Starship Asterisk*

Well! I shouldn't have to worry about watering my garden for a while as we had 2.4" of rain the night before and another .40" overnight. Only thing is my neighbor has a low spot in his back yard and the water is just sitting there. No where to run and the ground is so saturated that the water isn't being absorbed in the soil very fast. The mosquitoes are hatching like crazy. Deet weather.

I heard that if you cover the surface of the water with dish soap, the mosquito larvae suffocate.

orin stepanek wrote:Well! I shouldn't have to worry about watering my garden for a while as we had 2.4" of rain the night before and another .40" overnight. Only thing is my neighbor has a low spot in his back yard and the water is just sitting there. No where to run and the ground is so saturated that the water isn't being absorbed in the soil very fast. The mosquitoes are hatching like crazy. Deet weather. :?

Hmmm. We had a 1/4" of snow yesterday. But the temperature stayed just above freezing, so those who have tried to get an early garden going probably didn't lose anything. Thankfully, we don't have mosquitoes here.

Meet Sassy; My garden guardian! This is from last year. She patrols the garden looking for vermin. Last year she caught three possums and chased out the bunnies all year. The little bunnies are too fast and can squeeze through the chain links of the fence.
every garden needs a little dog.

Possum belly and hog jowls. One of the Favorites of the Clampets. Anyone got a recipe for the num num num thread

Beyond wrote:Possum belly and hog jowls. One of the Favorites of the Clampets. Anyone got a recipe for the num num num thread

Maybe Sassy was a Clampett!
It Got near a 100°F yesterday; so I finally had to water my garden. So far iit has been a really damp year. Hopefully that creates a bountiful harvest this fall.

Hey orin, here's a picture of a new kind of plant you can put in your garden to discourage small rodents from eating your crops. Looks like this one is about ready to bloom and needs to be transplanted.

Beyond wrote:Hey orin, here's a picture of a new kind of plant you can put in your garden to discourage small rodents from eating your crops. Looks like this one is about ready to bloom and needs to be transplanted.

Is that a cattail? I don't think they're edible! Are you sure that it's not a weed that would grow wild in my garden.

Cattails ARE edible. Maybe not that kind of cattail, but the ones which grow in damp/swampy settings are.

owlice wrote:Cattails ARE edible. Maybe not that kind of cattail, but the ones which grow in damp/swampy settings are.

Really! I never ate one! Are they tasty? As kids we used to bring them home and they made a nice vase filler. They were fun to take apart and scatter the fluff.

I've never eaten any part of one. I'm a little surprised my brain has held onto the fact they are edible, actually; it's in the same compartment as the "acorns are edible but perhaps best mashed" factoid. Woodlore I learned from books when I was a girl and wanted to live with my dog (O most beautiful and best mutt ever) off the land. In the woods, of course. Someplace there are no bears, though; the fear of bears kept me from putting my nascent plans into action.

I don't eat cattails; but when the fruit of these tomatoes ripen there won't be any waste. What we don't eat fresh gets frozen and eaten in the off season.I have tomatoes setting on the plants already

Last year I had my cucumber climbing my fence! That worked so well that I'm doing it again this year.

Viney thingies love fences. Makes them

I am happy to report that my garden box is doing well for the most part so far. The cherry tomato plant is taking off; it has green tomatoes on it already. The "standard" tomato plant was having problems at first but is getting much greener and more healthy. The zucchini plant is getting very large. The cucumber plant has not shown the same progress - not sure what's going to happen with that guy. Both my pepper plants are hanging in there but haven't shown a lot of growth.

The last member of my "local group" of veggies is a cilantro plant. I threw it in on a whim, it was only a couple bucks. It's taken off! Someone told me, however, I shouldn't have let it bloom and go to seed. I just planted it and let it go, I figured it was free to do as it wanted.

Maybe I will try to make homemade salsa, who knows..

Orca; sounds like your garden is doing well! My cherry tomato is like wise doing well. I can't wait to start popping them in my mouth, one of my cucumbers is about 4" long already. Looks like I will be having slicers soon. I put cantaloupes in this year even though I haven't had much luck with them. Same goes for watermelons; but I'm trying them again also. My bell peppers are blooming nicely.The blooms weren't on when I took this photo.

A couple of shots I took today in the garden out front...

A fine old rose, surrounded by a few close friends: The garlic trying to 'scape: Rob

Hi Rob! I've been tempted to try garlic; but haven't had too much luck with it in the past.

Ask your local farmers (at a farm market, perhaps) how to do it in Nebraska. There'll be a way, perhaps involving cold frames. Around here it's pretty easy -- otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.

Rob

rstevenson wrote:Ask your local farmers (at a farm market, perhaps) how to do it in Nebraska. There'll be a way, perhaps involving cold frames. Around here it's pretty easy -- otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.

Rob

Thanks Rob; I may try to plant some this fall!

I've got a nice looking cucumber that will be ready to be picked in a day or two! It's going to be a great slicer. Yum Yum!

orin stepanek wrote:I've got a nice looking cucumber that will be ready to be picked in a day or two! It's going to be a great slicer. Yum Yum!

"A cucumber should be well-sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out." - Samuel Johnson

Rob

No no no!!! Cucumbers are yummy!!!

Orin, it looks as though you have at least two cukes to enjoy very soon!

owlice wrote:No no no!!! Cucumbers are yummy!!!

Orin, it looks as though you have at least two cukes to enjoy very soon!

Ya! I do> And; Rob as I like cucumbers sliced in vinegar and pepper; they are also good sliced with sour cream and garden salad dressing or mayo! Some times I like to eat them raw with a little salt.

We had creamed cucumber last night and I still have two that are about ready to pick! Today i noticed that a bell pepper is set on.

Creamed cucumber