23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Thanks for the responses. I'm unsure how it got there, seeing as I planted all the seedlings myself from store bought satchels but do see the similarities with chickweed.

It is definitely chickweed, not just similar to it. There's absolutely no doubt about it. Chickweed is a widespread weed around much of the world. It's capacity for spreading by seed is the reason for its global success. It is not at all surprising it's found its way to your garden. It could have come in the soil of your transplants or arrived from neighouring areas. Or it might have been in the seedbank of your garden already.

I would like to grow melons next year, I tried a regular Crenshaw this year but it just grew too slowly and the weather wasn't very cooperative. The pumpkins were turning orange and I had one tiny melon. Any other recommendations for next year? I will check out the Galia ones, thanks for the suggestion.

Galia's have flavor more like Honeydews and are my favorite type of melon. Passport is the earliest variety that I am aware of several days earlier than Visa. 75 day Maturity is about as fast as they get. An option is the Earli-dew honeydew melon at 80 days. The Alaska muskmelon has a 65 day DTM.

Here is a link that might be useful: dill's melons

It's not a bell but it tastes like one and is extremely productive and quite early--Corno di Toro. I discovered it some years ago after many years of disappointing bell production.

I haven't had good luck with bell peppers so I seldom grow them but this year II used free seeds. I took seeds from a beautiful yellow bell pepper bought at the supermarket. The two plants I grew had 7 peppers each, one had red and the other yellow. They were thick walled but smaller than the original. They are still flowering so if I had started them sooner I would have gotten more.

Next year I'll try some of the posted suggestions.

Sunnibel, the growth in my garden is mostly 2-3' tall, over 6' in some places, with a lot of tall bushes & vines. If I didn't mow before tilling, the growth would just clog the tines. The flowers I allow to grow throughout the garden have some really tough stalks, especially the cleome.

That is very pretty! Do those self seed or do you plant them each year (the flowers)? I guess I mostly remove the bigger stuff by hand and compost it, till in the smaller stuff after its mostly brown. But my winter comes on a lot slower than yours! :)

I picked Jewel sweet potatoes yesterday and they turned out nice. I have a few plants that I planted late in the season and they are well behind those just harvested. Can I keep then buried through the winter and use them as a source of slips for next year? Will they last? Any special protections beside a thick mulch?

Tom -- I think generally sweet potatoes are not very good when first dug, especially from a zone 4 or 5 garden. (in NC I've had them fresh dug and sweet.) I believe that if you cure the potatoes (80 degrees and high humidity) for a couple weeks, then store in a cool place, they will get MUCH sweeter. I actually have to keep my sweet potatoes more at room temperature after curing because if I put them in cold storage they get too sweet.

I'm glad you resurrected this thread--good info. I'm determined to grow my own slips this year -- I always end up with the mail order ones half dead before I can plant them.

Thanks.

Glib, are fava shoots safe to eat? Do they taste similar to pea shoots?

yes and yes. I buy the cover crop favas, no point in buying expensive seeds if the greens are the same.

Sounds like it may be overly ripe and is beginning to rot.

FYI, I got replies from a couple of folks with seed companies. One suggested the possibility that it was mislabeled and was a bitter melon. I find this unlikely since they don't really look like a Sugar Baby watermelon. Another confirmed the answers here that over ripe melons can taste bitter. Also, a boron deficiency can make the melons bitter.

Thanks for your help.

Sandy

It is good to top the plant for making it shorter and branches out more but not before it reaches certain height (approximately 10 inches tall for okra).

Actually I top at 4 feet.

Finally I have decided to over winter 4 plants from this year's garden , 2013 plant plus 3 more plants from this season.In addition to this three more plants rooted from cuttings are selected to over winter for next year - 2015.All are planted in pots to be taken in Sun room.
I hope this will produce enough peppers for us.Here is pic. of the plants selected.

I don't have a place warm enough. I have tried in the past but my greenhouse when it is 5 degrees outdoors at night will be close to freezing. Peppers don't go for that. Or sweet potatoes.

Wow has this been fun to read! I to was having this lack of energy for the garden work, it just seemed endless. But then I hurt my right hand. Nothing helped except staying out of the dirt, so the injury would heal. Three weeks of just watching from the sidelines and having to ask for help with everything has erased my disinterest in the garden. I just have to remember that gardening is not a race, and more is not always better.

This year I focused on less, but better, and some of it worked! We ate broccolli until we were tired of it, less green beans, but fewer tough ones. Rolling crops of beets and carrots, but blighted tomatoes. Plenty of cabbage, more cauliflower than expected, but fewer onions. Melons failed, but sweet potatoes are taking over, well actually Have taken over green house. So I guess it is always a win some lose some proposition, at least winter arrives. Unless New England weather surprises me again!

Wow has this been fun to read! I to was having this lack of energy for the garden work, it just seemed endless. But then I hurt my right hand. Nothing helped except staying out of the dirt, so the injury would heal. Three weeks of just watching from the sidelines and having to ask for help with everything has erased my disinterest in the garden. I just have to remember that gardening is not a race, and more is not always better.

This year I focused on less, but better, and some of it worked! We ate broccolli until we were tired of it, less green beans, but fewer tough ones. Rolling crops of beets and carrots, but blighted tomatoes. Plenty of cabbage, more cauliflower than expected, but fewer onions. Melons failed, but sweet potatoes are taking over, well actually Have taken over green house. So I guess it is always a win some lose some proposition, at least winter arrives. Unless New England weather surprises me again!

Next time you have a soil test done, tell them it's for a home garden. That way, the math will be much simpler as it's based on 1000 sq foot areas.

I had the commercial test done because they don't give organic matter for the home test.

Never tried it myself, but I don't think it's good practice to grow in clear cups. Can't tell from your pic if light can get in? I have always used the red/blue grocery store cups as they block light. I drill at least 6-10 holes on the bottom. If the soil drains well, there is no need for pebbles. Not familiar with your mix, but if you are using the one in the link below, it is not for containers. Clear cups with one hole filled with topsoil is a combo for failure. If so, time to go back to the drawing board.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Earth

Please avoid the "drainage material" in the bottom. Contrary to popular opinion, it helps to retain moisture in the container.

As for sideways images, that's an issue with images taken w/ Apple products -- iPods, iPads and more.
When the rest of us click such an image, it will come up in a new screen and be both larger and upright.

I grew a few different colored orachs this spring, green, yellow and red. The flavor is somewhat similar to spinach, but I didn't think it tasted as good as other greens that I was growing, chard, etc. It's marketed as a warm weather alternative to spinach because it won't bolt in the heat, but the flavor is best in cool weather. It got too strong in summer.

I sell at a farmers' market and a few people bought orach once or twice, but I never heard any rave reviews. I started putting it in salad mix, a few of the varieties I grew had very vibrant coloring that looked very nice in a salad, but that's about it. I'm not sure that I'll grow it again.

Yes, it is in the Chenopodiaceae, not the Brassicaceae. It self sows all over my allotment. I use a few baby leaves in early salads when there's not much about but otherwise don't bother to pick it. Chard also self sows and is far more flavoursome imo. and easier to harvest (bigger leaves). I've also added the fresh seed pods to salads but they were uninspiring and tough. It's so easy to grow you've nothing to lose trying it - it requires no care at all.