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Garden Gate:  Grateful for the farmer's market....  |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 03 2008 : 4:32:39 PM
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I am so glad I didn't live a long time ago...my poor family would've starved!!! My garden is so sorry.... I harvested one (yes 1) cucumber and one (yes 1) patty pan squash today. I still have green tomatoes! But we did get a chance to munch 5 (yes only 5) yellow pear tomatoes the other day. The only thing that seems to be doing well is the broccoli which my kids won't eat! Cauliflower is gone and I found a worm of some kind eating it's way through one of my squash plants.... I tell you what, if they had to depend on me for food...we'd be licking the inside of the bark from trees all winter! So if someone makes cheese... send it over to go with my "whine"!  |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2008 : 4:57:08 PM
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| heck you are doing great compared to us! i have gotton a handful of sweet peas, a quart of strawberries and nothing else! we got up to temps of 37 degrees this morning so the garden isnt likely to grow any more. we are praying that our potatoes make! there are an average of 2 ears of corn per plant but they wont have time to make, the tomatoes have a few blossoms and a couple of pea sized tomatoes, the squash has a grand total of 3 blossoms and not fruit, we wont even talk about the cukes, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, onions and green beans. this has been the worst summer ever for almost everyones garden *sigh* i hate to see what food prices are going to do! guess i need some of that cheese too! peace connie in alaska |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2008 : 6:07:24 PM
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| Wish I could share some of my cukes with you. My garden isn't doing near as good as it should. Too bad cukes and okra is so limited. I canned greenbeans and pickles. I made several recipes with zucc before the bugs took over. Tomatoes and peppers are waiting on something, not sure what. We got a fair crop of potatoes and a good crop of garlic and onions. I already had my limit of whine, that was when I had to go out and do my chickens and it was still 100 degrees. |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2008 : 7:01:26 PM
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| yikes you could share some of that heat too!! have you made bread and butter pickles? seems like we can never have neough fo those. i was really hoping to make some this year as i havent had cukes to pickle in about 20yrs!! sad isnt it? lol. peace connie in alaska |
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lovelady
True Blue Farmgirl
533 Posts
Toni
Indiana
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 03:27:04 AM
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It must just be a bad year for gardens. At least that is what I keep telling myself! The things in my garden that are usually way over-abundant like green beans, cucumbers, and zucchini have done terribly. My zucchini hardly even flowered before they all kicked the bucket, I had to plant my cucumbers three times and they still are not going to make anything. My okra is hardly even a foot tall, but I have been getting some pods off of it finally. But, my peppers are doing great. I have lots of green tomatoes, and it looks like my melons and butternut squash are doing well.
I also have a bumper crop of lambsquarter and crabgrass, but it doesn't make me feel any better... |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 06:15:07 AM
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Thanks ladies for the encouragement...glad to know that it not ALL just me and my perpetually brown thumb!!!!
100 degrees!!! 37 degrees!!! Wow! |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 07:00:25 AM
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| Connie, making bread and butter pickles today. Just picked the cukes and brought in some onions. Also brought in some garlic. Going to try to get some canned. Takes a lot of time to clean a pint of garlic cloves. But I have a long day ahead. Already getting hot. Worked out in the kitchen/herb garden for about an hour. Supposed to be 105 today and tomorrow. Can I come live with you? Till winter anyway. |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 07:39:02 AM
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| sure belle come on up! just remember to bring some of those bread and butter pickles! i can put ya up in the best tent going with all the comforts of my home and more room to boot! lol. we actually saw the sum yesterday for about an hour. its amazing that i remember what that bright thing in the sky was, its been so long since we saw it! this would be perfect canning weather and here i sit without anything to can! we are going caribou hunting thursday and i bet ya anything it warms up so the meat will be harder to take care of! i am going to try canning some of the caribou. i guess i will probably have to buy 50 pound bags of carrots, potatoes, and such for canning *sigh* we dont want to buy anything that we dont have to during the winter because of the much higher cost of living at that time. we heat with wood but when the temps gets really cold this becomes that land of the running motor and gas use goes wayyyyy up! you have to warm up the vehicles for such along time before you drive. ooops didnt mean to write a book here lol. peace connie in alaska |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 07:58:23 AM
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| Connie, I'll pick up the pickles on my way up to Fairbanks! I've always wanted to see AK and I'd love to know how you deal with 50lb bags of ANYTHING at one time!!!! Do you can outside? Oh and Belle....ready for a road trip? |
Edited by - StarMeadow on Aug 04 2008 07:59:06 AM |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 08:34:43 AM
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I was at the farmers market on Saturday to buy some loganberries and the vendor that I bought from was selling green tomatos-Why? She has 1400 tomato plants and they are all still green and she figured she had to make some money off of them, so green tomatoes it is! This is not really a great year for the gardens. I am just starting to get green beans and red tomatos. On the good side- I am having a bumper crop of peppers this year-don't know why, but I will take it!!!!
Lillian |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 3:07:25 PM
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| Pickles are done. And all sealed. My favorite sound, Ping! Pickles are ready, I'm ready, Lets GO! |
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nampafarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
494 Posts
Kim
Nampa
ID
USA
494 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 3:24:35 PM
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I have heard and even tried a green tomatoe pie. It tastes like apple pie. I think I remember that we followed an apple pie recipe, w/o doing anything else special to it.
My garden is doing ok, not as good as last year. I am getting lots of sweet 100's, both red and sungold varieties.
Got one cuke. Not alot of squash, Not even one crookneck. Tell me, I planted 8 zuch plants and have only 2 that are giving anything at all.
I am doing ok on peppers.
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 7:04:09 PM
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| But I don't wanna eat GREEN tomatoes!!!!!! I want to sit out in the garden with a salt shaker and eat a big, ripe, juicy, RED tomato that is warmed by the sun!!!! I want to have the juice run down my arm and onto my bare toes when I take a big slurpy bite!!!! I want to eat 2, no 3, like that and then gather up the rest to take into the house and chill for supper! Waaaaaaaaaa! |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 04 2008 : 10:05:05 PM
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ok ladies when do i expect you?? the offer is always open!! i love to show off the glories of alaska! just dont forget to bring those cukes!!
hubby is dying for a "sink sandwich" ya know where you put miracle whip on white bread with a very fresh, just picked form the garden, very ripe tomato! you eat it over the sink or clean up the floor! star i canot believe that you are having a time getting them ripe in michigan! that is where hubby and i grew up and began our life, and gardens, together. i remember oen year planting 99 free (left from planting a commercial field)tomato plants and had them coming out of our ears! i gave them away to everyone that would come get them! hubby never could throw away food or potential food! he came home one day at lunch time with the bed of our 3/4 ton pick up heaped high with green bean plants and told me to pick and freeze them. we had nore than enough for 2 families! the bathtub was completely full of picked beans! i will look for the pic i have and post it if i can find it!
day before yesterday we woke up to 37 degrees. i would say our pitiful garden is about done for this year *sob* food prices are gonna be thru the roof! a friend told me that there were NO zuchinni at the little farmers market n town. its getting scary. peace connie in alaska |
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wooliespinner
True Blue Farmgirl
1311 Posts
Linda
Manchester
Ohio
1311 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 09:59:00 AM
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Connie you crack me up. Hopefully you will have better luck next year. I have heard so many people complaining this year. We have had to much rain and thats as bad as not enough. We had a drought last year and I watered but I had a great batch of tomatoes. Not the case this year.
I have a blight killing my tomatoes. I planted 50 tomatoe plants and am losing them. They start at the bottom with spots and yellowing on the leaves and it works its way up the plants killing it slowly. And the tomatoes are rotting right where the stem attaches. I tried a soap shield with copper but it doesn't seem to be working. I have put amendments in the soil and still no help.
On a good note I did make chevre cheese . I guess I can eat that with my Whine also and pass it around to the rest of you ladies......lol.
You ladies make me laugh.......I needed that today in the worst way. Thank you for that!!!
I hope to be able to buy bulk tomatoes from someone esle so I can make spagettie sauce this year.Good luck to you all.
take care.
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
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Forrester Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
703 Posts
Ann
Belmont
MI
USA
703 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 10:11:38 AM
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I have to confess that I rely on the farmer's market for my veggies too. My garden is 100x40 feet and filled with flowers (and some weeds). A couple years ago I put rows of veggies in - peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and more. I had the most beautiful plants. Nice, big, bushy. Not a single vegetable!!! Nothing. I just figured that I'd better stick with the flowers.
My neighbor gave me some extra tomato plants one year. They did great - so maybe I should try it again.
Ann
Forrester Farm
http://picasaweb.google.com/FORRESTERFARM/FORRESTERFARMWEDDINGS |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 10:37:55 AM
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The Continuing Saga of the Green Tomato --
Alas, the woes of the tomato continue here in Michigan....NOW creatures of the night/day have discovered that there are a bevy of crunchy green tomatoes just waiting to be sampled in the garden! Do they have the decency to eat ALL their veggies???? NO!!! They have to nibble a little out of each one!!!!!
And yet....lo...in the garden plot yon...what's this? Can it be? A lone PINK tomato.... (cue the fanfare)...
Perhaps there will be BLT's and a "sink sandwich" in my future yet! |
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Bellepepper
True Blue Farmgirl
1207 Posts
Belle
Coffeyville
KS
USA
1207 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 11:46:26 AM
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| Kim, I made a green tomato pie one time. Not too bad but not good enough to do it again. The next day the tomatoes were no longer green but kinda brownish. Yuk! We ate the crust and pitched the tomatoes. Had a neighbor that wouldn't even take a bite. |
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Aunt Clemys Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
157 Posts
Linda
MA
USA
157 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 2:46:32 PM
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Connie, you remind me of the days growing up in rural Kansas. I thought we would never stop picking or snapping green beans for canning. Once finished at home, you would be sent over to a Grandmother's or Aunt's to help out. All those "pings" coming from the rows of canned beans could be heard for days.
I admire everyone on the Garden Gate posting who are hard at work putting up the summer's bounty. Everything sounds so good --- especially the pickles. Nothing smells better than a bundle of fresh dill from the garden and a brine going on the stove.
This year's veggie gardening was limited to a few whiskey barrels of tomatoes and peppers. Luckily we have a couple of family owned farmers markets nearby with ample supply of local produce.
Would anyone like to share their recipe for canning Dilly Beans? Mine seem to not have that crunch and flavor others do.
Aunt Clemys Farm Girl
Kansas to Massachusetts |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 7:15:30 PM
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ann you must use a different breakdown of fertilizer for veggies than you do for flowers. too much nitrogen will make lovely plants but wotn help you get any fruit. we use 15-30-15 mmiracle grow on our veggies. its so nice to be married to a farner, sadly it isnt helping this year when there just istn enough warmth in the ground to make anything grow.
peace connie in alaska |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 7:26:34 PM
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linda, i remember as a child pitting cherries until i never wanted to see another, or dad coming in at 8 or 9 in the evening with several bushels of overripe fruit that had to be put up RIGHT NOW and kept us up peeling , pitting, slicing and cooking until late the next day. living in fruit/veggie country (south western michigan) there were many opportunities for a family that wasnt afraid of work to get "free" food. as a family of 9, at that time, it took alot of produce to get us thru the winter. mom usually had a maximum of $8 to feed us with for a week (prob equal to $80 now). the only thing i miss about michigan is the fresh fruits and veggies! i havent made hubby a cherry pie in many years because i cant find cherries to make it with! and to be able walk out to the field and pick asparagus, corn, cukes or whatever for dinner is something i dont think i will ever quit missing. some things just dont grow in alaska *sigh* what i wouldnt give for actual tree, or vine, ripened apples, peaches, cherries (black and tart), pears, plums, and cantelope!! ooohhh my mouth is watering!
peace connie in alaska |
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downbranchroad
True Blue Farmgirl
374 Posts
Joy
Southern
KY
USA
374 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 7:27:51 PM
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Gardens here in our part of KY are doing great! I do wish I had time to can,freeze and dry food like I use to. I got to stay at home with Ange when she was a little girl(she is 29 now) and we use to have so much fun harvesting the garden. I miss those days:(.
Appalachian Girl
Jem
*If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.
My new blog!
http://downbranchroad.blogspot.com |
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Beverley
True Blue Farmgirl
2707 Posts
Beverley
atlanta
Michigan
USA
2707 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2008 : 9:07:40 PM
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Since everyone is talking pickles does any one have a good recipe for pickles soup. I have had it at resturants but never tried making it myself.. Just wondering.?? beverley ps squash soup recipe would be good too...
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog....Charles F. Doran
beverley baggett
http://bevsdoggies.googlepages.com/ |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2008 : 05:21:28 AM
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| Connie, I grew up on the west side of the state (MI)!! I remember my mom freezing jam and fruit. One time the whole bathtub was FULL of cherries! My hands were a dark burgendy for weeks from pitting! At our old house we had a couple of cherry trees. One year I was just waiting for the right day to harvest. I decided the "next" day would be perfect. I got up early and out to the tree to pick...only to find a bare tree with a few pits still hanging on the limbs! The birds also thought it was the perfect day to harvest!! Also, when I was a kid we picked apples, pears, plums too...over in the Fennville area. GM was on strike and funds were REALLY tight. So off to the farm every weekend. My mom would go over early and set up "camp" (an old canvas tent tied up under a big tree) and my Dad and my brother/I would come over on Friday after school. Oh how I hated picking up drops! I got poison ivy so bad one year (on my butt) I could barely walk!!! It was an experience to be sure! But we had lots of fruit for the winter in the freezer! |
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Garden Gate: Grateful for the farmer's market.... |
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Grateful for the farmer's market....
