The Dawg Patch

[JRinPA]

Funny you mentioned killed all the bugs...my first corn plot had some worms at the top. The second block, next to it, a couple weeks later planted, is now ripe. And this block has no worm damage that I can see. The difference in timing being about 12 days. The second block had caught up, but now we had plenty of rain during ear formation.

Don't know if it was truly the weather or not. I guess I might have sprayed these with BT in their earlier stage of growth as well.
[attachment=0]01.JPG[/attachment

[GoDawgs]

This year I've tried an old heirloom watermelon whose seed I stumbled across this spring. For several weeks I've had my eye on the first one and today I found a dry pigtail and beautiful creamy underside so it got harvested and lugged up to the house. It weighed 20.5 lbs.

24.08.01 Wilson Sweet melon, peppers and peas.JPG

You know I just had to try it so I cut it open right after lunch.

24.08.01 Watermelon, First Wilson Sweet , 20 lbs.JPG

Oh boy, is it good! Nice and sweet as advertised. But once it was open I had to deal with it so I tackled cutting up the whole thing into cubes and got three big boxes full. I set aside the seeds for cleaning and saving later. All the rind pieces are in the reefer. Tomorrow those will get any pink cut off, all skin removed and cut up for making pickled watermelon rind the next day. That thick rind is perfect for that.

While I was in the garden I took a look at the sweet potatoes and saw a couple starting to poke up around the watering collars I had added at planting time. They've still got a way to go before digging. Jewel is a 120-130 day maturity and right now they're at 86 days. I found out the hard way back when I started growing these that poking up doesn't mean it's digging time.

24.08.01 Jewel sweet potato peeking out.JPG

On July 22 I planted four rows of Big Red Ripper cow peas where the corn had been. They got rained on real good the next day and were up in three days. The row on the far right was sown with the last of the saved 2019 seed I had stored in the freezer. Just about 100% germination! I was pleasantly surprised.

24.08.01 Red Ripper peas up and going.JPG

[GoDawgs]

We had on and off heavy rain yesterday as several storm lines passed through with 2" in the gauge this morning. Yay! I won't have to do any watering for a couple of days. Maybe more as they say Hurricane Debby might bring a little more rain here. It looks like Debby will cross over the bottom right corner of Georgia and mostly leave us in east central GA alone.

The cucuzza squash is finally starting to make some squash. There are two plants on this trellis:

24.08.01 Cucuzza squash ready to run.JPG

In the lower left corner of the pic above, right along the pole you can see the first squash.

24.08.01 First cucuzza squash almost ready.JPG

About 15-18" long is best for eating and they taste like yellow summer squash. I spied about four other babies on it. This is good since the yellow squash is long gone. The vines will be directed to run along the ground the length of the bed.

The fall garden is officially under way a couple days ago with brassica seeds started; broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kohlrabi. Collards and kale will be started a bit later. All are now uncovered, up and growing under the lights.

24.08.02 Fall brassicas started.JPG

Also doing some seed saving. That's dill in the flat.

24.08.03 More seed saving.JPG

And finally, one Jing Orange okra flower caught my eye. They're so pretty.

24.08.01 Jing Orange okra blossom.JPG

[JayneR13]

That okra flower is so pretty! Flowers are one of the joys of gardening.

We’re getting another heavy rain overnight, more than 1” at least. I’ve only had to water twice this year! The excessive water has definitely impacted production, both at home and at the pantry garden. This is why we put up all we can in the good years! I’m getting enough to get by but not enough to get fat on. Lol

[GoDawgs]

It's garden destruction/fall prep time. Yesterday morning while it wasn't as hot I got weeds pulled from four beds, one of which was totally blanketed with them. Serves me right for getting into the post-spring let-down and not wanting to do anything. Well. I'm back in gear and paying the price. Whew!

Around 7pm I went back and got another bed rescued. It was an easy one and was ready for planting in no time. Green beans were sown down each side in one half of the bed with mustard seed in the middle. Then I sowed three hills of squash down the middle of the other half of the bed and forgot to sow mustard around those hills so I did that tonight. The mustard will hopefully deter nematodes. So the first of the fall stuff has been planted.

Sister Pickles decided to change the Deere mower blades so she got the mower's front end raised up on the Mo-Jack and got it done. As she was cranking the Mo-Jack to lower the mower, something snapped and the jack wouldn't lower the mower any more. So she called the cavalry (me) and we pondered the problem. The front end of the mower was still about two and a half feet in the air but the only way we could see to get it down was to get on each side, lift as hard as we could, push until the front wheels rolled back out of their cradles and let the mower fall. BAM! The front tires hit the concrete and all fingers and toes were accounted for. It ran and mowed just fine. Mission accomplished.

It's always something, ya know? Now she's thinking about getting a pulley hoist to replace the Mo-Jack. Another toy for Mollie Mechanic!

[karstopography]

@GoDawgs I need to change the three mower blades on our Scag Tiger Cat 2 52” cut ZTR. We have so many chunks of trees and storm debris still out in the lot I’m holding off on the blades change until we get things more tidy in the wake of Beryl. I don’t particularly like changing the blades as it is awkward and takes some significant elbow grease.

I had to use a sawzall last week to cut off the front Casters. Scag ZTR mowers, unlike John Deere, have solid rubber front wheels for the mower deck. The bearings were so far gone (literally) that the sleeves fused to the bolts so using a metal saw was my only option. New casters, new lubed up bearings now in place so that part of the mower deck is great.

My next fall planting will be bush beans and summer squash in September. The two beds vacated by the Beryl ravaged tomato plants will receive the squash and beans. I’ll add some worm castings and maybe a little cotton burr compost to those beds and that will be about all. One bed needs some framing work.

The rest of the garden will stay as it is until October. Peppers, Okra, Eggplant, all doing great.

[GoDawgs]

@GoDawgs I need to change the three mower blades on our Scag Tiger Cat 2 52” cut ZTR. We have so many chunks of trees and storm debris still out in the lot I’m holding off on the blades change until we get things more tidy in the wake of Beryl. I don’t particularly like changing the blades as it is awkward and takes some significant elbow grease.

Pickles usually does the first two cuts of the place in the spring with last year's blades. I hear all this banging now and then as she'll just run over small branches. I keep reminding her that it's a mower, NOT a bush hog but she just laughs because she'll be changing those torn up blades later. Well, it's her mower so it's her choice. Changing blades was a pain until she bought the Mo-Jack to eliminate removing the deck. Then she bought an impact wrench for those stubborn nuts and now the process is a lot easier overall.

I had to use a sawzall last week to cut off the front Casters. Scag ZTR mowers, unlike John Deere, have solid rubber front wheels for the mower deck. The bearings were so far gone (literally) that the sleeves fused to the bolts so using a metal saw was my only option. New casters, new lubed up bearings now in place so that part of the mower deck is great.

At least she hasn't had to deal with that! But the spindle in one of the front tires gave up the ghost last year. After spending time on You Tube to see how to do it and ordering parts online, she got it fixed. I swear, you can learn to do anything on You Tube IF you find people who actually know what they are talking about. Sometimes those are hard to find. She's got those bookmarked.

Last month she read about how some of the newer model Deere mowers had a quirky oil change thing and how it didn't drain out all of the old oil. When she next changed the oil Pickles found that it left TWO THIRDS of the old oil in there! Deere has a retrofitting kit they sell to fix it but since the warranty on Pickles' mower is gone anyway, she found a similar kit online and did it herself. I guess Deere figures that if you run enough dirty oil through the engine that you'll be buying a new one quicker. Well, the heck with that! With all her mechanicking, Pickles has really deprived their service department of some serious bucks. She says her next mower will be a Craftsman since the extra Deere parts she keeps on hand will fit that one too.

[JayneR13]

So many things I've been missing on my small urban lot! I just send my mower to the mechanic every few years. Of course, learning to do it myself wouldn't be a bad thing either. And yeah, YouTube! Finding a video on your topic of choice is not a problem. Finding someone who actually knows what they're talking about is significantly harder! I have fixed quite a few things that way however. I guess what we don't pay in money, we pay in time and effort. Life can be this way.

[GoDawgs]

The break between summer and fall gardens is over. Time to get the rear in gear. The first round of brassicas is coming along nicely:

24.08.15 First round of brassicas.JPG

And yesterday I started the second round; broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards and kale. More kohlrabi yet to start. What I see in these pics are lots of holes to be dug.

24.08.15 Second round of brassicas.JPG

Meanwhile, that cucumber I'm saving for seed has gotten ginormous! It's about 10" long. I'm going to have to take those vines out today as the leaves are showing powdery mildew starting and I sure don't want that spreading around!

24.08.15 Giant Glorie de Paris.JPG

I'm pretty sure the nematodes have gotten hold of the Ha'Ogen melon vines. The 'tode damage to the roots prevents uptake of water so they look really wilted and thirsty even though they have regular watering. I've yet to get a ripe melon.

24.08.15 Nematodes workking on Ha'Ogen melons.JPG

Due to earlier leaf coverage I missed seeing one of the melons growing into the trellis! I could cut the wire but it's going to be tossed anyway. The other side of the melon looks like that too.

24.08.15 Ha'Ogen, Tight Squeeze.JPG

I use a spray bottle to spray my shovels etc with a 10% bleach solution to kill any nematodes on them before using them. Two days ago I found the sprayer lying on the ground in front of the garden table. It was empty. On close inspection I saw that the squirrels had gnawed around the screw-on top and created a hole that the solution leaked out of! They also chewed off the end of the nozzle. Little bastiges! So now I have a new spray bottle and it will live in the shed, not on the table.

24.08.15 Squirrels chewed off sprayer nozzle.JPG

Today is Bean Day. More about that later.

[JayneR13]

I can just see high level negotiations between the squirrels and the nematodes LOL. Of course, squirrels get into everything, just like rabbits. Take a bite and move on! I tossed a good half dozen tomatoes at the food pantry garden because of that. And yes, powdery mildew! I prune and I spray, and it still spreads. And since squashes & cucumbers are in demand by the pantry clients, that's what we grow. Of course, next year mine will get better spacing. That'll help.

[GoDawgs]

Last evening I pulled off the newspapers on that bean/squash bed as the seeds were up. I should have done that the day before but forgot to check! They should be ok.

All of those brassica seeds I started on Thursday are up and running.

Beds are clearing out but there are still a few that need attention like this weedy bed with zinnias. It got waaaaay ahead of me. Priority was given to those beds that will be used for fall stuff so now there are a few beds left to rehabilitate. Mustard will go in this one.

24.08.15 Weedy zinnia bed.JPG

My new pH meter arrived yesterday so I need to start checking all the beds. If lime is needed, it needs to be done this fall for next spring. And if a bed will be used this fall it'll get fixed anyway before it gets planted. There's always something to do, eh?

[JayneR13]

Always something to do! Gardening is not a lazy person’s hobby! Nope, nope, nope! But it’s great stress management and we get yummy food.

[PlainJane]

I’m so sad about your Ha’Ogen lack of fruit. I hope you try it again next season.
Blasted squirrels.

[GoDawgs]

I did pick the one in the white sling yesterday as it was finally ripe (I think). The heady aroma of the outside rind said ,"I'm ready!" Fruit was 4.25" in diameter.

24.08.19 Ha'Ogen melon, 4.25 in. diameter.JPG

However, having never grown them before I have no idea what it should look like inside. The orange area tasted OK but not very sweet. The area between the orangy part and outer rind was soft enough to be considered ripe but was fairly tasteless.

24.08.19 First Ha'Ogen melon.JPG

I will give it one more go next year. There were a gazillion seeds inside and I saved some. Should I just toss them and hope for better next year? My inclination is to do that and not save seed from inferior fruit. Input appreciated!

[JayneR13]

That's a hard one. When I Googled Ha'Ogen melon and clicked on Images, I saw a wide range of cut melons. Some were orange like cantaloupe, others were pale yellow, others were green. So which is "right?" That's hard to say. The smell of the rind and your gardener's gut told you when to harvest. If the taste wasn't more than Meh, why bother? Or you could try 1-2 vines next year for fun, and let them ripen more. But so many garden-specific factors go into fruit color and taste! You could almost flip a coin for the yes/no dilemma.

[JRinPA]

That's a shame on the melon, that is one thing I can't seem to grow well. They usually tell me to pick them - after they split.

[GoDawgs]

That's a shame on the melon, that is one thing I can't seem to grow well. They usually tell me to pick them - after they split.

I'm trying hard not to let that happen to the Wilson Sweet watermelons. When I checked yesterday I discovered that there are five more ready!

I need to pull the mower cart down there in the morning and bring them up to the house. Then figure out who to give them to as I still have some cut up melon in the reefer from the last one! And there are three more that will be ready a little later. All of these from one hill!

I'm doing a germ test on the seeds I collected from that first melon. Got a lot of them and if they're good I'll send some in to the MMMM.

[GoDawgs]

I picked the first round of Maule's Red Hot Cayennes yesterday. They got dehydrated last night and one of these days soon I'll whiz them up into powder.

24.08.19 Maule's Red Hot Cayenne.JPG

This fall I'm making sure I don't plant a whole row of turnips at once and end up with a turnip avalanche later. I had meant to do that this spring but my mind went to wandering and before you know it I had planted the whole row and not the half I had intended. This time I'm going to do four 4.5' plantings to fill the 18' row. Did the first one last evening.

The same is going to happen with the big Daikon radishes, planting four of them every two weeks. Those get so big I plant them about 8" apart. I seem to remember a note I made last year about planting them every four weeks, not two but I can't find it. Maybe I'll sow the next ones three weeks from now.

[JayneR13]

Nice peppers! Mine have been much smaller so far. Big on heat though! I fry them with my potatoes and pull the pepper out before eating, and the heat still makes my eyes water! Oy.

[PlainJane]

@GoDawgs Ha’Ogen should be green inside. That’s a different melon, I believe.