Thank you very much, Jerry! Yes the block are mortared. Yoda made sure they weren't going anywhere. Thanks again @[member="Yoda"]! I've thought about planting herbs in every hole around the perimeter, but I remembered that sometimes I have to stand on the block to harvest tomatoes. Since I'm not going to get any taller, I opted not to do that. Oh yeah, the mulberries are very tasty! I'll be making mulberry jam as soon as they're ready. I've been keeping a close eye on the grape leaves, and picking any that I see when they're ready. Think I have 50 so far, haven't checked today because it's storming. There's still a few weeks of grape leave picking left. I hope to end up with a couple hundred to make stuffed grape leaves, and some for making pickles (helps keeps pickles from getting soggy).
some for making pickles (helps keeps pickles from getting soggy). ^^^ This is why I love your thread. Always chock full of juicy tidbits. j
i remember as a kid when we were on road trips, my mom would pull over and walk right into strangers yrds and take their grape leaves.. what a bold old bird she was can't get away w/ that shit these days
I can picture some Ol' Portugee running after you guys with his hoe... When I used to live in Swansea, MA, which is predominantly Portuguese I had a neighbor who had his own little vineyard in his backyard. They all did. This fella used to invite me into his garage each Halloween when we were out taking the kids out for candy for a little snort. His wine was to die for, but he also made a very special drink - a cognac. There are only a few tastes that you'll never forget, and this old mans cognac was one of them. It was magnificent - very little sips because you wanted the flavor to last forever - and he just sat there smiling because he knew just how special it was. Da Kind. j
Thanks for sharing that with me Jerry, it was very cool of you to point that out. Go Mom! My Great Aunt did the same thing!
oh man.. had Portuguese neighbors years back, and we'd get jugs of wine from them. holy shit we'd get trashed on that stuff LOL.. used to trade him bluefish for wine good times man yeah my moms didn't fuck around when it came to getting free grape leaves...
LOL i think that's what they did in "the old country" so they just assumed it was ok to do here lmao. me, my bro and sis would cower in the car in total embarrassment
Yep, agreed. At least you got to stay in the car! Anyone with my Aunt at the time, had to pick grape leaves.
The weather is beautiful here today. A perfect day to spend in the garden, soaking up the sun! Garden check this morning was nice. Everything looks happy and healthy. I didn't find any signs of critter or pests. *fingers crossed that it stays that way (wishful thinking, I know)* I spent a few minutes weeding the three sisters garden area before seeding scarlet runner & kentucky wonder beans, golden midget watermelon, triple threat pumpkin. I decided to plant the cantaloupe sprouts to see what they do, and put a cloche over them. This morning I realized that I forgot to share something really cool about the three sisters planting area with all of you. doh! Underneath that lovely mound of organic soil, is a huge old, dead tree stump that is probably wider across, than I am tall. A pre-made hugel bed. How cool is that?!
^^ very cool! the only thing under my soil is LOTS of rocks started soaking a bunch of lemon balm in 3 gals of water.. gonna let that soak till tomorrow night and add in some baking soda, castile soap, and neem oil. thanks for the tips lady glad you had a good day.. was rainy all morning, and the sun just started coming out an hour ago or so.. so got a good watering in there today.
So, there's more I can do w/ my lemonbalm forest than just give it away for teas and rub it on my skin for mosquito repellent? I should be using it w/ neem for my IPM, too? Glad I found your gardenin thread @[member="doinYODA"]
hey steve.. my 1st time trying it myself.. but some words from LD on it. (thanks Jerry) i hve this giant bush of the stuff that i usually just toss or let grow.
I've seen Jerry reference it as "Lemon Bomb" before, and now I see where it came from. Let us know what you think about it, I'll probably be following in your footsteps w/ giving it a shot soon, anyway. And, eating mulberries straight from the tree is the absolute best taste I have ever experienced. It's a very messy job, but getting the perfect one is an uncomparable experience. (Better than sex?.....possibly). My only qualm is that it reduces down to so little when you make mulberry jam.
Thanks! You're welcome! If it makes you feel any better, the sand around the stump was packed with rocks. I was amazed that there was grass growing in there. Cool! I'm interested in the outcome, with adding the lemon balm. Let me know what you think about it after you use it. Welcome aboard! Glad to have you here steve. For sure! On top of the garden uses of Lemon Balm that LD (Jerry and AW) shared, you can make ointments, extracts, tinctures, use it in salad, soups, etc...here's a pdf link on the Herb Society website that talks about some of the different use for lemon balm. Culinary uses start on page 15, if you're interested. Thanks for sharing that AW. Mulberries...YUM!!!! How much they cook down is definitely disappointing! Let us know what you think of using the lemon balm in the garden too.
i remember coming home w/ purple stained face and clothes from eating all those mulberries.. mom got so pissed LOL and yeah i'll let y'all know how it works out.. i can't see it hurting any that's for sure.
I'll still walk away from mulberry trees looking like the prime suspect in a gruesome murder scene. Another thing that shrinks a lot between the garden and the table is Basil. I picked about a grocery bag-full of basil today for pesto, and came out w/ about 1.5-2 cups of pesto.
Lot's going on in the garden atm, everything is taking off. We still have to get the trellis up for the cucumber, they are ready to start climbing. I'll be starting to harvest lettuce soon. I'm trying to hold off until this weekend, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to resist. Some dill seedlings, planted with the cucumber by the fence. Basil, I've already cut some for pesto. Thai Red chili mom, already loaded with flowers and producing chili's Serrano pepper, filling in nicely and they're all starting to flower. Onion blossom, on the over-wintered onion. The tango celery LOVES the self-watering pots so far, it's a bit further along than what I have planted in the raised beds, all doing very well regardless. Yoda and I have already had a taste, it's delicious! Carrot experiment is going rather well, atm. We've been watering the carrots by hand regularly. Onion, planted from the 'sets' that I grew last season, and stored. Beaverlodge Tomato, first season growing this early variety of sauce tomato. It's supposed to be good for slicing as well. I've already pinched the suckers off the tomatoes, it's about time to do it again. No sign of hornworm yet, last year we didn't start seeing them until the end of August / beginning of September.
Tomato flowers. Susanville garlic, nearing harvest Corn and beans Pumpkin babies Some earwig damage on one of the peppers, they took a little taste of a couple of the peppers and one of the basil. I'll be setting traps for them in various locations throughout the gardens. There are tons of earwigs here, and the damage has been minimal given their numbers. Pyrethrum daisy, started from seed this year. The Raspberries have been doing well, despite the wind / storms that we've had. Some flowers for the Hummingbirds Petunia's Fuchsia And last but not least (for this update) Bee balm After our discussion about PM, I thought I'd make a point to add that Bee Balm is one of the plants affected by PM. The baking soda mixture can be used on Bee Balm to control PM, too. Yoda and I have been very busy since the last raised bed was put up. We still had 7 yards of soil to move, and low areas around the yard that needed leveling. Thankfully, that's done. This season, we've probably moved at least 15 yards of soil. Makes me tired just thinking about it! Hope everyone's gardens are doing well, and you have had lots of beautiful weather.
This reminded me of something that gave me a chuckle the other day... My mom had a bottle of epson salts on the counter, so I asked her what she used it for...she went into a deep description how it was beneficial to use on tomatoes because it gave them beneficial magnesium, explaining it nicely to her not so green thumbed son...I was just smiling and nodding...gee mom...didn't know that, thanks...