2025 Garden Thread

[EatenByLimestone]

It’ll all be good until the first frost and they start getting hungry. Until then you can probably live in peace.

 

[djlew]

It’ll all be good until the first frost and they start getting hungry. Until then you can probably live in peace.

That's a good call! I don't like disrupting nature, but when nature disrupts me in my garden, I tend to change my tune quickly. Helpful to know how others deal with it.

 

[begreen]

That's a bummer. They can get very aggressive when defending their nest. I have encountered them more than once and tend to avoid that area. Maybe pick late at night, quickly.

 

[Whitenuckler]

It seems I'm still getting 2-3 cucumbers every other day! I can't keep up but made a nice cucumber salad last night that went amazingly with a gyro!

New to the garden is a yellow jacket ground nest. Right where the cucumbers are. I wouldn't say it's in a high traffic area, but makes me a little more hesitant to visit the garden. Wife likes them there for pest control and some pollination even if not their primary function. I'm leaning more team "try to keep them at bay" to avoid getting stung, I hear they can be ruthless but luckily I don't have much experience with them.

Anybody have any experience with veggie garden yellow jackets?

I have lots of stinging insects coming to drink at my bird bath. We have not had rain in a long time. I can refill it with them around, but I'm afraid they will sting me by accident. re Gyro - that got my attention, as one of my favorite treats is a donair (halifax style)

 

[djlew]

That's a bummer. They can get very aggressive when defending their nest. I have encountered them more than once and tend to avoid that area. Maybe pick late at night, quickly.

Yeah and browsing the internet and hearing the horror stories doesn't help! LOL Not a bad plan, I'd like to get them somewhere else but I don't want to risk the pets or us getting stung.

I have lots of stinging insects coming to drink at my bird bath. We have not had rain in a long time. I can refill it with them around, but I'm afraid they will sting me by accident. re Gyro - that got my attention, as one of my favorite treats is a donair (halifax style)

You'll be seeing a post from me in the cooking thread soon then! Garden cucumber, some plain greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, dill on a toasted pita with some lamb and/or beef and it is heaven!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@djlew, I don't know if such a service exists in your area, but years ago we were able to hire someone to relocate a yellow jacket nest for us. It was under the entrance to our back yard shed where kids constantly took bikes and scooters in and out, and we didn't want to risk the stings. We'd already had a number of them. We found a service that relocated the nest to the outskirts of a nursery or farm or some such place that wanted them.

I've had some pretty painful experiences with all sorts of wasps. Earlier this summer I found by getting stung several times that I had paper wasps inside one of the bamboo poles edging the garden. I am not allergic to stings but am what doctors call "sensitive," and so I can have a whole variety of reactions in addition to the pain and swelling, and they can worsen the more I get stung. I did spray that nest in the pole. Thankfully it wasn't in the ground.

We currently have located three yellow jacket nests in the fields around here. They're currently marked, and kids have been warned to stay away from them. I'm not wanting early cold weather for the sake of the garden, but I am looking forward to cold weather taking care of those nests.

My cucumbers are on the way out. I may have used the last of the first planting, though I have a couple that may find the strength to develop before the vines completely die. I have a second planting that I started rather late, so they haven't blossomed yet. I am hoping for more cucumbers later in the season, though. Homegrown cucumbers are so tasty.

Earlier this week, I harvested some eggplant and made a lighter eggplant parmesan. It was a good way to use up more tomatoes, too.


I've been finding more worm damage on some of my fruits, so I picked a bunch of blushing fruits today to help preserve them. I'm particularly excited by the Beaver Dam peppers that I plan to let ripen to red, dehydrate, and grind into paprika.


I've stopped harvesting the red noodle beans as we have enough green beans to eat. I'm letting these mature and will eat some of the dry beans. They're in the same family as black-eyed peas, so I want to see how they compare.


The busy plants are called "Roselle," and they're a type of Hibiscus that's used for making tea. I grew them in Texas but haven't up here yet. I think they're daylight sensitive in terms of when they flower. I planted them late, but I'm not sure they'd bloom before September anyway. I am looking forward to seeing if they do bloom up here as they're really pretty, and I enjoy my hibiscus tea.


My sweet potatoes have been growing all over the place. I had to lift all the vines out of the path the other week, and they're now growing up through the cattle panel I put on them to contain them. That's working pretty well for this side. On the other side where the official trellis is, the path is gone, and they're starting to invade an okra bed on the other side of the path. I was quite delighted this afternoon when my son looked at the impassable walkways and said, "We need to make more of that spicy Hungarian mushroom soup and use the sweet potato leaves. That would help solve the problem and be tasty."

 

[begreen]

If you can let the beaver dams get fully red, they sweeten up nicely. We use them for making sriracha sauce along with fresnos.

Your son has some good taste!

 

[djlew]

Those eggplant look stunning!

 

[djlew]

Wife picked 3 cucumbers yesterday. I am amazed at the production. Huge difference when actually feeding the plants some good fertilizer on a schedule. We are officially at the point of not being able to eat all we are producing in time! I have a nice cucumber and watermelon bowl to go along with breakfast this morning. Also giving away some to friends and family.

Something I wasn't expecting - actually got some really good raspberries from the bush I posted a pic of earlier in the thread. I wasn't expecting fruit this year. I'm sure the bush was older than a brand new stick but definitely young. I did thin some out, and they are small, but dang are they tasty. It's a Heritage variety. Hoping future crop will yield those huge berries folks expect from Heritage.

Some weird timing of this, and hopefully I got the plants in time to get them in the ground and settled before frost, but I have a Pink Lemonade Blueberry and American Cranberry coming today from Stark Bros. I'm still deciding whether the move would be to get them in the ground and baby them until frost since it's hot still, or keep them potted and overwinter them to plant early spring '26. Zone depending, but any insight on summer fruit planting in 7a is appreciated!

 

[30WCF]

Been snacking on figs the last few days.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Been snacking on figs the last few days.

View attachment 339885

Cool ! I looked up figs on Wiki

Fig - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[kborndale]

Been snacking on figs the last few days.

View attachment 339885

My neighbor put a fig tree near our fence line a few years ago that has now grown some branches into my yard. Never knew I liked figs before, always thought of fig newton cookies which I do not like. These taste much better!

 

[30WCF]

My neighbor put a fig tree near our fence line a few years ago that has now grown some branches into my yard. Never knew I liked figs before, always thought of fig newton cookies which I do not like. These taste much better!

Sooo sweet if they are good and ripe.

For this limbs that are crossing the property line… look up air layering figs… or weigh the branches down so they touch the ground all summer and cut the limb from the tree after the roots take hold, and pull the roots up and replant. Super easy to propagate.

 

[djlew]

Garden is definitely slowing down but still a surprising amount of harvest. Lunchbox peppers are doing well but are taking a long time to ripen up. What they say about Heritage raspberries is true... light harvest in Summer bigger harvest later towards Fall. This is from a plant I never expected to get any berries from this year so I am pleased with anything! And of course basil... because of course.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ooohhh, I need to try this in spring! Mums hardy to zone 3!

Chrysanthemums for Cold Climates

In moderate climates, that is hardiness zones 6 to 9, the most popular fall flower is the garden chrysanthemum, oftenContinue Reading

laidbackgardener.blog

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I've been dehydrating more tomatoes for snacks and peppers for powders. I was particularly impressed by this beautiful "Tundra" tomato on the dehydrator tray as well as by the "Cowboy" on the cutting board.



I've had to pull out all the first cucumbers since squash bugs and disease have taken them out. My second round of Kousa summer squash isn't long for this world either. I think next year I'll have to spray on kaolin clay in early days to give my curcubits more of a chance.

I put three pounds of green beans in a jar to ferment as dilly beans the other day, and today I put up some okra in a pickle brine. I've never had it pickled before, so it's an experiment to see how we like it. I figure we have to do something now that the cucumbers aren't producing. I do have a second set of vines, but they are just now starting to flower, and they're already getting eaten.

@djlew, basil is a very reliable crop for me, too. I'm just about to put a recipe on the cooking thread in case you're interested.

 

[begreen]

The Tundras look impressive. I just ran a large batch of Juliets through the dehydrator after being quartered. I do them on the screen instead of the silicone sheet because I thought they would dry faster and more evenly. Do you flip the Tundras mid-dry?

 

[djlew]

I've been dehydrating more tomatoes for snacks and peppers for powders. I was particularly impressed by this beautiful "Tundra" tomato on the dehydrator tray as well as by the "Cowboy" on the cutting board.

View attachment 339948View attachment 339949

I've had to pull out all the first cucumbers since squash bugs and disease have taken them out. My second round of Kousa summer squash isn't long for this world either. I think next year I'll have to spray on kaolin clay in early days to give my curcubits more of a chance.

I put three pounds of green beans in a jar to ferment as dilly beans the other day, and today I put up some okra in a pickle brine. I've never had it pickled before, so it's an experiment to see how we like it. I figure we have to do something now that the cucumbers aren't producing. I do have a second set of vines, but they are just now starting to flower, and they're already getting eaten.

@djlew, basil is a very reliable crop for me, too. I'm just about to put a recipe on the cooking thread in case you're interested.

Looking forward to your recipe! Maters look great! I have a friend who pickles okra, they swear by it. I've never had it either.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

The Tundras look impressive. I just ran a large batch of Juliets through the dehydrator after being quartered. I do them on the screen instead of the silicone sheet because I thought they would dry faster and more evenly. Do you flip the Tundras mid-dry?

I bet those Juliets are tasty. Yours must grow larger than mine did in Texas because I would halve mine rather than quarter them. I haven't grown any since I've been back in Virginia, but I know that my mom likes them.

Yes, I flip the Tundras and remove the silicone sheet part way through the dry, basically as soon as it's not dripping wet. Because I'm using slicers and salting prior to drying, I end up with some juice on the sheets that I try to absorb with towels once it comes out, then I remove the sheets and flip later in the process.

If I were using small paste, saladette, or cherry tomatoes, I'd probably just slice in half and place them skin side down directly on the trays. In fact I hope to do that later today with some cherry tomatoes that split recently on the vines.

 

[djlew]

Woolly aphids seem to have taken a liking to my Winesap apples. They're very small trees, did not grow nearly as much as my Red Haven peaches this year. Tried to clean it up and sprayed some neem. I saw some people mention jet setting on the hose to get rid of them. I am a bit more hesitant on that since the tree is so young. So far nothing crazy has come back, but I am keeping an eye on it. Always something in the garden...

 

[begreen]

Our Juliets are about 1.5-2" long. I quartered them for faster drying but maybe that is not necessary. They are very tasty but I haven't tried pre-salting them. I was wondering about doing this. We have a lot more coming, so I could try it on a batch.

 

[begreen]

Woolly aphids seem to have taken a liking to my Winesap apples. They're very small trees, did not grow nearly as much as my Red Haven peaches this year. Tried to clean it up and sprayed some neem. I saw some people mention jet setting on the hose to get rid of them. I am a bit more hesitant on that since the tree is so young. So far nothing crazy has come back, but I am keeping an eye on it. Always something in the garden...

Give it the hose down. That works pretty well. Next year introduce some ladybugs.

 

[djlew]

Give it the hose down. That works pretty well. Next year introduce some ladybugs.

Good deal, I'll give it a go. Appreciate you confirming the method!