What didn't Turn Out Well

[baymule]

You might try growing some broccoli in the fall to see if they will live through the winter. We get freezes too and lots of frosty mornings. Cole crops like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower thrive in the winter and die of heat in the spring. It would be worth a try to set out some plants to see if they would live through the winter.

Maybe they might live through the winter without producing and then when the weather warms up, pop out in produce! Some of my plants make like crazy all winter, some hang back and produce closer to spring. ALL of them bolt when it warms up.

 

[digitS']

I think @AMKuska is in USDA zone 9a. Which might be yours as well. Therefore, we must conclude that you are neighbors.

I don't really know about winter growing conditions in western Washington. Most of the rain and clouds would come at that time of the year - true nearly everywhere in the West. At 47° north latitude, meaning December sunsets are about 3:30pm, when there is any chance of seeing them ...

The people are miserable but highly caffeinated so they don't notice.

Steve

 

[AMKuska]

I think @AMKuska
The people are miserable but highly caffeinated so they don't notice.

Steve

Hahahaha!

It's so true!

 

[ducks4you]

Like everybody else, WHERE do I start?
NO peas, even though I mulched, built them upside down tomato cages to climb and we've had way too much rain. NO peaches. The old peach tree died, the 3yo peach tree has tons of leaves but no blossoms. I got 30 pears from my 4yo Bartlett pear tree in 2013, but only a dozen in 2014. The birds got ALLLLLLLLLL of my tart cherries!!!
It has taken until the end of August for ALL of my tomato plants and pepper plants to look like they usually look end of JULY! NOW, about 40 days from the first frost, I am waiting on my heirlooms to start blushing and we are eating the cherries and romas, like we usually do in Late July. I'm so mad at them that nobody is going to have to remind me to remove them at the end of the season. I'll be HAPPY to burn them!!!
Had to send away for brussel sprouts seeds. I planted sparingly 3 weeks ago, thought that I had had them well watered, but....nothing. So, I soaked the seeds overnight, which turned out to be (soaked for) 4 days later when I finally got them into the bed (today). About 6 of them had begun to sprout. I raked up about 8 inches deep, threw in a bunch of turnip seeds, which are RELIABLE, then carefully planted the tiny brussel sprouts about a foot apart, super soaked the 3' x 8' bed and covered it with a clear plastic tablecloth to greenhouse them. I hope they sprout and then I HOPE that they don't get frosted next month.
The okra took forever to grow this year, but we've started the harvest, and we have a 4' x 13' forest of them. I think we'll have enough in the end.
My flowers have done much better this year than the vegetables.
At LEAST you aren't asking my hay man about this year's crop!! HE could type a BOOK complaining about how the cold and the rain this year has messed up his business.

 

[digitS']

I had something on TEG several months ago about the ridiculous number of Brussels sprouts I have and how well they came through the spring. Can you really start them now and expect anything this year, @ducks4you ?

The hot weather wasn't to their liking but they have little sprouts. I imagine that they will grow more and then I'll have to find some use for them ... DW was a little perplexed (putting it mildly) with all my efforts last winter trying to use up a few pumpkins. I'd better learn to like Brussels sprouts!

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

I start my brussel sprouts indoors. September 1st we lob off the tops to make the sprouts grow.

I also grow things I'm not crazy about. The best way to enjoy brussel sprouts (for me) is to par boil them, and then pan-fry in butter until the leaves caramelize and turn all dark and crispy. Delicious!

 

[Ridgerunner]

At LEAST you aren't asking my hay man about this year's crop!! HE could type a BOOK complaining about how the cold and the rain this year has messed up his business.

@ducks4you What's his complaint, too wet to put it up? Down here the cooler than normal temperatures did not suck all the moisture out of the ground so even with not a lot of rain the grass stayed green and hay grew. It was dry enough to put it up. The farmers here have so much hay they are afraid the bottom will drop out of the market. Neighbors on both sides normally sell a lot of hay but they are having to get creative on where to store it all. Sure a change for a few years back with that heat and drought.

 

[ducks4you]

His complaints are legitimate. We haven't had more than 6 days in a row that it didn't rain and our rainful amounts have been almost record setting.
I just don't need to hear them complain AGAIN when I call for an appointment to go pick up a truckload.
Is there any way that they could find a way to market out west where there is a drought?

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's probably what will happen. When we had a surplus a few years back a lot of hay was sold to points southeast where it was drier.

I know the upper Midwest has had a lot of rain this year, record amounts in several places. It's been one of the better summers here in a long time. We could have used a bit more rain a few times but the temperatures were reasonable and we got a few rains that really helped out. The cooler temperatures were what made it really nice though. Many days with highs in the mid 80's instead of the mid to upper 90's makes a huge difference.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I'm not sure if I should be commenting here (on the grounds that pretty much NOTHING turns out well for me, and I go into each year knowing it.) But I was particularly disappointed in my wheat crop this year. Normally wheat does OK for me here (once I factor in that my limited space means I can only grow a handful and so any grain heads I do get are winding up in a vase on the mantel, as oppose to as flour in my kitchen). But this year was a mess. The pot with the barley and other odd grains did OK, since Barley matures quite quickly. But the actual wheat pots were a unmitigated disaster. The Aphids desncende almost as soon as the grass came up and go so out of control they literally outpaced the ladybugs best efforts
My shot wheat was basically shot. I got a fair number of grains from it in sheer numbers but nearly all were tiny and shrunken, to the point of being unlikely to be viable (what agronomist call "tombstones") It will not surprise me at all if none of them actually grow when replanted.
Pot 3 was the worse. That was sown with a large amount of wheat I had picked out of an grain-bean mix marked "Navdhanya" I purchased at the local Indian grocery store (the mix was heavy in a kind of chickpea I was playing around with). Originally they came up very well, so dense they looked like a lawn. And they made copious heads. Only thing is, nearly all of the heads proved to be totally empty. Out of the whole pot I got back a grand total of 9 grains (possibly 10, if the one head that looked presentable enough to go in the vase has one in it). \
Pot 2 did better than 3 but only marginally. That pot got any and all wheat grains I had found in my seed hunts. That basically made two types of wheat, a round headed, short bearded pretty standard looking dark green (when alive) wheat and a smaller quantity of another wheat with a flatter head, somewhat longer beard and a distinct white cast to the head (there was also one head with a black beard, but that one proved empty. All told I got maybe 30-40 grains from that pot (I can't tell because the second wheat mature far ahead of the first and by the time I harvested the second I had forgotten 1. where I put the envelope with seed from the first and 2. how many grains had gone in there. That pot also may be the only one that may make more. Several months after I harvested it a smattering of wheat like grass blades re-emerged from the soil, and may yet head (if I don't know what any of the grain that went in there was, I can't rule out some of it being winter wheat.)