2023 Garden Plans

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  • #39931
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Probably an issue with too much or too little water, both can affect the ability of the vines to hold on to the fruit.

      Have you had much wind lately?

      #39939
      BakerAunt
      Participant

        It has not been windy recently.

        We have had more rain, on and off, this summer than last summer, but my husband adjusts the watering accordingly and does not water when it has rained. The soil is not that dry, and the other plants are flourishing.

        #39946
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I picked a billy club today, a 44 ounce zucchini. It was totally hidden except from one angle.

          #39947
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            As I understand it, the reason too high or too low moisture results in fruit falling off is that the vines don't get enough of the right nutrients. Not sure what nutrients lend themselves to stronger vines though.

            #39949
            chocomouse
            Participant

              I had to water plants today, the first time all summer except for when I started seeds or transplanted seedlings. I did not water the in-ground plants or berry bushes, but only the things in planters/pots on the deck, which dry out faster. We've had three days in a row of sunshine and upper 80s, with 90 predicted for Friday. Even the areas that were flooded 2 weeks ago are starting to dry out, although it will be months before most of the damaged roads and bridges will be open to traffic.

              I've had a lot of cherry tomatoes, Sweet 100s, fall off the vine this year also. I've always had most cherry varieties fall off prematurely until I discovered these.

              #39965
              chocomouse
              Participant

                I picked green, yellow, and purple stringless beans today, our first real crop of the season, except for cherry tomatoes. It is 89* and going up.

                #39969
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I'm starting to get 2 or more ripe tomatoes nearly every day, mostly 4th of July ones at this point, but I see ripening fruit in several other varieties as well. The 4th of July tomatoes are usually just under 2 inches in diameter and weigh around 2 ounces each.

                  #39987
                  BakerAunt
                  Participant

                    Chocomouse: When you or your husband are picking blackberries, how do you protect your hands? I have really had the blackberry plants do a number on mine. Berries have to be picked with fingers, but I am wondering if a gardening place might make fingerless gloves. I did a brief internet search but what came up were bicycle and motorcycle gloves.

                    #39991
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      I picked about 4 pounds of 4th of July tomatoes today, plus a 1.1 and a 1.4 lb Italian Heirloom and an 8 ounce Celebrity.

                      #39994
                      chocomouse
                      Participant

                        BakerAunt, we don't do anything special to protect our hands or arms. We do thoroughly cut back old canes in the fall, and try to maintain our patch so the plants each have ample space. We also have metal garden posts on both sides of the patch, with wires strung about 2 and 4 ft off the ground to help contain the bushes. The patch is therefore contained and spacious, and is about 50 ft by 5 ft. We pick very carefully! When I cut the canes down to the ground in the fall, I do so slowly and carefully, wearing heavy gloves, long sleeves, and a turtle neck to prevent the earwigs from falling down my neck.

                        I wonder if you can find sturdy, rubbery, or leathery, gardening gloves and cut off the ends of the fingers? It would need to be rubbery/leathery so they would not fray after they're cut.

                        We've just started picking blackberies. Our blueberries are done, and we picked only about 4-5 pints this year, as we lost over 90% of the crop to the killing frost in May. Blueberry season is over for many of the-pick-your-own and regular farms due to the blueberry maggot (Rhagoletis mendax) infestations caused by the extremely rainy weather we've had. Many farms in the area have lost all their crops - fruit, vegetables, hay - due to the floods 2 weeks ago.

                        #39997
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          Every time I read something about how farmers get too many subsidies, guarantees and benefits, I think about how often they lose their entire crop. Most of the farmers I know have a major loss of their crop every few years. I wonder how the typical business owner would survive after losing his entire year's income?

                          I saw a recent article that said cattlemen were making about $5 a head on cattle.

                          #39998
                          BakerAunt
                          Participant

                            Thanks for the idea about fingerless gloves, Chocomouse. We are planning a big shipping trip in a couple of days, so I will see what I can find at Lowe's or Tractor Supply, if not Walmart.

                            As our blackberry bushes are wild patches in the open area of the woodland--mostly in the additional 15 acres that we bought in 2019--they are a gift rather than an intention. My husband has planted some of his trees amid the blackberry bushes, as the deer avoid blackberry plants.

                            When I pick, I wear jeans (and am looking for even thicker pants), and I have a heavy hemp overshirt, so my arms and legs are mostly protected, but my hands are pricked and scratched, and the leaves of the plant are itchy. My husband commented that for a plant that spreads best when helped by going through an animal's gut, it sure resists giving up those berries.

                            A major danger is stinging insects. I'm not sure what stung me last Wednesday, when I thought I had pricked myself, but I realized at the end of last week that the "mosquito bites" that were popping up on me were actually a case of hives, probably from a stinging insect.

                            #40001
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              These days I would worry about being exposed to mosquito and tic-borne diseases in your berry patch.

                              CDC estimates that 450,000 Americans may have Alpha-Gal Syndrome, a reaction to most red meat which is linked to tic bites.

                              We know two people who essentially had to retire from their professions due to Lyme Disease, another tic-borne illness.

                              #40003
                              chocomouse
                              Participant

                                We use tick spray every time we work outside. Keep pants tucked into socks. Spray clothing also. Ticks, and Lyme disease, have become a major problem in VT, partly because due to the warming climate they over-winter here. We check our bodies for ticks when we come inside, and shower. I keep tweezers handy for picking them off myself. And we treat our pets, also.

                                BakerAunt, you might want to look at Carhart clothing, which is tough, "workmen's" type clothing, and made of several different weights of fabric. It's on the expensive side, but my husband wears it all the time, working in the woods and yard. Tractor Supply might also carry heavy weight work clothing. I recall many, many years ago when I was pregnant, searching for heavy-duty maternity clothing for when I was picking all kinds of berries in the northern VT fields and forests!

                                #40006
                                BakerAunt
                                Participant

                                  Thanks for the suggestion about heavier clothing, Chocomouse.

                                  Yes, with ticks, we have to be proactive. My husband checks himself and showers every time he comes home from working in his woodlands. I have adopted that practice as well. My husband was, apparently, bitten by a tick a couple of years ago. I say apparently, because the test is expensive and takes so long to get results that the practice is to put the person on antibiotics immediately.

                                  Our dog, who we got at 14 months from Michigan ten years ago, came to us with undiagnosed Lyme disease, which we only learned about after a year at her first check-up. We now get her vaccinated for Lyme disease every year.

                                  I know that they are working on a Lyme disease vaccine for humans, but it is not ready yet.

                                  When younger bonus son and his wife visited last Thanksgiving, they went to one of the woodlands with my husband. After getting back, she checked for ticks because, as she says, she is a "tick magnet." She had picked up TWO, and that was after we had had freezing weather and snow the previous week! Fortunately, she was not bitten.

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