# July - Fruit & Veggie general chat



## *Andi

I love the smell of the house today ...

The apples drying and the ones in the pot ... Then the few peaches on the table blends in, and then faint hint of spices from the pickles. 

... July is here and the garden is really starting to rock & roll ... :woohoo:

Happy Gardens :wave:


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## neldarez

Fruit here is not even close to being ready......but, we stole baby taters out of the garden yesterday.....yum yum........finally my son showed me why I couldn't upload my garden pic....they were too big.....I'm going to post a picture now ( I hope)


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## neldarez

Couldn't help myself, Had to post another one cuz I know how now!! :2thumb:


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## Immolatus

I found someone on craigslist selling hot peppers for cheap, so I bought Hungarian waxy reds, jalapenos, some other kind of hot pepper, some cauliflower and broccoli. Gonna plant em tomorrow.
Hes an older fellow with a bum leg, and said he had a 3 acre plot at another location. He lived in a regular suburban house with a small backyard that was practically full with his garden. I was amazed, and jealous.
I offered to help him out at his other place during my day off, so hopefully he'll give me a call and let me help him. He prolly thought I was nuts.


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## goshengirl

neldarez, that looks FABULOUS!!! thanks for posting the pics!


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## neldarez

goshengirl said:


> neldarez, that looks FABULOUS!!! thanks for posting the pics!


Thanks goshengirl.....I'm so excited about sharing pics! Guess what. I just made my first chicken broth.....tee hee, yep, 62 years old ( 2 weeks from now) and I just made my first chicken broth. I also just cooked my first time ever ever ever in the pressure cooker! move over Martha Stewart cuz this lady is on her way up......:2thumb:


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## *Andi

Immolatus said:


> I found someone on craigslist selling hot peppers for cheap, so I bought Hungarian waxy reds, jalapenos, some other kind of hot pepper, some cauliflower and broccoli. Gonna plant em tomorrow.
> Hes an older fellow with a bum leg, and said he had a 3 acre plot at another location. He lived in a regular suburban house with a small backyard that was practically full with his garden. I was amazed, and jealous.
> I offered to help him out at his other place during my day off, so hopefully he'll give me a call and let me help him. He prolly thought I was nuts.


I hope it works out for you, I have done this in the past and it worked out well for both of us. :goodluck:

neldarez, great picture!


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## weedygarden

Neldarez, what a beautiful garden! 

I wish I had that much space or actually even more. And it is well groomed. I do some weeding in my little yard almost everyday, but you know weeds. They win! I have packed plants into almost all the space in my yard and keep taking more and more grass away and growing more vegetables. Outside the fence, by the street, people help themselves to tomatoes, cantaloupes and cucumbers. I always plant lots of them and try not to miss the ones that feed the others.

I have an idea of growing lots of corn for grinding into corn meal, and making into posole and masa harina. I would also like this corn to be blue due to the added protein and lack of GMO. It could also be organically grown without fertilizers and weed killers.


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## Possumfam

neldarez said:


> Thanks goshengirl.....I'm so excited about sharing pics! Guess what. I just made my first chicken broth.....tee hee, yep, 62 years old ( 2 weeks from now) and I just made my first chicken broth. I also just cooked my first time ever ever ever in the pressure cooker! move over Martha Stewart cuz this lady is on her way up......:2thumb:


:congrat: Great post! Made me smile - almost laugh! :2thumb: Way to go!

Getting tired of canning.  Did I say that out loud? How do you know when to quit canning a specific item? Then, what do you do w/ all the rest? Don't want to can anymore tomatoes or green beans, but they're still out there - taunting me. When the figs finish, all the fruit will be done. Still need to can peppers, maybe some black eyed peas, and a few odds and ends, but I'm hoping I'm getting to the point of fall garden w/o any more preserving. I don't know about y'all, but it's hot down here!


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## Possumfam

neldarez said:


> Couldn't help myself, Had to post another one cuz I know how now!! :2thumb:


:melikey: Love that, too!


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## Immolatus

Thanks Andi, I'll need it. I did eat the one cherry tomato that didnt get eaten by...something...


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## Jeanie

OH I feel much better. There are others here who are over 50 and having "firsts"!!!!
My first garden (small) is coming up as we type! Yellow Finn potatoes and Swedish peanut potatoes are growing SO FAST. Fruit trees... we'll see. The Strawberry patch = wildlife feeder Hee Hee
Your pictures are inspiring. A million Thanks. jeanie


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## Jaspar

*Andi said:


> I love the smell of the house today ...
> 
> The apples drying and the ones in the pot ... Then the few peaches on the table blends in, and then faint hint of spices from the pickles.
> 
> ... July is here and the garden is really starting to rock & roll ... :woohoo:
> 
> Happy Gardens :wave:


House stinks of beets. Canning the bejesus out of them right now (the ones we don't eat right out of the garden of course. :wave

Green beans raspberries are ready to start picking and tomatoes are green and plump.

Strawberries and peas are done for now.


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## BadgeBunny

The danged worms got my beautiful dill plants. 

I was admiring how big and pretty they were last night. This morning they are stubby little things. Only thing left are stems ... 

:gaah::gaah::gaah:


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## power

BadgeBunny said:


> The danged worms got my beautiful dill plants.
> 
> I was admiring how big and pretty they were last night. This morning they are stubby little things. Only thing left are stems ...
> 
> :gaah::gaah::gaah:


Same thing happened to some of mine. The part of the garden where the ducks and chickens can get to remains free of bugs.


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## UncleJoe

Goats are at it again.

Part of our garden shares a fence with the pasture. I have 2x4 wire welded fence around it. Danged if one of the goats didn't tear a small section out yesterday while I was working. :gaah: She/they ate ALL my broccoli which I was going to cut this weekend. They also got most of the wax beans. 
I just can't win. :surrender:


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## goshengirl

Dang it, Uncle Joe! That stinks!


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## Possumfam

UncleJoe said:


> Goats are at it again.
> 
> Part of our garden shares a fence with the pasture. I have 2x4 wire welded fence around it. Danged if one of the goats didn't tear a small section out yesterday while I was working. :gaah: She/they ate ALL my broccoli which I was going to cut this weekend. They also got most of the wax beans.
> I just can't win. :surrender:


OUCH! That hurts!

Badgebunny and Power - We have had sooooo much dill that we freecycled dozens of volunteers this spring and because the cukes didn't do anything - no pickles. We don't use dill for anything else. Is there a way I could send you some? Can you use it dry, or was it for landscaping or something else? Don't know if I can help, but we have an abundance!


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## power

Possumfam said:


> OUCH! That hurts!
> 
> Badgebunny and Power - We have had sooooo much dill that we freecycled dozens of volunteers this spring and because the cukes didn't do anything - no pickles. We don't use dill for anything else. Is there a way I could send you some? Can you use it dry, or was it for landscaping or something else? Don't know if I can help, but we have an abundance!


Thanks.
I have plenty. I don't use much dill but like the plant and like the smell. I plant it knowing I won't have a use for it. I find planting plenty of different herbs along with the other plants keeps a lot of bugs away.
I enjoy all types of plants, even some weeds. Just like to see them growing. Don't really mind the bugs as I plant plenty for everyone. I can let the chickens and ducks run through the garden with no problem. Sure they eat some things but I was going to feed most of it to some animal anyway.

Any pecked, bitten, or bug bite vegetables go to the free ranging guinea pigs.
They enjoy it but just have too short legs to get it themselves.


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## Clarice

Picked our first green beans yesterday. Also picked tomatoes, cucumbers, squash (have already canned 21qts), okra and collards. Thank you Lord for the bounty.


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## neldarez

Clarice said:


> Picked our first green beans yesterday. Also picked tomatoes, cucumbers, squash (have already canned 21qts), okra and collards. Thank you Lord for the bounty.


absolutely awesome Clarice.........God obviously blessed your garden. I pray over mine too so I will have plenty of harvest to share. I noticed that you canned squash......didn't know people did that...any special kind and is it hard to do? reg. canner or pressure canner? Thanks


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## Ezmerelda

I have a gardening question I'm hoping one of you can answer. This year, my carrots grew huge tops, but most of them are stubby little things under the ground. 

What causes that? Did I water them too much, or not enough? Did I not fertilize them enough, or too much?

Is it because it stayed cool longer than usual?

I'm at a loss.


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## UncleJoe

Was the soil compacted? Carrots like a loose soil to stretch out. One year I dug the soil out of a small area and replaced it with sand to a depth of about 8". I had nice long straight carrots that year.


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## Meerkat

Ezmerelda said:


> I have a gardening question I'm hoping one of you can answer. This year, my carrots grew huge tops, but most of them are stubby little things under the ground.
> 
> What causes that? Did I water them too much, or not enough? Did I not fertilize them enough, or too much?
> 
> Is it because it stayed cool longer than usual?
> 
> I'm at a loss.


 I hear too much nitrogen will make plants leaf out and look nice but it takes away from the produce.


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## Ezmerelda

Meerkat said:


> I hear too much nitrogen will make plants leaf out and look nice but it takes away from the produce.


Sooo, it looks like I fertilized them too much. The soil is light and loose, I garden in raised beds using Mel's Mix (Square Foot Gardening), so it must be that I put too much manure in the mix...and the garden soil (I had to cheat a little on the mix) contained plant food. Also, they shared the bed with peas. Nitrogen overload!

That'll teach me!

Thanks for the help! I just love this site! :earthhug:


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## The_Blob

In order to remove excess Nitrogen in soil, you need to bind the Nitrogen that is in the soil to something else. You probably already grow many plants that bind Nitrogen more than others. Any plant will use some Nitrogen in the soil, but fast-growing plants like squash, cabbage, broccoli and corn use up large amounts of Nitrogen while growing. By growing these plants where there is too much Nitrogen in the soil, the plants will use up the excess Nitrogen. Be aware though, that while they will grow, they may look sickly (but they will possess full nutritive value ratios) and will not produce many fruits/flowers. Keep in mind that you are not growing these plants for food purposes, but rather as a sequestration strategem that will help lower soil Nitrogen content.


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## The_Blob

mulch normally depletes soil Nitrogen, so mulching would actually help bring the soil back to a desirable level of Nitrogen in this case...


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## neldarez

My garden is coming along.......we now have taken a couple of zucchini, new potatoes and the kohlrabi are almost ready.


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## neldarez

I finally worked up the courage to can the cheese today......I made it a lot harder than it needed to be! I'll be more comfortable with it next time, never would have known you could do such a thing if I hadn't learned it on this forum.......thanks guys...:congrat:


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## *Andi

Jaspar said:


> House stinks of beets. Canning the bejesus out of them right now (the ones we don't eat right out of the garden of course. :wave
> 
> Green beans raspberries are ready to start picking and tomatoes are green and plump.
> 
> Strawberries and peas are done for now.


Yea, beets do add a different smells to the house ... 

Done my first canning of tomatoes and have one ready for the morning ... :beercheer: Some beans are up and starting to bloom. Also had the first new tators for lunch ... Yummy!!!!!


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## Tribal Warlord Thug

i'm jealous of the size of garden ya'll have there neldarez..........looks like a awesome layout and one heck of a bounty to be expected:flower: 

happy:flower:gardening to ya.....:beercheer:


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## neldarez

rabidcoyote666 said:


> i'm jealous of the size of garden ya'll have there neldarez..........looks like a awesome layout and one heck of a bounty to be expected:flower:
> 
> happy:flower:gardening to ya.....:beercheer:


If you were closer I'd share the bounty with you! also the weeding...lol, We had a terrible start to the garden season, lost almost a full month but God is faithful........garden is producing beautifully...late but good :flower:


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## neldarez

I pulled my first beet today, I've never eaten a fresh beet before, only canned from the store. I read up on how to cook it ( boil it ) Tomorrow is the day...........


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## goshengirl

neldarez said:


> I pulled my first beet today, I've never eaten a fresh beet before, only canned from the store. I read up on how to cook it ( boil it ) Tomorrow is the day...........


You go girl!  I love seeing the pictures of your garden not only for the garden, but for the scenery around it.


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## Clarice

We have been so busy our shirt tail hasn't hit our backsides in weeks. This past weekend we canned 20 pints of green snap beans, 14 qts of homemade spaghetti sauce, dug the onions, garlic and beets, put up 14 qts. of tomato juice and built a moveable rabbit hutch for our babies. Last night we canned 10pts of green beans and stemmed and sugared a dishpan full of figs to process tonight. We thank God for the bounty. Good thing we both have 40hr a week jobs or we might work ourselves to dealth. LOL


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## neldarez

Clarice said:


> We have been so busy our shirt tail hasn't hit our backsides in weeks. This past weekend we canned 20 pints of green snap beans, 14 qts of homemade spaghetti sauce, dug the onions, garlic and beets, put up 14 qts. of tomato juice and built a moveable rabbit hutch for our babies. Last night we canned 10pts of green beans and stemmed and sugared a dishpan full of figs to process tonight. We thank God for the bounty. Good thing we both have 40hr a week jobs or we might work ourselves to dealth. LOL


Oh my gosh Clarice! You just made me exhausted..........


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## neldarez

Canned my first beets this morning........I ran out of energy last night, so I went ahead and cooked them and canned them this morn. 1 jar broke in the pressure canner.........but.... 7 didn't break! yay.......

I bought lambert cherries this weekend when I was out of town, thought I'd can since they were such a great price compared to other types. The lady told me about 2 # per jar, so, I took her at her word and bought 2 boxes. 51 #. I've canned 14 qts so far and still have canner full in the first box!! We're going to eat cherries!

Last night I got a call asking me if I would take a bunch of apricots, I went and got them, they're not quite ripe ( thank heaven). Guess I can them....never done that but what the heck, I've never done most of what I'm doing... Maybe I could make apricot jam, that sounds kinda good. anyone ever done that? Also put my 1st head of cabbage in the dryer, I think I sliced it a little too thin,,,,,, Live and learn.


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