Fresh pickins from the garden

[Patty]

The strawberries are abundant right now. We picked this basket full in no time! 

[Ernie]

Envy envy envy, our winter is just starting :( :(

The only fruit I have left is citrus and persimmons and I LOVE strawberries

[sawguy21]

I had some fresh strawberries yesterday. DanG, they are good. Gotta love this time of year. Can't wait till the Okanagan cherries are ready.

[ohsoloco]

Those look like some tasty berries     I've been watching the wild black raspberries and blackberries around my house ever since spring.  They're usually ready to pick the first week of July.  They're growing all over the one bank in the front yard, and my careful weed-eating has paid off with lots more plants springing up  8)  I'm also VERY excited that the cherries are producing this year. 

How did you plant your strawberries, Patty?  Don't you have to make some kind of "container" for them?  I heard they really like to spread.

[Teri]

Those berrys look good. I had a craving the other day for some strawberry shortcake. The berries in the store didn't look very healthy,so needless to say no dessert.  :(

[sawguy21]

Teri, those California or wherever  hothouse grown berries just  don't cut it do they? No juice and no flavor.. My dad grew them on  a south facing former chicken run. I remember picking them before going to school but a lot did not make it to the house. :D

[Teri]

No, theres nothing better than growing your own food.    I hated it growing up 'cause we always had to be pulling weeds. Now I actually miss it!  ;D

[sawguy21]

I hated the weeding and picking too but sure liked the results. Still won't garden. Farmers market is a lot easier. :D

[Teri]

The farmers market is easier. :D :D

I'd rather grow it myself though as I like to be outside puttering around. I'm always working in the yard (not this year,brothers kids are doing it now) mowing or trimming bushes. Dad always had a fit when I trimmed. I scalped everything he'd say.  :D  It always looked good when I got done. ;D ;D

[Paschale]

Looking good, Patty!   8)

My raspberry patch is starting to look good--should have plenty of berries ripen, while I'm gone, and away from home.   :  Oh well, the birds and the neighbors will enjoy 'em.   ;)

[Furby]

Mmmmmmm...........
I guess I could swing by and keep the birds from eating them. ;)
Maybe that won't work after all. 

[UNCLEBUCK]

Yum Yum Patty ! My strawberry patch should be ready in 8 days here . Going to be interesting to see as I have the gurneys monster strawberries , last year I got one berry . Looks different this year . Have fun a pickin them !

[Norm]

We used to grow everbearers but switched to Junebearers a couple of years ago. They seem to yield better and taste better too. Last night Patty made shortcake and put the strawberries with ice cream on it. Ate so much I was miserable, but I'm sure I'll be back for more tonight. :D

[Patty]

Hey Oso,

We just put the berries out into the garden. We planted them 3 springs ago and they get fertilized with chiken manure in the fall which they seem to really enjoy. Yep they have spread out some, and choked out most of the weeds  they are growing to densely. I have a large yard, so I figure they can spread out as much as they want as long as they produce. I have rhubarb to the north of them, and the rhubarb seems to hold its own against the invasion of strawberries.  Did you know that rhubarb leaves make a great weed deterent? I am delighted to announce that when you pick your rhubarb, and cut those giant leaves off, just lay the leaves down where you don't want weeds, like in the garden paths and around the perimeter, and the weeds won't come through. It is awesome. 8)  Twenty years of gardening and I just figured this out last year. :  But, hey, it works!

[Ianab]

Mmm... Well strawberries are all very nice...

We have another berry in NZ that you folks have probabably never seen - Konini - berries of the Kotukutuku tree ( I am NOT making these names up)

It's a species of fuschia (like the ornamental garden type)

It grows wild along stream edges in the forest, just imagine a garden fuscia bush 30 ft tall and you get the idea. Anyway it has small purple berries (konini) that are rather nice to eat.
It does freak out the city folks when you are walking through the bush and reach up and grab a random berry and say.. 'try this'  ;) I had to eat a whole handfull to prove that it wasn't some practical joke. They are very sweet with a mild sort of 'berry' flavour....

Acutally I wonder if it could be the next big thing....  ;) :D

ian

[sawguy21]

Interesting isn't it. We have saskatoon berries growing wild here and the Europeans banned import because they were not proven safe for human consumption :.  Lot of city folk won't touch them because they are wild. They are a small tart berry and are great mixed with other sweeter fruit in a pie or cobbler. Also make really good jelly

[Roxie]

Kotukutuku~           geshundtite Ianab!   

[Teri]

:D :D :D :D

[ohsoloco]

Ian, that reminds me of a few summers back when I was still doing groundskeeping and maintenance for some apartment buildings.  One of the tenants were outside while my co-worker and I walked up to this big black cherry tree next to the building and started eating the cherries.  "oh my, I didn't know you could eat those," she said  :  Those were some of the tastiest cherries I've ever eaten    I hope I get some cherries at my place before the birds do.

Patty, nice tip about the rhubarb leaves  ;)  Those leaves are HUGE, it wouldn't take much to cover a path with them.  I always hestitated to put them in with the compost b/c they contain a poison.  I used to make compost out of the grass clippings, but now I just put them on the garden around all of the plants at least 4 or more inches deep.  Very few weeds come up, it keeps moisture in the ground, and fertilizes to boot  8)

DanG, I'm getting hungry thinking about berries. 

[Patty]

Oh yea, grass clippings work fine also. We don't bag our clippings with the mower, so that means I would actually have to get a rake out and do physical work!       Needless to say the grass clippings are staying on the lawn.  :D

[Tom]

I'm not sure how hardwood sawdust would do, but, I've spread pine sawdust out about 3 inches thick and walked on it till it was packed down good.   Have used it for a patio and walking trail. It stayed for about 3 years.  Water won't pass through it and nothing will grow through it.   Eventually some wild grasses did poke their head through it but you could tell it had been a strain.

Try some sawdust on your garden trails.

[mometal77]

Anyone ever have a liking for tayberry?
bob

[Paschale]

I bag my clippings, so I use 'em as mulch in the garden.  Last year, I used some Ash shavings too, which worked well, though you gotta be careful with wood shavings, since they can form a hard crust on top which is impervious to moisture getting through.  Stir it up a bit after the first and second rainfalls, and then the lower layers should be pretty well-moistened, and then, at least from my experience last year, they should wick the moisture to the ground really well, while at the same time preventing the weeds from getting through.

Never heard of a tayberry...tell us about it!  I love hearing about unique fruits and veggies.   8)

[Patty]

Do any of you have trouble with mice living under the mulch and eating all the vegetables? In the past when we use grass clippings or straw the mice move in like crazy.  >:(

[Bro. Noble]

Patty,  you could get some cats,  but that might be worse than mice.  We are trying to start flower beds at our new location and the most damage we have had is from a pair of kittens :D

Just got in from milking and noticed our onion bed needed thinning.  Saw a few pods on the sugar snap peas.  Just polished off some new peas and onions along with my hashbrowns and cornbread ;D

I'm gonna read a little forum and go saw now

[Patty]

Hey Noble, you got it made.  ;) Fresh peas and onions with eggs & hashbrowns....yummmy! Our peas were froze out earlier this spring and I never got around to replanting them. I love the fresh onions from the garden sprinkled over just about anything.

We have some ground squirrels eating the sweet corn just as fast as we put it in. Norm has the pellet gun handy by the door, and has shot around 10 of the little pests already. I think we will have to replant the sweet corn since they have eaten so much of the crop. (Plant it right next to the dead little critters, and maybe the rest of them will get the hint)

Our cat must be lazy. :  He prefers little birds over mice. The mice are thick in the sawshed, and he just ignores them, but the barn swallows are sure wary of him.  They dive bomb him every chance they get.

[thecfarm]

We did sell some everbearing strawberries in hanging baskets this year and they all ready bearing and we planted some tomatoes in hanging baskets too.No berries in the field yet.We still have a few more weeks before the field berries.I'm just getting my garden planted due to the wet weather,but I'm not the only one.

[ohsoloco]

Patty, I have to agree with you.  I don't have a bagger for my mower, so if I ever plant a garden at my house it won't ever see grass clippings  :D  I put one out at my parents' place since I take care of their grass and general upkeep as well, and we've been planting there for over 30 years.  It's so great to till up that ground in the spring and see good dark brown/black soil...and the smell of it    I like to garden in my bare feet. 

I've never noticed any mice problems in the garden, but then again I've noticed that our garden is a favorite hangout for the neighbors' cats  ;)

What's a tayberry  ???  ???  ???

[Tom_Averwater]

We've been eating peas and broccoli for 2 weks now .I've been having trouble with moles eating my sweet corn as it sprouts.They will go right down the row and eat the seed.  tom

[Bro. Noble]

Tom A,

We used to have that problem when we grew goobers.  Plant a mothball between a few of the corn sprouts,  maybe that will help.

[Roxie]

Tayberries are a raspberry/blackberry cross.   :P

[SwampDonkey]

I only just put my garden in last thursday and I have cukes, tomatoes, rutabegos, beets up now, but it'll be some weeks before I'm eating anything. I'll be surprised if the beans don't go black before they break ground with this rain and cold.  Gee, I even have the oil furnace on today burrrr, I'm cold. :

[Ernie]

Patty

I've got to stop selecting "all" when I read your post, I'll end up shorting out my keyboard drooling over your basket of strawberries

[Patty]

OK, Ernie I'll be kind and won't show you the picture of them poured over ice cream. 

[Ernie]

Particularly not with whipped cream on top

[beenthere]

I envision them floating in a bowl of thick cream....Mmmmmmmm!!

[submarinesailor]

ALRIGHT – you guys cut it out.  You are making me very hungry and my wife is still in New Mexico with the new grandson.  So, she can't keep me on my diet. 8) 8) 8)    Breyers ice cream anyone?   ??? ???French Vanilla to go with those strawberries? ??? ;D ??? ;D ??? ;D

[Bro. Noble]

Shucks,

anyone can get fresh strawberries,  I wish I had a new grandson ;)

Congratulations 8) 8) 8)

[Ernie]

No fresh strawberries in NZ but who cares with a new grandson

Congrats

[isawlogs]

  If you guys wont take the ice cream and strawberries I will ....  and celebrate the new grandson while eating it ...   ;D
Congrates on the new arrival  8)

[mometal77]

roxie you got it... Ernie maybe next yr.. have a nice that cant talk yet she loves strawberries and salmon berries..
bob

[Patty]

Ernie, I probably shouldn't post the photos of the strawberries drizzles over the shotcake and topped with ice cream, either.  ;D

I'd offer my whole crop of berries for the news of a grandchild. In the meantime, though, I am happy with the berries.

[Buzz-sawyer]

My first crop this year..........
they are green and comming on!!!
I have suggestion since both my friends Patty (strawberries) and Paschale (Cheese cake)...are attending the same function why dont WE share the mixture :D :D :D
I may have a pasle of berries t bring too by then 8) 8) 8)

[Patty]

Ummmmmm...cheesecake. 

[Ernie]

Patty

I can't get strawberries off my mind.  I suppose yours are the real flavourful ones not the tasteless commercial stuff that we export to you during your winter.

At least on my mind is better than on my expanding waistline. : :