Gardeners come hither....

[Baron Doune]

Very warm up here right now and dry.  Water restrictions and all that.  Even/Odd thing.  I've got it down to about 1" a week on just the perennials.  To heck with the grass.

Putting down water from the drip line thing I set up a couple of years ago.

88 degrees in Zone 4a is not a good thing.  It only hits 90 up here about a dozen times a year.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

Last night's wind took out the 'mater cages, the shade cloth over the chicken coop somewheres out in the national park an half a mature Saguaro is lyin' horizontal like in the front yard. Got a 3" layer 'o mesquite beans EVERWHERE. Bring it on Muther N

[fortryllelsestudios]

The wife has found 5 four leaf clovers in the yard this week. We figure it's the arsenic in the soil causing mutations. We're not going to mow that little section of the yard in hope of encouraging more. Wonder if we can seal them in plastic and sell them, I've got a small laminator I found in a second hand store we could use.

You know I have actually sealed the first little dandelion flower my son picked me in resin and it looks lovely after 5 years.  I used a metal jewelry finding intended for setting cameos, and then I simply set the pressed and dried flower in the bottom and filled it with 2 part resin from the craft store.  I put a little glitter in mine, because as you know, thats how I roll..  But you could make a bunch and I know people would love them.

[Baron Doune]

Any of you guys ever do cold crock pickles?

Small cucumbers in a brine solution?

Oh and tomatoes can be frozen. 

Great for sauces later. Just wash em and freeze them.

My tomatoes are growing like crazy with this hot weather we're having.

[Tipsy Gypsy]

Our tomtoes have done well too, but it's actually gotten a little too hot for them here now, and they've slowed production. The peppers, however, are just getting up to speed. Tomatoes do freeze quite well. We use a dehydrator to save the tomatoes we don't eat, so we can store them in the pantry.

[Joyce "Delfinia DuSwallow" Howard]

I never thought of that-tomatoes in the dehydrator! I do alot of apples and other fruit but not tomatoes. How long does it take? Anything special I should know on doing them? Thanks .

[Tipsy Gypsy]

I don't know if we actually should or not, but we don't do anything special to them. We're drying mostly cherry-type tomatoes; we slice them in halves or thirds (about 1/4"-1/3" I guess), and they're done in a couple of evenings. They do drip a little, but the dehydrator racks are plastic, so they clean pretty easily, and we store them in a plastic container in the pantry when they're done.  I've dried a lot of basil and a few hot peppers too; no special treatment there either, except that I leave the herbs on the stems so they don't shrink up and fall through the racks.

We haven't tried fruit much yet, except for a few strawberries and bananas. Any tips on those?

[Baron Doune]

Last night's wind took out the 'mater cages

You got em tied back up yet Mogan?  It's on my list of todos for today.

I feel the need to weed, and thin, and mulch.

[Joyce "Delfinia DuSwallow" Howard]

TG- all i do is just slice and put them on the racks, and about 24hrs. later they are done. Apples are my favorite.I will definetly try the tomatoes. Thanks.

[Tipsy Gypsy]

This thread sure went dormant for a while, shall we stimulate some new growth?   

Time for fall garden planning down here, and one thing high on my list of wants is a compost tumbler. I'm thinking that it might take a while for the two of us to generate enough kitchen scraps for a decent load of compost, so I want to start now for spring. We don't have a big yard so I don't want anything huge, and I'm thinking that a couple of tumblers might be just the thing- easy to keep mixed, and good for keeping the critters out.

My questions- have any of you purchased this type, what did you think about it, where did you get it, and what did it cost?

Thanks!

[Baron Doune]

Always wanted one of those too Tipsy.

I've just been using some of those really big garbage cans with three 2" holes drilled into the bottom.  Left open the weeds and stuff breaks down in about four months.  No stirring...too lazy.

Also have put together some stackable bins (4' high, 2'wide, 4' long) made of wood but it seems to take about a year for the stuff to break down. 

With cooler temps here in MN I'm doing up some Tomato juice/sauce today.  This summer is one of the coolest on record but with very little rain.

[Tipsy Gypsy]

I've thought about the 55 gal. garbage cans; it'd be a really economical way to go. I need to be able to stir 'em up & aereate them so they'll compost faster, though, and that's a lot of reachover for a 5'4" person . I do want something self-contained, whichever way I go, or I'll wind up with rodents, and two big mutts with a perpetual case of "garbage gut".

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

Last night's wind took out the 'mater cages

You got em tied back up yet Mogan?  It's on my list of todos for today.

Did but twas of no avail. The hot dry winds burn off the leaves even though the dirt be soakin' wet. They'll leaf out again and possibly produce before the first freeze. Bugs is the biggest problem now. Leaf cutter ants are strippin' the smaller trees, rose bushes an all the ornamentals. Such is life in the desert

[Baron Doune]

Crocket (sp...Victory Garden guy) used to recommend spraying everything with a healthy dose of Dioazone. (sp for sure)

Died of cancer....stop using the stuff soon thereafter.

Now a days I just use a liquid soap thing with water.

Waiting to see how the Brussels Sprouts will do this year.  Up here we harvest till there's a foot of snow.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

End of November and its still warm enough fer the ratler snakes ta be out. Scored a goldmine of african mahogany falloff strips from a bar/grill/nightclub job. Theys goin' on top 'o the chicken coop fer shade. Planted a peach tree, transplanted a bunch 'o night bloomin' cereus, and lookin' fer the right spot to bury a deformed fig tree. Life gets better when it ain't 100+ every day

'Maters didn't make it, ants stripped em clean.