Show me your Garden

[rswyan]

Put in two pumpkin plants - this one is taking off in all directions - the other one, which is just out of the frame in the lower right is about 1/3 the size and not really spreading all that much.

 

[rswyan]

Squash and pumpkins .... need to do a little weeding before things get out of control.

 

[rswyan]

Cucumbers.

 

[rswyan]

Close up of the damage done to the eggplants by the "oat bugs" that pete mentioned previously. Probably would help if I would spray them. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sassafraspete]

Randall, where are all the weeds? Looks like your garden is really starting to come into it. My weeds have gotten out of control this last week with all the rain. As soon as I get most of the mowing done, I am going to tackle them. I will have to post some pictures of the colorado potato bugs I am growing. They seem to be my best crop right now. A couple of my eggplants are completely stripped by them.

Thursday , I harvested some cucumbers, zuchini, and green beans. I gave most of the booty to one of my sisters who lives close by , and some to a co-worker who is from China. My wife has been gone a few days, so I decided to share the first of the crop with others...and pick fresh when wifey gets back on sunday. I plan to harvest the beans on Sunday for canning. I also have cabbage ready to eat. I am sure I must have a thousand grean tomatoes hanging in my cages....if I could only get a red one.

I am thinking about "graveling" out a few new potatoes....at least that is what my dad used to call it ...where he would rob a potato here and there by digging in with his hand to sample the crop. A few of those and fresh green beans....I am going to be in heaven.

sassafraspete

 

[PineRidge]

Pete once you dig your spuds is there anything special that you do with them to make them keep for a longer period of time until they are eaten?

 

[sassafraspete]

Well, I stopped mowing for a short rest, so cooling off here with a glass of lemonade and looking at TBN.

Mike, as for keeping spuds.... Wait until vines die completely before digging, but not so long as to let damp soil encourage rot. If you dig them and the skins slip off easily, you have dug them too early. You should be able to handle them without slipping any skin off.

When we dig, we lay out on the dirt for awhile to encourage dirt to dry ...hopefully you will be digging sometime in Sep or around labor day...when there is usually a dry spell and the dirt comes off easily. Doesn't always work that way...but usually does for us.

As for keeping... put in absolutely dark place that remains cool. At our old farm house I grew up in, we had a building (shed) that we called the well house. Half of the shed covered a hand dug well, the other half was a cellar. The cellar had dirt floors and double walls. Between the 2 walls there was sawdust, and also there was sawdust above the ceiling. (this was insulation they used to use). We had bins in there where we kept our potatoes and shelves for canned goods out of the garden. It was a great place to keep potatoes.

Here at my current home, I haven't raised huge crops, and usually keep mine in several 5 gallon buckets. I keep in my basement, back in a dark corner. Even a small amount of light from a light bulb is enough to turn them green over time.

I have read where some people dig a pit in the ground and lay wood and straw bales over the top to insulate from the winter cold, and use this to store root crops. Around here, you used to see a lot of cellars built into hill sides , maybe layed up with block, and with dirt covering the roof.

I think it would be easy to build a small shed with dirt floor and insulate heavily so things would not freeze. Wouldn't have to be too big to store what you would eat in a winter.

You want to keep rotating your stash...and throwing out any bad ones. Nothing worse than sticking your fingers into a rotten potato. I used to delight in seeing my sisters dig their hands into a rotten potato when we were digging. Usually there would be varied exclaimations, followed by rubbing the offending goo off on some dry dirt. To a boy, that was pure delight.

sassafraspete

 

[PineRidge]

Interesting stuff Pete. I would have thought that some kind of chemical was used for the preservation process instead of merely keeping them cool and in the dark.

BTW We love a tall cold glass of Mike's Hard Lemonade to cool off.

 

[sassafraspete]

Mike, that's exactly what I was drinking. We have been through Idaho a few times and the farmers there have these long A-frame barns that are covered with dirt where they store potatoes. I would have loved to stop and look at one. They are huge.

OK , here is a shot of the colorado potato bug (soft stage) on my eggplants. I sprayed tripple dose of seven yesterday, and it doesn't seem to phase them . They were still going strong this morning.

 

[sassafraspete]

Here is the parent bug (hard shell stage) on a potato plant that has been stripped of leaves.