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You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Open Thread: Thursday Garden Chat

Open Thread: Thursday Garden Chat

by Anne Laurie|  July 28, 201110:57 pm| 31 Comments

This post is in: Garden Chats, Open Threads

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From commentor Michele:

Thought I’d send you pics of one of the loofah plants I’m growing this season. As you can see, it has a big yellow blossom, and behind it is what will most likely be the loofah plant. If it grows into a more recognizable loofah plant I’ll send an updated photo. I live in Florida where the early pioneers grew loofah as food and as washing sponges.

From commentor Dianne:


Here are some of mine. It’s a jungle. I piled horse manure on the plot all winter, then tilled it in. Both the garden and I went crazy this year. I overplanted, and nearly every plant is producing a bumper crop. I’ve got watermelon, cantaloupe, lemon cucumbers, regular cukes, tomatoes, more tomatoes, and a ton of peppers. It’s interspersed with zinnias, marigolds and sunflowers. I love it!

************

Thanks to everyone who sent pics (Jo6pak, Linda F, Raven/Stuckinred,Scout211 — I’m hoarding your contributions for future posts!).

Here in New England, we’re getting a daily trickle of ripe cherry tomatoes, but the Big Guys are still swelling fat & green. On the other hand, my basil plants are already trying to flower, which usually doesn’t happen before mid-August. Weird times…

Bonus pics from commentor Mustang Bobby:

I don’t have much of a garden, but I do get some interesting visitors, such as peacocks. Peacocks are like elephants; you like to look at them, but you wouldn’t want to own one. They are loud, mean, and pompous – “Hey, I’m walkin’ here!” – and they leave huge calling cards. But that’s part of the life here in the ‘burbs of Miami.
__
I also have a lot of hibiscus bushes that always seem to be in bloom.

So… How are things in your gardens, this week?

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Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    fleeting expletive

    July 28, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    Beautiful pictures, lovely garden.

    But back to the monster problem du jour, a dear friend just called me asking for basic numbers: How many Republicans in the House, How many teaparty folks, and how many needed to pass Boner’s bill?

    I answered roughly on the first, about 255, and roughly 60-80 TPs, and he needed either 24 or 25 depending on who’s counting. TP’s that is. He needs 217 to pass the bill, I think.

    I hope I have not grossly misinformed her.

  2. 2.

    Linda Featheringill

    July 28, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    Lovely pictures.

    Loofahs are interesting. I understand that you can treat them like squash as a veggie while they are green and if you want sponges, you let the stay on the vine and dry. IIRC, they require a rather long growing season.

    That’s a lovely jungle Dianne. I’ve often thought that mixing vegetables and flowers would be good. And you’re getting so much produce! Oh, my!

    Nice picture of a hibiscus, Bobby.

  3. 3.

    MattM

    July 28, 2011 at 11:12 pm

    Current thought: Republicans have the votes, but are going to pretend they don’t until Sunday/Monday. They pass it at the last minute, knowing that there’s no time to draft an Ezra Klein-style compromise bill, and hope (probably rightly) that pressure on the Senate to just pass it is overwhelming.

  4. 4.

    jharp

    July 28, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    Getting a few tomatoes. Indiana.

    And for some reason they don’t look so good. They kinda have the winter season store bought look. And yet they are really flavorful. I don’t get it.

    And my cayenne pepper bushes and habanero’s are exploding with fruit. Just won’t turn to the bright colors for picking.

    And it is still hotter than fuck here.

  5. 5.

    artem1s

    July 28, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    rained here again all day. the garden is once again a swamp. But should have ripe tomatoes any day now. squashes are coming around nicely as well as the chard and other leafy greens. radishes are all going to seed and the red cabbages all rotted. too much rain early, sun came too late, too much rain again. the thai basil is going to be magnificent though.

  6. 6.

    KyCole

    July 28, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    My front yard is nice. Under the Redbud tree I have Ferns, Coleus and Impatiens. The other side of my small front yard has native perennials and a kick ass cherry tomato.The back yard is another story. Since I got the crazy puppy, I’ve let it go. Still hoping that guy from Yard Crashers comes and fixes it up to be both dog and toddler friendly since my 3 8 month old granddaughters can not go back there.

  7. 7.

    Linda Featheringill

    July 28, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    I have lots of cherry tomatoes. A couple of the bigger tomatoes got ripe but the rest are stubbornly green. Bell peppers are growing and slooooowly changing from green to the yellow etc. they are supposed to be. I have what are supposed to be very mild jalapenos and they are supposed to be orange-red when they are mature. Right now they are dark, jalapeno green.

  8. 8.

    M-pop

    July 28, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Thanks for posting the pick of the loofah! I haven’t looked at it in a couple of days so I don’t know what it’s doing.

    Linda, I didn’t realize they require a long growing season, but it won’t cool down here until at least late October, so there’s time enough, I hope!

    Dianne, a friend of mine tilled horse manure in before they planted and I was presented with an over 1-foot, huge zucchini this season as the result – hope your results are just as magnificent!

  9. 9.

    Linda Featheringill

    July 28, 2011 at 11:33 pm

    It’s not as hot in NE Ohio as it was last week but it has been really, really humid. The only thing that evaporates is my energy. I feel obligated to supply water to everything but really can’t get around to getting much else done outside.

    During the high heat last week, neighbors’ lawns developed big brown patches. Unusual for this area. The neighborhood looked like it was in Texas. I had skipped a mowing of my lawn so it was 2 to 3 inches tall everywhere, and survived the heat very nicely, thank you. Maybe I can tell people I did that on purpose.

  10. 10.

    tesslibrarian

    July 28, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Has anyone ever grown Green Zebra tomatoes? I tried it last year, and they failed (as did all my others with the 100-degree weather in June), but this year, my plant has tons of fruit, some of it is a pretty respectable size, too, but none of it seems to be softening the way a usual ripe tomato does.

    I think it may just be early for this particular variety, since the local co-op doesn’t seem to be offering Green Zebras yet, but I’m worried that’s wishful thinking. If anyone’s done this particular tomato successfully before, I’d love a little reassurance that I’m not screwing these up. A ripe Green Zebra is lovely (and beautiful) in a tomato salad.

  11. 11.

    Kristine

    July 28, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    NE Illinois, hello! Raised bed tomatoes have handball-size greenies. Peppers are still only 6-7 inches tall, but the Cubanelle is sporting a single pepper about 3 inches long. Mesclun are still producing, which is surprising given the heat. Basil are a few inches tall. Looks like I’m going to get all five varieties this year: sweet Italian, lettuce leaf, lemon, cinnamon, and dark opal.

    The three tomato plants in the deck pots look pale and beaten up. They’re each fruiting, but I don’t think they’ll do much.

    The white & fuchsia lily opened the other day, and the hydrangea and impatiens seem to love the heat.

  12. 12.

    Linda Featheringill

    July 28, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    @tesslibrarian:

    Ripe green zebras:

    I did a quick search online and people seem to judge ripeness by color. When the main color is golden, they are theoretically ripe. Does that help?

  13. 13.

    karen marie

    July 29, 2011 at 12:04 am

    You kids growing tomatoes know to rotate your tomatoes into different beds each year, right?

    The consequence of planting them in the same bed every year is you get all kinds of funky tomato diseases happening.

    Don’t let it happen to you!

    Kristine: Could be too much water, perhaps?

  14. 14.

    Comrade Luke

    July 29, 2011 at 12:04 am

    Krugman’s latest column is out now, ripping on the centrist cult.

    My favorite part? The end:

    David Brooks is off today.

  15. 15.

    Comrade Luke

    July 29, 2011 at 12:07 am

    McCardle on Twitter.

    This was my first weekend without having to work in months. #thanksguys #debtfail

    Unbelievable.

  16. 16.

    Anne Laurie

    July 29, 2011 at 12:38 am

    Tesslibrarian:

    I think it may just be early for this particular variety, since the local co-op doesn’t seem to be offering Green Zebras yet, but I’m worried that’s wishful thinking.

    Looks like everybody in New England/the Midwest is having a ‘delayed’ ripe-tomato season, doesn’t it?

    Since I’m always trying odd-colored heirlooms (not Green Zebra, which failed two years in a row for me, but ‘white’, yellow, orange, striped & lots of ‘black’ varieties), I tend to rely on the ‘jiggle’ test. If the stem separates when I hold the fruit in my hand & jiggle it gently, I figure it’s as ready as it’s gonna get!

    Of course, since my plants are in the driveway and I hand-water (almost every day, this summer), this method is convenient for me, but may not be practical for people tending big plots further from their domiciles…

  17. 17.

    Gretchen

    July 29, 2011 at 12:55 am

    Thanks #1 for the info. I was trying and failing to figure out how to look that up. They could try writing a Dem-friendly bill and pick off a few moderate Repubs – the tea partiers all said they wouldn’t vote yes no matter what.
    I have tons of green tomatoes, but never any red ones. Something’s eating them all…. And since it’s been 100 degrees every day, and no rain in weeks, it’s not looking good.

  18. 18.

    opie jeanne

    July 29, 2011 at 1:35 am

    That loofah plant is interesting and everyone’s photos are really great. I love the peacock, but from a distance. I know about those birds.
    Just outside Seattle, the high was 75 and the overnight lows are now just above 55 so the tomatoes are setting. The only plants with no baby tomatoes are the Brandywines and the Mr Stripey, and someone here warned me that Brandywine will probably not work well here. One early girl is starting to color up but the shape is strange, more like a Brandywine and not the lovely round tomatoes we usually see from this variety, but this one fruit has been about this size for a month and green as grass so maybe that has altered the shape.

    I’ve got lots of tomatillos, baby squashes, and sugar snap peas. The carrots are showing shoulders, we’ve been roasting the beets with garlic and olive oil and eating the tops like cooked spinach. Yum!

  19. 19.

    Yutsano

    July 29, 2011 at 1:41 am

    @opie jeanne: I dunno about you, but I want to try a loofah now.

  20. 20.

    opie jeanne

    July 29, 2011 at 2:01 am

    @ Yutsano: Me too.

    The zucchinis we’re getting need to be picked before the blossom drops off, otherwise they start rotting from the blossom end. I’ve never seen this before, but this is a really wet climate compared to where we used to grow them, and this is a variety I haven’t grown before: Ball’s zucchini. The plant is huge but a little stingy. We are considering eating the blossoms this week since we’ll have more than one at the same stage.

    The yellow crooknecks are coming on nicely, will be edible at this rate in three or four days. All of them at once. I’ll grill them.

    The tomatillos are something new and I’m surprised they’re fruiting so well. I thought it would take much warmer weather to make them happy. I’ve been referring to them as “dirigible plums” because they look just like the hot air balloons that fly over our house all the time (Woodinville). We’re up on Hollywood Hill, in the convergence zone, so our weather is a bit … odd.

  21. 21.

    jharp

    July 29, 2011 at 4:35 am

    “we’ve been roasting the beets with garlic and olive oil and eating the tops like cooked spinach. Yum!”

    Thank you kindly for the reminder. Didn’t do beets this year and should have.

    Roasted, pickled, and the greens are tops.

  22. 22.

    tesslibrarian

    July 29, 2011 at 5:21 am

    Thanks, Linda. I’ve had ripe ones before, but it’s been a couple of years, but now that you mention it, they were a tad golden. Last year, they turned dark yellow and never softened, which was just weird.

    Annie Laurie, I’m in Georgia, but I also rely somewhat on the jiggle test. I’ve harvested some from my other plants, but the Green Zebra is just thick with fruit that is hard as a rock. I did bring in two that were relatively big to see if it ripened up a bit (I do that with the romas, too) , but so far, the green ones are still pretty hard.

  23. 23.

    shaun

    July 29, 2011 at 6:29 am

    Hey, you might not want to have peacocks in the ‘burbs, but I have had them in a country setting and they’re wonderful as watchbirds. You get used to the cacophony, my favorite being a foghorn sound that if you didn’t know any better was a large ocean liner pulling up to your backyard.

  24. 24.

    2th&nayle

    July 29, 2011 at 7:29 am

    Nice pics! You know you’ve really become a denizen of Katzavania when you make a noticable adjustment to your walking gait to allow for a kitten who seems to think that the most wonderful place in the world, is right between your feet.

  25. 25.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    July 29, 2011 at 8:05 am

    ooopaloopa loofah!

  26. 26.

    Svensker

    July 29, 2011 at 8:35 am

    The loofah is neat! A small veggie seller in our neighborhood carries them for eating but they look overripe to me…not that I’ve ever eaten a loofah. :) But I think they’re supposed to be firm and green, not squishy and grey-green.

    The nasturtiums survived the few days of 100 degree heat, although looking a little raggedy. And my 4 o’clocks, rudbeckia and yellow cosmos finally started blooming — needed some fairly tall, cheap from seed, yellow toned things growing in our scrap of front yard, so I’m pleased. From half an acre to 4 by 4 is something of an adjustment!

  27. 27.

    daize

    July 29, 2011 at 9:41 am

    Great pictures!

    We’re growing tomatoes in those upside down containers. The leaves have picked up some kind of blight — they’re yellowing then turning brown. I’m thinking spider mites, perhaps. Need some lady bugs. The echinacea is all but done blooming for the summer. :-( Too hot these past few weeks.

  28. 28.

    nancydarling

    July 29, 2011 at 10:17 am

    Mustang Bobby, The peacock brought back memories. I used to be host to a pair from the Palos Verdes Peninsula when we lived in SoCal. They are flying cows!. Of course my children insisted on feeding them—cheerios and raisins was the usual fare. The male would hog all the raisins and they named him “Asshole”. The female was called “Sweet Pea”. They tried to terrorize my cat. Scamper would be minding his own business and the male would feign a charge and make all his feathers stick out and quiver. The cat was not impressed. They roosted for a while on the rail of an upper deck with unpleasant consequences. I wouldn’t have minded so much if they had roosted “tail out”. After a few weeks they voluntarily left. I saw them one more time a few months later accompanied by two chicks which were about a foot tall.

  29. 29.

    keestadoll

    July 29, 2011 at 11:18 am

    The schizophrenia of our weather here in Humboldt this summer has caused my tomatoes (Early Girl variety) to turn inward on themselves in a very Shar-Pei-puppy sort of way. The leaves look dehydrated so I water them, but that of course thwarts the tomatoes from ripening as they should. How do you balance this??? It gets VERY hot on my deck, the plants very obviously need the water, but it’s inhibiting growth and ripening. Any suggestions would be very helpful! Meanwhile, my oregano, sage, rosemary, and lavender are going absolutely ape!

  30. 30.

    MaximusNYC

    July 29, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    Loofah plants? Do you ever have problems with Bill O’Reilly hanging around?

  31. 31.

    Dianne

    July 29, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    Let me sing the praises of the moonglow tomato. I like growing heirlooms along with my hybrids (14 kinds of tomatoes this year) and wow…the moonglows and pink brandywines have made the team. Wonderful flavor and incredible color on the moonglows…like an orange, if it were neon. The brandywines may be the tastiest.maters.ever. Rareseeds.com has the moonglow seeds. Off the list next time: Mr. Stripey. I grew those in CA and they were wonderful, 2nd year in a row here in NC and they haven’t done squat. The hot peppers are HOT, the habaneros are huge…gardening is fun!

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