Harvest Time Knives!!

[btrwtr]

Nice looking spread Keith. Nice looking carry knife there too!

[313 Mike]

Went down to the garden after work to check on my ripening tomatoes and was thoroughly pi#@%d to find some critter has been gorging himself on my maters!
Not happy. Just seems to be the low hangers though, but still, I mean c'mon!
I did however harvest this ripe Old German and hustle it up to the house before it too got devoured

[philco]

Mike do you have a trail camera you could set up to see what's eating your tomatoes ? I'm sure you'd like to know as would I.

[313 Mike]

Mike do you have a trail camera you could set up to see what's eating your tomatoes ? I'm sure you'd like to know as would I.

My neighbor says he has been seeing a red fox creeping around the garden area....I was glad to hear it, as it will keep the bunnies in check, but now I am curious if he is enjoying some fresh tomatoes along with his bunny meals!
At least my beans are producing nicely

[TripleF]

Niiiiiiice beans bro

[zzyzzogeton]

The red fox is an omnivore, with a diet of small rodents, insects, berries, fruits and even some grasses. Ripe tomatoes are like candy to them. So are blackberries/dewberries.

I ended up rigging an electric fence for my blackberries a few years ago to 24" chicken wire tied with nylon trot line to wood broomsticks driven into the ground to ward off foxes, raccoons and skunks.

I also started setting a variety of traps. In the last 20 months, I've trapped 39 skunks, 5 raccoons, 50+ rats in the back yard and garden.

I think the coyotes have driven off or eaten the foxes as I haven't seen but 1 in the last 8 months.

This winter, I'll be putting up a significantly larger electric fence around my new fig orchard. Damn coons will come in and strip a tree over night. They'll break young figs climbing them. When a 30#+ coon climbs up the 1/2" trunk of a 2 year old fig tree, the trunks can snap. 3 of my figs were broken off about 5" or 6" from the ground last year. They will also climb a peach tree before the peaches are ripe, pull a peach off, take a bite, through it on the ground and repeat. I've gone out in the morning to find 40 or 50 peaches lying on the ground, each with a single small bite.

No coon problem in the orchard this year - no peaches, plums or figs to speak of - not enough chill hours for them this year.

[treefarmer]

This is probably the last batch of pickled peppers for this season. The heat has weakened all the pepper and tomato plants and then the bugs and worms are finishing them off. Same type of mess we always make, Banana pepper rings, red and yellow, some sliced onions and a few green tomatoes top off with a slice or two of Jalapeno, not hot but spicy, good to pour over greens. I used one of my Big Chief Queens to cut the peppers since folks were talkin' about them recently. Had enough to pack 6 quarts and a salsa jar.
Treefarmer

Last of the peppers for this season, probably.

Finished product, next stop, the pantry.

[btrwtr]

Great pictures above!

Yellow and zucchini squash, mountain fresh and grape tomatoes, eggplant, carrots and some red bell peppers. Case Tested thin frame 9165.

Lots of string beans this year and corn is just now ready for the table.

[DM11]

When i was diggin sweet tators last week had the Hayn Helper with me.

[313 Mike]

Mini pumpkins...wife uses 'em for decoration!

[treefarmer]

Were are in the final gasp of summer, there are still a few peppers in the raised beds. These Jalapenos kept callin' my name as I went by the raised beds. So I cut 30 of the larger ones and late last night I stuffed them with cream cheese and sausage. I ran short of bacon and a couple did not get wrapped. Just to be sociable, I tried a red one without bacon when they came out of the oven. It had lost the oven heat but boy oh boy, it had the pepper heat!
Treefarmer

[DM11]

Those look so good Treefarmer!

[jerryd6818]

Just finished pulling up my tomato plant. 2017 season is over here.

[treefarmer]

Let's get started with this seasons gardens!
Y'all forgive me for not showing a "Harvest Time Knife" in these pictures but it ain't quite time for harvest. It won't be long however, with all the rain, the yellow straight neck squash should be ready in a couple of days. For years I have been planting 2 rows, 100 feet long, Miss Joy said "Please do only one row." Should still be plenty to share in the community and with the church family.
The peppers are putting on, Bell, Jalapeno and Sweet Banana. Several types of 'maters and a row of cukes. We also have planted several small patches of the red field corn that we have been messing with for several years. There is also a good sized patch of Zipper Cream Peas, going to need some help pickin' those. I plowed (cultivated) the peas yesterday and tried to do one of the corn patches. It was way too wet on one end as the picture will show.
Some of the berry trees and bushes are doing there thing, Mulberries are almost gone and the Blue Berries are just now getting ripe. Pears are growing and Miss Joy's Satsuma has a small crop set on, due to a late freeze. The grapes are beginning to grow, the critters seem to beat us to them most years.
I'm sure it's a little early for some of the AAPK bunch to be gardening but maybe we will have some good participation sharing pictures of the bounty of the land this season.
It is such a blessing to watch a garden grow, how can anyone not see God's hand in this world?
Treefarmer

Row of Yellow Straightneck Squash

Wont be long, yum, yum!

Peppers are maturing. Pickled peppers

Bell Pepper plants. We enjoy these in salads and sauces but most of all, stuffed with venison sausage and rice.

Sand Pears not much as a fresh fruit, very hard flesh but make delicious cobblers. The deer also love them.

Blue Berries doing their thing!

Little baby grapes enjoying the rainy weather

Zipper Cream Field Peas, a delicacy at our house, along with rice, corn bread, fried venison and sweet tea!

Way too wet at one end of this small corn patch, see where the tractor slid over and messed up several plants.

[313 Mike]

Thanks for checking in Phillip, looks like you are well on your way! Unfortunately for me this year I am in the process of moving and won't be into the new house in time to get a garden in the ground.....just some peppers and tomatoes in pots. Still very much looking forward to seeing what everyone else is growing though!

[DM11]

Treefarmer looks like you got a good start on your garden!

[treefarmer]

The garden is producing some mixed results, the raised bed peppers are doing well, the bigger garden planted with the tractor has experienced both extremes of wet and dry and only the Zipper Cream peas were really successful. The deer also like the peas as do the stink bugs that sting the peas if pesticides are not applied. I can't hold out to pick peas like I did a few years ago. We used to get folks to pick peas on halves but very few are interested in working that hard apparently. A 25 pound hamper of peas should produce about 8 pounds of shelled peas. Then the bad peas need to be removed individually as they are washed prior to canning, freezing or cooking. Buying an 8 pound bag shelled peas will cost between $28 to $32.
The peppers are producing very well. Lots of possibilities with the varieties we planted this time, Bell, Havasu, Jalapeno and Sweet Banana. Stuffed peppers, pickled peppers, fresh pepper for salads and of course frozen for cooking later in the year.
Here are a few pictures of the mess:

Zipper Creams ready for picking.

Evidence the deer started picking early.

Peas need to cool when brought in from the field, poured out on a bed sheet, A/c and ceiling fan going.

Peas ready for blanching in the freezing process.

Jalapeno peppers

Havasu peppers

Getting ready to make some stuffed peppers

Treefarmer

[woodwalker]

I just went thru 35 pages of this thread and boy did it make me hungry and thankful for this time of year! Me and Ms Anita went to the farmers market today and purchased some beautiful tomatoes, sweet onions, cucumbers, a watermelon and two cantelopes! Just cut up the watermelon with my Case Cheetah and it's as sweet as sugar!!

[woodwalker]

Forgot about the cherries we got!

[Dinadan]

Looks like a very fine garden, Treefarmer. My wife planted two yellow squash plants this year and they made as many squash as we wanted to eat: a lot. We have had them steamed, fried, in stir fry and in soup. So I can well understand your wife's request to only plant one row!

Regarding the difficulty of getting pea pickers - I am with the shirkers! I always hated picking peas and beans when I was young, and I am pretty sure I would still dislike it. The only thing worse than picking butter beans was shelling them, and the only thing worse than shelling was eating them! Naturally, butter beans were my Dad's favorite crop.

[treefarmer]

Mel,
When our kids were at home they had to pick peas for several reasons. First it was for our freezer and then they picked peas to supplement their clothing allowance for school. Don't know the figures but if Momma would buy a pair of tennis shoes for say $25, and they wanted a "name brand", they made up the difference with their money made from picking and selling peas. As for the shelling part, that got everyone out of the heat and into the living room, watching TV, enjoying the A/C and getting sore, green thumbs. Thankfully all the family loved and still enjoys a big pot of peas especially when they are served with rice and gravy, fried corn bread and a big platter of fried venison.
Thinking about those days makes me feel my years, most of that was in the late 80's and early 90's. Our baby is now 40.
Treefarmer

[Doug51]

Zucchini squash are coming on strong. I love them and nothing better than getting to put a new knife to work. I sliced them, dipped in egg and batter and fried in olive oil,add a little salt and pepper and a cold beverage.

[TripleF]

Zucchini squash are coming on strong. I love them and nothing better than getting to put a new knife to work. I sliced them, dipped in egg and batter and fried in olive oil,add a little salt and pepper and a cold beverage.IMG_20180721_174832777.jpg

Now that looks mighty tasty!!!

[Doug51]

Zucchini squash are coming on strong. I love them and nothing better than getting to put a new knife to work. I sliced them, dipped in egg and batter and fried in olive oil,add a little salt and pepper and a cold beverage.IMG_20180721_174832777.jpg

Now that looks mighty tasty!!!

It was! The wife was gone so it was just me and my dog.

[tongueriver]

Zucchini knife and scenario. (If you don't have any zucchini, you don't have any friends OR enemies).