What are you eating out of your garden?

Pirl - you got my crows finally, they took forever to fly there:) This spring they would wash they're roadkill finds in my birdbath and leave the water all red and gutty.

4-0 - ish? Happy Birthday Al !

Thanks Aly - you're right on the age - physically that is ;)

Big differences between physical age and how we feel! Some days in the garden I feel 88 and other days 28. Luckily more 28's than 88's!

I feel 88 and act 18. Ther is something wrong with that...

Happy belated B-day, Al. Hope you continue to have a great year!

Al, Happy belated Birthday!! So sorry I missed it. Hope dinner was great.
Ah! To be 41 and have lots of dahlias!

Thanks Dave, you must be able to find someone that could remind you of what it was like.

I'll let you know what its like for me in 2012 when I get there!

You young 'uns get me sick!

At least I DO remember so now I just have to keep that positive thought. :-)

Pirl, I'm really 51. Just trying to give Al a hard time.

Ah yes, I remember 51 well, too!

I retired at 49 so I've been in heaven since then. Never have to wonder what clothes to wear or be concerned about traffic or with whom to have lunch. And NEVER have to wonder what I'll be doing........gardening! Heavenly.

Yeah,I've got like 16 years to go but with a 7 year old, it may be more. Good thing I like my job (most of the time!)

I liked mine, too! The company sold out to a large bank.

Right now, as I look out the window, the crows have arrived for their daily tomato breakfast. Jack bought the netting and we'll put it up today. Raspberries are in, beans and peas still going, rabbits got the lettuce, watermelons (Sugar Baby) doing fine and the cucumbers!!!!! Wish the crows would eat some of them instead of the tomatoes. Soon we'll be at neighbor's doors dropping off bags of cucumbers at midnight, wearing fatigue outfits!

Can we train deer to eat zuchini?

Funny! Wouldn't that be great!

pirl ~ I hear you about the cukes...must of picked 50 the other day and I didn't wear camo. Just went up to the doors and said "Would you like some cukes?" I also put a basket by the side of the road with a sign saying "Free Cucumbers" last year someone took my basket too! Now it's a card board box. I also bring a box to our local food bank.

Our local food bank doesn't want fresh vegetables! Cans are fine but nothing fresh.

Isn't it so amazing that you offer free cukes and they take the basket? What nerve.

I can't believe they won't take fresh veggies! Fresh is sooooo much better than canned. I wonder why.

Spoilage.

You would think people would just scarf up any fresh veggie they could get thier hands on and there wouldn't be spoilage. Thats really too bad!
This is what I had for a veggie last night.

Picked these this morning....can't wait to make Blueberry Dumplings with them!!!!

Now I'm really jealous! Maine blueberries - the best in the nation, the world! What a charming photo, too!

As for the cauliflower - yummy!

Pirl, The food bank here takes fresh produce if I bring it in on days they are distributing. Apples, tomatoes even strawberries are gladly accepted.
Andy P

Pirl, do you have a soup kitchen? A homeless family shelter? They might like fresh produce if they're serving meals every day.

Pixie, how many bushes do you have, and what variety? You're harvesting late compared to us.

Candis

I've been thinking about adding Blueberries. I've never grown them.
I will reduce the Blackberry patch by half next season and eliminate half of the old Strawberries, too.
How many medium size plants could I get into a 9 X 12 bed?
My fruit garden is constantly rotating except for the Blackberries. The Strawberries must move every 3 years, the 'unused' sections are for the nursery. Blueberries would be permanent, affecting the 'rotation'. I have to think on this, lol.

It looks like I'm going to have grapes this year! My 3 year old Reliance grape has 3 bunches on it. They are starting to turn their ripe color, pink.
Andy P

Andy: we got rid of the blackberries this past spring. Those long branches grow overnight, hit the ground and are coming up through the asparagus bed.

Anyhow, I'm writing to applaud the idea of blueberries. Ours is a tree form and the fall colors are worth it, mostly because the birds get to the berries long before we ever do.

Pirl, I grow enough bird food. The blueberries would be for ME. LOL.
Andy P

Aha! The birds change our plans, don't they? Well, they did for us and my DH has had one blueberry in 14 years but still the fall color is really worth it.

candyinpok ~ I have 12 bushes, 9 bearing fruit, the other 3 are new and still small so I pick any blossooms or berries that form so it can concentrate on getting big.
We have Jersey & Bluejay,both very hardy large bushes, if unpruned will grow 6-8' we prune to 4X4'. We also have Spartan and Northland.

It takes 3 years to get a (small) crop of berries. The first two years are for the growth of the the plant. You have to have at least two different cultivars to get good fruit set. Then there is the protecting the berries from the birds business. I got berries at this house for the first time this year - but they overlap with blackberries so I have to make fruit choices and usually the blackberries win. Blueberries have to have acid soil and they are shallowly rooted - so no putting annuals under them. I feed my blueberries lots of coffee grounds to give them acid. and a high acid ferrtilizer, sparingly twice a year, They don't require much in the way of pruning and they are very pretty in the fall. There are lots of cultivars to choose from. I let the people I bought my bushes from choose four different kinds for my yard.

I pour at least a cup of Epsom Salt around every bush in the spring and the amount of blueberries doubles.

I guess we're just pikers and will never be blueberry pickers. We have one that's more tree like than bush like and it, supposedly, didn't need a partner. We do see the blueberries but the birds are the recipients.

We also made the mistake of planting blackberries next to them, actually in between the row of gold and red raspberries with the lonesome blueberry at the other end. Now the blackberries are history. They just self rooted on those long branches TOO much.

Thanks for the information on blueberry bushes! I won't plant any annuals by their roots. We do feed them with aluminum sulfate twice a year.

I'll try that, too! I'm a big believer in Epsom Salts.

Me too. Use em on my tomatoes.

Pixie when do you prune your blueberries? Mine only this year got big enough to prune!

my husband burns the grass around them in very early spring, then prunes them and about a month later he puts the epsom salt to them. The burning of the grass helps with the nitrogen also.

Thanks! My luck I would start a fire. Think I will skip the grass burning......

Maybe if I tried that burning thing I could have grilled asparagus!

Yum. That sounds great!

pirl, your too funny! But grilled asparagus does sound great.
I picked a big pot of fresh string beans today and they were wonderful!! While I was out there I noticed 5 watermelon some the size of soccer balls and a few the size of basketballs. My Grandaughters are very excited about the watermelon...not so much so about the string beans. Hmmm wonder why? LOL

Smart kids!

But I do love the string beans, too, with a few cloves of garlic, butter .............