Gardening

[Don Alaska]

Never heard of any vine borers in this area Don

Some trees in our area get attacked by white ants

I checked one of my suppliers, and they have Jarrahdale listed as a pumpkin. I don't have borers here either, but when I lived in warmer parts of the U.S., vine borers and, to a lesser extent, squash bugs were the bane of everyone growing squash or pumpkins. I now have my summer squash/zucchini planted in soil blocks (96) and my winter squash and pumpkins also in soil blocks (64).

 

[Kate Ellery]

Jarradale is hard to cut as well @Don Alaska , they are known to grow huge ….Im not sure but I think they may be a cross with the Queensland Blue that you needed a good sharp axe to cut the darn things ….I still see them in veggie shops ..never in Supermarkets
The most popular in Australia is the butternut currently it’s almost $5 a kg……we used to refer to QB as a mongrel pumpkin ( no particular breed ) cause it was so hard .

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Queensland Blue pumpkins

are frequently crossed with other C. maxima varieties, often resulting in accidental hybrids when grown near Jap (Kent), Jarrahdale, or Butternut, leading to varied shapes, colors, and flavors.
is a known cross involving Crown, Ironbark, and Button, while hybrids can often appear

 

[Kate Ellery]

Ironbark Pumpkin
The Ironbark pumpkin is an iconic Australian heirloom variety (c. 1950s) renowned for its extremely thick, bumpy, dark blue-green skin and dense, sweet, bright orange flesh. Known as an excellent long-term storage keeper, it has a dry texture perfect for roasting or baking. It produces 2.5kg to 8kg fruits on long vines

 

[Marie Miller]

First hot bananas will be on the plate today.

 

[Hedi Mitchell]

Mark having hard time this year in garden. Last week he was tilling the dirt when he hit something. Tumed out to be a nst of baby bunnies. HE was just sick to see that,decided he was finished for the day. In meantime a bunny keeps getting into garden. Nothing has shot up yet, but he bought a cage to catch and release the bunny. So far bunny not taking the bait.
Sigh- but after last night may not be a need. He went out this morning and found wads of rabbit hair everywhere,
Apparently a cat caught a few bunnies. . Then found a live one hiding under a burrow of straw in the garden.
Plus he had to re plant tomato plants as unexpected frost hit them ..all dead.
Yeah , so far not a good start this year. Oh and pulled the groin area again, so he's not feeling to good lately

 

[Marie Miller]

Mark having hard time this year in garden. Last week he was tilling the dirt when he hit something. Tumed out to be a nst of baby bunnies. HE was just sick to see that,decided he was finished for the day. In meantime a bunny keeps getting into garden. Nothing has shot up yet, but he bought a cage to catch and release the bunny. So far bunny not taking the bait.
Sigh- but after last night may not be a need. He went out this morning and found wads of rabbit hair everywhere,
Apparently a cat caught a few bunnies. . Then found a live one hiding under a burrow of straw in the garden.
Plus he had to re plant tomato plants as unexpected frost hit them ..all dead.
Yeah , so far not a good start this year. Oh and pulled the groin area again, so he's not feeling to good lately

It will get better!

 

[Marie Miller]

SO is messing with the sprinkler system and has added the raised beds with drippers. A lot of visitors to the shallow tiny pond. He plans to add a battery back up to the solar panel to allow for 24/7 flowing water. The rock has started to moss and pollinators have discovered that.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Jakes has a small garden with a few corn ,raddish, tomaoe,etc, growing tomatoes have flowers on them last week.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I found a new group for gardeners tonight (and made a new friend in the process, will put that in my journal page). It is a group that trade plant starts and sounded just like something I would like and probably some of the rest of you here that also grow gardens and raise plants.
The link is https://growingfruit.org/, and you can check it out if anyone else is interested.

Growing Fruit

Discussions of all aspects of fruit growing

growingfruit.org

 

[Beth Gallagher]

I picked our first two tomatoes yesterday. They are "Better Girl" and about the size of a tennis ball. I have some green Cherokee Purples but they are not nearly ripe yet.

We also have plenty of radishes, parsley, and chives in my tall raised bed but the cucumbers are history. We pulled up all the cuke vines and cleaned off the trellises, turned the soil in those Earth Boxes and stored them next to the potting bench. I don't know if I'll plant anything else in them or just let them sit a while.

 

[Don Alaska]

I picked our first two tomatoes yesterday. They are "Better Girl" and about the size of a tennis ball. I have some green Cherokee Purples but they are not nearly ripe yet.

We also have plenty of radishes, parsley, and chives in my tall raised bed but the cucumbers are history. We pulled up all the cuke vines and cleaned off the trellises, turned the soil in those Earth Boxes and stored them next to the potting bench. I don't know if I'll plant anything else in them or just let them sit a while.

You could try something like beans in the Earth Boxes, either pole if you have a trellis or just bush type. It would also add nitrogen to the soil.

 

[Beth Gallagher]

You could try something like beans in the Earth Boxes, either pole if you have a trellis or just bush type. It would also add nitrogen to the soil.

I had good luck with bush beans last year but I'm not very enthused about more gardening right now. I thought about tossing some flower seeds in there and just see what happens.

 

[Don Alaska]

I am busy transplanting tomatoes now. I think we have about 150 plants or so, many fewer than most years, and about 25 varieties. Peppers are next on the list, and I started melons 2 days ago with two types of pole beans for containers. Wife started sunflowers for transplant and I am still pondering sweet corn. The weather is still cold and rainy and into the 30s F. every night.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

My little chayote squash, which only grow one plant instead of having seeds inside, have sprouted, and I have them planted near the trellis that the tomatoes are growing next to, so both of them should be fine since it is a large trellis. I read that it takes three months for the chayote to grow, so they will be almost a fall crop, it looks like.
In warmer areas, I think they can overwinter and come back the next spring, but I doubt ours would overwinter here. I might try trimmming one back and bringing it inside over the winter and see how that goes.

 

[Don Alaska]

My little chayote squash, which only grow one plant instead of having seeds inside, have sprouted, and I have them planted near the trellis that the tomatoes are growing next to, so both of them should be fine since it is a large trellis. I read that it takes three months for the chayote to grow, so they will be almost a fall crop, it looks like.
In warmer areas, I think they can overwinter and come back the next spring, but I doubt ours would overwinter here. I might try trimmming one back and bringing it inside over the winter and see how that goes.

If it is small, you can put a pot or and insulated box/cold frame over it and it may overwinter. We have discovered simply placing a potted plant (pot only) into the soil will sometimes allow it to over winter. This especially works with woody plants or small trees.

 

[Jacqueline Lindt]

Got some zucchini plants today , green bean seeds . Those will be planted in the ground but the cinnamon basil which sounds delicious & Also some oregano seeds Will be in a box container on the deck .

Bought some flowers to put in containers in the backyard .

Also mixed flower seeds envelope that I will try to plant in a big round barrel !

Oh! i also bought a Apple tree !

Gardening is fun

 

[Kate Ellery]

I planted a few snow pea seeds in my raised garden bed , grew them last winter …don’t use them much other than walking by the patch …and picking a few to eat on the way past ….I did notice a few in the freezer from last winters crop , which I saved in case I made a stir fry …not real fans of stir fry’s …..so I’ll green bin them next pickup day
I saved the seeds from last winter

 

[Kate Ellery]

I found a new group for gardeners tonight (and made a new friend in the process, will put that in my journal page). It is a group that trade plant starts and sounded just like something I would like and probably some of the rest of you here that also grow gardens and raise plants.
The link is https://growingfruit.org/, and you can check it out if anyone else is interested.

Growing Fruit

Discussions of all aspects of fruit growing

growingfruit.org

I might look that site up …and take a peek if it’s got topics I’m interested in @Yvonne Smith

 

[Don Alaska]

We decided to cut way back on our snow peas this year @Kate Ellery. We used to grow them for stir fries and for the kids and grand kids to munch on. We also grew snap peas for that purpose. It was decided that this year, we will grow only a few snow peas (12 plants) and a lot of the shell peas (~130 plants) as we like the shell peas better and they freeze better.

All my pre-starting is done, and the plant sale is next weekend, so we are heading to Talkeetna tomorrow after church for a night and a day of goofing off before things seriously pick up. We will try to get as much of the greenhouses plants as we can next week before the sale, the finish what isn't done there before starting on the big gardens. I got the "pasture garden" tilled today, so called because we once had it in pasture but converted it after the animals left. I thought I would do the other garden as well today, but I decided that too many rocks had come up over the winter, so I removed the tiller from the tractor, re-installed the landscape rake, and raked the rocks up. By that time, I was too tired to put the tiller back on so that will wait till Monday or perhaps Tuesday next week depending on when we get back on Monday.