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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Sept 3, 2023 12:14:06 GMT -5
There are flowers enough in the summertime, More flowers than I can remember— But none with the purple, gold, and red That dye the flowers of September! –Mary Howitt (1799–1888)
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Sept 6, 2023 10:02:49 GMT -5
A bee that was searching for sweets one day Through the gate of a rose garden happened to stray. In the heart of a rose he hid away, And forgot in his bliss the light of day. –Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) |
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Post by BHU on Sept 7, 2023 19:15:33 GMT -5
Our roses have really taken off in the past 3-4 days, all in full bloom. They must like the heat. I gave them a good drink of water & they really took off.
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Post by Clipper on Sept 7, 2023 21:44:55 GMT -5
Our roses have really taken off in the past 3-4 days, all in full bloom. They must like the heat. I gave them a good drink of water & they really took off. Our knock out roses bloomed beautifully all summer but are waning now and Japanese beetles have raised hell with them lately. I am just waiting for them to quit blooming so I can prune them way back. I have always just pruned some of the upper canes in fall, but this summer they grew out of control, shooting up and out in every direction. I called the nursery and they told me I could cut them right back to about 1 foot when they stop blooming for the year and they will burst with new growth in the spring. I will most likely cut them back to about 2 feet. Some are almost 5 feet now and they are all random heights. |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Sept 8, 2023 11:20:25 GMT -5
Here and yonder, high and low, Goldenrod and sunflowers glow. –Robert Kelley Weeks (1840–1876) |
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Post by Clipper on Sept 8, 2023 11:53:23 GMT -5
Here and yonder, high and low, Goldenrod and sunflowers glow. –Robert Kelley Weeks (1840–1876) We have no shortage of golden rod. The weeds bordering the mowed portion across the road are thick with blooming golden rod. It really raises heck with my allergies. I wore a mask to mow over there the other day. I could take the DR string trimmer brush mower over there and cut it down but I don't like to cut anything that blooms and supports the bees and pollinators. Between the weeds, the roses and the clover in the lawn we seem to have a healthy population of honey bees, bumble bees, and carpenter bees. Although the garden did not do well this year, everything I planted saw plenty of bee action when it blossomed. |
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Post by BHU on Sept 8, 2023 18:43:38 GMT -5
Our roses have really taken off in the past 3-4 days, all in full bloom. They must like the heat. I gave them a good drink of water & they really took off. Our knock out roses bloomed beautifully all summer but are waning now and Japanese beetles have raised hell with them lately. I am just waiting for them to quit blooming so I can prune them way back. I have always just pruned some of the upper canes in fall, but this summer they grew out of control, shooting up and out in every direction. I called the nursery and they told me I could cut them right back to about 1 foot when they stop blooming for the year and they will burst with new growth in the spring. I will most likely cut them back to about 2 feet. Some are almost 5 feet now and they are all random heights. I wonder if it was Japanrse Bartles that went to work on one of our rose bushes chewing the leaves up. The rose has started to recover & is in full bloom, so I guess it will be ok. We planted 3 new bushes this spring & I'll have to do some research on how to protect them for winter. |
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Post by Clipper on Sept 8, 2023 19:37:13 GMT -5
How are your tomatoes this year? I planted Better Boy tomatoes and they took forever to come along but when they did they came in clumps of 2,3,and 4 in some cases. They are all different sizes though. Some are smaller than a baseball when they are ripe and ready, and other are beef steak size. They are juicy, sweet and delicious but I am puzzled by the variation in sizes.
We had BLT's for supper and the large tomatoes Kathy used were absolutely ripe and sweet, yet still firm.
I have never had tomatoes act the way these have. They have grown into huge bushes that have all grown together into a large clump about 5 feet tall or taller. When I see a hint of red in that mess I have to all I can do to reach some of them in the middle of the clump. the hot weather has made the skins tough in some cases.
I picked two of the largest green ones tonight and I am going to fry them tomorrow. I soak them in milk, then dredge them in seasoned flour, into egg, then bread crumbs before frying them in hot oil. I add Lawrey's seasoned salt, onion powder, black pepper, and just a pinch of cayenne pepper. Kathy doesn't care for them, but fried green tomatoes are what is on the lunch menu for tomorrow.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Sept 9, 2023 7:51:09 GMT -5
"I wonder if it was Japanese Bartles that went to work on one of our rose bushes chewing the leaves up. The rose has started to recover & is in full bloom, so I guess it will be ok.
We planted 3 new bushes this spring & I'll have to do some research on how to protect them for winter. "
BHU, let me know what you find out. We planted some knock out roses this year. I love them but a couple of them have been hit hard by insects. It has been years since we had roses. It should be easier in this climate than it was in Minnesota but this is still a cold winter.
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Post by Clipper on Sept 9, 2023 8:26:42 GMT -5
When I was a kid I vaguely remember my grandparent's rose bushes being covered in burlap and heavily mulched in straw along with his strawberry plants. I have no idea where one would find the burlap. They sell it in fabric stores and craft stores but that source could prove quite expensive. I guess you could use animal feed bags if you know a farmer, although I don't think those are made of burlap anymore.
I still use my grandfather's pruning shears. I remember him pruning his grape vines and cutting suckers off his strawberry plants. He was a skilled gardener and had a large grape arbor from which he harvested grapes to make wine.
When it came to controlling Japanese beetles, his solution was to use a short piece of wooden dowel to knock them off the leaves into a coffee can with kerosene in it. When the can contained a significant amount of dead beetles he would set it on the ground on the gravel driveway and throw a match in it. It was a chore I remember helping him with as a kid along with pulling weeds in his garden for a quarter and then walking to the little store on the corner of Westmoreland St and Main St in Whitesboro to buy penny candy or a comic book with money left over to put in my piggy bank or my school savings account on bank day.
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Post by BHU on Sept 9, 2023 16:18:33 GMT -5
How are your tomatoes this year? I planted Better Boy tomatoes and they took forever to come along but when they did they came in clumps of 2,3,and 4 in some cases. They are all different sizes though. Some are smaller than a baseball when they are ripe and ready, and other are beef steak size. They are juicy, sweet and delicious but I am puzzled by the variation in sizes. We had BLT's for supper and the large tomatoes Kathy used were absolutely ripe and sweet, yet still firm. I have never had tomatoes act the way these have. They have grown into huge bushes that have all grown together into a large clump about 5 feet tall or taller. When I see a hint of red in that mess I have to all I can do to reach some of them in the middle of the clump. the hot weather has made the skins tough in some cases. I picked two of the largest green ones tonight and I am going to fry them tomorrow. I soak them in milk, then dredge them in seasoned flour, into egg, then bread crumbs before frying them in hot oil. I add Lawrey's seasoned salt, onion powder, black pepper, and just a pinch of cayenne pepper. Kathy doesn't care for them, but fried green tomatoes are what is on the lunch menu for tomorrow. Tomatoes were average, I lost a few to fruit flies & an opposum that raided the garden. I planted Jet Stars then I found Better Boy's in Schuyler but I didn't want to pull the Jet's & start over. I still have a handfull that I will pick next week, they'e not quite ripe. I picked a slew of redhots yesterday & a few Italias. I've had better gardens, just too much rain this year, August was terrible. In a couple weeks I'll be pulling all the plants & that will be it for the summer. |
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Post by BHU on Sept 9, 2023 16:21:51 GMT -5
"I wonder if it was Japanese Bartles that went to work on one of our rose bushes chewing the leaves up. The rose has started to recover & is in full bloom, so I guess it will be ok. We planted 3 new bushes this spring & I'll have to do some research on how to protect them for winter. " BHU, let me know what you find out. We planted some knock out roses this year. I love them but a couple of them have been hit hard by insects. It has been years since we had roses. It should be easier in this climate than it was in Minnesota but this is still a cold winter. Our roses are doing well, I don't know what was eating the leaves. I wish I knew because I don't like using insecticides which can kill bees. |
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Post by Clipper on Sept 9, 2023 19:42:44 GMT -5
I planted jet stars until I could no longer find them at our local greenhouse. Better boys seem to do better anyway. I guess that is why they call them BETTER boy, haha.
I don't use insecticides that would harm the pollinators either. The only thing I did was put down some expensive granular insecticide around the base of the bushes that is supposed to kill small green worms that only come out at night, eat the leaves and go back in the ground during the day. I just got rid of them and the Japanese beetles invaded in force. It was a bad year for bugs. Early in the summer I was losing the lawn to grubs. I treated that with Grubex or something similar from Lowes and it seems that I solved that problem for this year.
Our green house sold me the granular insecticide that killed the worms that were eating the leaves at night. I would give that a try if you don't know what it is that is eating the leaves.
I still have decent size tomatoes waiting to ripen and there are quite a few of them so I don't want to pull the plants yet.
I had my fried green tomatoes for supper tonight. It is a Southern thing. They are pretty good. Just dredge them up and fry them in oil like you would zucchini slices. Fry them crispy, sprinkle them with a little salt and enjoy.
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Sept 10, 2023 14:06:50 GMT -5
Take the fruit I give you, says the bending tree; Nothing but a burden is it all to me. Lighten ye my branches, let them toss in air. Only leave me freedom, next year's load to bear. –Lucy Larcom (1824–93) |
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Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Sept 10, 2023 14:21:43 GMT -5
I haven't had fried green tomatoes in a long time. I was introduced to them when I left NY in 1966. It was in the novitiate that a fantastic southern lady who was our cook made them one day for lunch and placed them out on the counter with a note saying tell me if you like these. Enjoy. Well we did and we had them all through tomato season. In novitiate we grew beefsteak tomatoes. A lot of them. The house we lived in was donated to us by a Jewish family. It sat on top of a hill of about 25 acres of land. The front of the house had a beautiful lawn which was about 25 feet long then dropped about 40 feet to the street that was still our property. We grew tomatoes, corn, cukes and zucchini. Some was canned and some sold in the large grocery store in Eureka and some went to the main Monastery for the Brothers working there. Harvesting was a HUGE chore. Especially in the heat of summer. We also had a very large greenhouse when we planted to seeds in small pete containers for the next years garden for those novices entering the novitiate. Eventually that stopped when vocations stopped coming in. That was a sad time.Only two Brothers left out of 60 and they are in there 80's. The entire operation of the Monastery was closed by the Bishop of St Louis from orders from the Vatican and those two Brothers were transferred to the Alexian Brothers.
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