Aug 17th stromboner blues fest

Here are a couple pictures of our shlongs, including one curvy one we ate tonight. I think strombo chips are going to be the new kale chips. Next big thing. Maybe strombos are the musical fruit, or at least Corie seems to think so. Our Mini Farmer also likes our Mini peppers!

Ed and Clare won the prize for first trombo harvested, ba da da da na, even though we cheated and planted ours first, ba da da da na, and now all our strombos are being eaten by pests, ba da da da na, we've got the stromboncino blues!

Shlong time no see!

Stromboncino 3&4 have nearly made it to the top of the spruce tree. 

Dinner of roasted veggies (potatoes, beets, carrots and onions) plus chard with black beans. 

We ate 20 different types of veggies from our garden that night!

Cute stuff gold

Saturday harvest 

Sunday harvest

Pimp Hulk ridin' a stromboner

Cute stuff!

No shlongs worth mentioning, but some peppers!

Graham street trombos are a sad looking bunch. Luckily other things are doing better, like my peppers and tomatoes. A few varieties of beans too - broad of course, purple bush, dragon tongue, and some runner beans, or maybe some other kind that I forgot to label!

The cobra ...

The first Tromboncino has been harvested ... We call it the Cobra

Measurements to come ...

 

The yield ... absolutely full, mostly cucumbers.

A shlong way to go

Not much progress at Graham, I think I forgot to water Hugh G, and half of his leaves and fruit went yellow :(


Little guys have grown, but very slowly.


Nice little harvest of potatoes, toms, green onions, turnips, beans, peas, cauliflower and a hot pepper.

Walla Walla Onions (almost the whole crop, though!)

Yellow pumpkin coming along slowly

A small selection harvested on July 30th

Foot long.

This guy was hiding under some leaves ... Tape measure for reference.

Crescent Beach Plot update for July 29th

Cabbage ... 

Our small grape plant ... with new lettuce below

Kohlrabi closeup

Sunflowers ... flowers just about to bloom

Our two experimental artichokes

More sweat peas

Crescent Beach Tromboncino update for July 29th

The Tromboncino plants are taking over ... completely. OK so they have some help from the Blue Hubbard and Buttercup too.

Lots and lots of flowers, lots of small trombos

Two of the more prominent dongs

One of the 2 main Blue Hubbard fruit growing

Crescent Beach Pumpkin update for July 29th

A quick update on the Giant Atlantic Dills, the main plant which ruthlessly had its nose chomped off by a bunny rabbit is now growing full steam ahead, but no established fruit yet. A few pumpkins have been picked off waiting for the right one. There are a couple of candidates going, hopefully the fertilize soon.

As for 2 and 3, they are also growing well, Pumpkin 3 has a small fruit growing a little closer to the stem that I would ideally like, but it was already well on its way and is well situated to grow so I figured we would let it go.

Pumpkin plant #1, no established fruit

Pumpkin plant #2, no established fruit

Pumpkin plant #3, first established pumpkin started ~July 20th

Powdery mildew prevention for Squash and Pumpkins

I came across an interesting article today on an environmentally friendly way to protect your squash from getting mildewy leaves.

Numerous small studies from around the world have validated the use of milk sprays on powdery mildew on a wide range of plants. Most recently, a spray made of 40% milk and 60% water was as effective as chemical fungicides in managing powdery mildew of pumpkins and cucumbers.

Scientists are not exactly sure how milk sprays work, but most think proteins in the milk interact with sun to create a brief antiseptic effect. Any fungi present are "burned" into oblivion, but there is no residual effect after that. In order to be effective, milk sprays must be used preventively, must be applied in bright light, and should be repeated every 10 days or so.

There is no consensus on which dilution of milk to water is best, with the most concentrated recommended mixture 40% milk and 60% water, and the most dilute 10% milk and 90% water. I fall in between using 30% milk to70% water, with good results. It does not matter if the milk you use is skim or whole because it is the protein rather than the milkfat that is working on your behalf.

With experience, you will learn which types of powdery mildew are likely to develop in your garden, and this knowledge will take you far in managing this disease. Like other fungicides, milk sprays work best when used preventatively, before the disease can gain a foothold. If you often see powdery mildew on your squash, grapes or zinnias, start milk sprays before the plants show signs of infection. You have nothing to lose beyond a cup of milk.

For more information, visit growveg.com

July 22nd Calgary Strombone Update

Hi all,
We've finally taken some pictures of our 5 Strombones, one of which has now been given to Corie's brother Ryan and is aptly named "Randy Ryan". As usual some of the local residents have taken this opportunity to do some climbin'. There are 2 Strombones in the greenhouse and 2 in the front garden wicking bed and Randy Ryan is in the squash patch by the road. Only one little Stromboner so far...

Saturdays yield from Crescent Beach

17 cucumbers, 3 kohlrabi, and a bunch or carrots. Also we picked the first Buttercup squash. Not much change in it but we figured we might as well give it a try.

Gardening progress at the Bluff