Gardening 2020

Winchester

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N NY cat man Several years ago, we planted eight butternut squash plants. They ALL grew! And produced profusely. I forget how many squashes we got from those plants, but Dear Richard said, "NEVER AGAIN!". This year, we planted four butternuts. At last count, we had over two dozen squashes. They're growing on the fence; Rick put them in slings yesterday. They're growing all over the garden; we put crushed gallon milk jugs beneath them, so the squashes don't sit on right on the ground. We do love butternut squash, in soups, to roast, to bake with, etc. But over two dozen? Rick says next year, we are planting one plant. But if something happens to that one plant, we won't have any. I suggested two plants and received "that look" in return.

Our daylilies are done around here, too. We still have some blooming Oriental lilies, but that's it.
 
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posiepurrs

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N NY cat man Several years ago, we planted eight butternut squash plants. They ALL grew! And produced profusely. I forget how many squashes we got from those plants, but Dear Richard said, "NEVER AGAIN!". This year, we planted four butternuts. At last count, we had over two dozen squashes. They're growing on the fence; Rick put them in slings yesterday. They're growing all over the garden; we put crushed gallon milk jugs beneath them, so the squashes don't sit on right on the ground. We do love butternut squash, in soups, to roast, to bake with, etc. But over two dozen? Rick says next year, we are planting one plant. But if something happens to that one plant, we won't have any. I suggested two plants and received "that look" in return.

Our daylilies are done around here, too. We still have some blooming Oriental lilies, but that's it.
Sounds like me with summer squash. I intended to only plant 2 this year (2 in case one didn't make it). I must have dropped some seed though because I have4 plants and they are the only thing in the garden that are going crazy. My husband isn't fond of squash so I only fix it once in awhile, but I love it. I had so much squash that yesterday I tried a recipe for pickled squash. I have never had it before so don't know if I will like it. It is refrigerator pickles so they aren't ready yet. Hubby says he won't eat it.
 

NY cat man

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N NY cat man Several years ago, we planted eight butternut squash plants. They ALL grew! And produced profusely. I forget how many squashes we got from those plants, but Dear Richard said, "NEVER AGAIN!". This year, we planted four butternuts. At last count, we had over two dozen squashes. They're growing on the fence; Rick put them in slings yesterday. They're growing all over the garden; we put crushed gallon milk jugs beneath them, so the squashes don't sit on right on the ground. We do love butternut squash, in soups, to roast, to bake with, etc. But over two dozen? Rick says next year, we are planting one plant. But if something happens to that one plant, we won't have any. I suggested two plants and received "that look" in return.

Our daylilies are done around here, too. We still have some blooming Oriental lilies, but that's it.
Yeah, I like butternut and acorn squash as well, but we just don't have the available space to grow them. Funny thing though- I hate summer squash and zucchini.
 

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I picked a TON of beans yesterday. 3 large oblong ziplock containers plus a walmart grocery bag because I am out of big containers. It filled the shelf in the little refrigerator in the garage. I don't know if I will have to toss many; some got really big when I wasn't looking. Or I should say; when I was hiding from the +100* heat indexes we seem to keep getting this year.

DH was disappointed I didn't make pasta salad yesterday. He text me he was craving carbs. I told him I was headed out to pick beans so I could make pasta for dinner. That wasn't what he had in mind. :lol: I'm going to send DD out to pick tomatoes in a bit for that.
 

Winchester

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Gardening today. Carmen peppers, banana peppers, green and wax beans (in the fridge), and the tomatoes. The grape tomatoes will go into the dehydrator around 7:00 tonight and dry for about 12 hours. Once they ripen more, the large tomatoes will go into tomato sauce and their skins will be dried for tomato powder. I chopped all the peppers up and they're already in the freezer. (We also gave some yellow squash, Carmen peppers, and a couple tomatoes to our neighbors.)

Veggies.jpg


This is a Carmen pepper. In case anybody's interested, I highly recommend them. We got them at Engle's back in the spring; due to that late frost, all the peppers were pretty much gone but these. We usually plant bell peppers. We took a chance on these and we're really glad we did. They're a very sweet and meaty pepper. They're supposed to get bright red, hence the Carmen name, but, due to the weather, we think, they're not turning that well. We've been picking them at about this color and they're just delicious. I wash, dice, and freeze them in food saver bags.

We also planted several banana pepper plants (mild peppers). We couldn't find any Mariachi plants and I have to say that I really do miss them. They're a good pepper.

Carmen Italian Sweet Pepper: Sweet Flavor, Best for Roasting

CarmenPepper.jpg
 

MoochNNoodles

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That looks like a fun pepper to try sometime. I got a pimento plant this year for the heck of it. They are much bigger than I expected.

I haven’t had much luck with bell peppers here. Some kind of big seems to get them before they turn. 😕

My sunflower Tom bloomed today! There are quite a few getting very tall!
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These short ones are neat looking too.

I obviously still need to clean up the one that died. I need to find my clippers. It’s been yucky hot and humid.
 

Winchester

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And more tomatoes! I'll dehydrate the grape tomatoes overnight tonight. Do stewed tomatoes for the freezer Sunday morning (depending on how ripe they get, I may have to wait until Monday or Tuesday). I'll skin them and then dry the skins, too.

Tomatoes.jpg


And more peppers! There was one lonely banana pepper that we picked.

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And I have my eye on this one on the back deck. You see, Carmen peppers are supposed to get to be a brilliant red. But what's been happening is that they start to turn, but then sometimes they start getting spots on them. So we've been picking them as soon as they start to turn and then leaving them in house. But so far, this particular pepper has been turning and not getting spotty. I keep watching it to see how it goes. There's one up in the garden, too, that Rick's been watching. So far, it's been turning beautifully. These peppers taste wonderful. I'm going to roast some, too.

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They are called Autumn Crocus because they bloom in the fall. They have large leaves in the spring that look something like a jack-in-the-pulpit.
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The summer amaryllis is also called a naked lady. It also has leaves in the spring that die out, followed by a tall whorl of blooms in August. It is also a bulb.
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catapault

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Colchicum have broad strap=like leaves, arranged vertically sort of like a condensed, miniature corn plant

Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Arisaema - None have leaves that look anything at all like colchicum leaves.The North American A. triphyllum has one or two three-parted leaves in a T arrangement. There are a number of beautiful species native to Japan.

The summer amaryllis in your picture is indeed called naked lady. It is Lycoris squamigera. Quite hardy in New Jersey. The species native to Japan is Lycoris radiata. Often growing profusely in ditches adjacent to rice paddies. It is not hardy in New Jersey because - while it flowers naked, sans foliage - the leaves appear later in the fall, then freeze and die in my local conditions. Weakens the bulb, which eventually also dies. Here's an image of the red flowered lycoris.

Tender Bulbs_2008-09_Lycoris radiata.jpg
 

MoochNNoodles

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I am keeping an eye on my corn. The silks are starting to turn brown on some. So I hope it won't be too long before I can pick and eat! The electrician is coming on Saturday to instal the line for the freezer. So we just need to arrange getting that from my mother's co-worker.

I picked several tomatoes last week before they turned ripe or got splits anywhere. They all started developing black spots before they finished ripening! I still haven't managed a tomato sandwich. :disappointed: I think I might visit a farm stand later this week or something. It's frustrating!
 

NY cat man

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I've been lucky so far with the tomatoes- no nasties eating on them, and only one that was just beginning to split. That one was ripe enough that I just ate it right then and there. We are also now growing icicle radishes, and they are coming along nicely as well. In a few days I will plant some more , as they can be grown right up to frost time.
 

lavishsqualor

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"The summer amaryllis in your picture is indeed called naked lady. It is Lycoris squamigera."

My grandmother always referred to those as "Surprise Lilies." They seemingly popped up overnight. They're beautiful and, if I remember correctly, have a very light, sweet floral scent.
 

Winchester

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We're going to have corn problems, I'm afraid. The tassels are turning, but the ears are very tiny. We simply haven't had enough rain for the corn to do anything. And while we have been watering, we're on a well, so we have to be concerned about using water when there's no rain or very little rain to speak of. We've been talking about going to a local farm to buy 100 ears of corn. Some we can freeze on the cob, some can be cut off the cob, etc.
 
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