What's growing? The garden thread.

I have an onion question. Last weeks storm flattened some of my onions. A few are still standing but many are lying flat. One guy told me that if they are bent over at or near the neck they are done and should be pulled. That true? I asked my mom and FIL, both of whom gardened a lot of years, and neither had heard of that.

Also, if I need to pull onions, and my carrots are almost ready to harvest, what can I plant this late in the summer? I don't like the idea of a bare garden for half the growing season. Is there a heat tolerant lettuce (I live in Central IA)?
Last year I planted peas in mid August and harvested them as snow peas for stir fry. They produced belter than the spring crop. If you've not grown peas before you will need to trellis them with something.
 
I have an onion question. Last weeks storm flattened some of my onions. A few are still standing but many are lying flat. One guy told me that if they are bent over at or near the neck they are done and should be pulled. That true? I asked my mom and FIL, both of whom gardened a lot of years, and neither had heard of that.

Also, if I need to pull onions, and my carrots are almost ready to harvest, what can I plant this late in the summer? I don't like the idea of a bare garden for half the growing season. Is there a heat tolerant lettuce (I live in Central IA)?
Green beans, snap peas, start some greens like lettuce
 
Would adding some crushed eggshells help with the calcium?

I'll see if I can find a salsa recipe and send it to you.

We've done the egg shell thing, not sure how much it helps but doesn't seem to hurt
 
I have an onion question. Last weeks storm flattened some of my onions. A few are still standing but many are lying flat. One guy told me that if they are bent over at or near the neck they are done and should be pulled. That true? I asked my mom and FIL, both of whom gardened a lot of years, and neither had heard of that.

Also, if I need to pull onions, and my carrots are almost ready to harvest, what can I plant this late in the summer? I don't like the idea of a bare garden for half the growing season. Is there a heat tolerant lettuce (I live in Central IA)?
I think lettuce needs a sandy soil. If you have that, I think your chances are better for it to do well.
 
New house I move into next week has a pretty large raised planter bed. Is it too late in the season to plant any vegetables/fruit? What will work this time of year?
 
New house I move into next week has a pretty large raised planter bed. Is it too late in the season to plant any vegetables/fruit? What will work this time of year?
Any kind of bean. Field peas like black eyed peas. Zucchini and yellow squash are fine to plant but need plenty of water. Sweet corn is still fine. You can still plant tomatoes, but they might not do phenomenal, but if they get through the summer you usually get a good Fall harvest. Look at days to maturity but winter squash like acorn or butternut is probably ok. Sweet potato if you can find slips but probably not available.
 
Just finished another batch of rhubarb syrup. 20 cups of rhubarb yields close to 4 pints of syrup. With the heat, it really shuts down the growth of it, so probably the last of the year.

Peppers, onions, and tomatoes are close to being ready. Already picked some but a lot of tomatoes are ripening pretty quickly. I see salsa making this weekend.



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Just finished another batch of rhubarb syrup. 20 cups of rhubarb yields close to 4 pints of syrup. With the heat, it really shuts down the growth of it, so probably the last of the year.

Peppers, onions, and tomatoes are close to being ready. Already picked some but a lot of tomatoes are ripening pretty quickly. I see salsa making this weekend.



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Rhubarb syrup????? Recipe please. I’ve never heard of it before but am intrigued (and we have rhubarb although I think it’s past it’s harvest time)
 
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Our tomatoes are just starting to ripen, have eaten several. Cabbages and onions are gangbusters. Have harvested bell peppers, but jalapeños are slow to come along this year.

Trying to get husband to quit buying cherry tomatoes. Have over a dozen volunteer plants
 
Six watermelons (heirloom) have set on the only hill I planted. Planted beans in the middle of June, they are starting to flower. Two cantelopes have set on (only two seeds sprouted on the hill. Pollination was sure slow this year. I am getting ready to pick my Roma tomatoes.
 
Cherry tomatoes coming in, already too many cucumbers and froze 10c of Shredded Zucchini. Also multiple strawberry pint? Quart? Containers worth of Raspberries. Drowning in them. Peppers about ready and we go out of town for a week soon lol. Come eat some Raspberries! Big tomatoes still getting there so I should be ok in those. Got lots of carrots and just replanted more snap peas and Spinach. Oh BEANS!! so many green beans. Froze 10 cups there too and we'll have lbs over the next couple weeks. Come take those when you get berries!
 
Planted tomatoes in January, transplanted in May to the garden. No red tomatoes yet. What happened? The plants will be 8 months old on August 3rd.
 
Garden looks like hell. I don’t know what happened. I did the same thing I do every year.
 
Planted tomatoes in January, transplanted in May to the garden. No red tomatoes yet. What happened? The plants will be 8 months old on August 3rd.
The transplant may have stressed them enough to biologically tell them not use energy producing fruit. But I’m not an expert by any means.
 
Garden looks like hell. I don’t know what happened. I did the same thing I do every year.
Ours does too. My wife plants around 30 tomatoes and there are barely any out there, they get buds but then the buds die.

Our sweet corn has been amazing though.
 
Rhubarb syrup????? Recipe please. I’ve never heard of it before but am intrigued (and we have rhubarb although I think it’s past it’s harvest time)

Start with 2lb rhubarb (8 cups) add 4 cups water, bring to a boil, turn down heat to medium and let cook for 20 minutes, scoop any foam off. Strain mixture and I discard the pulp. I will then restrain the liquid with using either a cheese cloth or paper towel. Add 1.75 cups of sugar (I add about a cup as I like the tartness. You can add food coloring if you want. The pic I posted, I did not. You can boil for 5 minutes or longer as the longer it cooks the thicker it will get. Continue to scoop any foam off. You can it or put it in a bottle and put it in the fridge.
 
Got a later-than-normal start to planting this year due to weather conditions, but everything is looking pretty good otherwise.

Some people might be experiencing problems with tomatoes and peppers setting fruit due to higher-than-normal temperatures. We have had reasonable success, but have also used hormonal blossom set to try to increase the odds. I know some folks who have employed 35% shade cloth, but we haven't gone that far.

We also plant a lot of flowering companion plants that are attractive to pollinators to encourage bees and such to come around.
 
Got a later-than-normal start to planting this year due to weather conditions, but everything is looking pretty good otherwise.

Some people might be experiencing problems with tomatoes and peppers setting fruit due to higher-than-normal temperatures. We have had reasonable success, but have also used hormonal blossom set to try to increase the odds. I know some folks who have employed 35% shade cloth, but we haven't gone that far.

We also plant a lot of flowering companion plants that are attractive to pollinators to encourage bees and such to come around.
We have marigolds in with our peppers. Usually it is our bell peppers that are slow but they are pickable earlier than normal. I would think the jalapeños would be less sensitive to the high temps but they are slow to fruit. Did pick one little one that was turning red. They have a lot of blooms. Have everything else for salsa but them and it’s always a struggle to keep my cilantro going until I have enough tomatoes.