Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Infrastructure week. at last.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

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

Open Thread: Sunday Garden Chat

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More pics from commentor Opie Jeanne, “just East of Seattle, in Woodinville“, because they are awesome.

***********

As kharmic retribution for my bragging, suddenly my tomatoes are developing random yellowed and withered leaves. Well, some variation of ‘late blight’ hits every year around Labor Day, and everything botanical’s been a good couple weeks in advance of the usual calendar this year, so why not the fungal spores, sigh…
__
How are things looking in your gardens, this weekend?

Reader Interactions

50Comments

  1. 1.

    RossInDetroit

    I got my yard work done yesterday afternoon and was so wiped out I went to bed before dark. This explains being wide awake at 6:00 am and missing all last night’s Open Thread fun.

    Today all I have to do is haul all the mulberry tree corpses to the curb for chipping tomorrow morning.

  3. 3.

    RossInDetroit

    We got clobbered by a big storm last night but I slept through most of it. The rain was needed and if it’s going to rain it might as well be dark.
    If it keeps raining today I’ll try to make a dent in some housework.

  4. 4.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    No rain in weeks, she’s watering but it’s not helping the maters much. I used up the last of my big redfish and amberjack for smoked fish tacos at a big birthday gig for a friend last night.

  6. 6.

    RossInDetroit

    It was so dry here in July that I’d dump a 5 gallon bucket of water onto a transplanted bush and it would disappear like I’d poured it into a hole. The ground actually made gurgling sounds when water hit it.

  7. 7.

    currants

    First non-singleton pick today! woke to rain here, and ran out in it to pick the ripe and nearly ripe tomatoes before they burst. BLTs for lunch!

  8. 8.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    No gardening for me this year as my mother-in-law decided on her own while still in excellent health that she should move into a condo. Which is great — she’s going to one of those communities that has a seamless transition between no help to serious assistance, and by buying in now, her prices are fixed.

    We’ve spent every weekend all summer helping her go through 50 plus years of memories in the only house she has ever owned – but the work is done, the house went to closing Friday, it paid for the condo, and today is her 88th Birthday. Happy Birthday Vivian. You are one smart and classy lady.

  10. 10.

    bubba

    No rain and consistent 100 degree plus heat left me to just try to keep my crepe myrtles alive. Anything pictures would be mistaken for some zombie apocalypse movie.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Not doing much today. The wife finally got home from Spain last night (started at 5:25 AM in Mallorca, walked thru the door at 11:15 PM… 24 hrs in the air and in airports) so I am just going to tend to her desires today as she goes back to work tomorrow.

    Garden looks like hell. The beans are done, I need to pull them. The corn never really produced. Cabbage worms pretty much destroyed my brussels sprouts. But the tomatoes are still producing as much as ever, my hot peppers are doing well, so are the eggplants, and my melons are coming in.

    I made banana bread yesterday, so it’s fresh cantaloupe and b-bread for breakfast. Dinner tonight is Haddock a la Reine (one of the wife’s favs) with that stuffed tomato recipe you put me on to Anne and some baked eggplants.

  12. 12.

    RossInDetroit

    My grandmother is 94 and still lives in the house that she and Grandpa built in the ’40s. She maintains the house and an acre of grounds pretty much alone. She’s been talking for several years about moving to seniors housing. Toward that end she’s had a bunch of ready work done on the house: kitchen rehab, new roof, concrete driveway, fresh paint, updated appliances, etc. I hope she keeps finding projects or she’ll get bored.
    Eventually we’ll be visiting her in a retirement place but for now she’s happy living down the block from her sisters, raking her own leaves and mowing her own lawn.

  13. 13.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @JPL: Thanks for the optimism. She tells us she has something new to do every day. Like seeing her first Harry Potter movie.

    Since her aunts, great aunts, grandmother, etc. lived to their late 90’s and over, I anticipate a long and busy stay. The one who lived to be 107 told me her secret was a shot of Jack Daniels and fried eggs every morning.

  14. 14.

    RossInDetroit

    I’ve read that the fastest growing demographic group in the US is people over 80. Admittedly this is a small group, but it’s encouraging. Gerontologists say that anyone reaching 80 without significant health problems has a very good shot at seeing 90.

    @Cheryl from Maryland:

    The one who lived to be 107 told me her secret was a shot of Jack Daniels and fried eggs every morning.

    If only it were that easy. One thing I’ve noticed about the most vigorous seniors is that they have healthy appetites.

  15. 15.

    RossInDetroit

    When I worked for Target Corp the Daytons in Mpls retired a woman who was 102. IIRC she took a job at the store as a salesgirl at age 17 on a whim and worked there for 85 years.

  17. 17.

    Poopyman

    If only it were that easy. One thing I’ve noticed about the most vigorous seniors is that they have healthy appetites.
    Reply

    An active lifestyle makes for a healthy appetite. Stay active. Yoga helps with balance and flexibility, which seem to be the worst problems of oldsters.

    Anyway, back on topic: my garden sucks, except for the tomatoes, and they’re only doing OK. Is yellow squash supposed to wither and die by the beginning of August? It produced like gangbusters right up to the end, but then the remaining plants all stopped producing and died at the same time.

    I got a late start on much of the garden because I was late getting the raised beds made, so winter squash is just starting to flower. I’m not hopeful.

    All of the above was the stuff I kept watered, because we’ve gotten almost no rain here in Southern MD all summer.
    The unwatered corn and flowers never had a chance.

  22. 22.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    and t-paw is out of the clown car.

    i guess he didn’t have the heart and soul for it.

    per the ap.

    ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

    Pawenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday morning that he would announce on ABC’s “This Week” that he was ending his campaign after a disappointing finish in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday.

  23. 23.

    jeffreyw

    The patio garden containers are the only producing elements of my gardens this summer. The back garden has been one cruel twist after another. I am still nursing some pepper bushes that may live, and two volunteer tomato bushes.
    Now, if I can just keep the hornworms off of my cherry tomatoes!

  25. 25.

    JPL

    The lack of rain and continuous heat has caused my weeds to die. I had hopes for a shower yesterday but nope. Perry and I must be praying to the same rain god.

  28. 28.

    geg6

    Rained like hell last night, for which the yard and garden are thankful. Tomatoes are finally coming along. Gonna fry some green ones up today.

    In other news, poor T-Paw. But I’m guessing asiangrrlmn is jumping for joy today. She hates Ratface with a white hot hate.

  29. 29.

    PurpleGirl

    @Poopyman: I think NYC has gotten that rain Perry was praying for. We had a T-storm and rain overnight and in a few minutes I had rain being driven not just in an open window but to the floor. That’s the first time I’ve seen that happen in the south-facing window. NYC is predicted to have more rain and possibly a T-storm today and for the next 3 days.

    Maybe NYC and the eastern side of the state is doing something karmically correct.

  30. 30.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @JPL:

    The lack of rain and continuous heat has caused my weeds to die.

    We’ve had dry and wet spells, but they seem to have been perfect for weeds. Our patio looks like a jungle: not only moss but crabgrass and other stuff coming out from between the bricks this summer. And I don’t have enough time and money for all the mulch it would take to keep the beds looking good.

  31. 31.

    mazareth

    I finally picked some tomatoes yesterday! 5 Black Krim and 1 Rose de Berne. I also went out to the CSA farm I get a box from and picked a couple pounds of basil for pesto. I’ll eat some fresh and freeze the rest for the dark days of winter.

    My pole beans are finally producing. I grow Kentucky Wonder form seed I’ve saved. It does great here in Central Wisconsin. I also have a mystery acorn squash volunteer in the compost bin. If it ends tasting good, I’ll save the seeds for next year.

    I need to send in some pictures.

    I’m off the bakery and then to play a Voter Awareness rally with my band. Then it’s back home to make the pesto.

    Peace!

  32. 32.

    jnfr

    Lots of everything on the plants, but mostly waiting and waiting on stuff to ripen. Tiny yellow crookneck squashes are so cute!

  33. 33.

    Kristine

    Not lacking for rain in NE IL. Two fast-moving storms pushed through yesterday, dumping at least half an inch. My lawn looks like late spring, bright green and lush.

    I may need to give up on the deck pot tomatoes. They each have a few greenies, but the heat beat the hell out them–they’re stunted and practically blossomless while the raised bed quartet are going wild–I have had to add cages to a couple of those plants to contain the vines.

    In addition, the deck pot Mountain Fresh is yellowing at a rapid rate. It doesn’t look like blight, but we’ve had some cooler evening over the last week–60s instead of 70s/lo 80s–and cooler evenings seem to trigger late blight. So that plant may be going bye-bye today, though I’ll see if I can salvage the fruits.

  34. 34.

    HeartlandLiberal

    We finally had a heavy rain overnight. We have been very much without rain here in South Central Indiana for weeks and weeks after the deluges of Spring dried up.

    In fact, the storm that came through last night dumped several minutes of small hail on us, as well.

    We are finally getting tomatoes, including some heirloom dark purple grape variety we planted for the first time.

    The water scarecrows seem to be keeping the deer away. But for the first time ever, the birds seem to have discovered they can light on top of a ripening tomato and peck the h*ll out of it, destroying it for us. I had to throw two beautiful tomatoes away this morning, one an Amish Paste Roma variety, the other a German heirloom of some sort, I forget the exact name.

    I did make a huge bowl of homemade salsa yesterday, and had enough red and green bell peppers from the garden to include them, finely dices about 4-5 different varieties, but I had to use canned tomatoes to have enough. Added can of corn and can of black-eyed peas, half a finely chopped onion, three large cloves of fresh garlic squashed with a garlic press. Added two whole orange habaneros straight from the garden. Ground up some fresh cumin seeds, and threw in some paprika powder and a pile of dried parsely, juice from a whole lime, and a couple tablespoons of sugar.

    Had a bowl full of the salsa with corn tortilla chips for supper. Plus a slice of apple pie doused in evaporated milk (a little more heart health than cream or ice cream). In other words, I got my vegetables and fruit for the day, thank you very much.

    Within the next week we will till 80% of the garden, and plant fall cool weather crops, mainly a bunch of varieties of greens. I am going to try some cabbages, two. We will be harvesting till Thanksgiving, based on how mild the weather is now (read Global Warming).

  35. 35.

    gelfling545

    I had a lot of yard work planned for today but we are now in the middle of a thunder storm here in WNY. I was doing some weeding earlier & pulled an odd thing I had not seen in my garden before out of one flower bed. It took me a couple minutes to realize that I was standing there holding a bunch of poison ivy. I ran inside and scrubbed frantically & am hoping I got it off in time.
    On a better note – we are eating our first tomatoes today. My daughter, who has her first veg garden ever, didn’t realize that you can’t really grow melons here and therefore she has watermelons which look like they may actually be ripe before the frost.

  37. 37.

    Montysano

    Mrs. Monty and I saw Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings last night down here in Dixie. A completely powerful and mesmerizing show (but I’m a total fanboy).

  38. 38.

    BGinCHI

    Opie Jeanne, if you stop by here. We’re out seeing family in Bellevue and Issaquah, and were in Woodinville yesterday buying garden plants at Molbak’s. Great place.

    Nice coincidence!

  39. 39.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    Well, my garden (here in northern California) looks pretty weed-friendly. I think it’s a gopher Club Med. My tomatoes look buggy; the herbs are doing well, but overall it’s a mess.

  40. 40.

    opie_jeanne

    @JPL: My dad did that, but then he got annoyed because his friends kept dying, so he bought another house at age 88, with a 30 year loan. He’s 93 and only now starting to slow down.

  42. 42.

    opie_jeanne

    @R-Jud: We have not yet cracked the code for growing potatoes in this region. We got some spring potatoes, but not nearly enough. I think the growing method we used is the problem, so we will treat them differently this fall. Maybe plant them in a trench and cover it with straw. It rains enough here that that might be better than growing them in the soil.

  44. 44.

    opie_jeanne

    @BGinCHI: Hi! Molback’s is beautiful, but pricey. We get sucked in there because it’s so close to home, but we usually end up walking out empty-handed and heading up to Maltby to Flower World. The place is like a big park and the prices are much better.

  47. 47.

    opie_jeanne

    @moe99: Yeah. Our plants have suddenly started setting fruit, but most are tiny and little hope of ripening more than a handful.

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