2023 Gardening Thread

[eradicator]

Sprayd hot pepper sauce on all the remaining ones last night and came home to him taking the last bite of the last one. Told the wife i need to take care of this situation. Went and bought some pellets for the Daisy 770 pump rifle. She told me just do it during the weekend when the kids are busy. (Becouse they named him) . Even got a buddy lined up to take the rabbit for stew.

I have a Daisy 880, it keeps the squirrels at bay around here! Happy hunting

[Tex_Cattleman]

First harvest of 2023!
I have 30 cantaloupe vines and 16 tomato plants screaming, "Hey, we're coming too!" Love this time of year!!

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[Texas Grown]

Great look-n plants, Trey!

[Jcjohnson]

Just planted some pickling cukes and squash. Any pro tips on keeping the vine boring bugs at bay? Last couple of years we’ve been hammered by them. Almost decided not to even plant anymore.

[Tex_Cattleman]

..

[Tex_Cattleman]

Just planted some pickling cukes and squash. Any pro tips on keeping the vine boring bugs at bay? Last couple of years we’ve been hammered by them. Almost decided not to even plant anymore.

Due to bees, I won't hammer anything with pesticides. I quit squash completely. Just not worth the battle for a veggie I hate anyway. On cukes, cucumber beatle is my nemesis. I've had decent luck staying on top of them by inspecting & squishing every one I see. This works as I'm able to visit the garden several times a day.

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[txtimetravler]

Just planted some pickling cukes and squash. Any pro tips on keeping the vine boring bugs at bay? Last couple of years we’ve been hammered by them. Almost decided not to even plant anymore.

I don’t grow squash anymore.


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[SaltwaterSlick]

Rocky sent a couple more pics of his beer... Big arse pile on onions behind one and enough cukes to make 10 years worth of pickles in the other!!

[rocky]

Rocky sent a couple more pics of his beer... Big arse pile on onions behind one and enough cukes to make 10 years worth of pickles in the other!!


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All my rows are 70’ long, and I plant cucumber plants a foot apart so I have 70 plants. We average 90 quarts of pickles a year. The beer can is for comparison purposes only

[SaltwaterSlick]

Yea well, it would take many more empty beer cans for ME to process all those onions and cucumbers!! And I don't even drink beer!! .

[SaltwaterSlick]

Well, we've had probably 10 days now with no rain and it's heated up with all the sunshine so things have kicked into high gear... things that the water didn't kill, that is... Here are a few pics of peppers n maters that are coming along nicely. Don't want to jinx ourselves, but so far I think these mater plants are the best we've ever grown... They're loaded down with beautiful maters... Peppers are loaded down too what didn't drown... Squash responded very well to the pruning! They have put on LOTS of blooms and so far, knock on wood... they are still viable and healthy looking plants. All the broccoli, cauliflower beets and lettuce are gone... Plan a third planting of squash in some of those bags, maybe more okra... Gonna till the corn in. It just came up and hasn't done anything since... LOTS of blooms on the peas now since last I reported... Looking like SOP will happen here again this year... 4th of July will be spent picking, shelling and putting up peas!!











5 of my banana pepper plants survived... Looks like I'll have plenty of them!





Only 4 of these red cherry peppers survived, but they are prolific producers.




Lost 3 of my 6 Beaver Dam hot peppers. This is probably my favorite flavored pepper. They get YUUUGE and turn a bright red if left until they mature and only have a little heat. Just the best flavor in a pepper to eat green that I've ever had... MUCH better than any bell pepper, plus a little "bite".





And this is another cherry pepper that turns yellow. Lost all but 3 plants, but again a prolific producer...





Oh and the last batch of pickled beets are SO good!! Gonna grow more beets in the Fall!!





The Blackstone is getting a lot of use these days too... I'm a regular fan boy of grilled squash/zukes/onions and bacon... Did cabbage too until we harvested it all... think maybe that's my favorite on the griddle... Sometimes it's just cabbage n onions, sometimes I put bacon in it, sometimes sliced smoked sausage, sometimes even throw in chopped brisket... Easy to make a meal by adding meat to chopped/griddled cabbage!

[Chew]

We ran the dehydrator yesterday and got plenty of snacks. Squash and zucchini "chips" with Cajun seasoning.

Mary will be blanching green beans and some other stuff today for vacuum sealing and freezing.

She went ahead and took the leap and ordered the medium size freeze dryer.

We're going to have a huge walk-in pantry in the new house and that and the vacuum sealer and the dehydrator should fit on the cart we're probably going to order from webstaurant. At least until I get my shop built and can set everything up out there for processing/canning/dehydrating / vacuum sealing.

[SaltwaterSlick]

That stuff looks great Chew!!
We got our freeze dryer in a week or so back. Been working on the room where it will go. Ol' Snowflake Killa stopped by this morning and gave me some great advice and help on the concrete floor... We ripped out old VCT tile and I rented a big polishing machine... Pat got me straightened out so I'll get the floor finished and freezers (one chest type and one upright) placed along with the freeze dryer on a temporary cart by the weekend's end. Hope to make the break-in run (called a bread run), then it's off to some serious freeze drying!! We have a LOT of squash, berries and even a few packages of chopped smoked brisket we want to try...

I ordered 2 large stainless steel tables on wheels that will be our permanent preparation surfaces... Will have a blender/food processor, eventually a tank style vacuum sealer and a few other toys... It's been a really fun project so far!!

[Chew]

That stuff looks great Chew!!
We got our freeze dryer in a week or so back. Been working on the room where it will go. Ol' Snowflake Killa stopped by this morning and gave me some great advice and help on the concrete floor... We ripped out old VCT tile and I rented a big polishing machine... Pat got me straightened out so I'll get the floor finished and freezers (one chest type and one upright) placed along with the freeze dryer on a temporary cart by the weekend's end. Hope to make the break-in run (called a bread run), then it's off to some serious freeze drying!! We have a LOT of squash, berries and even a few packages of chopped smoked brisket we want to try...

I ordered 2 large stainless steel tables on wheels that will be our permanent preparation surfaces... Will have a blender/food processor, eventually a tank style vacuum sealer and a few other toys... It's been a really fun project so far!!

Sounds like a nice setup. The 16x16 well house we are now using for a kitchen/laundry/dining area will probably be set up like you described above. Deer/hog processing, canning, freeze drying, dehydrating.

My uncle Joe in madisonville was telling me about his "cushaw" squash and how good it is. Any of y'all grew that lately?

[eradicator]

Nice work gentlemen! I've pulled a few tomatoes, cucumbers are getting close, my peppers in the ground are putting on like crazy. My peppers in buckets are scuffling currently due to the amt of rain we've had around here. Onions are starting to bulb a little bit. Tis' the season......getting pumped about salsa and pickles