~* June Food Growing Mamas*~ - Page 2

[RosieL]

I'm mad! I went outside with the dogs to let them potty while I pollinated my zucchini. I had to pull six wilting fruit off the vines, and I opened up the flowers of some others in hopes of pollinating them at the last minute. There were a few wide-open females ready for pollination, so I'm glad I caught them. I'm mad, though, that I had to pull so many fruits. :( Why aren't the bees (which are plentiful) doing their job? 

THEN I saw my girl-dog come around the side yard with a big broccoli plant in her mouth. She chomped up the whole thing. Most of my garden is fenced against canine raids, but a little side yard I just started using for veggies is open. She stole a total of four broccoli and a cabbage. UGH. I put a make-shift blockade up, and I hope that my shallots can ripen a little longer before I pull them...she trampled the lot. :(

[rhianna813]

Rosie - you might have to go Mr MacGregor on those brer dogs of yours LOL

Rhianna

[GardenStream]

It's all planted! It's over a week late, but the garden is in the ground.

I'm trying my cukes, zucchini and melons direct seeded this year. I hope they come up! Hopefully I'm late enough that I won't even have to worry about squash vine borer this year.

[RosieL]

Originally Posted by rhianna813 

Rosie - you might have to go Mr MacGregor on those brer dogs of yours LOL

Rhianna

Just like Peter, the dogs are freaking FAST and know how to evade! I erected a temporary fence out of old trellises. Fortunately if there's any barrier at all, they usually don't test it. 

I have scales (like blisters) on some of my tomato stems. Odd, but I'm not going to worry about it until I see some sign of blight. I had to pollinate my zucchinis because the bees and other pollinators aren't doing there job. I pulled two HUGE rotted turnips out of the ground. I kinda missed the boat on their harvest time. Whoops! Pulled my mite-infested peas and will sow green beans tomorrow in their place. My first zinna opened up yesterday and it looks like I'll have many more this week! What a week. Totally dry, so lots of watering. But the zucchini and squash are producing steadily already, the carrots are almost ready, beets are about to come up, and there's a ton of green tomatoes out there! 

GardenStream - Doesn't it feel great to get everything in the ground? I planed my vining stuff from seed this year and everything but the melons cam out nicely!

[GardenStream]

Originally Posted by RosieL 

GardenStream - Doesn't it feel great to get everything in the ground? I planed my vining stuff from seed this year and everything but the melons cam out nicely!

It does! My DH and I were sitting on the deck having a glass of wine last night and I told him that it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. He didn't understand but he was still happy to celebrate with me.

I just went out to check the garden this morning and it looks like everything I planted from seed is coming up already. The only thing I'm still waiting for is the moon & stars watermelon. I don't have a great track record with melons so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[SuburbanHippie]

I don't have a good track record with melons either, but for some reason things are looking up for me this year.  I have at least a dozen sprouts up in my 4 mounds.  I'm more shocked that all my corn came up!  DH planted it really deep and I was scared it wasn't going to.  Those organic heirloom seeds were expensive and I'm thanking my lucky stars I have put them to good use!

[Juise]

Hi guys! I hope to join you all, but I've been having a really hard time finding any computer time lately. I'm going to try, though! I am soooo behind, but I'm zone 5, so hopefully not too far behind to ruin me. I managed to start everything indoors that needed to be early March, I lost a few to the cats, who really wanted to sleep on them, but most everything pulled through and it was happy fun times. Then I brought them outside. And almost everything died.   Rosemary, Dill, Cilantro, Oregano, Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Tarragon, Lavender, Zucchini, Butternut and Acorn Squashes, Broccoli, Lettuces, Cabbages, Watermelons, Chard, Arugula, Pumpkins, I wanted to cry!

The Nasturtiums and Cantaloupes are alive yet, but not looking good. Still waiting to see if they'll make it. I had 5 different types of Tomatoes and several different kinds of Peppers who took the transfer fine and then.. a couple weeks later.. gone. Somebody ate them stems and all! All I have left is my Kale, Oregano, Onions, Asparagus, (which is being eaten alive by asparagus beetle larvae ) Potatoes, and 5 Basils out of 12. Oh, and my Cherry Tomatoes I have in hanging baskets are alive yet, too.  Oh, and I have a massive Rhubarb I need to get eating!

So, I'm feeling pretty downhearted. It's too late to replant the lettuce mix I had going, but I heard today that Romaine will take the hot summer months, so I'm going to try to find some seeds and get them in. The carrots and radishes are planted, but not up yet, hopefully they'll be okay, and I replanted the Chard and Arugula, but we'll see if it survives the coming heat. Last weekend I picked up some Broccoli, Tomato, Pepper, Savory, Coriander, and Rosemary plants at the farmer's market which I put in, but I couldn't afford to buy nearly as many as we had. I planted more watermelon, too, I hope it's not too late for it. I think it's too late for pumpkins.

So the beds are not looking like much at the moment, but I'll post pictures anyway. Uhh.. I still have another bed to finish planting My peas are still inside, and need to go in and I am putting corn, replanting the squashes, and beans in that bed, too. Maybe tomorrow? On the upside I did get a little 4' x 5' raised bed knocked together. Our house was extended and right behind my beds there is a filled in doorway that still had a big cement slab hanging out outside, looking silly. Not it is being more food space and looking at least a little cute. I ended up with an overabundance of Kale sprouts and Oregano, which was trying to take over. I moved the Oregano to a big pot and and potted up the excess to give to other people, and spread out the Kale sprouts and potted up a ton of those to give to other people, too. They very quickly went from looking nice and happy to very sad, so hopefully they'll be perking up tomorrow.

Excess plants

 

Bed 1 - Asparagus being nearly invisible all along the back row, Kale hugging the ground and being angry at being moved, then Broccolis, Onions, and Basils. 3 Bell Peppers, and in front of those are planted the Carrots and Radishes, and a couple Thyme plants in the very front looking like grass with a little sign between them. Not sure what else I am going to put in here yet now that I have so much less of everything.

 

Bed 2 - Oregano now in the big orange pot in the back, and our new raised bed holding Rosemary, Coriander, Summer and Winter Savory, the Arugula and Chard seeds, and one lone, surviving Sage sprout. Tomatoes in the back left, then Potatoes popping up along the back row, garlic planted in front of them but not appearing yet, maybe they were eaten? Front left is the Nasturtiums, and next to them the Cantaloupes. Next to those the Watermelons are planted, and the rest was Green and Red Cabbages and Lettuces that bit it, hopefully I can still get those going again.

 

Cherry Tomatoes - still really small, 5 baskets with at least one or two sprouts surviving in each out of four each.

[Juise]

Did I overstay my welcome yet? So what I did wrong was not "hardening" them. I never brought them outside until I planted them. Usually I do, but I had no idea it was essential, I just thought it was helpful. I guess it needs to be done for them to be able to deal with temperature changes. Ugh!

[GardenStream]

I think just about every gardener has made the mistake of not hardening off their seedlings, it sucks.

I would definitely go ahead and plant some pumpkins in zone 5. I have a spot on the far side of the barn which is where we toss our pumpkins and gourds when we're done with them. I normally have at least 10 or 15 volunteers show up. Unfortunately, nothing has made an appearance this year so I'll have to go out and throw some seeds in the dirt.

I don't have any pictures of the garden, I'll have to take a couple.

[RosieL]

I planted pumpkin seeds in zone 7 in late July last year. I had a free bed so I thought, why not? I got three awesome pumpkins out of the deal. :) Too late? Nah!

My pollinator problem has been solved. I guess the bees just needed time to find the trove of pollen that is my squash and melon patch each morning:

[HeatherAtHome]

I'm in zone 4 with a last frost date of June 1st. We actually had a frost June 3rd this year! I've been a bit slow with planting and some things were just planted last week! (Corn, pumpkin, squash). I was late getting going last summer too and the squash and pumpkins had PLENTY of time to grow. The only thing I had a problem with was the peppers and tomatoes. The peppers were just starting to really grow when it got too cold and the tomatoes though I had a TON didn't really have a chance to ripen on the vine. I brought most of them inside. 

[Juise]

Yay! DD will be so happy, I'll go ahead and put some pumpkins in, then. Last year we had some grow from a pumpkin I'd tossed the previous Fall, so it certainly started on time, but had barely started forming fruit before it froze. I think it just didn't have enough sun where it was, though.  Lost all of our tomatoes to an early frost last year, too, despite covering them. They were all still green. Not that we didn't eat them anyway.

We had crazy late frosts this Spring, too, which has really thrown us off. I couldn't get things in when I had a bit more time to work on it.

The Kale plants have perked right  up today, hurray! I was pretty sure they would, Kale is so hardy, but they were so limp I was pretty worried.

Picked up some Cherry tomatoes, Sage, Banana peppers, Jalapeno peppers, and Serrano peppers at the farmer's market today. I just was not real sure our Cherry tomatoes were going to get far, they seem so scrawny.

So I guess I still have to put in: Pumpkins, Corn, Beans, Squashes, Cabbages, Lettuce, and transplant the Peas.

[RosieL]

I have a little Peter Rabbit in my garden. Twice now he's bolted from the garden as soon as I cleared the path between him and the shed, where he apparently has a little home. I don't mind, I've got plenty to share and there certainly aren't many of them. But I worry he'll encounter my dogs someday! :fingerscrossed:

Is anyone else looking for creative uses for squash and zucchini? Grilled, fritters, raw in salads, muffins, and a super yummy squash soup have done us well so far. 

I pulled all my garlic yesterday, and a good portion of shallots. They're handing in the shed for curing. Hopefully it's warm and dry enough in there...I've never done this before. 

[Juise]

I've seen one bunny so far.. (!really gross alert!) Earless head removed, nothing left but the little back feet and all the skin. Uuuuuggghhh I can only hope it was dead before that was done! Poor little thing. I tried to explain to the cats that vegans should be except from having to clean things like that up, but I don't think they were listening

As to squash and zucchini, I have a friend from Mexico who told me to plant way way extra because the flowers are oh-so-delicious, and she said they use them for all sorts of things. She said that squash blossom soup is some of the most succulent soup, there are squash blossom crepes, you can eat them filled with nice things, batter them and deep fry them, crystallize them, and more.. in her words, "They have this delicate flavor that is just...MMM!" We're going to be trying some out.

[JamieCatheryn]

My 2 year old had a great time with the snow peas, I only got a few harvests early on that went into stirfry the rest he and the 5 year old ate while playing out back. Hey they're eating veggies I'm happy. They're wilted and yellow now, can't take the heat. I only got a few radishes unfortunately but they were good though. We've had some lettuce to eat, I finally managed to grow good lettuce (it was dry and bitter last year). The beans are just starting the produce, this is my first year trying bush style plants they seem pretty stunted, hope I get something out of them. Tomatoes look good this year I have a good many green fruits growing, just waiting on them to start ripening. My 5 year old's carrots are edible but pretty small so far, I promised to pay him $.05 a carrot if he can get them to a good size for me. Little squash fruits have started growing. Birds are taking all our blackberries. Potatoes look like they're coming along.

[rhianna813]

We are now eating swiss chard, along with mega amounts of lettuce. Saving money on the food budget already. Yeah!

So our really nice neighbor with the roto tiller came over yesterday and tilled a large overgrown area in our garden. The spot we can now put the bean teepee, squash and tomatoes. I am SO happy!

Looks like my cabbage and broc are still caterpillar free too.

Only remaining issue is that 2 raised beds (that were built last year with fresh premium soil) are not growing the vegetables, except some peas. Everything is completely stunted. I have finally figured out that I put too much ash on those beds and now the PH is all out of whack. Bummed about this.

Decided to wait for the peas to finish, attempt to transplant the leeks to another bed and pull the rest. Then add compost and replant in later summer for fall crops. No more ash.

[SuburbanHippie]

My dog has found a new favorite food.  Cantaloupe.  First he ate the rind I left for the chickens to peck at (they cleaned it out, but the dog at the rest).  Then he dug out the cantaloupe seeds I *just* planted an hour ago and ate those along with massive mouthfuls of dirt.  Stupid mutt.

Does anyone know if cantaloupe seeds need to be dried out for a certain amount of time before I can plant them?  I've been massively eating it lately and tossing the seeds into the compost.  But if I can plant them, I want to do that.  The heirloom ones I paid a pretty penny for didn't come up and now the dog ate the organic ones I just planted.  Momma wants to grow a stinking cantaloupe already!

[Owen'nZoe]

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie 

My dog has found a new favorite food.  Cantaloupe.  First he ate the rind I left for the chickens to peck at (they cleaned it out, but the dog at the rest).  Then he dug out the cantaloupe seeds I *just* planted an hour ago and ate those along with massive mouthfuls of dirt.  Stupid mutt.

Does anyone know if cantaloupe seeds need to be dried out for a certain amount of time before I can plant them?  I've been massively eating it lately and tossing the seeds into the compost.  But if I can plant them, I want to do that.  The heirloom ones I paid a pretty penny for didn't come up and now the dog ate the organic ones I just planted.  Momma wants to grow a stinking cantaloupe already!

I don't think you need to dry the seeds, but I also don't think they will come up this year. You may just find lots of little cantaloupe plants in your compost pile next year. I actually have three cantaloupe plants in my garden right now that came up this spring from a cantaloupe that I trench composted last summer. The plants are beautiful, and I'm really hoping they fruit!

[RosieL]

I pulled several green tomatoes off to pickle them for a dinner I'm throwing wednesday (yard-to-table dinner). I'm excited to try these:

[Juise]

Those look great, RosieL! It's so exciting to see pictures and updates from people in warmer zones, it's like a window into the wonderful things to come 

I have officially just finished getting everything in the ground that's going in the ground!!  

There just aren't enough super-excited smileys to express just how absolutely stoked I am about that, it feels soooo good!

My corn / bean / squash mounds are packed tighter than recommended, but I didn't have enough room to space them correctly and still have enough corn to pollinate each other, so we'll see how that goes.