see why you like them so much.

[jarhead]

Growit1,
Glad you liked the Pink Girl tomatoes. They have slowed down on production since all the rain and cooler weather. Got lots of green ones but only getting 10-12 ripe ones a day now---unless there are hidden in the dense foliage and I'm not finding them.  I hacked my way into the patch with a machete a few days ago and was lost for a day and night---I aint lying !!! Finally made my way to the okra plants and climbed to the top of one of them to get my bearings and find my way out of the garden. Got to the edge of the garden and found it had rained so much that water was 6 feet deep between the garden and the house so I took that ol machete and split a zucchini in half and hollowed it out like a dugout canoe, then split a cucumber to use as a makeshift paddle and made it to the house.

Oh yea, ol Bullwinkle said he liked his George Jetson maters better .Think the ol bull has been eating too much water cress but let him eat all them genetically altered tomatoes . When his  horns start looking like an Elks instead of a moose don't feel sorry for him. We will be healthy as a horse because we eat Heirloom tomatoes.
I gotta go---got a bunch more sand plums to juice out---did I tell you I been picking sand plums as big as bowling balls ?
Honest Ron

[Bullwinkle]

       Went to pick some sand plums the other day, but they were all gone. Tracked the little bandit to a tree over in the woods. Enough seeds on the ground to start a sand plum forest. He and his band of coon thieves made a clean getaway as I wasn't prepared for varmint war.

       BTW Jar, I managed to ferret away another pink girl from my brother. Got to it a day before he did. Guess I better start eating them to preserve my magnificent coat rack.

[jarhead]

Bull,
Magnificent coat rack ? Heck, I've seen better racks than you got, on a doe----now before you say something about a "rack" on the female species, let me change that to "horns".
That sand plum thicket I hit several days ago was loaded with plums but almost all green. Maybe they are ripe now. Did find another patch and the red ones were few and far between but they were as big around as a quarter. Wish there was more like them.
Are you having the same problem with tomatoes as I am ? The vines got almost head high then broke over and are an absolute jungle-----and just keep growing !! I can hardly lift all the plant to look for the tomatoes, buried deep. Production is down and maters are not as big and now almost every one of them have a split in the skin. I suppose too much rain is making them grow too fast.
My "experimental garden" , planted in shade, for melons and squash is almost a bust. Got vines out the ying yang but what few cantaloupes I can see , although big, will not ripen. Cukes just keep blooming but very few cukes-------spaghetti squash have climbed up the dog pen fence and now taking over Maggie Two Shoes's  pen but only two hills that get morning sunshine have squash on them, the rest are just plants.
I was picking okra when the plants were back breaking knee high---then the rain hit and they quit blooming but the plants are now 4-5 ft high, but looks like they are starting to bloom again. Due to squash bugs I have never had zucchini this late in the year but found a new secret spray that kicked their arse and still getting lots of zucchini. 

[Delbert]

Finally picked 4 large cantaloupe this morning.   The rain has caused plants to really grow.   Tomato plants hanging out of their cages.   Try to keep them tied up but hard to do.  Still having trouble with the green beans setting on beans.   Have wonderful plants but not good to eat I don't think.    The squash has really continued the best that I have seen.   Using biodegradable soap I guess helps.    Very few cucumber beetles and last year they were thick.   Picking some early blaze apples.   The tomatoes aren't ripeing as fast.   Sure unusall about the rain.

[Bullwinkle]

       Got the same problem with melons not seeming to ripen. Was told the circular splits on maters were sunburn, only see it on the ones up top. Cukes have been really putting out, if they're just getting to blooming I'd say you'll have plenty. Been using a spray called " Worry Free", works on most bugs.

[Delbert]

Can you believe all of this rain?   I about fell twice trying to pick corn.    While the power was off a coon found his way in the corn patch.    My electric fence seems to click off when it rains   I have the controls covered up.    Having many, many cantaloupe.  Some are getting cracks in them and even though most of them are ok people don't like to buy them.   I may try cutting up some and freezing them.   Maybe freezing them first on a cookie sheet or pan and they putting them in freezer bags.    Anyway will try as I know you can buy frozen cantaloupe.    My tomatoes have about stopping getting ripe.   Have many green ones.  Last year they stopped setting on due to the hot weather. 

[Delbert]

Due to the amount of moisture several of my tomato plants are wilting.  Hopefully it will stop if the rain holds off some.   Hard to believe that I'm complaining about the amount of rain in August.   Waded through the mud to pick a dozen very large rattlesnake watermelons this morning.  My cantaloupe are splitting and have to throw away a bunch of them.   I've tried cutting up cantaloupe in chunks and freezing it on a cookie sheet and will later put them in bag for the freezer.   Not sure if it will work but hate to throw so many away.

[Judy Harder]

I was crowing about my tomato's turning red, (On the vine; most of time I have to pick early due to problems) what do I find when I pick? Split 'maters and yes, I had to throw them out. Think next year I will just buy my produce at the Farmers market.........I say this each year, then come spring, can't wait to get my hands in the dirt. I am finally getting cukes about 2 or 3 a day.. smallish. ey are suffering.  My morning glory vines are so full and that crop will surely flower nicely.