September 9, 2010: Post # 500

Hmmm, you'd think I could think of something more exciting than zucchini for my 500th. post.


The giant zuke, in all her glory, may not be long for this world.


Powdery mildew has reared its ugly head.


I've never had a problem with leaf miners in the fall, but this year has not exactly been a normal year for gardening. It looks like the pet rabbit will be eating much of the chard.


Oops! The tomato toppled when the stake rotted off. I don't think there's any damage to the plant, it just needs to be tied back up. It's a dwarf plant, so not too heavy.


I do wish I'd taken pictures of the #1 Red Egg eggplant before I chopped it down and uprooted it.


Here is the (dead) bottom one foot of the plant. Just look at all those eggplants on it!


It had quite a root system, coming out of the drain hole in the pot, and anchoring the plant down into the ground.


Here are just a few of the fruits from it. The plant filled the entire garden cart, and was about 4-5' high and just as wide. It was sagging under the weight of so many little eggplants. They look like Christmas lights, don't they?


Here is its twin. This one has yet to show ripe fruit. I've cut back several of the branches, as it got so large, and the wind has also taken a toll on it this week.


Odd, but the fruit on this one is nothing like that on its twin. These are all perfectly round, and the others are all oval. I was going to pull this plant up, but maybe I'll let this ripen, and give it a taste test.

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There are some good things going on in the garden! For instance, this Red Acre cabbage that was seeded on March 15th.


Isn't it gorgeous? I almost pulled it out when it refused to grow, now I'm glad I didn't. It's been out there in the garden for nearly six months, and not a leaf has been harmed by insects, slugs or worms.


I can't say the same for the summer sown Gonzales cabbages. The leaves have a few holes, but the cabbages look fine. It's too bad only two of three survived the bird attacks.


I've never had a rosemary that blossomed! The flowers are such a pretty lavender, although they look white in the photo. I do hope this one survives the winter. It went to Arizona with us last year, but it was removed from its pot and planted in the garden last spring. My last two did winter kill, but they were much smaller than this one.


My fall planted carrots are looking pretty good. I wonder if they will be large enough to eat before we leave for Arizona. They only have 37 more days! Actually 36, as we'll be leaving in 37 days.


I was turning under some mulch in the old potato bed, when I got a surprise. Seems I'd missed a few potatoes!


It looks like there might be just enough for our dinner!



The weather has been cool and rainy this week, not conducive to working in the garden. Every time I get a good start, the clouds open up and I get rained out. Bad weather is nice for getting things done inside, though. I've been cleaning out kitchen cupboards, giving my kids a lot of things that have gone unused in years (their Grandma's fancy dishes, some of my fancy serving pieces). Other stuff was donated to Goodwill (a multitude of coffee mugs, some small appliances). I ended up freeing up just one cupboard, over the refrigerator, that now holds all the jars of pickles and relish from last year. They no longer reside in boxes under the bed!

24 comments:

  1. Congrats on the 500th post! That cabbage is beautiful! I've never seen red eggplant before. What does it taste like?

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  2. Thanks, Meemsnyc.

    It tastes terrible, that's why I pulled it out! Of course, I'd never eaten eggplant before, so I might think they all taste terrible.

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  3. "and she's back, with two posts in one day!"

    Aw, you make me happy, Granny. :)

    I really enjoy your garden overviews.
    -My fall chard is just starting to grow, I hope the leaf miners leaf them alone.
    -I've never seen eggplant that red before. Maybe you should try the purple variety before you give up on eggplants altogether.
    -And cabbage that's been growing for six months? Wow, I would've pulled that one out a long time ago, but I'm glad you're being rewarded for your patience!
    -I'm also envious of your rosemary. Did you start this from a cutting or a seed initially? My rosemary grown from seed has grown about two inches in the last four months.
    -How long has it been since your fall carrots were planted? My four month old spring carrots aren't much bigger than that. You really do have the magical carrot touch!

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  4. Thyme2, I felt the need to blog twice. I must stay at the top of your side bar. I can't let that Daphne take over, LOL!!!

    I planted twice the chard that is growing, the birds got the rest. Damned birds!

    I don't think I'm the eggplant type of person. I think I'd rather grow carrots and potatoes.

    I bought that rosemary start in a 4" pot spring 2009, and moved it into a 12" pot, set in the garden. In October, I took it out of the garden and moved it to AZ, where it grew outside all winter. It had pretty much filled the 12" pot by spring 2010, so I unpotted it and planted it directly into the garden. I cut it back by about 8" last month, but haven't cut it since. The last successful one I grew became a very big shrub. Like 3-4' tall and maybe a 5' spread. I trimmed it back too drastically one year, and it killed it.

    I don't remember when I planted those carrots. I have three beds of them that were all planted around the same time...I think around the first week of August. Looking back at photos, they were not showing on August 2.

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  5. I like your competitive spirit! :-)

    Thanks for your rosemary history. Between the different pots, the ground, WA and AZ, that rosemary sure gets around! :-) I've seen big rosemary bushes in more temperate climates (San Francisco and Seattle to come mind), but I probably can't expect them to survive the winters in Indiana, so even if my rosemary ever grows to a decent size, I'll still have to keep it pot-bound if I want to overwinter it indoors.

    Your carrots are just amazing. I also sowed some fall carrots the first or second week of August, and I think the green tops are about 1 inch tall now.

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  6. Thyme2, I think I'm going to circle my rosemary with some wire fencing, and fill it up loosely with leaves. That is, if I can find leaves around here mid-October. I think that might help insulate it from the cold. Or it might kill it. I just don't know. I never did anything to protect my big one, but it was close to the house, so probably didn't get quite as cold.

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  7. Congrats on your 500th post!

    Hope everything is ready before the countdown dwindles away! If not, I'll bring my baskets and take care of that for ya! ;)

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  8. Apple Pie Gal, I wish somebody would! I left it for neighbor Pat last year, but she just left most of it to die. It was a mess to come home to. I'm determined to have everything but the spinach, lettuce and maybe some carrots out before we leave this time. It turned so darned cold this week, things aren't ripening very fast.

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  9. Wow 500 posts. That's pretty impressive. Did you get to eat anything from the garden for dinner tonight?

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  10. Hi, Kimmi! Yes, we had hamburgers (on home made buns) with garden tomatoes and lettuce, and sweet pickle relish from last year's garden. I made French fries from the potatoes that I dug today, and served them with ketchup that I made from last year's tomatoes. We would have had strawberry sundaes, but I didn't get the strawberries picked.

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  11. Granny your harvest may be down from last year but your garden is always a prime example of what can be produced with a RB garden. You have done a fine job of gardening, preserving the harvest and posting the results. Congrats on #500. John

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  12. LOL I don't think it is hard to keep Daphne from taking over the top part of the sidebars. I've only been posting 3-4 times a week.

    I did a major cleaning out of my kitchen several years ago. It really gives much more space if you get rid of all those things you don't really use anymore. I still have a pasta maker though. I used to use it all the time, but I don't think it has come out in the last decade. I ought to bring it out someday.

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  13. Congrats on 500. I too have never seen rosemary bloom even though here in florida it grows year round. I definitely agree with The Apple Pie Gal, I'd love to help you with your extra produce. It all looks so lovely and tasty!

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  14. I always dig up more potatoes later from the potato patch. No matter how carefully I dig, I always miss quite a few. They show up next year as volunteers too.

    The egg plant is sure a prolific one! I have never grown one with that kind of growth habit before or that much fruit set. Of course, I rarely grow eggplant because I am the only one that likes it in my household and I only like it in small amounts.

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  15. Please do tell, what type of eggplant is that? I'm always looking for new varieties to try and love the red color...beautiful. I can't believe how many fruits it had on it.

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  16. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I am finally getting around to ordering that "Crockett's Victory Garden" book you recomended...it looks like a good one.:)

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  17. Congrats on your 500th post! And no, it wasn't just about zucchini. Those are interesting looking eggplant and the Rec Acre cabbage and Rosemary are absolutely beautiful.

    For some reason I though you were staying in WA this winter. Grow, carrots grow.

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  18. Thanks, John. I have to get busy and preserve some of it today! I caved in and bought another dozen jars.

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    Daphne, I have always wanted a pasta maker, but I know it's something I'd use once or twice, then put in a drawer and forget. I really don't care much for pasta, but love home made noodles. I just hate trying to roll them thinly.

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    Char's Gardening, it's surprising how many people would like things from the garden if we just do all the work. If we grow, water, weed and pick, they'll take it. But tell them to come pick their own, and they are no-show. Heck, I even went out and picked it for my son yesterday, and he was a no show! So I'm going to can tomatoes and freeze green beans and zucchini today.

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    Kitsap, I am always very thorough with my digging, and seldom have volunteers, but there was a big root growing through this spot, and I was diligent about getting it out....surprise! Potatoes growing all around it. I did find quite a few tiny sprouted potatoes, too. I need to turn the bed with a shovel, rather than a fork, to see if I missed any more.

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    Mr. H., the variety is Red Egg, and the only seed company that I can find that sells it is Thompson Morgan. The seeds came with my free tomato seeds from WinterSown.org, so They were saved seeds. Since the two plants are growing different shaped fruits, I'm assuming it wasn't an heirloom variety. I probably have more seeds, and I have a lot of ripe fruits out there that might yield some seeds, I'd be happy to send them all to you. Email me at anniebloom1 at gmail dot com

    You'll love Crockett's Victory Garden, I know you will! Just remember, when it was written, they used a lot of insecticides. I just skim over those parts. Everything else he does is just spot on. He covers gardening for the entire twelve months, and you can probably even go by his timetable, as he was gardening near Boston, I believe.

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    Rachel, we were planning on staying here until after Christmas, then we began worrying about our sprinkling system freezing up (it's hooked directly into the well pump), which could cause the line to break and the well to spew water forever, creating an electric bill that could bankrupt Bill Gates. We decided after Thanksgiving would be a better time to leave. Then we changed our minds again. Our place is up for sale, and we had a very wet winter/spring, so we know the weeds have grown like mad. We need to get down there so I can get the property cleaned up and fit for viewing. Ugggh...I'm not looking forward to clearing weeds from 6/10 of an acre. Been there, done that. So, final decision was to leave here on October 16.

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  19. Congratulations on your 500th post! I always look forward to your pictures and stories, and you motivate me to preserve one more thing...I had to laugh when you said you broke down and bought 12 more jars, I know the feeling!

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  20. Linda, did I say 12? I actually bought 24, a dozen each of pints and half-pints. Couldn't resist at $5.49 a dozen (including lids/ringsz0. When you consider a dozen jar lids cost $1.49, that makes the jars a pretty good buy! I also emptied a couple from the refrigerator and a couple more from the cleaned out cupboards, so I'm filling some of them today ;-)

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  21. ohmigosh - my rosemary HEDGE is covered in blossoms all year long - I'm just now realizing that I'm going to miss that when we move! Your plants are huge, and that cabbage is beautiful! Congrats on your 500th post!

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  22. Erin, isn't that odd? My old rosemary never blossomed, and it grew for probably ten years. Maybe some varieties don't bloom?

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  23. Zucchini is perfect for your 500th post... like the posting, so it the zucchini - plentiful! The red cabbage is, BTW, gorgeous.

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  24. Jenn, I don't want to cut that cabbage! It's the most perfect specimen I have ever had the pleasure to grow.

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