What's happening today - 2018 edition

So far this season I’ve picked 2 cucumbers. Really bad year for cucumbers for me. Yet I haven’t seen that many cucumber beetles.

Mine started slow, which I attribute to a slow start with the pollinators. Now, I’m hard put to give them away

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This is a problem I’ve long dreamed of having!!! I’ve given peaches to all my close friends and family and have frozen more than I can use in 2 years (hey…you never know if I’ll get a crop next year) and yet I still have peaches coming in! Dare I say I have too many peaches??? No, I won’t go that far. I’ve still got lots of neighbors and co-workers and more distant friends that I’ll be giving the rest of them to.

These are what I picked just this morning!

These are a variety of peaches and some that I’ll never know. My best tasting peach by far is a diamond prince. Holy cow it is incredible. My second favorite is a yellow peach that I bought to be a Georgia bell (white peach) so who knows what it is. Another great one is J.H. Hale. They are my largest peaches and also outstanding. I have 2 twin trees that were mislables that aren’t as good as others, but still pretty good.

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Just amazing!! I have 4 peach trees. 2 contenders, big red and Elberda. You are making me want add much more!! lol

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So busy in the garden being gone 10 days in peak season. Anyway
all looking OK despite my absence. I had so many tomatoes and peppers to harvest I didn’t have time to take photos. Some still ripening like Yellow Monster, named correctly!! It’s just starting to turn yellow. A lot of smaller ones on the plant too.

This one is called Balloon, a sweet, never grew it before. None are ripe yet.

I sometimes later plant basil seeds in the pots or in ground with my peppers.
Some saved unknown basil seed in with Beaver Dam pepper.

I’m trying for a third time to grow this variegated elderberry. I’m growing in a pot this time to control conditions better. Seem to be working. Biggest I ever got this one. The variegation is very unique.

I also grow another variegated elderberry. It is not as pretty and grows really well. I hack it back to half it’s size every year. After hacking…

Flavor King getting there

So is Honey Punch

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I have Balloon and Beaver Dam as well. BD (3 plants) started producing almost from the beginning, they are very precocious, but not very tall, still under 2ft. The peppers are just now starting to turn a bit orange.

Balloon (2 plants), on the other hand, are big plants now, almost 3ft tall, but hasn’t produced hardly any flowers or fruit. Very frustrating to see.

They’re in the same plot as my main tomato plot, and some of those plants, most over 5ft, hardly have anything on them as well. So, it’s gotta be the plot. Too much N, not enough P and K, I guess. Plants are out of control, way too big for their stakes, so they’re leaning into other plants, what a mess. We’re just now picking a few ripe ones. But, all this rain and cloudiness is stifling the ripening process, and speeding the disease progression.

Is this your first year of Honey Punch? What is it, a nect? I’ve never seen a tree being sold, is it like a club variety? When do you think your Flavor King’s will be ready, are they ahead or behind schedule this year?

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Yes, I cut back. it’s hard to do with limited options and such. I bought some of this.

Some do not feed them at all. If I had another month most peppers would produce ton’s more. I may bring a plant or two in. This often happens. I also noticed everything is later this year than last, like everything! Keeping good notes, tells a good story with time. So something delayed this year. I lost many plants too, it was a tough year.

They were for sale for a very limited time under a special order. Info here.

Behind, I left my journal up north, which sucks as I harvested stuff today I need to write down, anyway all is behind. Maybe by September, very late, My Arctic Glo nec is 2 weeks behind. Maybe three? We will see.

Dang that stupid spell check, sorry. I wouldn’t be surprised tho, if DW hasn’t considered that name. Ok, thanks for the HP info, another pluot, sounds good.

Did you go upstate, if I’m not being too nosy? Or maybe to the cottage?

I don’t know if either of my 7-pots will have any mature fruit on them before it starts getting cold. Do you think they’d survive getting dug up out of the garden, and potted up for the indoors?

My cottage which is slightly north, more east and is on an island. In the member locater thread I marked both spots on the map.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?amp%3Busp=sharing&mid=11t3T6fNjbtjexD88GPEMvgq2dsQ&ll=42.56559803812955%2C-82.52738095644531&z=12

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?amp%3Busp=sharing&mid=11t3T6fNjbtjexD88GPEMvgq2dsQ&ll=42.53689201236083%2C-82.80753232363281&z=11

Not sure? It’s going to die anyway. You will get mature fruit, we have a lot of time.

These are so good as stuffed peppers. The flesh is thick enough, and the taste baked is exactly what I want with a pepper. This is my favorite pepper for stuffing because of the cooked taste being perfect for my taste buds.

So I’m just driving down a back road here in Florida. I see this big bird just drop down to the road. It’s a muddy dirt road so I’m going slow. It’s pretty big so I start taking pictures. I get to close and he goes to the tree. I drive by and he just poses for me. Big owl! Very cool. This was my second encounter the same day with cool birds. First was a bit graphic. I was on my tractor mowing and a cattle egret was there eating bugs as usual. We have very big Hawks here but this hawk was GIANT. Literally 3 times the normal size swoops down pins this egret to the ground and takes he’s head off! Seriously! I went on mowing down the way and when I got back in 15-20 minutes the hawk had been back ate the innards and left just a shell. Crazy…

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I went to Orlando once and did a little fishing,by just driving around,looking for promising places.
There was a small stream that crossed a road in a wooded area. It was late afternoon at the time and after walking along and casting,it was getting towards dusk.I turned away from the stream and all around in the trees were Owls,like that one,maybe the same kind. It was kind of spooky and they didn’t fly away.
This was before camera phones or I’d of taken a few shots. Brady

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My guess is barred owl, since it has dark eyes.

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Looks like a barred owl to me too. We used to have one in our woods but haven’t seen it in a couple of years. They are BIG birds.

Katy

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Some cukes that were picked this week and pickled. Yesterday my wife did about 12 quarts of various styles - dill slices, and some sweet/zesty slices and chunks. The cuke patch is a sea of huge leaves, you just have to wade through them to get to the cukes.

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You always miss some, don’t you. Then you are like man, that’s a big waste of cucumber. Looks good though.

Makes it hard to keep an eye out for pests

I’m getting Okra every day now so I pickled 3 jars. Soooooooooo good! I love them…

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I love fried Okra, not a New England thing, but it is in my kitchen!

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My wife makes the best Fried Okra I’ve ever tasted. I’m going to plant twice as much next year because it’s just gone every time I get any picked! I’m originally from Ohio and I never ate Okra at all until I moved to Florida and now it’s one of my favorites!

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