I never did swiss chard or Kolarobie or turnips for that matter. I just don't like it. Let me know what the rhubarb chard is like.
Our new garden plot
One tomato that I picked up in Alberta when we did our quick run there and back.......it is Delicious and was a little 6" start. It is now almost 5 feet now and has a huge sprawl (tho most of those two plants are now encased in 7'/8' rebar cages). After growing the much tamer Champion/Celebrity, etc. type determinate tomatoes this one has really surprised me.
I counted 6 (3 in picture) on one plant that are almost the size that a slice will cover a slice of bread! Ü
This message was edited Aug 2, 2006 10:03 AM
Steve Rhubarb Chard tastes more like beet greens (but I think even better). Swiss Chard has a more bitter taste to it.
Ooooh I like beet greens. I'll have to plant that next year. When did you put yours in this year?
Steve I think it was the first week of May. I know it was a little later than I would have liked to have planted the peas but the owner of the land was a bit slower this year to do the initial till (after that it is up to the plot holder to keep the weeds down). Maybe you can find some at a farmer's marker (or just plant a few to see if you like them). They taste best (to me anyways ;) with a dab of butter and salt n' pepper.
Keeping the largest leaves picked lessons the chance of the plant going to seed and keeps it producing all summer.
Here's the patch now that kept me digging many holes Steve.........it's out in the country so we planted lots of pumpkins/squash, etc. along the major paths (and esp around the corn) to keep the night time marauders away from it (in the beginning it was easily passable but now that the corn is ripening we haven't seen any evidence of deer or coons in our patch :).
This message was edited Aug 24, 2006 1:13 AM
View a little further back.........(dead corn at the top right hand side belongs to an older fellow that we haven't seen for quite awhile). The top end of our patch is the square patch of corn in the upper left corner of picture.
This message was edited Aug 24, 2006 1:17 AM
WoW! that is a great garden Pam. Are you planning on freezing some?
Joan
Nice productive piece of earth! You have been busy. So how does squash keep the deer away? I bet everyone else at the site is envious of your spectacular plants. You need to water the old guys plants and take him some when they ripen. He probably is in a care center somewhere and wondering about his plants.
I just got back from alaska. The guy sold his practice so I won't be going up to Kodiak any more. Bummer. Off to Fairbanks for the winter. See my whale breach right off the bow of the fishing boat. My camera was too slow to get the whale in mid air.
Wow what a lovely view (even without the whale)! Ü Very appreciated cause we are feeling pretty warm here.
Thanks Joan :) 80 tomato plants are in there along with everything else from A to Z (including watermelon but I think it's the only plant that has prolly run out of time for any of it's fruit to reach maturity) and yep I do believe some freezing of maters is in my immediate future (as long as we don't have frost while we are moving DD/DS ). :S
Steve I really don't think they like tripping over the squash's vines after dark. Prior to dark they stay away from the patch. Deer have caused a few problems in some of the more wide open pathed patches there. It takes us 4 hours to flood our patch every 2nd to 3rd day (and sometimes we have to go back to catch the areas that we couldn't get to due to knee high mud). Not counting the time needed for picking, weeding and working. If I see him (or find out where he is) I'm sure I'll have something(s) to share tho. ;)
I know that a lot of times older people get in trouble, stroke etc and their pets get left without anyone caring for them. I suppose the garden is similar. Good deal on the squash. I never knew. Pretty big halibut. 234#
Where was that monster caught?????
Truthfully we didn't even notice he wasn't taking care of it until we saw the corn dying. Someone, maybe him ?, is watering his tomatoes tho. We were informed by two avid gardening brothers (2 plots down) that many there just garden for something to do and tend to ignore their plots in August. ???
This message was edited Aug 25, 2006 2:53 PM
I went out on a charter last thursday. I caught 3 lingcod over 40# and several salmon. Lots of rock cod and a couple of yellow eyed rock cod. I was up in Kodiak AK. We caught over 600# of fish in 8 hours. It was fun. I fished the rivers also and caught our limits on pinks and Silvers. The rest of the haul.
OMG they look wonderful (and I bet are very, very, very tasty coming from those cold waters :).
Yes they are. I love the lingcod the best but the rock and yellow eye are also good. I caught a lot of pink salmon and smoked them. The silvers are best grilled on the barbee.
This is my new irrigation system from the grey water I collect out of our kitchen, bath and bathtub. My well has been giving me grief all this hot dry.
Wonderful idea Steve! I used to think about how much I'd love to bypass our dishwater/bath water straight outside esp with the benefits of the soap.......can't be detergent tho. It would be great for watering the lawn.
There was a special on CBC news a couple of months ago about a man living in Toronto who collected all the rain water in containers something like yours and was able to water his lawn, flower beds, run a pond and fountain and even wash down his driveway (pretty often too if I'm remembering it correctly). I wish they had given a bit more information on his system.......Toronto's mayor was very impressed with someone who wasn't using their restricted water supply.
echoes
Aug 25, 2006
Hi Pam. I've just browsed through your diary. Good job. Love that computer gargoyle.
We saw one of those red-tailed bees the other day. Nice to know what they are.
Sorry, I'm no expert on corn seed. But Canadian Tire, no, not unless they have MacKenzie seeds, and then depends what variety you want. I haven't grown enough corn for the past few years to know what the best varieties are. We have come a long way from Bantam. I grew a bit of some sugar enhanced this year, but we're not thrilled with it. Best one I remember was Sugar Loaf, but probably not out there anymore. Don't order corn from Lindenberg though.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed too, that my musk melons ripen before frost. Thanks for the tour. Keep em comin, it looks great.
LOLOL it seems to be Riley's fav hangout (he really likes to keep an eye on me, but it could be the mouse ;).
Good to know MacKenzie is a reputable supplier (it's been a few years since I've done a lot of seed planting.......I really miss my greenhouse that we had in the Battlefords). I will be doing my darndest now to hunt down Sugarloaf.
Are there any veggies, melons, etc. that you consistantlypurchase year after year? I remember years ago having carrots that were sooo sweet and I've kicked myself ever after that I never asked which variety they were (they were picked mid season and hadn't been touched by frost yet). I know different soils, etc. can affect the taste but would still love cultivar suggestions.
This message was edited Aug 25, 2006 11:57 AM
re: "Keep em comin, it looks great."........ibid that to have mine contain the information/pictures/etc. that yours does echoes. ;)
Next year I'll be entering my seed names prior to planting (and before the labels, packages disappear ;)
Hey Pam. I don't know if you like cabbage or not, but one that I do grow consistently every single year is Shelta F1 (seed from Thompson & Morgan - here's a link http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/us/en/product/216/1 ). This is a smaller ball head cabbage that is unbelievably tender and sweet, equally scrumptious boiled, baked, used in soup, or shredded for slaw. --Ginny
Ü I will be now thanks Ginny! Ü We were told after we rented the land that the brassicas grew exceptionally well there so I just picked up seedlings from the nursery (cabbages: 4 short season, 4 long, and 4 purple as well as brocolli, cauliflower and brussel spouts). I'm sure I listed the cultivar names somewhere but will have to dig them out. So far we've eaten the short season......tasted OK but I'm looking forward to growing/trying yours now. :)