Gardening Thread- Show me your gardens!

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$58 Weston Food Strainer and Sauce Maker for Tomato, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables ,White

https://www.amazon.com/Strainer-Sau...F8&qid=1472170448&sr=8-4&keywords=roma+tomato

**Disclaimer**
I'm not being paid to plug this thing. I just own one, and I like it. A lot.

 

Just used one of those. Catsup is cooking on the stove right now.

 

Nice work!

 

This is an off year for me for ketchup. The recipe I use makes about 6 pints, and I only use about 3 pints a year. Made it last year, so this year I don't have to. Kind of too bad; I like how it smells when it's cooking down.

Thanks!

 

Looks like Vinca to me. I have annual Vinca as a ground cover around my tree in Pennsylvania.

 

My tomatoes are pretty well shot, but since I raided my parents garden to have enough to make some catsup. My garden is getting plowed under in about a week or so.

 

Our garden did poorly this year despite increased efforts to make it productive. The only thing that proliferated were wax and banana peppers for some reason. The weather is just not being cooperative, lack of rain during the growing season, then lots of rain after, now relentless heat and no rain for the last 3 weeks with no letup until a couple of days next weekend. So far 14 qts pickles, 6 pints sweet relish, 4 pints salsa, 6 jelly jars of hoagie spread, 5 pints sweet pepper rings, 6 jellt jars basil jelly, and 5 jelly jars of tomato chutney. We have a second crop of cukes, beans, kale, and lettuce, but the heat and dry weather is stunting everything even though we're watering every day. Oh well, next year maybe . . .

On another note, got a couple of 2 week old Plymouth Rock chicks a few weeks ago that are doing really well. Here they are the first night. Now that they're getting to pullet size they're spending most days outside in a sectioned off part of the coop getting acclimated to the other hens.

 

Pretty good season with the raised beds. Took a bit of effort to build and fill, but way worth it in the long run.

Less weeds, easier to weed when we do get some, no bending over, no accessory stepping on plants.

Less loss from critters...much less.

 

I like my raised beds a lot. They take a little more water than the standard in-ground beds do, but the benefits make it worth it to me.

 

Yep, I agree. More water definitely.

This winters project: design some sort of irrigation system. Doesn't need to be automatic, just something that will reduce the amount of hose dragging around.

 

Just received ten Incense Cedar seedlings from the University of Idaho nursery. Only $2.50 a piece plus shipping. Tomorrow they will be used to augment my wind break.

 

How fast do those grow?

 

One to three feet a year, depending on conditions. They tend to like the high Desert environment as long as they receive supplemental watering. There are some old farming homes in the Antelope Valley that have 100' cedars around the property. Still doing great despite the drought.

 

Garden is 90% dead now. Had a killing frost last week that finished off the last few stragglers, with the exception of the pepper plants in their cold frames. Harvested 3 of those to pot and bring inside before it gets too cold for them, too. Planted my Garlic yesterday; all hard-necked german varieties this year, so hopefully I'll have a better yield in the spring

 

ive never planted garlic. I would like to give it a try.

 

reviving an old thread for photo updates...current status of my fall garden

 

So do it! It's pretty hardy stuff, so odds are if you plant it it'll grow. Not sure how heat-resistant it is, so you might want to grow it over the winter.

 

I need to read into it..but ill definetly do it. Ive heard it takes forever to be ready for harvest

 

Not really; I've got a pretty short growing season up here so it doesn't really start growing until usually the beginning of May, and it's ready for harvest by the end of August.

 

it can take the winter cold, right?