been a strange weather year.. even more than other years..
cukes did real well early on and then crashed.. just about everything else crashed at one point or another..sigh
we had a week of 90 F and it is visible in the cabbage as a black layer about 2/3 from the center..then it continues normally
however the flowers are doing something else..
Echinacea / cone flower
growing new plants right from the seeds in the flower
the continued wet and cool/cold has also just killed a lot of the flowers and they are black sticks.. this isn't normal till late nov and several frosts
(http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/13/55/53/83/02410.jpg)
check out the growth on the flowers
(http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/13/55/53/83/03310.jpg)
(http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/13/55/53/83/02910.jpg)
(http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/13/55/53/83/03010.jpg)
and the leaves are turning and falling in early sept..4 to 6 weeks early
it's not a good sign
::)
That is truly spooky Sky Otter. Has the Echinacea ever morphed like that before? They almost look like the have been hit with something. Do you have any wheat fields around you anywhere?
I have a tiny garden, aside from the fact that several things that I bought where miss-marked, not what they said it was, everything else did O.K. We had a month of 90 and over temps, but my garden has some shade times, usually not good, but worked out good this year. :)
Phedre
no most it has done is have double flowers or one or two going to white instead of pink..nothing like this
yeah spooky it is..
Okay so that is just downright weird...
mutation so quickly from fallout? Its not supposed to happen in one season though I guess its been two years and we still don't have exact numbers
They almost look like they have been hit with what they used to call 2-4D, I think they call it ammeane(sp) these days. It is a weed killer that kills weeds but not the grass and drifts like crazy. It will contort flowers and some trees. And I have to admit that I just sprayed some weeds in my yard with it, I think it is called Weed-Be-Gone. If none of that , you have a real mystery,
Sky Otter, somethun made then go weird. :o
We've had hotter than normal weather, interspersed with some impressive thunderstorms. My backyard was taken over by wild morning-glory, and the squirrels ate my larkspur.
Shasta
Had a big rat that was eatting everything left got 1/4 of the pomemgranites Finally got him last night
well i don't think this has anything to do with radiation.. imo
but the original seeds were years ago just one packet and then they spread themselves along the fence... total thugs as plants go but very pretty and the gold finches luv em - so it worked
i do have some biology background and can tell you that things can change on their own
but
i think what this was
is that the seeds were ripe from the hot sun
and then the rain got the poor plant turning into compost without falling down
...and the seeds hadn't fallen off either
but started to grow where they were because the plant was rotting and becoming fertilizer for the seeds
some of the other things had gone dormant and then started to grow again...
weird but explainable..imo
it's weather that's the game changer in most cases
the cabbage got sunburnt in the week of 90's and since i didn't peel off that top layer the next growth spurt covered it up.. and left a black thin layer inside the cabbage
makes for using the cabbage a pain but nothing wrong with it
if you pay close attention it's amazing what you see happening
:)
I was kinda freaking out, considering z's explanation but only giving it slight probability, and I was relieved to see that an explanation came forth that both sounds and feels right.
I have some kale that is doing wierd things,
it is growing little leaves off of the leaves.
Never seen this before, anyone else?
This happened after the rain a week ago.
Well, it went back to being a bit weird again... One case of odd, with explanation, ok. Now two People have sorts similar oddities...
Yeah. Back to weird.
bts
this is my first year for growing kale so i looked it up..sounds normal
http://myfolia.com/plants/48-kale-brassica-oleracea-acephala-group
Leaf-and-spear kales: These are a cross between a curly-leaved kale and a plain one. It has curly leaves and produces side shoots that are somewhat like broccoli. As of January 2009, Pentland Brig is the only leaf-and-spear type kale available.
my mom gave me this recipe for kale chips.. i tried it today and was surprised
rinse kale and dry
(i'm a bit on the nutie side and always use a vinegar/water bath and then a plain water rinse....
takes care of any bacteria, fungus or bug eggs..lol)
cut leaves off the spine (next time i am going to leave the spines in)
cut or tear into one/on & a half inch pieces
either spritz with oil lightly or put a bit into a plastice bag and shake
spread onto a cookie sheet
springle salt if you like..but go easy
into over at 250
about 15 minutes or until they flatten out
very tasty
amy just saw your post..most things - even wierd ones can be explained..
And once again, sky deweirds things!
[whew!]
sorry double post.. somehow.. must be wierd.
hahahahahahahahah
Sky thanks!
Amy....whew! ;D
Ok, this is russian kale, so dont know if it is the same,
but calling it good for now.
I love the vinegar and water bath sky, i am finicky also
about getting all of the "stuff" off.
Those chips sound good, I am going to try them!
I also like Kale in soup, and it makes a nice gratin with Yukons.
I've seen similar mutations, too, Sky, though not this year. It has been a 'cool' summer for us, with nights in the high sixties, and in the nineties during most days.
I' grow most of my veggies in earthtainers and in light shade. As Turns out after Fuku, the recommendation for west coasters was to grow as much as possible under some sort of cover, so I didn't have to change a thing.
But every year is different in a garden. My first seed grown black eyed susan, eaten back about three times over the winter, finally bloomed madly before acting like a determinate tomato and crapping out. But before one of the determinate tomatoes crapped out, it sent up a new stalk that is now bearing fruit, and the apple tree is blooming again.
Plants here seem to do okay with high daytime temperatures as long as they get a cool down period at night. I'm thinking the apple tree and the tomato were fooled into thinking it was spring, and maybe the Echinacea died of shock when the nights turned warmer?
But, like you, I garden for birds and insects, as well as people. I let my Kale patch go to the birds, aphids, lady bugs, etc, but it's still struggling along. Between the collards and the chard, we have plenty of greens and darn near the same nourishment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/18/kale-compared-to-other-vegetables_n_3762721.html
rose
;D
Rose
total agreement on each year being different..
glad you are getting something out there.. we have been on a roller coaster
weather wise this year..five days on hot then 3 of rain and cold and then kinda normal for two and then 4 inches of rain..
i am really surprized any of us are getting anything..and i can't help but think of cayce and his predictions
mutations are sometimes just wierd stuff..lol..like the gooseberry that was trying to grow in the crotch of the chestnut tree.. ;D...i said sorry as i pulled it...lol
i have some beets left but the sunflowers fell over them and my test run of parsnips...i hope i get at least enough of those to try
in the picture you can see them at the end on one patch..that patch is 17 ft across and 30+ ft long
i had garlic and potatoes in it and when i dug the potatoes it started to rain and the weeds
just took over.. it's a mess
the second patch has pumpkins and butternut squash.. last year the squash rotted before i could pick it...and this year the pumpkins are orange very early...they are sugar pumpkins
(http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/13/55/53/83/01610.jpg)
it's been raining for hours and getting warmer and tomorrow supposted to be close to 90 and then 65 by thursday
sigh
so i'm hoping like heck to pick something out there
yeah.. a very wierd year and i think wierder to come
oh i'm waiting on the tomatoe pic to come thur..movin pics takes forever
it was last week..all gone now
but you can see good old hubby's method of prunning..hahahahahah
he says blight..but i think more like nasty temps and too much rain
the lemon basil is happy though
(http://i72.servimg.com/u/f72/13/55/53/83/01310.jpg)
:(
We're very soggy here today. Flash flooding in some places. We have street flooding here, and Highline Canal is full. It's usually dry this time of year.
Shasta
i should have saved radar from yesterday.we had rain in all the counties around us but not in our county.these storms were created i saw them two nights ago.they were small checkerboards.
shasta
saw some of it on the news..and was thinking of ya.. glad you seem to be ok
we just had a lightning storm go thur and every side of the house got sheets of rain
not just the weather side..
hey robo...buddy take down your weather shields..tell the rains it's needed there
i live next door to monticello coal power plant and it needs water to cool it.what better way to kill a coal burner than to run it out of water.the problem is there are three lakes that it can get water from but we have been hurting now for six or seven years.the second year i lived here we had almost a whole month of rain in february.three days it didnt rain.now its almost continuous drought.had 1/4 inch of rain in last three months and it all fell in like on hour.ants are moving into house looking for water.have been finding clusters of them in animal water dishes.
;D Otter I always noticed in your pics over the years that you single stemmed your tomatos but I never realised it was the hubby !
Regarding Kale, from what I have grown in the past and from what I've see from Growingyourgreens on youtube it does indeed seem best to grow Dino Kale for all weather scenarios. Having said that though on one occasion all my brassica family bolted last year before they should. And in other years I've dino kale just keep pumping out leaves for 18 months till it bolted with the new plants I mentioned before.
Hey Otter seeing you are the Gardening God here, I thought I might chuck this video in your thread as its very interesting not only in regards to measuring BRIX levels in plants in a general way of determing your soil quality, but also in regards to using BRIX measurments to determine when a storm may be coming in.
http://vimeo.com/6689994
I got the video from reading a post here called "We Are Chlorophyll Managers"
http://permaculturenews.org/2013/08/17/we-are-chlorophyll-managers/
I haven't washed away, but I sure got soggy. Fortunately I didn't have to go out to the west side today. The I70 and I225 interchange has been a nightmare.
Shasta
Shasta...stay safe
we have had several of those flash floods..they seem to pick a different neighbor hood each week
two weeks ago we got about 4 inchs in about 2 hours..big mess..still cleaning up
so i hear ya
oh Soma.. you have given me a few good laughs before but today you have out done yourself
first off i am a god/dess of nothing but myself..i am a garden amateur and will probably stay that way
i didn't grow up with a garden and by the time i thought it was a good thing the few who could have really taught me had passed..
.so it was books and trial and error......so if i am a authority on anything it would be useful trial and error methods..hahahahah
a little story about me.. i got into endurance racing cause it was you against you and caring about your equine partner..hands on.. knowing
what signs meant what and how to deal..when all the competitors started to use equine heart monitors and just read numbers...
i found something else for fun
this device is kinda along those lines..you guys have some male mentality that you need gadgets to figure stuff out
i disagree..
here's the ad for your gadget...sorry i only listened to the vid for about 4 minutes before i went to see what it costs
http://batphone.com.au/products/monitoring-tools/sap-refractometer.html
The measure of Brix is a measure of plant sugar and mineral levels. High Brix healthy plants, Low Brix- plants prone to pest attack and disease. The refractometer is easy to use and an essential monitoring tool.
Sap_Refractomete_4be8ed269ba4e.jpg
Price:
Sales price: $169.40
it cracks me up that someone would pay that and consider they had enough information to grow stuff...any stuff
there as so many variables in growing anything
that a gadget.. any gadget is only a tiny window into evaluating what is going on
you'd be better off with a straight soil test and a book about what plants like what soil type
oh and then you need to figure in the bug population for the year
and the weather..a biggie
and sometimes the neighbors cat..or the deer herd
stuff that looking at the crushed leaf juice just isn't going to help you with
but have fun which ever you decide
personally I would have given teeth to have a tutor that would have shared their growing trials and errors with me
ok.. other subject.. hubby is the tomatoe nutjob around here my opinion, of course
...I start the seeds and do potting up till they are ready to go into the ground
we would have very intense discussions on methods of pruning....almost any method works but when you have too personalities like ours
we both think ours is the best way..hahahahahha.....anymore if I get just one little plant to let it just be.. I'm happy and he does his distructo pruning
this year didn't matter the weather roller coaster of very hot to very wet to cold/cool and start over put the stop to most of everything
and everybody we know with a garden has had the same difficulty...
Quote from: Somamech on September 12, 2013, 07:50:16 PM
And in other years I've dino kale just keep pumping out leaves for 18 months till it bolted with the new plants I mentioned before.
Soma,
Yep got some this year, it is doing well. One thing...
I wont be keeping it in my bathroom. Poor John
got the worst of it for that. ;D
Nine inches of rain in Aurora so far. Messy, but not three feet of heavy wet snow.
Shasta
Wednesday marked the 20th consecutive day in which at least a trace of rain had been recorded somewhere in the Las Vegas Valley or its immediate surrounding area.
Its been humid and wet for weeks... big down pour again yesterday the streets were rivers. Forcast showing cloudy and chance of rain till NEXT Thursday with temps climbing back to 100F next week. That SUCKS with the humidity.
I moved to the desert to get away from the rainy wet damp humid weather. :'(
Sure we needed some rain but dang it 20 days straight is NUTS
(http://cdn.photo.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2013/09/11/0911weather03_t653.jpg?214bc4f9d9bd7c08c7d0f6599bb3328710e01e7b)
(http://cdn.photo.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2013/09/11/scaled.Storm_t653.JPG?214bc4f9d9bd7c08c7d0f6599bb3328710e01e7b)
(http://cdn.photo.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2013/09/11/scaled.0911_weather01_t653.jpg?214bc4f9d9bd7c08c7d0f6599bb3328710e01e7b)
(http://cdn.photo.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2013/09/11/0911weather01_t653.jpg?214bc4f9d9bd7c08c7d0f6599bb3328710e01e7b)
sky.i think the blight is the wet ground.i had the same problem early in the season when i got to much rain.it also stunted my okra.once things dried out the blight went away.i just let my tomatoes run on the ground.but it makes it hard to weed also.but the ground cover holds in moisture and keeps ground cool.i think you just had a good rain year.and good temps.
here its just been normal texas hell.but im hard headed and continue to try.definition of a fool i guess.
hey Z..we're all being hit with this weather..
this morning it was hot and humid..cloudy and humid most of the day till it rained..
lightning storm actually.. nasty 40-60 winds for about 30 minutes..then cool for a bit
then the heat built again and more rain and now it's damp and cold...sigh
lots of luck finding someplace calm
and nothing growing well anywhere
robo yeah i know about blight ..that's how his pruning method got started..taking off the leaves touching the wet ground..
ya know you might be a good candidate for container gardening
like i said.. i keep thinking of cayce's predictions on the weather not allowing us to grow food
::)
Some kid actually caught a fish in the street today. Not sure where, but I'm guessing it escaped from someone's backyard pond. Utah Park in Aurora was flooded. I guess now it has an outdoor pool to go with the indoor pool.
Shasta
mine would blite even if they werent touching the ground.gonna try growing muscadine next year.got about fifty seeds.my good plants are in pots.thinkin of using drip irrigation to save water and more thorough watering.composting rabbit poo with peat moss right now.for next year.i hage 100black 11"3gallon pots.plus 6starter trays18count each.plus 20 five gallon black pots.
i think corn would look kinda strange growing in it though.
First signs of Fall here already -
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/A51Watcher/P1010232_zpsf19f1192.png)
Been tellin yawl the next
ICED AGE is a comin :D
And now it's global COOLING! Record return of Arctic ice cap as it grows by 60% in a year(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/08/article-2415191-1BAEE1D0000005DC-503_640x366.jpg)
QuoteA chilly Arctic summer has left nearly a million more square miles of ocean covered with ice than at the same time last year – an increase of 60 per cent.
The rebound from 2012's record low comes six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013.
Instead, days before the annual autumn re-freeze is due to begin, an unbroken ice sheet more than half the size of Europe already stretches from the Canadian islands to Russia's northern shores.
The Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific has remained blocked by pack-ice all year. More than 20 yachts that had planned to sail it have been left ice-bound and a cruise ship attempting the route was forced to turn back.
Some eminent scientists now believe the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century – a process that would expose computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming as dangerously misleading.
The disclosure comes 11 months after The Mail on Sunday triggered intense political and scientific debate by revealing that global warming has 'paused' since the beginning of 1997 – an event that the computer models used by climate experts failed to predict.
In March, this newspaper further revealed that temperatures are about to drop below the level that the models forecast with '90 per cent certainty'.
The pause – which has now been accepted as real by every major climate research centre – is important, because the models' predictions of ever-increasing global temperatures have made many of the world's economies divert billions of pounds into 'green' measures to counter climate change.k
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/Global-cooling-Arctic-ice-caps-grows-60-global-warming-predictions.html
(https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q71/1185749_203168469859704_890031475_n.jpg)
well if CHEMTRAILS don't work, NASA is planning to use ASTEROID DUST
Asteroid Dust Could Fight Climate Change on Earth
(http://i.space.com/images/i/000/022/279/i02/asteroids_IAC_paper.jpg?1348870159)
Scientists propose a dust cloud made of asteroid material could help to cool Earth. Here, an artist's depiction of what a spacecraft spewing asteroid dust might look like.
Credit: Charlotte Lücking, based on images from ESA and NASA
http://www.space.com/17830-asteroid-dust-geoenineering-global-warming.html
LOL! Are They trying to put Us into a SUPER ice age?
Otter I think you found the most expensive device on the web, they are cheap on ebay from Hong Kong, heck even aussie prices from retailers with a big mark up are cheap compared to thatprice ;D
Not sure if its really a male thing though to be able to monitor whats going on through one window so to speak! :D
Double agree with soil test's and what have you. The guy in the video is a leader in biological agriculture, in that video he covered just one aspect which I found intertesting. ;)
Heres an overview of the course they provide, as ya can see they cover all bases ;)
http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/downloads/NTS%20Certificate%20in%20Sustainable%20Agriculture%20-%20November%202013.pdf
Pretty dang amazing they are using HRM on Horsies in Enduro :O makes sense I guess. Maybe they should have it they are outlawed in the race but ok to use in training. Having been using a GPS HRM for limited running training I have noticed it doesnt take too long to get to know what you are doing once you can measure it, and one should be able to have a fair idea of what they are doing without it in a race :P
Well I like your garden pics so i will call you Garden God if I feel like till someone else come's along and post's better ones LOL ;)
(http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t522/robomont/2013-09-14172238_zpscf8f49ad.jpg)now we know green garden spiders eat bumble bees
We got four inches of rain this afternoon. My house is in the middle of a lake again. This is Colorado. Semi-arid. WTF?
Shasta
be safe Shasta....do you have your water wings handy
I'm just going to grow gills. Then I can be a genetically modified organism.
Shasta
An odd image... A feline (the members of which seldom like to get wet) with gills...so They can get wet...
Tigers like to swim. And of course there are fisher cats and catfish. I think right now I'd settle for enough dry weather to clean the gutters. Maybe a few less road closures. Hell, I'm just a finicky feline.
Shasta
Quote from: burntheships on September 13, 2013, 01:24:46 AM
Soma,
Yep got some this year, it is doing well. One thing...
I wont be keeping it in my bathroom. Poor John
got the worst of it for that. ;D
BTS it woulda been funny as hell if John was at home at the time. I have a comical thought of him saying something like "This is John Kohler from growingyourgreens.com WTF are doing in my house" LOL
Not sure if you saw this video from John, BTS (or anyone that is growing Kale) but heck the Kale in this Video is looking like it was grown in the pristine waters of the moon :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEkFFRjDkvs
EDIT to Add that he makes me laugh no end with a video screenshot like that ;D
Quote from: Somamech on September 16, 2013, 05:53:37 PM
Not sure if you saw this video from John, BTS (or anyone that is growing Kale) but heck the Kale in this Video is looking like it was grown in the pristine waters of the moon :D
I had not viewed that one! Thats some huge kale there,
makes me want to wonder out in the forest here and get
some of that stuff and add it to a few of my plants for
comparison of growing mediums.
It was a nice touch for him to roll down that wood chip hill!
;D
He does crack me up. Thanks Soma!
LOL yeah the rolling down the hill...!
---
One Oddity to report here in Melbourne.. we got spring rain like I had when I was a kid ? ;D
Won't say no to that ;)
this is funny not funny
my poor mother who is 91+ and one hellevea person has just sworn off of tomatoes
i always plant one for her in a little herb garden that i made for her..
wel she picked what she thought was a nice red tomatoe
just cut into it for a sandwhich
thought it had worms and had a fit seeing them
but upon closer inspection.. it was roots growing from the seeds
the plant is not over the hill behind her house and she swears she will never eat another tomato
funny / not funny
very wierd year.. porr plants don't know what the ***** is happening
Quote from: sky otter on September 20, 2013, 07:13:56 PM
but upon closer inspection.. it was roots growing from the seeds
Sky, have you ever ever seen this before?
Brother, I need to upload my pics, I have two varities
of Kale now with leaves growing off of the leaves....
I also have a squash with double male flowers...never
never seen that before.
ETA: maybe the kale is normal, found these examples
(http://www.careme.us/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/glossary_k/lettuce-RedRussianKale.jpg)
(http://trustedearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/kale-2.jpg)
Ok, on the squash blossoms, this gal has one too, but she
also has some other strange stuff, so far no double fruits here
yet. Whew!
(http://sanctuarygardener.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/double-zucchini-flower-2-on-25may13.jpg)
http://sanctuarygardener.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/funky-flowers-and-fruit/
bts
this is my first year to grow kale so i dont' know what normal would be...sorry
gotta say that each place changes things ..soil type amount of sun and rain and hot and cold
and attention..what's growing beside it..
i have a butterfly bush that spread roots and the new spot has white flowers not the original purple
don't know enough about butterfly bushes but i think it's cool..so i'm just enjoying it ;D
personally i think the earth is on a hyped up transforamtion of some kind...change or die
and us humans are in the same boat..
i have no idea where we are heading but i think we are heading there faster and faster
but hey
just my opinion
::)
usually i only get strange stuff when i use bat guano.are any of yall using it?
Quote from: sky otter on September 20, 2013, 09:41:05 PM
personally i think the earth is on a hyped up transforamtion of some kind...change or die
and us humans are in the same boat..
i have no idea where we are heading but i think we are heading there faster and faster
Change is essential to life, very true. And Fuku could end up
on our own doorstep, anyday...we have Nukes power too.
Maybe after they wipe us out to a degree, they will bring
in the machines. ;D Just read that Kurzwell works for Google.
That I did not know. :o
Quote from: robomont on September 20, 2013, 10:21:27 PM
i only get strange stuff when i use bat guano
Interesting Robo, what kind of strange stuff?
I dont use that straight, per say. However I did
see that listed on a bag of soil amendment I used.
the stuff can be like meth and steroids combined.the best guano i ever found is sold by a distributor called carl poole enterprises in gladewater tx.its expensive but its badass if you want to max out the genetics.i used it in the past to grow with but its n is so strong that after harvest the n is loaded in your plants and isnt really smokable but edible should be fine.
it mutates things and brings out colors that usually dont show theirselves.ive never had it burn but small plants may struggle at first.kinda like a rocket launch.stutter then blast off.no other material on the planet is as strong at growing things.one heeping tablespoon is all that is needed for house plants.just dump it on base of plant .or under base of transplant is best as guano likes to float on water.wash hands after use to avoid rabise
Quote from: robomont on September 20, 2013, 11:25:41 PM
no other material on the planet is as strong at growing things.one heeping tablespoon is all that is needed for house plants.just dump it on base of plant .or under base of transplant is best as guano likes to float on water.wash hands after use to avoid rabise
;D Ah, nitrogen.
I could gather my own, here in the hills the bats hang out
in spots, and they leave tell tale signs....
;) The stuff scares me, rabies and all.
it could be the guano sets in the caves absorbing radiation.i dont know.it you handle it alot then were a mask but a little usually wont hurt.think of all the guano miners for hundreds of years that had no mask.alot of fear mongering if you ask me.
i think its the enzimes that make the n more available even though its number on the container is low.ive tried high n fertilizers like miracle grow and it doesnt come close to what guano can do.so dont be fooled by its low numbers.if you ever use it.its like twenty bucks a pound but it can fert about thirty plants or more and you would be shocked.i had a neighbor who bitched about my chickens scratching his mulch around his canas.i took two five gallon buckets of mulch and a half pound of guano and put on the canas.lol.lets just say.i never heard him complain again.eight foot tall cannas maxed out with blooms and thick as a wall.stayed that way all year.he was struggling to cut them back in the fall.my chickens laid claim to that land before he bought it so they had legal free range.but i like to frig with my neighbors when they bitch at me.dont have chickens anymore so neighbors dont bitch as much now.