2023 Gardening Thread

[Jcjohnson]

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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I don’t grow squash anymore.


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Thanks guys. We’re trying to avoid pesticides for the same reason. Between me and the wife hopefully we can keep a close eye on them

[Man]

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

Yes I grew it 2 years ago. We ate some (prepared like a butternut soup/bisque) and the others we let dry out for birdhouses.

[TexasBear]

Thanks guys. We’re trying to avoid pesticides for the same reason. Between me and the wife hopefully we can keep a close eye on them

Have you tried a garlic pepper tea? There is a recipe on DirtDoctor.com. Its organic and I put it on daily after I pick my harvest. You just don't want to spray it on plants in bright sunlight.

[Jcjohnson]

Have you tried a garlic pepper tea? There is a recipe on DirtDoctor.com. Its organic and I put it on daily after I pick my harvest. You just don't want to spray it on plants in bright sunlight.

I have not but fixing to check it out now. Thanks!

[SaltwaterSlick]

Spinosad is organic and won’t hurt the pollinators. It will only kill caterpillars. We couldn’t grow squash around here without it.

[rocky]

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!!


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


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

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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".


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


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


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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!

Dang!!! Y’all are doing some awesome gardening. I simply plow some ground, amend it some, and plant. Some good years, some not so good. Slick sent me a video of his setup, and all I can say is WOW!!!!!

[AgHntr10]

I thought this was a squash plant but I’m having doubts. It’s about 3 times the size of my dads squash plants, seems to be spreading out more

[Texas Grown]

I gots 17 dwarf okra plants in 6-gallon buckets. Two are about to produce their first blossoms. They are barley a foot tall. Some buckets have 2 plants. We'll see how those do. I have yet to water any of them this year. I had more before the last freeze. They were just coming up. Lost all those. The ones I have now came up right after the freeze. I'll be stuffing them all in pickle juice as they get picked.


The buckets are on their last leg. Don't take much to break them. Plastic has become brittle and breaks. But these were free. So, I can't complain.

[Pedernal]

Do snails and or slugs eat/harm veggie plants?? Pics show slugs on a ground cover type plant but they are not too far from my garden.

[Jcjohnson]

Spinosad is organic and won’t hurt the pollinators. It will only kill caterpillars. We couldn’t grow squash around here without it.

Got some on the way. Thank you!

[ctom87]

Came back from a quick weekend trip to Seabrook and found a zucchini grew to about the size of Nolan's leg! Had a great haul today. They are sautéing in a Dutch oven with some beef tallow now along with squash, banana peppers, onion, and will age some sage, parsley and cilantro all from the garden except the onion. Will add some browned pork and deer sausage to it too.

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[SaltwaterSlick]

Do snails and or slugs eat/harm veggie plants?? Pics show slugs on a ground cover type plant but they are not too far from my garden.

Yes and so will that stink bug!

[SaltwaterSlick]

I thought this was a squash plant but I’m having doubts. It’s about 3 times the size of my dads squash plants, seems to be spreading out more

Some varieties of squash, especially Winter squash varieties like butternut or spaghetti squash have a more vine like structure. It could be those. If it is, it is a very healthy looking plant!

[SaltwaterSlick]

Came back from a quick weekend trip to Seabrook and found a zucchini grew to about the size of Nolan's leg! Had a great haul today. They are sautéing in a Dutch oven with some beef tallow now along with squash, banana peppers, onion, and will age some sage, parsley and cilantro all from the garden except the onion. Will add some browned pork and deer sausage to it too.

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Awesome Clay!! That big ol' zuke would also be really good cut into long spears (like a pickle), then seasoned and grilled or battered like chicken and fried!! My family's favorite way to eat squash, especially those yellow crook-neck ones like you have there is sliced into thin circle slices, battered and fried!!

[rocky]

Awesome Clay!! That big ol' zuke would also be really good cut into long spears (like a pickle), then seasoned and grilled or battered like chicken and fried!! My family's favorite way to eat squash, especially those yellow crook-neck ones like you have there is sliced into thin circle slices, battered and fried!!

You can’t cook any kind of squash, anyway, that I don’t like. Today is pickling day. This weeks picking has yielded 17 quarts by my count. We’ve set a goal of 100 quarts this year, but I’m gonna have to get a rain pretty soon to make that.