How are your gardens growing this year?

[Clipper]

Gardening is a real struggle this year. Weeds have been terrible and the bugs have arrived. My garden was just weeded by the lad next door a couple weeks ago and now the weeds have taken over the squash and cantelope section of the garden and the vines are too dense to get in there and walk among them to weed. The plants are blooming like crazy and squash and melons are forming so I will just have to hope for them to survive and thrive.

I had to buy some spray for the leaves of my zucchini plants. They ended up with white mold fungus.

Japanese beetles are eating leaves of the rhubarb. My four meager tomato plants are doing well. I picked the first tomato that was starting to turn red today and put it on the kitchen window sill to ripen. I have picked a couple of small zucchinis and a couple of cukes off those rogue cucumber plants that ended up mixed into the zucchini plants when I bought them.

[BHU]

Mine's doing well except for a potted tomato plant that doesn't look good with yellow leaves, don't why why. The tomatoes in the garden are taking off, I had to tie off a bunch of vines today & pruned off some suckers that were taking over, but I won't be picking any of them for a while. I have a lot of cherry peppers but not ripe yet, be a few weeks before they can be picked & the bush beans are doing well despite the woodchuck gnawing at them. Which reminds me. Another one showed up in the yard the other day. That makes no. 3 as i caught one last week & relocated him a few miles from here in a wooded area. Time to set the trap again even though I haven't seen it in a couple days & this business of relocating these critters is getting old.

Weeds aren't too bad except for a lot of crabgrass which I'm trying to stay ahead of.

[Clipper]

My crabgrass is thriving in the lawn. It has not been a problem in the garden. Whatever weed it is taking over the garden grows a foot or 18 inches tall and is prolific as hell.

[Clipper]

PB if you like the roasted or saute'd squash and zucchini Aldi's has them two in a package for $1.19. I have a couple of our own but at that price I bought enough to make the recipe for supper. They were fairly thin skinned and tender and the dish came out great. It is a variation on a recipe I saw on FB earlier today.

[BHU]

Jul 13, 2022 20:45:41 GMT -5 Clipper said:

My crabgrass is thriving in the lawn. It has not been a problem in the garden. Whatever weed it is taking over the garden grows a foot or 18 inches tall and is prolific as hell.

Sounds like you have "mile a minute weed". It's an invasive species that can grow six inches a day. If you see blue berries on that weed that's what it is. Nasty stuff for sure. It will smother your garden if it gets out of control........

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Mile-A-Minute Weed


www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants/mile-minute-weed

Bad stuff indeed

[Clipper]

Nope, thank goodness it isn't mile a minute weed. I don't know what it is but it grows about 2 foot tall with small white flowers if left to get that big. It has been in the hedgerow along our back border for years. Somehow it got from there to the garden plot about 50 or 60 feet away. I keep saying this is the last year for the garden and the weeds this year are making me seriously thinking that it WILL be the last year. I am getting too old for this crap. The garden has always been a favorite activity but the older I get the harder it is to keep up with maintaining it.

I am now thinking more along the lines of increasing my time in the woodshop, upgrading a couple of pieces of equipment, and producing more and selling it online and at the flea market. I installed the wood stove for winter heat last winter, now I need to insulate the inside panels of the doors and install a window air conditioner or two to keep it cool in summer.

I used to have a wood lathe but my interest in turning waned. NOW I know guys that are turning bowls and producing cutting boards among other things and are making some great money. I am watching for another lathe for a decent price, and also a plunge router so I can make routed cedar signs. My toys are fun to make and not expensive to produce because most of the wood involved is cheap construction grade lumber, re-sawn, re-planed and jointed. the bird houses and nesting boxes are generally made with recycled pallet lumber, as are some are the occasional jewelry boxes. Material costs are through the roof. Hardwoods are anywhere from 3 or 4 dollars to double digits per board foot. Ash, birch, or cherry finished plywood is well over 100 bucks a sheet or more.

PS: What I really need is for Ralph and his wife to move down here and bring his cabinet maker and woodworking skills with him. I would have someone to drink coffee and shoot the bull with while I work. The dog doesn't drink coffee and I haven't been able to find hearing protection and safety glasses that fit her. lol Imagine that Kathy and Betty could find some sort of mischief to get into also. They are both great cooks and bakers.