Gardening Questions

SixPapaCharlie said:
What are y'alls thoughts on Sevin dust?
That is what I am trying this year.

I seem to be bug free. Still have lizards and my aforementioned wasps but is that safe to put on food I am going to eat?
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We use Sevin dust on vegetables, flowers, dogs, cat, goats, horses...
 
No. Um.... The lizards don't do any damage to the garden PerSe.

They do um. keep busy though. We wash everything thoroughly.

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Hulk like?

--

I've heard that planting marigolds in a veg garden helps repel insects, but that might be urban legend.
 
Matthew said:
I think it kills all insects, even the good ones.
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Pretty much. Sevin (carbaryl) is an old-line carbamate -- I think it may be the only one that's still legal. It's an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and is very broad-spectrum. It's also readily absorbed through the skin (as well as orally and by inhalation). It shouldn't be applied to crops when they are flowering because it's toxic to bees -- and the bees are having a tough enough time of things at the moment. It's also toxic to fish, amphibians, and pretty much anything else with a nervous system.

That being said, it can be used safely as a dust or wettable powder when used in accordance with the application instructions and time-to-harvest intervals. Use the label-mandated protective equipment, shower and wash the clothes you were wearing after application, and wear latex gloves when washing the crops after harvest if you wash a whole bunch at the same time. (For a few tomatoes and a couple of squash, I wouldn't worry about the gloves.)

The proper respirator cartridge, if you want to be really safe, would be one labeled for organic vapors and pesticides, with a dust filter if the product is being applied as a dust (which is the usual way OTC carbaryl products are formulated).

-Rich
 
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Matthew said:
Hulk like?

--

I've heard that planting marigolds in a veg garden helps repel insects, but that might be urban legend.
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I don't know about marigolds, but insects certainly don't seem to like any of the mints very much. Even the Japanese Beetles won't touch it. If I were growing tomatoes, I'd plant mint amount them. Or maybe catnip because it's less invasive than most other mints, but still mighty repellent to six-legged vermin.

I've also been told that mint roots encourage earthworms. That may be true because I haven't come across a single discouraged earthworm anywhere near my mint plants. They all seem pretty cheerful, in fact.

-Rich
 
If you are looking for something less toxic consider food grade diatomaceous earth. It still can harm bees but not the extent as pesticides.

I use it to keep bugs down in my chicken coop but also use it on the garden if I have bug problems.
 
Today my garden gave me this:

Only thing I found odd was that is called a mammoth jalapeno. For whatever reason, it had no heat to it at all. That's not me being macho, it was like a bell pepper. Was good though.

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SixPapaCharlie said:
Today my garden gave me this:

Only thing I found odd was that is called a mammoth jalapeno. For whatever reason, it had no heat to it at all. That's not me being macho, it was like a bell pepper. Was good though.

10341653_10204254463028674_8954566927211156421_n.jpg
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I was about to ask how in the world you had vegetables already until I saw your location, your planting date was probably a month or more ahead of mine.
 
Look up a book/method called "Square Foot Gardening". It will help you maximize production for a small area.

I enjoy gardening. Got a late start this year due to the wet spring and problems with my tiller, but finally have some stuff growing now. I'll be staking the pole beans this weekend. Probably will have a few peppers ready to pick. Cucumbers are about ready to grab the fence and start climbing. Got a few blooms on the tomatoes. Still looking forward to my first tomato and cheese sandwich - you know the kind where the tomato juice drips down to your elbows and you have to eat the sandwich in 3 bites because the bread gets so mushy it dissolves in your hands.
 
CJones said:
Look up a book/method called "Square Foot Gardening". It will help you maximize production for a small area.

I enjoy gardening. Got a late start this year due to the wet spring and problems with my tiller, but finally have some stuff growing now. I'll be staking the pole beans this weekend. Probably will have a few peppers ready to pick. Cucumbers are about ready to grab the fence and start climbing. Got a few blooms on the tomatoes. Still looking forward to my first tomato and cheese sandwich - you know the kind where the tomato juice drips down to your elbows and you have to eat the sandwich in 3 bites because the bread gets so mushy it dissolves in your hands.
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haha that's awesome.

I just put everything in the photo except the green beans on a veggie burger. Was good. I am looking forward to some of my spicier peppers sprouting. Serrano, Tabasco, Habenaro are all on their way.
 
cowman said:
I was about to ask how in the world you had vegetables already until I saw your location, your planting date was probably a month or more ahead of mine.
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Yep, I think we planted about 3 months-ish ago.
We have a small window to work with. In a few weeks, it will be so hot that everything slows down. Then it picks up a bit in the fall.
 
Yeah I was only planting my cold weather stuff a month ago. Can't even get corn to pop up unless it's planted around the first week of june or later.
 
Whomever mentioned picking the tomatoes before they turn red is greatly appreciated. I started picking them at the first sign of color even just a tinge of yellow.

This is what I picked last wednesday. There is about twice as much out there now and they aren't splitting. I pick them and set them on the window sill and in a day or two they are red.

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Also, Way too many cucumbers to deal with so I am trying my hand at pickling them different ways.

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Looking good! But pickling is a science. Be careful. Proper cleaning, temperature, pH, infusion / fermentation time, and salinity are all vital. Bad things can happen otherwise.

Professor Steingar is the resident POA pickling expert, by the way. I pickle eggplant, but not much else. Cucumbers once in a while if I come across a bushel, but generally just eggplants. Anything else I want pickled I can buy locally from the farmers, who are better at it than I am, anyway. But not eggplant -- at least not the way I like it.

Eggplants, by the way, contain high enough levels of solanine to make you really ill if you don't properly extract it (by salting and soaking). Don't ask me how I know.

-Rich
 
Never heard of pickled eggplant except I think you mentioned it once prior.
I'd like to try it.

I love pickled foods. I'm probably going to die young but those pickled sausages at the quick stops. Good stuff.
 
Okay, question.
How do I preserve tomatoes?

I have a fridge full of them. I have converted several into salsa but I want to know if there are ways to prevent having them go bad. I only need so much salsa.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Okay, question.
How do I preserve tomatoes?

I have a fridge full of them. I have converted several into salsa but I want to know if there are ways to prevent having them go bad. I only need so much salsa.
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We blanch them, remove the skin and stuff them into Mason jars and seal with pressure cooker. You can season the 'maters any way you please but we normally use okra, onion and a hot pepper.
 
pilot_dude said:
We blanch them, remove the skin and stuff them into Mason jars and seal with pressure cooker. You can season the 'maters any way you please but we normally use okra, onion and a hot pepper.
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Yep - done this before, too, but just in boiling water, not a pressure cooker. But no additions, just the 'maters. Although, tossing in some fresh basil does sound good.

And it is nice to pull out a jar of tomatoes from the pantry in the middle of winter and make chili or spaghetti sauce.
 
Matthew said:
Yep - done this before, too, but just in boiling water, not a pressure cooker. But no additions, just the 'maters. Although, tossing in some fresh basil does sound good.

And it is nice to pull out a jar of tomatoes from the pantry in the middle of winter and make chili or spaghetti sauce.
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Not much tastes as good as that mid-winter jar of fresh 'maters :) I like how that works out about the same time as deer season is coming to a close and the freezer is full of venison.
 
Just don't do cherry tomatoes. Once you skin them and can them, they look like you have a pantry full of jars of bloodshot eyeballs (or worse).
 
I am not sure what my smaller tomatoes are. I have normal big tomatoes and then I have these things I have been calling "Scromatoes" They are smaller than the normal tomatoes but are significantly more testicular shaped.

I don't believe they are cherry tomatoes since I think cherry are smaller and round and they don't look like roma tomatoes.

I am not sure what kind but they make a good "scroghetti" sauce and chips n "ballsa".
 
There are grape tomatoes (more oblong), cherry tomatoes (round), roma, and any number of other varieties. I saw in your picture the tomatoes you are referring to.

Also, you may have some disorder if all of your food reminds you of reproductive organs.
 
"Scromatoes"

And very likely about the disorder.

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Those about look like Roma...but I like your word better for them!:D also maters last longer and taste better on the counter not in the fridge. Your only other bet is what others have said and blanch them and can them.

You guys have your garden maters coming in and my mater season is just ending, we pulled just under 13k lbs in 3 months. I'm tired!
 
simtech said:
Those about look like Roma...but I like your word better for them!:D also maters last longer and taste better on the counter not in the fridge. Your only other bet is what others have said and blanch them and can them.

You guys have your garden maters coming in and my mater season is just ending, we pulled just under 13k lbs in 3 months. I'm tired!
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They are ripening on the counter. Our windowsill behind our sink is covered in them. Once they're ripe, though, we're putting them in the fridge.

And 13k?!?! Good lord, that's a lot! I think we have gotten probably around 35 large ones, and probably 40 or so smaller ones.
 
Mrs. SixPapaCharlie said:
They are ripening on the counter. Our windowsill behind our sink is covered in them. Once they're ripe, though, we're putting them in the fridge.

And 13k?!?! Good lord, that's a lot! I think we have gotten probably around 35 large ones, and probably 40 or so smaller ones.
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13,000 pounds. .yep it's a lot for sure! Started picking in march and finishing up this week.

Tomatoes ideally should never be colder that 60. I find the taste is not the same when cold. Some like em cold but honestly it's not the best.
 
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RJM62 said:
Pretty much. Sevin (carbaryl) is an old-line carbamate -- I think it may be the only one that's still legal. It's an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and is very broad-spectrum. It's also readily absorbed through the skin (as well as orally and by inhalation). It shouldn't be applied to crops when they are flowering because it's toxic to bees -- and the bees are having a tough enough time of things at the moment. It's also toxic to fish, amphibians, and pretty much anything else with a nervous system.

That being said, it can be used safely as a dust or wettable powder when used in accordance with the application instructions and time-to-harvest intervals. Use the label-mandated protective equipment, shower and wash the clothes you were wearing after application, and wear latex gloves when washing the crops after harvest if you wash a whole bunch at the same time. (For a few tomatoes and a couple of squash, I wouldn't worry about the gloves.)

The proper respirator cartridge, if you want to be really safe, would be one labeled for organic vapors and pesticides, with a dust filter if the product is being applied as a dust (which is the usual way OTC carbaryl products are formulated).

-Rich
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Also, if you see a guy working with the stuff get the shakes or go down, give them a cigarette, it could save them.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
We're not vegetarians, we just attend a lot of old-timey Vaudeville shows and have to bring fruit to throw at the acts that are displeasing. :lol:
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It sounds as if you are a little too, ahem, 'familiar' with your food. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Okay, question.
How do I preserve tomatoes?

I have a fridge full of them. I have converted several into salsa but I want to know if there are ways to prevent having them go bad. I only need so much salsa.
Click to expand...

Tomato soup and tomato paste are the best ways I know, there is also sun drying and stewing them. You can also make a Chilli stock, pre seasoned, just add meat. You can also make a Rotell type canned mix if you have some peppers, maybe even add a bit of garlic and onion. Don't forget to take the ones that turn and toss em back in the garden, or alternatively a compost pile. I like throwing at least some back in the garden during the growing season and maybe some extra fertilizer in front of a good rain or watering.
 
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