Gardening

Mr_Shiftright

I have this 4 foot wire fence in the back that I'd like to cover with something perennial.

So I was thinking potato vine, or jasmine. Wisteria won't work because it goes to bare wood in the winter and nasturtium has to re-seed itself every year. Any other ideas?

gagrice

I have an 8 foot high lattice that blocks the view of my tractor garage. It is covered with Mandevilla. They come in several colors. They do not take hard frost well. They make a very nice cover plant on fences and trellis. I like them better than Wisteria or Morning glory. I have four plants that cover about 20 feet long 8 feet high.

Mr_Shiftright

Very nice! I'm not sure if Sonoma has a hard frost or not. I'll have to ask the local nursery (which is fabulous) what they think. The back fence borders a creek and I'm thinking maybe the deer won't jump over something they can't see the other side of. Deer love roses! Can't keep raccoon or skunk out of anything, but the slope is too steep for drunks to climb.

ateixeira

I think the old CDs we hung on the trees made a difference

I use the same trick.

Had one of my first harvests also. A couple of yellow squash and a cabbage.

My vines look good but the tomatoes are thin and spindly. I wasn't around to water them the last couple of weeks, but I'm disappointed.

No luck here with Topsy Turvy...the tomato plants curl to face the sun, then their weight twists them and the stems were damaged. Huge effort wasted.

gagrice

We planted Armenian cucumbers this year from seed. It took a bit for them to get going. Now they are coming on strong. We also picked up a plant at the nursery that said summer squash. From what we can tell it is a Cushaw. supposed to get about 10-12 lbs. It is pretty large already. We are giving tomatoes away every day. We had so many peaches. We made jam and froze a lot. As well as eating them every day for the last month or more. We have given a lot of them away at church. Apples and pears are looking good along with two types of figs. This has been our best year out of the last 4 at this place. Oh and our blackberry bush & grapes are producing well also. A lot to be thankful for. We try to share the bounty with all our neighbors, friends and family.

ateixeira

Suddenly I'm feeling inadequate ... LOL.

Those are HUGE! Long and thin, too, so not overly ripened.

Sweet harvest...

gagrice

I am not a big fan of cucumbers. I am sort of enjoying these. I usually prefer to pickle my cukes. The skins are tender and mild. I would recommend planting them next year. We usually buy the little Persian cucumbers at the local Chaldean markets. I think the Armenians taste even better.

Mr_Shiftright

How 'bout those English cucumbers I see in the market? I like them better.

gagrice

The English cukes are very similar to the Japanese. We grew those last year and made a lot of bread and butter pickles. My wife likes all kinds. So we try em all.

ateixeira

I love cuces - not the pickled kind.

A couple of years ago I planted some seeds an Asian friend gave me and had the *BEST* harvest of my gardening life. They were just amazing.

I should ask her for more seeds!

And yes, I shared plenty of the harvest with her, and everyone else at work - could not eat them quickly enough!

ateixeira

Boy that drought really hurt....just a few cuces and yellow squash.

Also one single hot pepper. Hope it's a tasty one!

gagrice

My wife dug up one of our potato plants. This was the yield. They are small but good tasting. Skins kind of thick. Very dark purple inside. This is from the ones we grew last year. Did better on yield this year. They came up in the same patch. The largest about 4 inches by 1.5 inches. I imagine she will make some purple potato salad. That gets a lot of attention.

ateixeira

I bet those taste yummy. Certainly exotic looking!

I'm still getting more of the same - cuces and yellow squash, that's about it.

Ironically we've gotten plenty of rain lately, but it's just too late now.

gagrice

Our cukes are done. The aphids invaded them and I pulled them all out. We have a hot dry spell and the cucmbers did not like that. Good while they lasted. May try planting some more this fall and see how they do in the Winter. We get great snow peas that time of year. Tomatoes still producing more than we can eat. Enough for our little church group to get all they want. Next crop up is pears and apples. Hopefully the birds don't get them before we return from a little vacation. It is hard to leave with so much growing.

ateixeira

My vines dried out suddenly, what are the signs of an aphid invasion?

gagrice

Leaves shrivel up and lots of ants. Ants actually farm aphids for food. An amazing thing to observe. They do it in all kinds of trees and plants. We usually associate aphids with roses as they are so visible. They will destroy many different plants. Interesting study on the phenomenon.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009212548.htm

ateixeira

Shriveled leaves, check. I'll look for ants and other signs...

stever

We barely got home in time to hit the U-Pick blueberry farm up on the Keweenaw. Will be closing in a few days. $14 for maybe 10 pounds (plus the half pound we ate while picking). These are domestic - there was a freeze last week that zapped the last of the wild ones.



The apple and pear trees are loaded. Lots going to the deer (via the local hunters :shades: ).

Mr_Shiftright

My friend is a pro beekeeper and he's going to set me up with a hive of honey bees. The honey season is just about over but I should have something for next year. Hive placement is tricky because it has to be an environment where the bees won't starve--which can happen.

Mr_Shiftright

I went to the old orchards that were part of Jack London's farm back in the day (or at least bordering it---the orchards might be part of the Spreckels property---Sonoma). People already seem to have harvested the plums but I got some nice apples and pears---a whole knapsack full of 'em.

stever

Why mess with a veggie garden when your neighbors keep dumping stuff like this on your door? Dug yesterday. :shades:

gagrice

That is a fact. Even in the stores lately onions have sold as cheap a 4lbs for a dollar. One of the few things not impacted by inflation yet. The sweet Maui onions are generally a buck a lb.

stever

Farm fresh, delivered to my door 15 minutes ago. $2.50.

gagrice

We have an 80 year old lady in our church that sells me eggs. They look just like that. I give her $4 a dozen. Chicken feed is EXPENSIVE here. On that note the city of Santee where I moved from 4 years ago, just passed an ordinance allowing chickens. NO roosters. It has been a long battle for a few people. My Wife had chickens most of the 28 years she lived there. But she had 5 acres with a good distance to the closest home in the Subdivision. No roosters and no complaints.

stever

Roosters are okay if the owner puts them up at night. Neighbors had one for years in Boise and you'd never hear him unless they forgot to pen him up.

Mr_Shiftright

I'll be getting my bee hive in a couple weeks. Honey season is pretty much over, but in the Spring there should be some. I'll have a friend take care of the hive--it's quite a science to keep bees healthy. If you don't give 'em antibiotics and treat them for mites, they'll die off for sure.

stever

Best keep 'em away from Bayer pesticides.

Honeybee researcher who blames virus for CCD has financial ties to pesticide manufacturer

Mr_Shiftright

I'm not too close to the vineyards, so I should be okay.

stever

That'll be the next fun thing - figuring out what your bees pollinate. Might get some exotic honey.

Cabernet honey could be a good seller out there.

Mr_Shiftright

Right now they seem to be working on coyote bush. If they prowl the organic vineyards that'd be cool. I live right near a creek so they should have plenty to eat. Sometimes hives starve if you don't place them right.

gagrice

I am wondering if the honey from all the bees around here will taste like Humming bird nectar.

Kirstie_H

I had that SAME issue a couple of weeks ago. The bees didn't care about my hummingbird feeder until then... then suddenly, they swarmed it. Had to wait til evening to take it down (it was in an area on our deck where people sit regularly).

Also, they just LOVED the white marigolds I had in the front yard. I left those out for them to feast on. If that nectar makes decent honey, I'd recommend planting some near the bees. My marigolds don't usually die until mid- late November, after it's consistently in the 30's. I imagine they'd fare well in a somewhat warmer climate.

Mr_Shiftright

Honey bees rarely bother people but those hummer feeders can attract yellow jackets, which can be nasty. The yellows will also kill and eat honey bees.

Kirstie_H

Pretty sure that's what those were - same pests that used to swarm around trash cans in the park at this time of year. Those trash cans were scattered around the soccer field areas which made watching the kids' games a real treat.

The critters on my marigolds were definitely honeybees. And you're right - they haven't bothered me one bit. I can climb in and out of the garden, stepping right next to them, and they don't care as long as I'm not threatening them. They're pretty focused on getting the nectar.

gagrice

I just blow them off the feeders when I fill them. Never have acted aggressive. They have not been as thick as when I took this picture three years ago. They are pretty thick right now. Must be stoking up for the winter. Though we see them all winter long. They only seem to go to the feeders this time of year. Makes the hummers upset and the Scotts Orioles that are here right now.

Kirstie_H

Try that in a colder climate. When it starts getting much cooler around here (Kansas City), they get irritable and rather aggressive if you mess with them. The rest of the time, they're not so much, but it's like they know that their other sources of sweets like flowering plants and shrubs are dying out, and it is YOUR fault!

Mr_Shiftright

honey bees can get angry if you *really* mess with them.

stever

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. :shades:

gagrice

I prefer smoked Salmon,

They seem to go away during the winter months. I don't know who has hives around here. We have a long history of honey production. I have lots of flowers year round. The bees really like all my Lantana and lavender. In the spring they go crazy over my Pride of Madeira which just grows everywhere without much water. Beautiful flowers in the Spring.

In 1874, John Stewart Harbison was the premier apiarist and producer of honey in California. Harbison settled in Alpine and became by far this county's leading beekeeper. He is credited with making San Diego County the leading honey-producing county in California and California the leading honey-producing state in the nation.

The variance in elevation in this area offers honeybees a wide choice of plants within easy bee range. These include white sage, black sage, ceanothus, manzanita, columbine, collinsia, verbenia, wild rose, honeysuckle and wild buckwheat.

Harbison had 2,000 hives and employed twelve men. Some seasons he shipped 70,000 pounds of select honey, much of it to eastern markets. Harbison's success inspired many others to try bee keeping. With a comparatively small capital outlay a man could start with bees and soon build up a profitable business. In that day, for a comparable investment, there was twice the money in bees as in sheep or cattle.

stever

Less sugar. :shades:

Haven't touched my honey in months and the homemade maple syrup isn't seeing a lot of action either (although pancakes with those U-Pick blueberries are on the agenda for today's brunch).

Weather is clearing; have 76 daffodil bulbs to get into the ground soon.

Kirstie_H

I'm sitting on a bunch of hyacinth and crocus bulbs. The temperature has generally been nice enough to plant, but the rain has been unkind. I don't think we've seen more than .10" in the past month. The ground is like concrete. We bit the bullet last weekend and watered a (very ugly) area so we could plant the daylilies, but I keep holding out for some free water from the sky.

Karen_S

When re-filling, spray the feeder nozzles with a bit of Pam. The bees will stay away, but doesn't bother the birds.

gagrice

I will try that. Interesting idea. I think I have a can of PAM. We only use Olive oil to cook with or Butter.

Kirstie_H

yes, very cool suggestion!

I doubt I'll fill it again this season because my feeder is a very nice glass one (that I have yet to see elsewhere) and I don't want to risk having the liquid freeze, but I'll certainly do it when I put the feeder out next Spring.

gagrice

I have cut back. I use to have 5 feeders out and filled them once a day. The last two years I only have 2 out and they seem to last longer. When the Orioles are here they get emptied every day. We have 3 species of Oriole at different times of the year.

My hyacinths are just now coming up. Will probably bloom from Christmas to February. I keep digging them up and planting other places. They are the deep purple color. Not really sure how they got started. I notice the stinking rabbits are eating the fresh leaves down to the ground in a few areas of our place. I got to eliminate a few of them. They have no fear of people. I can walk right up to them and yell. They just casually hop away.

imidazol97

>PAM. We only use Olive oil to cook with or Butter.

PAM comes in an olive oil version, so you have have your Pam and eat it too.

imidazol97

>spray the feeder nozzles with a bit of Pam.

Thanks for sharing that. We'll try that next Spring. We are in W. Ohio and our hummingbird feeders are down now. But the bee problem hasn't been as bad because of lower numbers of bees in this area due to the virus or insecticides.

Anyone have solutions for keeping ants out of the hummingbird sweet water?

My wife made little cups of water and put them on the strings holding the feeders. The ants come down the string into the water.

Would spraying Pam on the nylon string slow the ants? Between squirrels, ants, and bees, the hummingbird feeders have a rough time. But it's neat to watch the tiny birds try to control their territory and watch them feed.

stever

Wonder if it would help soaking the string in borax? Seems like I tried something like that as a science fair project, trying to make a stalactite. Didn't work (but I didn't have any ants crawling around either ).

Karen_S

Try using these kind of feeders.



It has a water moat that traps the ants before they get to the nectar.

To keep squirrels from bothering my other pole feeders, I swab the poles liberally with Vaseline. That prevents them from reaching the feeder and also provides hours of entertainment watching them try. :shades:

I'm not completely heartless to the squirrels, though. I put out ear corn for them, but it's far away from the bird feeders.

stever

I had one of those in Boise and it worked good. We took out a couple of the "flowers" and the Bullock's orioles came to it too. But the larger holes attracted the yellow jackets too.

Always something.