Lupara

36 minutes ago, steelnut said:

Did you do anything special to not have seen Japanese beetles? Every year we're inundated with them, I'm not a violent person, but when it comes to beetles, those disgusting horn worms, snakes and anything NE Patriot.....I just get the urge to hit something

I sprayed a few times with a homemade solution of Dawn detergent, water and vegetable oil. More for aphids and other tiny  pests. I'm skeptical it kept the beetles away. Formulas available online.

One zucchini. One stink'n  medium sized zucchini. Kind of funny when I think about how I try to give them away. Cucs were just fair. Same with summer squash. The peppers were as Steelnut described. I ended up with some on stunted plants. I'll follow Petee's advice on pepper growing in the future. Tomatoes were scary slow out of the gate. Loosened the soil around them in early to mid July and within a week they took off.  I ordered an old favorite green bean in early May. The Kwintus pole bean , a nice heavy yielding Roman style bean. Gave some seed to my bother years ago. Later that summer he told me that on two occasions passers by came into his backyard to ask what kind of bean it was. I ordered from Amazon. Checked the tracking in late May to find out it wouldn't arrive until June 17! So beans would be late. Here they were neither Kwintus nor pole beans. An Italian style though. Yields were lower.  What was harvested was enjoyed.One thing though, I didn't see a single Japanese Beetle this year, a first for this garden. All in all I'd give the season a well below average grade. Looking forward to next year.  

On 8/17/2019 at 2:15 PM, lavender said:

I've found the same thing. "Volunteers" are much healthier than the plants that we grow from bought seed. The problem is that they get such a late start that they often don't produce fruit. I get early blight each year but it comes so late that it doesn't seem to have much effect except for a lot of the lower leaves brown off. This year the Celebrity tomatoes have septoria leaf spot and those are the only plants that are producing anything. Last year it was something, I forget what, that was rotting the tomatoes, peppers and egg plant stems at ground level. I think that was our fault though because we mulched with grass clippings that evidently brought whatever it was in. I identified it but can't remember what it was. Fungicide got rid of it but it was too late for many of the plants.  It seems to be gone this year. 

The newer tomatoes are pretty much self pollinating so unless you are growing a hybrid it should come pretty much like the parent. It will be interesting to see what you get. 

On 8/17/2019 at 3:07 PM, Petee said:

Natural selection will almost always produce a stronger (if maybe strange) plant.  There would be no problem saving the seeds and testing them next year.  Just squeeze the seeds out of the tomato into something like a cottage cheese container.  Cover it against bugs, and let it set at room temperature till it begins to grow a layer of sludgy stuff on top.  Then scoop off what you can and dump the seeds into a sieve.  Wash them off and dump the cleaned seeds onto a dry paper towel till they are dry.  Maybe overnight.

A waxed paper envelope works great to store them for the winter.  Label them with the date and any other info that you may need. Store in an old refrigerator or a sealed container in a very cool basement for the winter.  In the spring, if you need help germinating them, just ask here again or contact a Penn State Certified Master Gardener at JeffersonMG@psu.edu.  That works no matter which county you live in.

One Master Gardener grows lots of bush string beans, and has received pole beans for the second year.  Sometimes what you grow yourself can be more to you liking, definitely cheaper and more rewarding.

Woot woot. Two tomatoes in the bottom cluster are ripening nicely. Probably an early variety and an early spring and we got lucky! We will have some viable seeds for sure. The tomato appears to be a  hybrid. This section had Sun Gold Cherry, San Marzano, Purple Cherokee, Yellow Pear and  Celebrity. The fruit is round and has the color of the Sun Gold. They are twice the size though. Not a large tomato,  just over and inch in diameter but larger than any Sun Gold. . The plant is indeterminate. No matter, I'll follow Petees's instructions on saving the seeds for next season. I used to start from seed years ago. This should be fun.

I have an upper and lower garden. Both suffer from early blight. Last year, the tomatoes in the upper garden were plentiful while I battled the blight. This year the tomatoes were rotated to the lower garden. The upper got  peppers, zucchini, summer squash, and cucs. Here is where it gets interesting. Some tomato seeds from last years crop germinated and grew in the upper garden along side the peppers I had planted. I left a few grow to observe. The peppers and zucchini were attacked by the same fungi as usual while the over-wintered tomatoes were completely impervious to it. One plant is touching a Cheyenne pepper plant with yellowed leaves and remains green from ground to tip. It appears the seeds that were impervious were the only ones to germinate. One tomato plant has several clusters of fruit I'm hoping will ripen enough to save the seeds and see if the genetics carry over to the next generation. I'll plant resistant varieties now but they are just that, resistant. They still succumb to the blight eventually. I've never seen plants this impervious to the blight.

Are those stick tights?

2 hours ago, lavender said:

We have a new rule here. Zucchini at every meal. Try this one. Slice zucchini very thin like with a mandoline or a food processor. Marinate on the counter with lemon juice. When it softens layer it on toasted crusty bread. Sprinkle with olive oil and parmesan cheese. I'm going to try it as a salad here shortly. I think it would be just as good on lettuce. 

Not even a soupson of roasted garlic?

4 minutes ago, jaman said:

Fresh Eggplant Parmesan.  Or Zucchini Parmesan. 3 types of cheeses. Parmesan. Mozzarella, Romano.

Another classic. In my top five for sure.

That dish you look forward to each year when the garden is producing. If its more than one, please feel free. 

Mine used to be summer squash, sautéed in olive oil and garlic, with fresh tomatoes over penne. Now though it has to be a simple bruschetta. Artisan bread brushed with olive oil, fresh minced garlic and basil, toasted a bit, then topped with fresh chopped tomato, toasted again then topped with good Romano cheese. 

Its been a very good year so far. Plenty pf pickles and relish put up( both cucumber and zucchini). I'm enjoying the new tomato varieties recommended on here. Sun Gold, Purple Cherokee, Celebrity and Yellow Pear will be planted again next year. Still waiting to sample the Green Zebra, Atomic Grape, San Marzano and Ox Heart. The dehydrator will be in full swing for the next month. 

My son has been making an excellent salsa with smoked Hungarian Wax and Sweet Hot Peppers.

Great information. Thanks to you both. I'm in the ball park with the exception of plant spacing this year. More plants than usual and I've crowded them a bit. Also thanks for the Japanese Beetle recommendations on the other topic.

Petee or anyone, 

How do you prune your tomatoes? I recently read where some will remove leaves and new growth 6 to 8 inches up so these leaves don't contact the soil inviting soil born disease. Then remove new side shoots to just one or two main stems allowing new growth at the tops of these only. I haven't done this with cherry and grape varieties since it world reduce yield. Another gardener from down your way once told me " once you get four sets of fruit, top off the plants new growth so all growth is concentrated to the fruit." What would you recommend? 

The garden got a much overdue dose of mushroom compost this spring. Looks to be paying off very well. Yellow squash about 4". Heavy stems on the tomato plants. Cukes looking good. All the makings of a banner year so far. 

You might have buried Fido a little deeper there Lav.

52 minutes ago, Petee said:

Thank you.  We try hard to select varieties with different uses that we personally can recommend for a specific taste or use.  I can't wait to see how the Rocky Tomatoes cook up, how pretty the Indigo Tomatoes are in real life, if the Bulls Heart are as fabulous in a sandwich as they were last year,  if the Black Beauty Tomatoes are as good tasting as they look, and if my favorites are still Green Zebra and Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes.  

 

Ah Geez. I got the Zebra, the Atomic, the Sun Gold, the Purple Cheyenne, the Yellow Pear,  the Celebrity and  the Ox Heart. Don't make me come back down there. For now my neighbors, friends, family, strangers passing by, and I  thank you. Do let us know how the new varieties taste. See you next year.

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 9:59 AM, Petee said:

The BUDS plant bazaar will have about 20 varieties of tomatoes from huge heirlooms to teeny Spoon Tomatoes, and lots in between.  They are all raised and donated by members, and all donations go to support the BUDS projects this coming summer, right here in DuBois.  We also provide and plant the bigger street pots from Main Street down to Brady, and we assist Revitalization with some of their pots.  We provide educational gardening programs monthly to the public and also give a scholarship to the Penn State Master Gardener program.

Come get individually planted plants for your garden, no need to drag home 4-6 in order to get the one you want.  Make a donation to the beautification of your own community.

It will hopefully be on Wednesday-Thursday-Friday and Saturday after Memorial Day at Charlie's Alternators.  Take time while you are there to tour the gardens to see what we have been doing.  Your donations are what the group exists on, so please be generous.

Stopped in at the BUDS plant bazaar today. The selection of tomato varieties was unlike any I've ever seen. I couldn't begin to list them all. I came away with a half dozen different varieties to try out. Very cordial, helpful and knowledgeable hosts as well. I highly recommend a visit. This will be an annual stop for me.  

That's great Petee. I'll make a point of visiting.

I picked up San Marzano, Yellow Pear and Celebrity. These were the only varieties recommended by members, that I could find at two locations. I'll still pick up some cherry or grape size for some early harvesting. Thanks.

16 minutes ago, Petee said:

My favorite snacking tomatoes are Yellow Pear, Red Currant, Green Zebra and Chocolate Cherry.  My favorite Sandwich tomato is Cherokee Purple or Oxhart.  Canning Tomato is San Marzano.

Those snackers would make the most colorful tomato salad. Yum.

 The Juliet is the first one that comes to mind for me. 

56 days to maturity is hard to beat

good flavor

pasty enough for salsas, sauce and drying

resists cracking unlike many smaller varieties

good disease resistance

I'll plant others but this has been a go to variety for quite a while now.

I once asked the waiter at The Outback what made up the sauce served with the Bloomin Onion. He said it was just mayo and ketchup. Also the special sauce on a Big Mac reminds me of a combination of these two and some relish. 

All that said, if I ever hear someone say " I'm running into Doobwah to pick up some Mayochup", I'll know I've lived too long.

I might have gone with Keyo or Kayo over Mayochup.

Hs LFG approved this?

On ‎8‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 11:16 PM, fedup said:

Come on Steel, your smarter than that. Your vote is a, YES, I am comfy with you. You claim to do all this research before you vote.

If you actually researched the truth you would never pull a lever for the TPD.

 My guess is you look for a reason not to vote for one then you vote for the other.

 Can't you see what your doing?

 You vote for evil believing your evil is better.

Steel's question remains unanswered. It's a fair question. How will not voting change anything?

Thanks, I'm sure we have had all of them in the pot at one time but getting them identified while trying to get them processed is a challenge. They all make a great soup and the the dried ones are a good substitute in Chinese dishes for whatever they use for dried mushrooms. A handful in any kind of soup really improves the flavor. Somehow they enhance the beef flavor of soup. We did have to toss several jars of the dried ones when some kind of small flies hatched out. We do discard anything that has worm holes in them but we must have missed something. 

If you want to make your county extension agent turn green tell him you are canning them. This is apparently not something they recommend. I pressure can but I knew people who used a water bath canner. I asked how long did she boiled  them and she said two hours. No deaths that I know of even with the water bath so I'll continue to do it. 

If I were to can these straight up, I would pressure can according to the canning manufacturers instruction. However I make a mushroom antipasta  marinate with two parts water, one part vinegar, serano peppers, Italian parsley oil and salt. The vinegar allows me to use a water bath.

The Eastern Hen Of The Woods dries well for later use.

And yes Bon that is some type of Bolete.

No not mellea. It is a subspecies of armillaria gallica I believe.

http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/armillaria-gallica.php

My knowledge of picking this mushroom, as I alluded to earlier, was passed down to me from my grandfather and my father. Learning their proper identity came much later.

I also have pickled and canned this variety. Slow cooked in sauce was always a traditional way to enjoy it. My uncle once told me "you can't cook this mushroom too long" meaning it is impossible to overcook it. I've found him to be correct. Probably my favorite way of enjoying it is dried and stored in an airtight container. Reconstitute in hot water for an hour, then make wild mushroom soup. I find the flavor best preserved this way. A small handful will flavor a good sized kettle of soup.