Weird. I checked my little stash of packets, and there is for sure yellow squash and no zucchini. Ah, well, they still grill!
I put mulch in the tops of my plant containers - it really does help retain moisture. Next year I’m going to put a layer of netting then the mulch, to keep the damned squirrels from digging and uprooting all my plants.
ETA: If you can, try moving them out of the sun for the day while it’s so stinking hot, too.
It’s all very interesting - the old house was quite shaded by trees and so nothing in the gardens got more than 2 or 3 hours of direct sun. In contrast, the new house is much sunnier. The shadiest part of the garden gets about 6 hours of direct sun, and everything else gets as much sunlight as the day gives. The formula seems to be - whatever’s actually in the ground gets watered every other day, and fed every two weeks. The containers get fed every two weeks, and watered every other day when the temperature is 25 or less, every day when the temperature is between 25 and 30, and twice a day when it’s over 30.
There are a couple of containers I could move, but for the most part, they’re too large/heavy, and most of them have vines that are solidly wrapped around the railings. I think I’m going to mulch them with dog hair while the kids are away at Grandma and Pappy’s house…
I’ve started harvesting the garlic crop.
Basque and Spanish rocambole are both quite tasty and made a nice addition to the latest crop of spaghetti sauce.
I discovered that elephant garlic (supposedly an onion and not a true garlic) is pretty fiery when consumed raw.
Too bad the ramps seed never sprouted.
The biggest eggplants are about three inches across now.
If you can’t move them, maybe you could put up some shade for them. There’s “full sun,” and there’s “full sun - Oh My God, you’re frying us!” I have a new shrubbery that I just planted this summer, and while it is a full sun plant, it’s new and doesn’t have a deep root system, so I give it a little shade and a drink when it starts to look wilty.
Great, so now I’ve got the scene with the Knights Who Say Ni reverberating in my head.
“What is it you want?”
“We want…A SHRUBBERY!!!”
There is a big, brown rabbit decimating the lettuce and carrots in my garden.
Actually, that’s not true - if he were just decimating, in the original sense of the term that is, eating/destroying 10% of the plants, that wouldn’t bother me. His toll is more like 90%.
I’ve been complaining about him, making vague threats involving weaponry. Then it occurred to me - we have a live-trap cage we’ve used on squirrels and raccoons in the house. I could trap him, maybe…
Then, of course, there’s the matter of what to do with him. Maybe I could ship him out to a friend’s patch of land, like we did with the raccoons and squirrels. On the other hand, there’s rabbit stew… the major issues with that being the mess of butchering an animal; I haven’t, actually, dismantled a rabbit before although I’ve done other critters; and I’m not sure of the legality of eating one’s backyard garden pests out of rabbit hunting season.
I just wanted to say - had chicken and rice accompanied by carrots (purple and orange) and snap beans (burgundy, green, and yellow) from from the garden.
Also brought in the first of the kohlrabi tonight, and am starting to get too many cucumbers. The lettuce is slowly recovering from the Rabbit of Doom.
I’m finally starting to get some reasonably crops off stuff- climbing french beans, runner beans, radishes, carrots, salad mix- but not, oddly, my courgette (zuchinni- both a translation and the variety name). For some reason, the female flowers are just shrivelling up, turning yellow then dropping off- and it’s not a pollination issue as they’re not even opening first.
I had three good fruit off it first, so I really can’t think what’s causing it. Any ideas?
I’m in the summer doldrums. Deer ate all of my corn, but I am getting watermelons, okra, cucumbers and a smattering of zucchini and yellow squash.
I am having my third round of horrible, itchy rash and I think I may have developed an okra allergy. I’ve had two rounds of antibiotics, steroid pills, diflucan (an anti fungal) and steroid/anti fungal cream from the same Doc. This worked, but I think it was just the steroid packs.
I quickly went to another doc for a second opinion who treated me for scabies with permethrin cream. This also worked, but again I think it was finishing the steroid z-pack that really did the trick. I just don’t think it is scabies as no one else in my house has it and I’ve been having problems for about 8-9 weeks now, long enough to infect everyone. Also, the first two times it was just on my arms from wrist to elbow. The last time it was on my arms and bilateral ankles.
I have quit touching the plants and had my DD do the picking. The other day, I just moved the okra from the basket to the fridge and my palms started itching. I don’t recall ever having itchy palms with okra- just arms where I brushed the leaves.
But this rash is vile. It starts as itchy bubbles, spreads in patches, the bubbles break and then I have a nice scab that heals slowly. I would call it poison ivy or oak, but there is no ivy or oak in my beds. I can’t work with scabby, bubbly, itchy arms. It almost looks like splatter burns- thick and raised.
Last year I grew Clemson spineless and other that the usual itching of okra, I had no problem. This year I’m growing Emerald Green Velvet and Burgundy okras. Oddly, as much okra as I have been getting, I have eaten exactly none. I’m sorta afraid to eat it at this point so have been pawning it off on friends.
LOL- last year I had one cute bunny. Now there are at least 5. I think I also have rats. There is a trail form the compost bins to the beds and holes dug under the wood of the raised beds and some chewed up fruit.
Oh, bless your little heart!
Oh, I forgot to mention - something had been eating my dill. It wasn’t the total devastation of deer, rabbits, or snapping turtles. Today I found a BIG caterpillar camping out on it. For some inexplicable reason I decided to let it live. It looks somewhat like a monarch caterpiller, all striped and with lots of yellow, but I’m reasonably sure it’s not a monarch. For one thing, monarchs only eat milkweed as caterpillars, not dill.
Apparently it’s just the one. But that’s probably enough.
Not everyone is equally vulnerable to scabies. I had it twice when I worked at a clinic but no one else in my household ever picked them up, including my spouse who shared my bed. Apparently my freaky skin is particularly susceptible and his is not.
That sounds like contact dermatitis. This is a picture of contact dermatitis I picked up awhile back. Did your rash somewhat resemble this?
Of course, you can’t be diagnosed over the internet, but if your current GP is struggling with it then consultation with a dermatologist might be worth the trouble. A lot of people just assume this sort of rash is poison ivy or oak (and those are, in fact, contact dermatitis) but the reality is that other plants can cause it and it’s a good idea to know what is setting you off.
If you’ve developed a problem with it then that might be for the best. In some cases, cooking or removing the irritating spines/hairs will make it safe to eat, but not always. You can develop this sort of allergy/sensitivity sort of suddenly, from something that used to be safe. I recommend gloves and long sleeves if you’re going to be around a potential culprit.
OH, and after some research, I’m reasonably sure that my dill caterpillar is that of a black swallowtail: Caterpillar, male adult, female adult
This little bugger might also be why my parsley disappeared.
If I may recommend - Braised Rabbit Legs with Navy Beans or Lapin au cidre. (Sorry, I’ve only found the second one in French. It’s really good, though!)
The garlic crop is in (34 heads and another dozen clusters of aerial bulbils, not counting what I’ve already eaten). Based on my current rate of garlic consumption that’s enough for the next couple months at least (this fall I’ve really got to plant a few extra rows).
And the first ever potato crop has been harvested - lots of small red French fingerlings and a bunch of bigger Yukon Golds.
All I need now are recipes for garlicky potatoes.
Yikes- that’s a bad looking rash, and yes, mine looks(ed) much like that- bubbly, scabby, inflamed. I’ve been staying out of the garden and/or making other folks do stuff for me. I’m finally clearing up. And, as a nurse, I can’t work looking like that. I’ve been told to wear long sleeves and pants and gloves, but it’s 100 degrees here.
LOL- I was gonna suggest a swallowtail. They are very pretty and like things like parsley. I was visiting another community garden and saw the guide pluck the caterpillar out of his parsley and throw it on the ground. I snuck it back in to the parsley when he wasn’t looking!
My community garden has 21 beds. Most are allotments and we have 5 donation beds.
Recently, I visited Austin and toured the Sunshine Community Garden. They have allotments and donation beds, too. They have 200 beds. I’ve taken 200 pounds of stuff to the food bank this year and they have taken 2000 pounds. I was pleased to see that we were about equal percentage-wise.
IF - and I emphasis that I am in no way qualified to diagnose anything, much less over the internet - IF your problem is contact dermatitis it’s the steroids that are helping it heal up. Assuming it’s not infected, that should mean you can drop all the other stuff and, as a nurse, you know why dropping meds you don’t need is a good thing. I also needn’t caution you about use/over-use of steroids, but I’m throwing it in for anyone else reading this. That really is something that needs a doctor’s supervision.
Last time I had it I covered the affected areas with a gauze dressing, then cut the toe out of an old (but clean!) sock and pulled it over the area both to keep the dressing in place and to provide extra protection. As I was working out of doors doing things like landscaping and roofing the “extra protection” was sort of important. It prevented infection during healing despite my dirty work conditions, but also allowed me to wear t-shirts to allow for maximum cooling. I don’t know if a variation of the “sock trick” would work for you or not.
I’ve also been known to use a sock tube along with gloves while gardening which, again, allows me to wear t-shirts and light, loose clothing otherwise. That way only the vulnerable hands and forearms are wrapped up in the heat.