steelnut

Such a sweet little baby girl!

I just saw a report on this tonight on WJAC, I looked at their site, but either I can't find it or they haven't updated their site yet today.

I forgot all about Giambotta, an Italian veggie stew. I made a batch late last month, sooo good!

I love every veggie, except sweet potatoes and winter squash, I just don't like anything sweet. I'm already missing my fresh veggies, all that's left up there are some onions.

On 9/10/2018 at 6:26 PM, LFG said:

 This is how I found this website. I heard about it the day it happened, and the only thing that came up on my Google search was a thread by mr.d.  The original thread got lost when the site changed the format 

 I came here with the best of intentions, I can only blame myself for everything that followed...

I'm sure that we all agree that you had the best of intentions and we appreciate the knowledge that you shared in helping us understand how this tragedy happened and how it could have been avoided. You are not to blame for anything at all, you've been a breath of fresh air with a great sense of humor that the vast majority of members appreciate. 

12 hours ago, sapphire said:

To peel or not to peel (the eggplant), that is the question?  I'm all for short cuts but I'm thinking it should be peeled.  🤔

Lol, I don't peel

On 8/8/2018 at 9:59 PM, Petee said:

Recipe in the Recipe Forum?

I just shared on the recipe forum in the veggie and side category. Then I got interested in some of the recipes I saw posted, but a lot of them are cut off? Anyone else or it just my crazy computer?

This is the eggplant ball recipe I used except that I fiddle around with recipes. I added about 1/4 cup of fresh basil and some fresh chives. Also a pinch of red pepper flakes, in addition to the fresh garlic, I added some granulated garlic and I used panko bread crumbs. My very picky youngest grandson had no clue that they weren't made from meat, too funny!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18088/aunt-marys-eggplant-balls/

I forgot, the best cabbage ever here! My eggplant made a comeback, they looked sickly early but have come around. I made hubby eggplant balls the other day and he had no clue that they were meatless, lol. The next day I fed them to son and grandson, same thing, they thought they were real meatballs.

22 hours ago, Petee said:

Be sure to pinch the top out of the peppers so they put more energy into the fruit.  They will also need more fertilizer because of all the rain, but there's lots of time for them yet.  You may get a huge late fall crop barring a frost.

The peppers seem to all curl the leaves? I got a few peppers at first, now there aren't any blossoms at all. I've talked to probably 7 or 8 people who have the same problem this year and it's not like we all bought our plants from the same growers. It's weird.

SO this year except for the peppers has been wonderful. And we are no longer raising tomato plants, they are tomato trees, first year ever that some have actually pulled the stakes from the ground and a few are taller than me!

19 hours ago, lavender said:

Looks as though the tomatoes will be fabulous. Lots of cukes. Fair crops of broccoli and cauliflower. Nothing much with the peppers and eggplant so far. Onions are larger than usual. I'll be trying the cardoon soon. Cabbage looking good. Odds and ends are doing well. 

The only thing in our garden that is terrible are the peppers, all of them. I noticed early on that the leaves were all curling? I got a few and now nothing, we'll just pull them all this week. 

Update on our garden. All is very well, the only problem this past week is that it rained everyday and we couldn't get into it. So we had some very large squash, green and wax beans. I'm so happy that it's doing so well, but to be honest, it's kicking my butt this year trying to keep up with everything  Here's hoping everyone is having a great garden!

1 hour ago, LFG said:

 The other landfill thread made me think about this one. There have been drastic, sweeping changes across the country in hundreds of landfills that I know of this year.  Millions of dollars in business has been turned away for the sake of safety.  Everyone in the industry knows what happened up there, and knows why it happened.  If any of Billy's friends or family are still reading this thread, just know that my job is now safer after the tragedy up there. This isn't how any of us wanted it to happen, but good has come of it, and will benefit thousands of people for years to come 

I'm so glad that safety has improved for you and others in the industry. And thank you for all of your insight into this tragedy from the very beginning.

4 hours ago, lavender said:

I put that crushed bug spray to the test about 10 years ago when it was a semi-popular theory.  I had a terrible infestation of striped squash bugs in the garden. Overcoming the ick factor I collected a handful of them. I tossed them in an old blender container with some water and gave it a whirl. I strained the resulting mess and sprayed it on the squash. The the other striped squash bugs loved it. They came from miles around apparently thinking it was a family reunion. The only think I can think of is that I released pheromones that were  very attractive. My conclusion was that hanging a dead coyote might frighten off his kin and hanging a dead crow may have a similar effect but squished bugs just attract more bugs. It's kind of like hanging a Japanese beetle trap among the roses.  

I agree. Years ago someone told hubby to keep the crows away from the fruit trees, to shoot one and let it lay in the tree area because they wouldn't come around a dead crow. Yeah right!!! That one dead carcass brought all of the crows in a ten mile radius right to us.

On 7/9/2018 at 2:00 PM, lavender said:

Seven dust works for me.  We have had fewer insects this year and no deer damage. (Knock on wood!) I don't know what is going on. I'm sure all the rain had something to do with it. Maybe this batch of deer don't like Asiatic and daylilies. 

We use Seven too, but this year it just wasn't working. Hubby got his spray yesterday and sprayed. I looked around this evening and all looks good. Fingers crossed

On 7/9/2018 at 9:01 AM, Petee said:

Yes, if you place the traps in the wrong location, it can bring your neighbors beetles right into your own garden.  You need to place them as far away from your garden as possible (within 100 feet or so in a circle so they are drawing them away from your garden.  Then patrol the center to make sure any wanderers are found and dispatched.  You want them caught and killed so they do not breed and lay eggs in your yard again.

As I said, I have fewer and fewer every year because they don't get a chance to dig into my soil and lay eggs for the next year.  I kill them by hand too.

I have two acres and I place a trap at each corner of the property.  They fill up with beetles that never make it to my garden.  The ones that do are caught by me in a trap that I carry around, but lots of people just knock them off of the trap into a bucket of soapy water.  Unfortunately when you knock them off into a bucket, they get the opportunity to get airborne again and escape.  

When we invested in the traps we placed them at the farthest end of our property which is five acres, it just brought them in like crazy!

3 minutes ago, Petee said:

I still rely on the old-fashioned Beetle Traps, and every year I have fewer and fewer beetles.  Just place them well away from the plants you want to protect.  I also carry a trap or a bucket of soapy water around the yard and knock them off of the plant into the water.  I prefer to collect them in the trap.  I think the Rose Scented lure makes them less likely to fly away and I don't have to look at them later.

We invested in the beetle traps a few years ago and unfortunately the infestation increased. Then we watched a gardening program that focused on beetles. The consensus was that beetle traps bring the beetles in, it's like a lure to them. We are really infested this year. Hubby's grapes, my peas, green and wax beans, our blueberries and we planted a new oak tree a couple of months ago and they are killing it. I just want to get rid of them

They are terrible this year at least in our area, much worse than prior years. Hubby got some spray last year that worked pretty well and we couldn't find it anywhere this year, so he just ordered some on-line. I was wondering if anyone knows of a home remedy? TIA

21 hours ago, lavender said:

Best garden that we’ve had in years. You can almost see the plants growing especially the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Curiously, there are few insect problems. Even the flea beetles that usually just about ruin the eggplant are fewer in number and no asparagus beetles to speak of

I did spray for fungal and viral diseases as we had some problems last year. With all this rain it was precautionary. The only things  that were affected were some spiderworta and I want to keep it that way.

My eggplant are the only ones that don't look so great, something is eating the leaves with little tiny holes, would that be flea beetles? Hubby dusted them Monday, then it rained. 

How are everyone's garden's doing this year? I had to water my garden on Sunday because it was just parched and sad looking. But yesterday's rain made a world of difference, everything looks great (crossing fingers and toes) including my flower beds. Wishing all a very fruitful and plentiful season!

Thanks to all!

6 minutes ago, Sanibel said:

I am thinking slugs since it has been so damp lately. Bury a couple of plastic cups level with the soil.. Put a little beer in the bottom. They do their damage at night so check in the morning and see if you have drowned any. The dampness also draws earwigs and pill bugs. Some birds will also just peck a hole and move on. It is a frustrating problem to solve until you can figure out what the culprit is! My money is on the slugs though. I had the same problem so now I grow them in big pots and no more holes!

Thank you! I'll try the plastic cups with beer. Our bed is a raised bed that hubby built with very fine netting built up over it, so it's not birds. I always sprinkle eggshells around my veggie plants, I'm also going to try with the strawberries. Thanks again!

I was just researching and it seems like it could be any type of pest. There are tiny little round holes in every berry that ripens? I just wanted to get opinions of what to use from local folks who may have had the same problem. Thanks!

So I have been really happy to see so many strawberries coming on from the plants that we planted last year. Hubby picked a handful of ripe ones today. They all had been eaten somewhat by something. Does anyone know of a safe way of getting rid of whatever is eating them, safe as in for eating? I'm thinking it may be ants, but I'm not sure. TIA!