• Zucchini

    From Michael Trew@21:1/5 to All on Tue Aug 1 01:02:02 2023
    It was mentioned on here not long ago about end rot. My zucchini plants
    took off, and are huge. I picked one over a foot long today that seemed
    quite solid, but the two others I picked were shorter, and the ends were starting to rot. Is there a reason for this? I think I'll just chop
    the bad end off.

    I gave one of the soft-end ones to my neighbor who's going to fry it.
    I'm in a debate what I'll make, but I might batter and fry some of it,
    serve with tomato sauce, and shred the rest of the zucchini for zucchini
    bread. As is tradition, my cabbage was half eaten, and the ones that
    weren't eaten look like they'll amount to nothing, for some reason. At
    least the groundhogs are leaving my zucchini alone this year.

    I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
    vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm. My tomato
    plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
    peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell
    pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
    onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
    too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.

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  • From songbird@21:1/5 to Michael Trew on Tue Aug 1 06:58:08 2023
    Michael Trew wrote:

    It was mentioned on here not long ago about end rot. My zucchini plants
    took off, and are huge. I picked one over a foot long today that seemed quite solid, but the two others I picked were shorter, and the ends were starting to rot. Is there a reason for this? I think I'll just chop
    the bad end off.

    usually blossom end rot is a sign of uneven water
    supply or too much watering in general. so it depends
    upon what your weather has been like. other related
    issued could be not enough calcium in the garden soil
    or too much nitrogen fertilizer.

    when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes
    and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants
    did not have a fully developed root system while
    setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the
    problem by removing the first flowers on the plants
    so those fruits won't develop. even watering during
    the hot spells also makes a difference.


    I gave one of the soft-end ones to my neighbor who's going to fry it.
    I'm in a debate what I'll make, but I might batter and fry some of it,
    serve with tomato sauce, and shred the rest of the zucchini for zucchini bread. As is tradition, my cabbage was half eaten, and the ones that weren't eaten look like they'll amount to nothing, for some reason. At
    least the groundhogs are leaving my zucchini alone this year.

    groundhogs always like to eat whatever they can get
    at in the gardens here, but i have fences up which do
    discourage them. if i see them in the grassy area i
    will hunt them. not something i like but they can do
    a lot of damage quickly along with their holes in the
    banks of the ditches for their dens aren't good for
    the ditches.


    I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
    vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm.

    some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before
    the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled
    out and cooked. they should cook faster than a dry
    bean. some varities of beans can also be eaten at the
    full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green
    bean varieties. or you can leave them to finish up
    drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the
    seed for replanting.

    usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean
    plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry
    beans as we can never have too many of those.


    My tomato
    plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
    peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes, onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
    too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.

    do you have trouble getting enough sun for your
    gardens?


    songbird

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  • From Michael Trew@21:1/5 to songbird on Thu Aug 3 22:09:05 2023
    On 8/1/2023 6:58 AM, songbird wrote:
    Michael Trew wrote:

    when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes
    and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants
    did not have a fully developed root system while
    setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the
    problem by removing the first flowers on the plants
    so those fruits won't develop. even watering during
    the hot spells also makes a difference.

    When we had the dry/heat earlier this year, I was watering the garden
    heavily daily, or lightly twice daily (morning and/or evening). That
    was probably my mistake.

    I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
    vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm.

    some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before
    the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled
    out and cooked. they should cook faster than a dry
    bean. some varities of beans can also be eaten at the
    full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green
    bean varieties. or you can leave them to finish up
    drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the
    seed for replanting.

    usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean
    plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry
    beans as we can never have too many of those.

    Hmm, so you just let the pod dry out, and save the beans inside, using
    them as you used baged dry beans later?

    My tomato
    plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
    peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell
    pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
    onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
    too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.

    do you have trouble getting enough sun for your
    gardens?

    The lower garden, everything but the onions/potatoes/garlic and the
    like, is part-shade due to a large tree. Oops. Shame, because it's the perfect location, otherwise.

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  • From songbird@21:1/5 to Michael Trew on Sat Aug 5 20:38:43 2023
    Michael Trew wrote:
    On 8/1/2023 6:58 AM, songbird wrote:
    Michael Trew wrote:

    when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes
    and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants
    did not have a fully developed root system while
    setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the
    problem by removing the first flowers on the plants
    so those fruits won't develop. even watering during
    the hot spells also makes a difference.

    When we had the dry/heat earlier this year, I was watering the garden
    heavily daily, or lightly twice daily (morning and/or evening). That
    was probably my mistake.

    if your garden is mostly sand or mineral based gravel
    then that may be required, but for us that's really not
    needed and would be too much too often.


    I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
    vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm.

    some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before
    the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled
    out and cooked. they should cook faster than a dry
    bean. some varities of beans can also be eaten at the
    full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green
    bean varieties. or you can leave them to finish up
    drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the
    seed for replanting.

    usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean
    plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry
    beans as we can never have too many of those.

    Hmm, so you just let the pod dry out, and save the beans inside, using
    them as you used baged dry beans later?

    "baged" as in bagged or aged? i'm assuming aged. :)

    yes, pretty much all beans i grow are edible at dry
    bean stage (there are a few i've had that i would not
    consider edible but they aren't many). but also since
    i do cross-breed and develop new varieties i pay
    attention to any new seeds that show up as i sure don't
    want to eat them. on top of that if i want to keep
    the existing varieties relatively stable i have to cull
    out odd seeds to make sure the traits i want are
    preserved.


    My tomato
    plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
    peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell >>> pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
    onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
    too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.

    do you have trouble getting enough sun for your
    gardens?

    The lower garden, everything but the onions/potatoes/garlic and the
    like, is part-shade due to a large tree. Oops. Shame, because it's the perfect location, otherwise.

    any kind of shade is going to impact production for
    some of the common garden vegetables. if you want more
    tomato production you may have to go for cherry or patio
    varieties.

    we have a lot of green tomatoes on the plants but it
    is still early for us for ripening along with the fact
    that things seem a bit later due to lack of rains for
    so long. things just don't grow as well here on well
    water as they do with some good rains (the pH of the
    well water is a bit alkaline vs. rain being more neutral
    to slightly acidic probably a part of why).


    songbird

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  • From Michael Trew@21:1/5 to songbird on Sun Aug 6 10:36:20 2023
    On 8/5/2023 8:38 PM, songbird wrote:
    Michael Trew wrote:

    Hmm, so you just let the pod dry out, and save the beans inside, using
    them as you used baged dry beans later?

    "baged" as in bagged or aged? i'm assuming aged. :)

    yes, pretty much all beans i grow are edible at dry
    bean stage (there are a few i've had that i would not
    consider edible but they aren't many). but also since
    i do cross-breed and develop new varieties i pay
    attention to any new seeds that show up as i sure don't
    want to eat them. on top of that if i want to keep
    the existing varieties relatively stable i have to cull
    out odd seeds to make sure the traits i want are
    preserved.

    I meant like dry beans you buy in bags at the store, sorry.

    The lower garden, everything but the onions/potatoes/garlic and the
    like, is part-shade due to a large tree. Oops. Shame, because it's the
    perfect location, otherwise.

    any kind of shade is going to impact production for
    some of the common garden vegetables. if you want more
    tomato production you may have to go for cherry or patio
    varieties.

    I noticed today that there are some small bell peppers, and they are
    flowering, but taking their time. Oh well.

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