It was mentioned on here not long ago about end rot. My zucchini plants
took off, and are huge. I picked one over a foot long today that seemed
quite solid, but the two others I picked were shorter, and the ends were
starting to rot. Is there a reason for this? I think I'll just chop
the bad end off.

I gave one of the soft-end ones to my neighbor who's going to fry it.
I'm in a debate what I'll make, but I might batter and fry some of it,
serve with tomato sauce, and shred the rest of the zucchini for zucchini
bread. As is tradition, my cabbage was half eaten, and the ones that
weren't eaten look like they'll amount to nothing, for some reason. At
least the groundhogs are leaving my zucchini alone this year.

I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm. My tomato
plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell
pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.

Michael Trew wrote:

> It was mentioned on here not long ago about end rot. My zucchini plants
> took off, and are huge. I picked one over a foot long today that seemed
> quite solid, but the two others I picked were shorter, and the ends were
> starting to rot. Is there a reason for this? I think I'll just chop
> the bad end off.

usually blossom end rot is a sign of uneven water
supply or too much watering in general. so it depends
upon what your weather has been like. other related
issued could be not enough calcium in the garden soil
or too much nitrogen fertilizer.

when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes
and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants
did not have a fully developed root system while
setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the
problem by removing the first flowers on the plants
so those fruits won't develop. even watering during
the hot spells also makes a difference.

> I gave one of the soft-end ones to my neighbor who's going to fry it.
> I'm in a debate what I'll make, but I might batter and fry some of it,
> serve with tomato sauce, and shred the rest of the zucchini for zucchini
> bread. As is tradition, my cabbage was half eaten, and the ones that
> weren't eaten look like they'll amount to nothing, for some reason. At
> least the groundhogs are leaving my zucchini alone this year.

groundhogs always like to eat whatever they can get
at in the gardens here, but i have fences up which do
discourage them. if i see them in the grassy area i
will hunt them. not something i like but they can do
a lot of damage quickly along with their holes in the
banks of the ditches for their dens aren't good for
the ditches.

> I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
> vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm.

some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before
the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled
out and cooked. they should cook faster than a dry
bean. some varities of beans can also be eaten at the
full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green
bean varieties. or you can leave them to finish up
drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the
seed for replanting.

usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean
plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry
beans as we can never have too many of those.

> My tomato
> plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
> peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell
> pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
> onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
> too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.

do you have trouble getting enough sun for your
gardens?

songbird

On 8/1/2023 6:58 AM, songbird wrote:
> Michael Trew wrote:
>
> when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes
> and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants
> did not have a fully developed root system while
> setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the
> problem by removing the first flowers on the plants
> so those fruits won't develop. even watering during
> the hot spells also makes a difference.

When we had the dry/heat earlier this year, I was watering the garden
heavily daily, or lightly twice daily (morning and/or evening). That
was probably my mistake.

>> I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
>> vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm.
>
> some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before
> the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled
> out and cooked. they should cook faster than a dry
> bean. some varities of beans can also be eaten at the
> full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green
> bean varieties. or you can leave them to finish up
> drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the
> seed for replanting.
>
> usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean
> plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry
> beans as we can never have too many of those.

Hmm, so you just let the pod dry out, and save the beans inside, using
them as you used baged dry beans later?

>> My tomato
>> plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
>> peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell
>> pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
>> onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
>> too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.
>
> do you have trouble getting enough sun for your
> gardens?

The lower garden, everything but the onions/potatoes/garlic and the
like, is part-shade due to a large tree. Oops. Shame, because it's the
perfect location, otherwise.

Michael Trew wrote:
> On 8/1/2023 6:58 AM, songbird wrote:
>> Michael Trew wrote:
>>
>> when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes
>> and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants
>> did not have a fully developed root system while
>> setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the
>> problem by removing the first flowers on the plants
>> so those fruits won't develop. even watering during
>> the hot spells also makes a difference.
>
> When we had the dry/heat earlier this year, I was watering the garden
> heavily daily, or lightly twice daily (morning and/or evening). That
> was probably my mistake.

if your garden is mostly sand or mineral based gravel
then that may be required, but for us that's really not
needed and would be too much too often.

>>> I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the
>>> vine too long. The pods swelled up and became too firm.
>>
>> some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before
>> the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled
>> out and cooked. they should cook faster than a dry
>> bean. some varities of beans can also be eaten at the
>> full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green
>> bean varieties. or you can leave them to finish up
>> drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the
>> seed for replanting.
>>
>> usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean
>> plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry
>> beans as we can never have too many of those.
>
> Hmm, so you just let the pod dry out, and save the beans inside, using
> them as you used baged dry beans later?

"baged" as in bagged or aged? i'm assuming aged. :)

yes, pretty much all beans i grow are edible at dry
bean stage (there are a few i've had that i would not
consider edible but they aren't many). but also since
i do cross-breed and develop new varieties i pay
attention to any new seeds that show up as i sure don't
want to eat them. on top of that if i want to keep
the existing varieties relatively stable i have to cull
out odd seeds to make sure the traits i want are
preserved.

>>> My tomato
>>> plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far. Bell
>>> peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much. I don't have a single bell
>>> pepper ready. I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,
>>> onions, garlic, and horseradish. I think I planted leeks this year,
>>> too. Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.
>>
>> do you have trouble getting enough sun for your
>> gardens?
>
> The lower garden, everything but the onions/potatoes/garlic and the
> like, is part-shade due to a large tree. Oops. Shame, because it's the
> perfect location, otherwise.

any kind of shade is going to impact production for
some of the common garden vegetables. if you want more
tomato production you may have to go for cherry or patio
varieties.

we have a lot of green tomatoes on the plants but it
is still early for us for ripening along with the fact
that things seem a bit later due to lack of rains for
so long. things just don't grow as well here on well
water as they do with some good rains (the pH of the
well water is a bit alkaline vs. rain being more neutral
to slightly acidic probably a part of why).

songbird

On 8/5/2023 8:38 PM, songbird wrote:
> Michael Trew wrote:
>>
>> Hmm, so you just let the pod dry out, and save the beans inside, using
>> them as you used baged dry beans later?
>
> "baged" as in bagged or aged? i'm assuming aged. :)
>
> yes, pretty much all beans i grow are edible at dry
> bean stage (there are a few i've had that i would not
> consider edible but they aren't many). but also since
> i do cross-breed and develop new varieties i pay
> attention to any new seeds that show up as i sure don't
> want to eat them. on top of that if i want to keep
> the existing varieties relatively stable i have to cull
> out odd seeds to make sure the traits i want are
> preserved.

I meant like dry beans you buy in bags at the store, sorry.

>> The lower garden, everything but the onions/potatoes/garlic and the
>> like, is part-shade due to a large tree. Oops. Shame, because it's the
>> perfect location, otherwise.
>
> any kind of shade is going to impact production for
> some of the common garden vegetables. if you want more
> tomato production you may have to go for cherry or patio
> varieties.

I noticed today that there are some small bell peppers, and they are
flowering, but taking their time. Oh well.