A Gardening Thread

[Mlle. Zabzie]

My garden is super sad this year.  Something keeps nibbling on my beans.  My peas are anemic.  It’s not been consistently warm enough to really get the okra going.  My cucumbers might be ok.  I have hopes of the tomatoes.  I didn’t get enough annuals in.  Oh well.

[Tywin et al.]

16 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

My garden is super sad this year.  Something keeps nibbling on my beans.  My peas are anemic.  It’s not been consistently warm enough to really get the okra going.  My cucumbers might be ok.  I have hopes of the tomatoes.  I didn’t get enough annuals in.  Oh well.

My tomatoes are not doing that great, but I'm hoping in a few weeks they'll be fine and start really coming in. Half my pepper plants are being slow too, however a number of them are starting to really produce. I picked a banana pepper yesterday that was around 6 inches. The cilantro is exploding, which is nice. Won't have to buy any of that for my salsa for the summer. 

[Toth]

*incoherent screaming*

Today I saw that two of the date seeds I planted have actually sprouted. When I tried it last year, I had abysmal luck and nothing came out of it despite it being supposedly very easy. Now this! Yes! I hope they survive...

[DireWolfSpirit]

Its really heating up in the upper midwest and looks like another entire week of no rain so what doesnt get watered will be mercilessly sun cooked.

At least I wont be glued to the grass mower, so theres that.

[Zorral]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:18 PM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

My garden is super sad this year.  Something keeps nibbling on my beans.  My peas are anemic.  It’s not been consistently warm enough to really get the okra going.  My cucumbers might be ok.  I have hopes of the tomatoes.  I didn’t get enough annuals in.  Oh well.

How did the garden react to those awful smoke days?  And your birds and bees?

Our community garden seems to have gotten enough rain since then to help from at least immediately visible effects on all of the above.  I saw a cardinal this weekend -- and never have seen one there before.  And bees were swarming the hollyhocks.  But the robins, which had been more than I'd ever seen together at one time in any previous spring -- I haven't seen any since. 

BTW, the poison action on the rats -- killed all the squirrels.  As squirrelly as they are, I miss their liveliness.  Saw a big fat contented sleek rat merely ambling about, in the daylight, open space, not in the least cautious or concerned.  

Edited June 19, 2023 by Zorral

[Cas Stark]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

How did the garden react to those awful smoke days?  And your birds and bees?

Our community garden seems to have gotten enough rain since then to help from at least immediately visible effects on all of the above.  I saw a cardinal this weekend -- and never have seen one there before.  And bees were swarming the hollyhocks.  But the robins, which had been more than I'd ever seen together at one time in any previous spring -- I haven't seen any since. 

BTW, the poison action on the rats -- killed all the squirrels.  As squirrelly as they are, I miss their liveliness.  Saw a big fat contented sleek rat merely ambling about, in the daylight, open space, not in the least cautious or concerned.  

Those things always backfire.  Nature's way of telling us that ya know, poisoning animals en masse is not the answer.  But, we never learn.

[Zorral]

Ha! I saw a squirrel today, in the park/colonial botanical museum -- it's not enclosed, it's supposed to be a tract of ground left 'native', that has never been built on and containing what grew there naturally before the 17th C.  This small tract has been a lively as heck squirrel city all the time I've lived here.  This spring -- no squirrels.

It was only one I saw.  Wonder from where it migrated?  "They" did the same thing with Washington Square Park, and those ancient, by urban standards, communities of squirrels. WSP is large enough there are different communities in different parts of the park.  They are gone too, so I don't think this one came down three blocks from there.  (As for rats in WSP -- they were literally hordes of them, running around the trees, having a good time -- the amount of rat edible garbage in that park is off the hook.  The park is so used that Saturday, I literally could not walk directly across it because there were so many masses of people, all of them eating and drinking.  Many of them passed out from drugs and booze, others sleeping because there is nowhere else to sleep, many selling weed and anything else they can think of, skate boarders, bikers, hari krishnas, tourists, bands -- it was insane. The grass is already gone from most of the lawns.

Mysteries!  in New Orleans the squirrels, which are larger than those here, use the above ground electrical and communication wires as highways throughout the city.  NO, being NO, you can't put this stuff underground as we do here, for the same reasons as NO doesn't have basements.

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Zorral

[Cas Stark]

If we would simply control and manage our human garbage, including fines for failure to keep your trash secured, and not allowing people to live in public parks, etc. etc. that would probably eliminate the rat problem.  But I guess it's easier to poison animals.  Sad, but not surprising.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

Sad, but not surprising.

And not effective either, except, momentarily.  That's how we do things!

[Mlle. Zabzie]

2 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

If we would simply control and manage our human garbage, including fines for failure to keep your trash secured, and not allowing people to live in public parks, etc. etc. that would probably eliminate the rat problem.  But I guess it's easier to poison animals.  Sad, but not surprising.

NYC’s trash problem is as epic and constant as its rat problem.  

I think the plants did ok from the smoke.  So much of it is that I haven’t really had time when the weather was nice enough to garden/it has not been super warm so far, so everything is about a week behind where it was last year + I got some things in later.  Oh well.

[Cas Stark]

24 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

NYC’s trash problem is as epic and constant as its rat problem.  

I think the plants did ok from the smoke.  So much of it is that I haven’t really had time when the weather was nice enough to garden/it has not been super warm so far, so everything is about a week behind where it was last year + I got some things in later.  Oh well.

Yeah but the two are intertwined, and if the city focused on the actual problem...trash that is accessible to rodents, the rat issue would diminish.  But, we always seem to prefer to treat the effect and never the cause in the US.  Poisoning animals by the thousands is despicable even if they are rats.

I don't see any effect of the wildfire smoke on the plants so far.

[Zorral]

27 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

the actual problem...trash that is accessible to rodents,

That would mean, among other things, getting rid of those 'outdoor covid dining shacks' which clown mayor is determined NOT to do EVER.  Though the people who own our local report rumors that these are all going to be forced to be taken down in November.  

Sure, I sez, like They are going to close the illegal cannabis shops of which there are hundreds and hundreds, often 3 on the same block. Or enforce anything else.  Instead, clown mayor's big solution to rats and garbage was to change the time garbage is picked up by two hours.  This is what is called moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

31 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Yeah but the two are intertwined, and if the city focused on the actual problem...trash that is accessible to rodents, the rat issue would diminish.  But, we always seem to prefer to treat the effect and never the cause in the US.  Poisoning animals by the thousands is despicable even if they are rats.

I don't see any effect of the wildfire smoke on the plants so far.

Because NYC does not have alleys this is harder than it sounds. I think there is a plan to have something by 2032?  Or at least a plan for a plan?  
 

Anyhow back to my garden. My roses are amazing. It looks like a fairytale here. 

[Tywin et al.]

I just caught a baby bumblebee inside and was able to put it safely on a plant in the garden. Afterwards I checked all my plants and fuck me, there's got to be at least 50 peppers that are small to medium size and significantly more tiny buds. This morning I cut one off that was over six inches and the one I just cut off is just as long and smells hot as hell. Speaking of which, the really hot ones I planted are showing a lot of growth after the slow start.

Now you damn tomato plants, pick up the pace! 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Tywin et al.

[Cas Stark]

I haven't killed a bee or spider in decades.  The one year we tried growing small hot peppers they did amazingly.  Tomatoes just don't do well, the back yard is too shady and they don't thrive in pots in the front.  Flowers are doing well so far, although squirrels continue to dig them up now and then.

I wish cities did more tree planting, it seems a no brainer.  When you go to a wealthy area, its always leafy and green.  Why we don't try to replicate that in non wealthy urban areas is beyond me.

[Tywin et al.]

Probably getting close to 100 peppers after I've already picked a lot (jalapenos are still behind which stinks) .Been using them everyday when cooking eggs in the morning which has been nice and making fresh salsa every few days is a delight. Just get going tomatoes. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Tywin et al.

[Alarich II]

Last week, half of my meadow along with 9 fruit trees an a walnut tree that I planted over the last 5 years, burned down. It was dry and hot during the last weeks, but that alone is rarely enough to start a fire. We suspect that a careless smoker among the road construction team that worked in the vicinity didn't properly extinguish his cigarette. But we cannot prove anything. So it remains a suspicion.

Our wild berry hedge (blackthorn, juneberry, elderberry and hazelnut) is also gone, only a thicket of wild plums survived partially. The older fruit trees will hopefully make it, but most of the fruit is already starting to fall off. 

I guess I can now install a proper drip irrigation and redraw some of the plans that didn't really work out as hoped. But I must say, this kind of setback is upsetting. I had plans for my first blackthorn liqueur and making some elderberry syrup this year but these plans are all smoke and ashes now 

[Toth]

Here is the state of my dates: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/856230992573366312/1125057523473461310/20230630_105921.jpg

Yesterday a fifth one came out. This time I seem to have gotten a great batch!

Also spent a good chunk of yesterday putting plants into bigger pots. Some of the oranges have developed decent wooden trunks. Still not quite a centimeter in diameter, but still. Meanwhile the number of banana plants has risen to 8. All from a single one my mother bought one day, which is multiplying exponentially with the shoots now big enough to develop their own shoots. The latest batch of chestnuts also still cling to life, despite two of them having had quite the trouble with spider mites (those fuckers keep popping up). Also... in my idiocy I put some more watermelon seeds into soil and they are all sprouting again. Also potted over one of my old tomato plants and... unfortunately it looks quite bad right now with hanging leaves. Maybe too much stress in the end. I also grew a second avocado in addition to the one my colleague gave to me and it's absolutely awesome. Very easy and quick to grow and hers is now already almost as tall as me... Meanwhile the ginger roots that I separated have turned into two new plants. Yay! Two of the physalis plants also had become ridiculously huge and gotten flowers, but unfortunately despite going at them with a paint brush, I couldn't fertilize them

So let's sum up my experiments since the Corona lockdown.

Plants that are awesome to grow from planted seeds of everyday food:

• oranges and mandarins
• tomatoes
• peppers
• lychee
• chestnuts (to a degree)
• (bananas) [not planted from seeds, but still honorable mention because they multiply like Tribbles]
• avocado
• mango
• dates
• ginger
• physalis
• pomegranates

What didn't work for me:

• strawberries
• currants
• gooseberry
• apple s and pears (sprout, but then die very quickly for some reason)
• watermelons and honeymelons
• cherries
• tiger nuts
• lemons
• potatoes (definitely not indoors, though maybe I also just put them into earth too late - they turn into one long vine and then die)

Edited August 9, 2023 by Toth

[Deedles]

Cucumbers doing super in the glass house. Peppers very slow to grow. Coriander (cilantro) doing really well and much used. Broccoli looks like it’ll do well, as does the fennel. Unsure about the tomatoes, think they should be fine but I’m away at the moment so can’t pinch out. Planted the dwarf cuces late so hopefully going to get some school lunches out of it in early September. Hopefully my babysitter will be diligent about watering: feels funny to be paying her to mind my plants rather than my kids.

 

peonies were outstanding this year. Got some supportive rings and they really helped.

 

I’m so sorry about your orchard and meadow @Alarich II. It sounded lovely and the hedge sounded awesome. I hope your revised plans work out.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Y’all, a family of rabbits have moved in under my cucumber frame.  I guess some of the netting (which was at one point properly buried in the ground around the fence) has degraded over time.  I now identify strongly with Mr. McGregor.  I will say the cats were freaked out last night at the window, so I turned on the outside light and saw something distinctly feline, so either there is a stray cat in the neighborhood, or the bobcat in the woods beside us will take care of the issue….Also, I was lazy and didn’t protect the stems of my squash this year and am suffering the consequences (though the butternuts seem to be ok).  My carrots failed.  The shishito peppers are miserable this year.

BUT, my tomatoes are doing awesome (spent a bunch of time pruning them over the weekend), the okra and peas are so-so, the eggplant is going gangbusters (anyone have any good recipes?  I don’t love eggplant in the ordinary course - I bought these as rescue plants on sale because I had an empty bed).  My green beans are their usual productive selves, and my melons (watermelon and cantaloupe) are doing great.  Bell peppers also very happy - they are yellow bells, so just waiting for them to turn.