Gardening 2020

susanm9006

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In am going out today to pick what is likely the last of the raspberries. We have four nights in the coming week projected to have lows in the 28-29 range and most of the bushes and berries won’t survive it. I usually clip off the dying ones and if there are any surviving, leave those. Usually the very last thing I do in fall is to clip the bushes down to a foot or so and let the leaves pile up to insulate the bushes for the winter.
 

Winchester

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We lucked out again. Covered the peppers and strawberries with flannel sheets this time around. But even though we did have frost that we could see on the outside grill, everything seemed to come through OK. We didn't cover the tomatoes last night and I doubt we will tonight. The tomatoes seem to be fine. Whew!
 

MoochNNoodles

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We haven’t frosted yet. I was going to finish emptying flower pots last weekend but there was a bumble bee enjoying the last of the flowers so I couldn’t take his food away. Our lows are in the 40s this weekend but it’s supposed to warm up again.
 

Winchester

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We dug up the last of the sweet potatoes this afternoon. Got a huge Tupperware bowlful and, keep in mind, too, that we had dug up potatoes a couple times during the season to have them with dinner. We can't complain. Several sweet potatoes were over 1-1/2 pounds each! That's as good as what you'd get in the supermarket. And they taste so good!

I also took a nice butternut to the basement this afternoon to cure.

We'll cover the peppers and strawberries tonight. If we can get thru the night, we should be good again for another week or so anyway.

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Here's one that was over 1-1/2 pounds. There are quite a few that size. We cannot complain.
SweetPotOne.jpg
 

NY cat man

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does growing roses count? i have one sub zero rose bush here where I live
Of course it does! The only difference among us is a matter of scale. Some have expansive gardens, while with others, it's not so much- and I happen to fall into the not-so-much category. We just do what we can with what we have to work with. If you have them, please send pictures.
 

strider rose

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Of course it does! The only difference among us is a matter of scale. Some have expansive gardens, while with others, it's not so much- and I happen to fall into the not-so-much category. We just do what we can with what we have to work with. If you have them, please send pictures.
i will try to get a pic soon . there are 3 little buds on her right now . I named it rosey lol
 

Winchester

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This is the end of gardening for 2020. We are to get down into the mid-to-upper 20s tonight and then a couple more nights below freezing as well. While Rick is going to cover the strawberry bed until he can get some straw, I took the last of the larger Carmen peppers off the vines today. Washed and dried them and they're on baking sheets. I'm hoping they can turn red, but they've been on the vines forever and haven't turned bc it's been too chilly for them. If they turn, fine. If not, I'll either chop them while green (although they're not as good as when they're red) or throw them back up in the garden for the animals to munch on. Either way, it was a shame to just let them go. What really bothers us is that some of the pepper plants are still loaded with flowers.
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I also took what I could of the butternut squashes. There are 19 of them here; keep in mind that I used one last week. These aren't completely changed over either, but I read that there's a good chance that they'll change color in the next couple of weeks. They're in a south-facing double window in the basement, so I'm hoping they get some good sunlight to help them. Again, I couldn't see just letting them in the garden. Not when I know I'll use them! Some of them look like they have tiny slashes in them; that's from going without water and then getting rain. I read that we can still use the squash; I just need to cut those slashes out. And they did grow back over, so all is not lost. But there are probably a good 20 or so that were completely split in half and those I can't use. What a shame.
Butternuts.jpg


Rick hasn't written down our totals yet of what all we have in the freezer, but he will. We planted green and wax beans, butternuts, yellow squash and zucchini, grape tomatoes and regular tomatoes, the Carmen peppers and banana peppers, sweet potatoes, strawberries, and corn. We have a small asparagus bed that provided us with several nice meals with asparagus back in the spring and early summer. And considering that we didn't have a lot of rainfall this past summer, the garden didn't do badly at all. We can't complain.

Hopefully this weekend, we'll get up there to tear it all back down. He wants to get a rototiller to get the soil loosened up for the winter. And then plant some rye grass.

And we're already looking ahead to 2021!
 

NY cat man

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I picked the last of the tomatoes and pulled the vines, and most of the flowers have been cut back. The one coneflower from my last post is still hanging on, as is the black-eyed Susan. Amazingly, another of the coneflowers isstarting to bloom, even though I cut it back to about 6" high. I am considering building a mini greenhouse for one of Michele's hens and chicks, as she wants to leave it outside, and it is in an unglazed earthenware pot, and I don't want to have it break, as one did last year. I figure on using acrylic sheet and wood in the construction, as it need not be very large.
 

Graceful-Lily

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Here's an update on my peach seeds.
4/5 I was stratifying germinated. I've planted them and they are growing rapidly. Kind of wish it was still summer so that I could put them outside in full sun. I think they may be okay inside over the winter? Not sure what to do with the 5th seed. Maybe it needs more time in the fridge?
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I got orange seedlings from my dad. They have been growing pretty well too.
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posiepurrs

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I have my vegetable garden covered in a layer of leaves which I plan to mow over today to increase the surface area so they will break down and not mat up over the winter. I have increased the size of the garden for next year by about double. I have to figure out the exact square footage though so I can plot out the beds over the winter.
 

NY cat man

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I did basically the same thing, only because we have raised beds, I used the lawn mower to suck up the leaves first, then spread the shreds over the gardens. There are still quite a few leaves on the neighbor's trees, so I probably will have to do it several more times yet.
 

Graceful-Lily

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My sister in Jamaica just sent me pictures of the massive croton plants we have growing outside at our house. I haven't seen these in over 10 years so to say I was shocked would be an understatement. They have been growing out of control but she's sick so she can't trim it herself. Maybe my cousin can do it soon. The croton is reaching the second floor now so it has got to be at least 10 - 15 feet tall.
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rubysmama

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Almost all my perennials are cut back now, other than some low growing ones, that I'll just leave till spring. Blooms are done, except for this hardy little Geum. This pic was taken today. We've had a couple nights with temps below freezing, plus one day of snow, but it's still hanging on.

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catapault

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Let's see, where am I and my (ornamental only) garden at . . .

Thanks to my intermittent helper the two of us got the bananas cut back, tubbed over, plywood "roof" units that I repainted were installed. Metal fence posts driven in and pallets tied on - I was given the end of a roll of bright turquoise poly binder twine, sufficient to last me the rest of my (gardening) life. That area also filled with leaves and topped with a tarp since there is no way to have a wooden cover. Here's a picture from November 2019

Winterizing Bananas_2019-11_overview of banana cover extension.jpg

A couple of pots of the banana-leaf cannas, Canna musaefolia, were emptied. Tubers need to be cleaned and packed in peat moss for the winter. The remaining large pots were moved away from their display area in front of garage - here's what they looked like in July. They grew well above the gutters by the time frosty night temperatures knocked them back. I'm going to leave them outside. They'll freeze and turn to mush. Don't need that many as propagation material for next year.

BelleWood in Bloom_2020-07_Canna musaefolia straightened back up.jpg

What's left . . . the leaves, the leaves, the endless leaves. But the oak trees are pretty bare so what's going to fall has done so. Once they are cleaned up it is indoor gardening to content me in winter - the greenhouse with winter flowering freesia, lachenalia, nerine, a Cyclamen persicum etc. The tender red spot bananas upstairs and down, some pots of aspidistra, etc.

Cycle of the seasons.​
 

Graceful-Lily

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All 4 peach seedlings are growing fast and strong. Had to seperate them though. The pot was way too crowded. My mistake. I did it super carefully. Didn't break any roots.
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Last little one to pop out!
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I've set some apple seeds to stratify for spring. Also have some lemon seeds I placed on a moist paper towel today. Wanted to seperate the orange seedlings as well but have no more pots or room. Their roots are coming out the bottom though. 😕
 

rubysmama

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All 4 peach seedlings are growing fast and strong.
Oh, that's so cool.

I've set some apple seeds to stratify for spring.
I grew an apple tree from a seed once. We planted it outside, and it grew fairly large. Would get blossoms every May, and then little apples. It needed another tree for the bees to be able to cross pollinate, in order to get edible apples. It lived for a few decades until one year it was uprooted by a hurricane. :(

Here's a couple pics when it was probably 10 years old, or so.

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