Whatcha Up To???

[Rahab222]

Ernie; Thanks for the clarification on your raspberry vines. I bought a raspberry bush. Does it put out vines and you clip them back each year? How many years can I expect a raspberry bush to live/produce?

Wollfman, that was a really neighborly thing for you to do, plowing up a row for your friend with cancer. This disease bankrupts you physically, emotionally and financially. We went through this with my kid sister. I'm sure he can use some fresh produce.

Sounds like everybody is working hard. I've basically turned into a weekend gardener since I started back to work. I've been busy helping the nephew produce a movie on the computer regarding how "seeing the truth can be as difficult as looking at the sun." It's a quote from some book they are reading. His group elected him to do the video and computer part of the project. It's due tomorrow, so we've been putting in a lot of evening hours. Thus, I haven't made it out to the garden; which needs water and maintenance. Also, more things to plant like peppers, my fruit bushes and some more tomato plants. We're supposed to have rain the next three days. I actually hope this happens because I haven't even had the time to water. Homework comes first at our house.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Almost finished the rebuilding of the Raspberry trellis. Another hour or so should do it. But no picturesof it, as I threw my camera away. It just would not take pictures as pretty as Sam's camera does, so I am not taking anymore.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Cut the grass ahead of the rain...

Ernie, here is a perfect camera for your needs (newer model of the one I use 95% of the time):

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ70 16.1 MP Digital Camera with 60x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-Inch LCD (Black)

Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card (TS32GSDHC10E)

 

[ErnieCopp]

I am not sure it would hepl. I think what i need is a full Photoshop. Good cameras make ugly girls less ugly, but even the best ones cannot make them pretty.

Ernie

 

[Rahab222]

I'm waiting on the rain. I need to put my third board up on my potato beds and fill with more soil. Plus, fertilize the last two boxes. I hope to be able to do some more planting this weekend - my peppers and berry bushes; plus, pull maintenance on everything else.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Well it got a little hairy around here a few days ago. I'm only about twenty miles from where that deadly tornado went through on Thursday. I haven't seen any property damage but sometimes it does take a while to become apparent.

On Easter I did seed in some lettuce and spinach. Yes it is to early to direct seed but they'll come up when it's time I guess. I still need to spend time to start my tomatoes bail and peppers. At this point I guess I'm a month late.

 

[ErnieCopp]

"The Green is going from the Grass, Maggie, The Grass that we used to Mow.......""

I have had to stop watering my beautiful green lawn, as that is the only way i can cut my water usage the mandated 25%. As of now i expect to be able to drip irrigate, or hand water with a hose and nozzle, the flowers, trees, and vines. I have melons and tomatoes i expect to grow out, and just a few carrots and beets on drip.. I am not going to plant anymore this year, so when i harvest my onions soon, the garden will lie fallow until we get some normal rains again. The water situation is getting so bad out here, with millions of acres of 100% irrigated farm land going out of production, if we do not get rain next year, we may lose the rest of the plants.

I am sure you folks in Texas are getting tired of the rain, but after those dry years you suffered, still appreciate what you are getting now.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

We are appreciative for the rain... Got .62" on Friday & .30" yesterday. Been getting some drizzle off/on today & the forecast is calling for rain through the whole week.

​

Everything is up in the garden, although I still need to till & plant the melons.

I'm smoking a rack of ribs & Mrs. Ranch made a big bowl of potato salad for supper.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Those melons seeds probably regret the fact they were not out there sharing that rain.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Probably, but they WILL be in by Wednesday... even if I have to skip the tilling & plant them in the rain.

 

[Rahab222]

Mr. Yan; So glad you and yours are safe from the tornado. We lived on S. Padre in Corpus Christi when Hurricane Buela came through. We went to stay with an aunt and uncle in New Braunfels, as they were evacuating the island. Their house was demolished by a spinoff tornado while we were in it. I'll never forget watching the rain blowing completely sideways and then the sound of what appeared to be a train coming straight through the house. My Dad grabbed our whole family and threw us in the hallway where he then threw mattresses on top of everybody. We saw the tornado coming and it went right down the middle of the street destroying all houses. I was 9. When we finally got back to our own home in Corpus, there was nothing left of our house but the foundation and front porch, brick posts. I can remember my Dad not letting anybody get out of the car, whose top was crushed due to an Enco sign from a gas station on the freeway crashing through the garage roof and landing on the top of the car. But it still ran and we headed home. That's when we moved to Houston.

Ernie; I've been reading about the drought in California and how much of the world's produce comes from there. I'll keep you on my prayer list for rain, just like Houston has been having.

The Texas Gulf Coast is at its most beautiful right now. Everything is lush and green from all the rain we've been having. Everything's in bloom and color is everywhere. Thankfully, I was able to get out in the garden today and do some work. I got five more pepper plants in the main garden. My (3) 4' x 4' boxes of potatoes have exploded and were way past due for maintenance since I'm still trying to get things in the ground. The potato plants in the first box I planted are 4' tall and were laid over; as they have grown so fast with the rain and I haven't had time to hill them. So today, I weeded all three potato boxes, mixed up lots of compost and bedding mix to hill everything, and still had to stake two of the plants in the first box for stability. I also put the third board up on each box to protect the plants from the wind. I need to get some more mix made and hill them again - already. I've been so busy planting between rains still, I haven't had time to pull maintenance. My potatoes are getting flowers on them.

I killed a 14" copperhead that ran out from under one of my potato box boards when I lifted it. I was checking the board for pill bugs, so imagine my surprise when the snake slithered out - headed for the bayou. I found out my shovel is really dull, as I just kept chopping him into pieces, but not cutting clean through anywhere. I drug him over to a piece of plywood to cut his head off to make sure he was dead. This snake was definitely fighting for his life. The backyard is looking better as I use all the pieces to put my garden back together, but I've still got a lot of cleanup and planting to do.

I got about a pint and a half of strawberries today from the two boxes I treated with liquid Sevin. I'm still going to have to treat the most infested box again, but pulled the covers off to see how things were going. Rain is predicted for Houston all week; 60 - 80% most days. The lower leaves on my potato plants are turning yellow, so I'm assuming it's from too much water? At least the boxes are raised so the rain can filter through.

I have ants everywhere. I guess the rain is bringing them out. I still have more tomatoes to plant and peppers and my berry bushes. I just had to stop and do general maintenance on my potato boxes and this slowed me down. I got a full day in, but the thunder and rain started around 7:30 p.m., so I shut it down. Just enough rain to get everything I planted/hilled today wet. Perfecto!

I found another adult stink bug in the garden today. Crushed him. I also saw lots of ladybugs, earth worms, snails, slugs, a few grubs and still LOTS of pill bugs. I killed every destructive bug I saw. I will definitely be using Sevin this year, but going au natural with the composted manure and fetilizer. My nephew has started calling me Cow Patty. Just like me at that age, he hates the garden. Just doesn't like to get dirty, much less play in manure. Hopefully, I'll get out in the evenings this week and get some more plants in. My garden is starting to look B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! And healthy. Just have to get around to everything on schedule.

 

[whistech]

Rahab, post some pictures when you get time.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Rahab,
You asked me about Raspberry bushes last week but i just now noticed your question. The Raspberries i had in Idaho started out as small clumps, so i guess you could call them bushes, but i had a row of them, and each year they would put up more canes, the new ones would grow that year, and the second year produce berries and then die, so they were removed and the cycle would continue. So all of the originasl died their second year, but the row continued for the 20 years or so i had the place.

But so far, things are going differently here in the milder climate, so i do not know the answer to your question yet. I started some along a fence, but the berries were choosing to grown on the other side of it, so i moved those in four feet transplanting the roots, last year. I had some early berries and some of the early canes that should have grown and went dormant, decided to have berries last fall, but those canes are starting out very slowly this Spring, so they may have been confused by the warm weather.

But if they avoid getting Wilt, they will continue reproducing canes and producing berries for many years. You will have a lot of new ones spring up from the roots.

To propagate them and spread them out, bend some of the new canes down and cover them over with dirt in the middle. They will but out roots and grow new plants so you can spread as far as you want to.

The best way to controll them is with posts, with horizontal cross pieces on them, and two wires about a foot apart and just let the vines stand between the two wires.

Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

POSTED BY MISTAKE

Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

I gathered up my Rainbird sprinklers and added some drip tube to the fig tree, preparing to switch watering programs.

My blackberry row is covered with blossoms and small berries, but i had to go behind them and prune off some growth today. The row is only four feet from the fence and in order to have a scratch free picking path, i had to cut off a lot of growth with blossoms and small berries on it. That is a painful process and feels totally different than cutting off just leaves and branches.

Ernie

 

[Rahab222]

Whistech; Yes, I still need to start my 2015 Garden Thread. I haven't had time to take pictures because I am dancing around the weather so much, just looking for an open window to plant. It was 89 degrees in my neck of the woods today, with LOTS of sunshine. Houston really needed a day to dry out; especially since my lower potato leaves are turning yellow. I wonder if I should cut these off? I'm hoping to finish up my planting for the main, spring garden this weekend, but I need to go get a little more compost supplies. Once I get everything in the ground, I am going to do a major yard cleanup in the back so I can see the ground. Course, most stuff back there is going back in the garden - cages, stakes, boards, compost, drip hoses, etc. It looks much better when there's a garden growing in it. Can you believe this weather? Between all the rain and composted manure mixes, my garden is taking off like some sort of Jack and the Beanstalk nightmare. The plants growth is getting WAY ahead of me. They are already spraying for mosquitoes here, so I am dumping out all accumulated water from the rain. I have a bale of pine needles that I usually shred and put inside my potato boxes. I definitely need to do something to get the strawberries up off the soil with all this moisture around. I am still looking around for more ground to cultivate and plant; but I need to do it in an orderly fashion.

Ernie; If I put the raspberry bushes with the blackberry bushes, will there be a problem with this? I saw these GORGEOUS blackberry bushes filled with flowers at Home Depot this weekend; but they were $29.98/ 2 gallon bucket. They were in full bloom and had branches going everywhere. I would definitely need to trellis these and I'm still tempted, just because they looked so healthy and blackberry cobblers are so popular in the summer.

Are raspberry bushes bad about catching wilt? Is this a reason for me to separate the raspberry bushes from the blackberry bushes I bought? 20 years is a great lifespan for a plant. I just may go back and get the blackberry plant at Home Depot. My Uncle is hosting a fish fry this Saturday, so maybe I'll stop by HD on the way home.

Houston is supposed to have an 80% chance of thunderstorms again tomorrow (Tuesday), so I'm really glad we had today to dry out a little.

Nothing done in the garden today. I'm just giving it time to dry out a little.

HAPPY GARDENING, EVERYBUDDY!

 

[ErnieCopp]

I would not mix the two different berries in one location. The main problem with Blackberries is controlling them, as they will take the entire place if you turn your back a minute.

On the Raspberry Wilt issue, it is prevalent in some areas, making it impossible to grow them successfully, and not a problem in other areas. You should get local knowledge from some one in your area, or just try few and see if they work for you. There may also be wilt resistant varieties now. I do not think there is a satisfactory cure for it. I am hoping mine do not get it, but have no idea now whether they will or not.
My raspberries in Idaho never had a problem.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Started the curing process for homemade Canadian bacon. I made the brine by heating the following ingredients & then letting it cool while I trimmed a whole pork loin. I then cut the loin in half & put them in plastic storage bags & poured the cool brine in to cover them. They will need to sit in the brine for a couple of weeks (turning them daily) before they're ready. I also want to turn another whole brisket into pastrami (same process but a different brine recipe)... I'll get that going tomorrow.

Still raining sporadically here, got .45" yesterday & .18" thus far today. Tomorrow is suppose to be clear, so I will just reform the rows & then the melons are going in.

 

[wolffman]

post pics when it is ready Ranch. Interesting stuff.

 

[Rahab222]

Ernie; Thanks for the input on my berries. I won't plant them together. Are the raspberries invasive like blackberries? What causes the wilt on the raspberries - too much water? I've been thinking about those beautiful blackberries at Home Depot I saw this weekend. I don't know if I'm going to be able to resist buying one or not.

We had heavy and steady rain today until about 3:00 in Houston, so no work in the garden today. The storms are supposed to come back tonight and more rain for the remainder of the week.

 

[whistech]

Rahab, I've only had my thornless blackberries 3 years, but I haven't seen any signs yet that they are invasive. The variety I have is Quachita. I have only 3 plants right now.

Here is a link for blackberries from Texas A&M:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/files/2010/10/blackberries.pdf

 

[ErnieCopp]

I am sure the invasive problem is related to the variety. There are many miles of solid wild blackberries between I-5 and the frontage roads in Oregon of black berries, because the really like that cool wet climate. These are monsters i have here, that invaded from the neighbors yard, I do not know the variety. The canes get to nearly 1 inch diameter and will grow straight up 10 feet tall, but i keep mine pruned to where i can reach.. I have a long handled pruner and i continually, including this morning, patrol the area and cut off countless sprouts coming up from the roots.

They are heavy producers, to go with their vigor, but the thorns are in proportion to the rest of the plants and are nearly a half inch long. I am pruning differently now, still experimenting, and not sure i will keep them, as the thorns are so vicious.

I have heard thatt the thornless varieties do not produce as many berries but the lower production could be a good trade off for lack of thorns and easier control..

I did not notice the seeds as much eating them whole fresh or in pies, but the jam and compote is so full of seeds thatt i bought a seed mill to remove them.

A person on Dave's Garden bought some blackberries under the name of Zarzas, but that is just Spanish for Brambles or Briars, so probably for your small areas, follow Whistech's example and find the variety he has.

I prefer Raspberries and hoping mine do well here.

Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

Rahab,

On your second question as to whether Raspberries are invasive, they do put out lots of sprouts from their roots, but they are a kinder, gentler plant, thorns not so bad, and as the ground in the row becomes more crowded with roots, the sprouting seems to slow down.

It is good to have the sprouts as you can easily propagate them, and as they charge 7 dollars each for rooted cuttings, it would be easy to either sell or give away rooted cuttings.

I do not recall having any problems keeping the raspberries in their row at the farm, so i would not consider it a problem like i am having with my variety of Blackberries..

Ernie

 

[Rahab222]

Whistech; Thanks for the link; I'll check it out. How large are your plants and how many berries do you get off of three plants? I plan to give these a permanent spot.

Ernie; Can you only have one raspberry plant or you need to plant multiples? I'm going to try to get everything I have left to plant in the ground this coming weekend.

 

[whistech]

Last year I picked about 4 pounds off the 3 plants. I will try to take a picture for you, but they are planted three feet apart and are about six feet tall. I am going to do a better job of pruning and trellising them this year to increase production. I am also going to see if I can root the cutting this year to get three more plants started.