Ducks4you 2021 Ragtag Thread

[ducks4you]

There is probably one or two here:

Garden humor thread..

A friend of mine created a sodium free, nitrogen derived seasoning compound called "N-salt". It works fine for most things EXCEPT when used in Ethiopian flatbread; it causes severe anger issues. Guess it's true it is never a good idea to add N-salt to injera. I’m going to be honest and admit...

www.theeasygarden.com

"Dirty" means something different to a plant, ya know.

 

[ducks4you]

For my long time friends, here is my victory lap over the burdock!!!

You KNOW how I have SUFFERED **sniffle** with the HEARTBREAK of a sea of the stuff, all full of nasty burrs and my horses in DREADLOCKS.
Well, I Do need to clean their manes and tails up a Bit...
THIS year I found a new worker who needed cash Fast. He helped clean the horse shelter a week ago, but last Saturday I started him on the swath of burdock, between the pine trees and the fencing, South Pasture. Pretty much eradicated it from the North Pasture and the other turnout areas. He got going and 4 hours later it was gone.
I had to grab my phone and take the first picture before all of it was gone.
First is almost finished south fence, South Pasture. Next is clear South Pasture south fence. Last is clear west pasture fencing. Didn't bother taking the north fenceline bc I cleared That of burdock a month ago.
ENJOY!!

 

[ducks4you]

Last picture has DH on our tractor. Our not as nice as he was neighbor to the south and trashman who USED to have a manicured property, decided before we moved in in 2000 that he would mow the 1/8 acre strip south of our fencing. 2 months ago, he just STOPPED, no explanation, so DH has been mowing it with the tractor, 10 minute mow job. If I could just bale it...

 

[heirloomgal]

For my long time friends, here is my victory lap over the burdock!!!

You KNOW how I have SUFFERED **sniffle** with the HEARTBREAK of a sea of the stuff, all full of nasty burrs and my horses in DREADLOCKS.
Well, I Do need to clean their manes and tails up a Bit...
THIS year I found a new worker who needed cash Fast. He helped clean the horse shelter a week ago, but last Saturday I started him on the swath of burdock, between the pine trees and the fencing, South Pasture. Pretty much eradicated it from the North Pasture and the other turnout areas. He got going and 4 hours later it was gone.
I had to grab my phone and take the first picture before all of it was gone.
First is almost finished south fence, South Pasture. Next is clear South Pasture south fence. Last is clear west pasture fencing. Didn't bother taking the north fenceline bc I cleared That of burdock a month ago.
ENJOY!!

Hooray for you! I have one garden bed that has contracted bindweed; if I could get that cleared I'd be doing kartwheels too!

 

[ducks4you]

Regarding the bindweed.
1) Pull it out where you find it. TRY to get the roots. Keep on top of it bc you DON'T want it to form seedpods.
(They remind me of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers.")
2) Dig them out. If they haven't been growing there LONG, you can dig down to 6 inches-1 ft and remove the white runners. I throw them away instead of burning.
OR
3) Keep a carry out drink plastic container that has a straw and a lid. Use a kid's cheapo paintbrush. Put herbicide into it and PAINT the bindweed strategically to kill it. It will die and your other plants nearby need Not be sprayed.
MOST IMPORTANT:
Don't let the seedpods remain. At the very least remove Them and toss in the garbage so that they don't re seed in 2022.

 

[ducks4you]

Harvested 3 more quarts of okra today. Total this year, 7 quarts. 1 1/2 will be for tonight's hamburger dinner.
DH calls them "vegetables potato chips," and I cook them in olive oil until almost burnt. It Really tastes good.
We should have plenty for Thanksgiving, where we eat them with corn and mashed potatoes.
TOTALLY YUM!!!
I will NOT be saving seeds for planting the firecracker red okra. They are skinny and NOT as easy to spot for harvesting as I thought. They blend in with the okra plant stalk, often are 1/2 white, and I waste the same amount of time spotting them as Clemson Spineless, which are green.
They Clemson Spineless are always fat. THIS year has been so wet that almost ALL of them have been tender while big, although I recommend harvesting at about 3 inches long anyway.
FINALLY went online re: saving okra seeds, so I probably won't ever have to buy them again.

 

[Zeedman]

FINALLY went online re: saving okra seeds, so I probably won't ever have to buy them again.

Re: saving seeds from okra. Provided the plants are healthy & not crowded, you can let one pod per plant grow for seed, and there will be little to no reduction of yield. I do that every 3-4 years for my Pentagreen okra (last year was a seed year).

I've never grown more than one okra variety, so can't comment on crossing... but the flowers are good pollen sources, and plenty of bees work the blossoms. I suspect that any cross which did occur between two or more varieties would still be usable.

 

[heirloomgal]

I've had good luck with 'Red Burgundy' okra in that they really stand out from the plant and are a deep, solid colour. My 'Jing Orange' okra this year was not super orange as in crayola, so didn't really stand out from the plants, but outdoors they might be a darker shade, I don't know. They do cross, but like Zeedman said it would probably be very usable, possibly better.

Is there a herbicide you prefer to use @ducks4you ? Not sure if Canadian herbicides overlap with US ones, but I would have a look if you have a suggestion...

 

[ducks4you]

I like 2D-4, although I couldn't find it this year at one of my farm supply stores. It will kill the weeds and 4 weeks later the grass comes back.
Then, again, I have to kill grass growing in the pavement, so I also have to use a weed & grass killer for that.
I have NEVER used Roundup and don't think I ever will, what with their recent lawsuits.
Of Course, the average suburbanite is making every weed Roundup resistant with overuse.
Why has hand weeding gone out of favor?!?!?
Sometimes, I find hand weeding theraputic.

"2,4-D is primarily used as a selective herbicide which kills many terrestrial and aquatic broadleaf weeds, but not grasses. ... 2,4-D can be found in commercial lawn herbicide mixtures, which often contain other active ingredients including mecoprop and dicamba.

Chemical formula: C8H6Cl2O3

Boiling point: 160 °C (320 °F; 433 K) 0.4 mm Hg

Related compounds: 2,4,5-T, Dichlorprop"

 

[ducks4you]

Stuck at DH's office waiting for my car to be done, oil change, etc, and decided to buy some seeds. I bought 750 sweet corn seeds and 200 burgandy okra. Never thought to buy seeds in August, BUT, I would highly recommend ordering your 2022 seeds ASAP. I ordered sweet corn seeds in January and they were out of stock!!
Family has enjoyed eating sweet corn this month, but I had plant what was left from 2020, and some seeds in a crayon box and a couple of packages of dwaft corn, probably WILL taste great, but I can see that the corn is dwarf, too. (Disappointing.)
I plan to leave up this year's tomato fencing and plant 2 rows of sweet corn there in 2022, one row to the north, one row to the south, 5 rows total. May find another place to plant, too.