I feel like giving up!

desertlzbn · July 30, 2009

It has been in the 100's for the last three weeks (at least), I am still getting some tomatoes, but I have set out 3 seed trays and every time it seems like something happens to them. The birds eat the plants, a dust devil comes through and knocks them over, or they just plain dry out. At this rate I am only going to have 8 plants this winter. Then there is the problem of it is just to danged hot to go outside and do anything. The other night at 10 o Clock it was 100 outside. I have to go build a fence around the garden to keep out the ground squirrels but I just cannot get up the muster to go out in the heat to do it. I know I just won't have much of a garden this winter if I don't start stuff now, but danged it all, I am sick of this heat (and the gosh darnoodleyed critters eating my transplants).
Sorry for the rant, but I thought I would start a thread for those of us who just needed to vent about their gardens.
Sammie K.

montanamato · July 31, 2009

I really want to rant but am afriad if I really got going I wouldn't be able to stop...I guess I am thankful for the past 25 years of good harvests, because the grasshoppers got everything this year and there will be no harvest....I too, have trays of seedlings of escarole and other greens I should be replanting in the cold frame, but I haven't been up to clearing out the 4 inches of dead hoppers in there...
At least the weather has cooled down..81 for a high and 46 last night...

Jeanne

Nightshade · July 31, 2009

IETA: Oh, my, Jeanne, you posted while I was writing to Sammie. If anyone ever deserved an opportunity to rant, you do. 4 Inches of grass hoppers? You had a plague! I'm so sorry. Rant away!

Sammie, I can feel your pain. We have the heat and the ground squirrels here in an over abundance. BobEx or some othe predature urine spray will help protect your plants until you get the fence built, but gardening becomes a real chore in this season.

I think of it as the learning season. Every year, same thing....learning what plants are going to curl up and die no matter what you do, and learning how to keep the rest alive and, hopefully, productive.

This is also the time of year when I remember all ove again, why it is that I like container gardening. I have almost filled my sunporch with 25 pots of squirrel-chomped veggies and herbs. Obviously I didnt get the predator urine sprayed in time to protect them this year, but now that they are all inside, I'm rather enamored of the idea. I have a whole vegetable garden going in there...complete with a praying mantis that hitched a ride on a pepper plant!

Is there anyway you can you set up an indoor area? I have a $20 Baker's Rack from a thrift shop that is light enough to be moved around. If I need it in a spot that doesn't get south sun, I clamp on some infexpensive CFC lights. It's not ideal, but it's better than no having no starts come autumn.

Jan

spyfferoni · July 31, 2009

I have given up on this year and just hope I'll have good health and a cooperative baby next year. The weeds are doing fabulous though! Somedays I wonder why I bothered planting anything at all this Spring. Hopefully I'll get some decent ripe tomatoes and a few peppers from my neglected garden.

beeman · July 31, 2009

I share all your pain, but I have the complete opposite, rain and cold. Add to that another year with my 'wilts' problems.
As to the weeds, you might try 'solarizing' the whole garden. I run the tiller through, turning everything under, then water well, cover the whole thing with 'black' plastic and leave it to cook in the sun, for a few weeks..
I have done it now for three years and 'do not' suffer any weeds. The garden grows well, weather permitting, but the plastic cooks the weed seed.
What have you got to lose, give it a try.

velikipop · July 31, 2009

Sammie et al,

Don't give up. It will get better, there is always next year, and sometimes it can get worse. We had an awful year last year and what looks to be an outstanding one this year. The vageries of gardening and all the unknowns make me appreciate what old time homesteaders and farmers had to deal with and some still do. I think that to be a gardener you always have to be optimistic and accept whatever Mother Nature throws at you.

Alex

dice · July 31, 2009

I bet those grasshoppers would make good fertilizer. Maybe
mix them into the compost pile, or just bag up a few bushels
and save them for next year.

One could gather up a bunch of them and go trout fishing,
too. You may not have vegetables, but at least you will have
fresh trout. They like grasshoppers as much as grasshoppers
like veggies.

cottonpicker · July 31, 2009

I hear you....and , this weird year, will agree. I am losing several of my plants to Late Blight. Maybe all of them, eventually. Very discouraging....

Nightshade · July 31, 2009

Cottonpicker, I understand that it's a problem all along the East Coast. That's heartbreaking to watch.

On the bright side, I haven't yet seen a horn worm this year. Yet, anyway. I wonder if the odor of the coco shell mulch has faked them out, or if the moths that lay the eggs just haven't arrived?

Jan

lj in ny · July 31, 2009

I had a neighbor when I was a kid who ate chocolate covered grasshoppers. My mom said it was a delicacy-EEWE!!! Maybe you could try making chocolate covered grasshoppers and market it as a "boutique farm-grown gourmet delicacy"! Rich people will buy the craziest things!

AZRuss · August 3, 2009

I just posted in another thread somewhere that I'm afraid the intense July/August heat we're having here might preclude a fall crop. The seedlings that I have gotten out are hanging on but I don't know how long they can take it. On top of the heat, the afternoon winds have been quite strong. Wierd weather year just about everywhere it seems.

desertlzbn · August 5, 2009

Well I have two trays of plants, I plan on separating them tomorrow. They just have the first couple of true leaves emerging, so I hope they do ok. I also have about 12 plants that are almost 4 inches high in 4 inch pots, I need to get them in the ground, but cannot hardly stand being outside right now.
Good luck Russ.

AZRuss · August 5, 2009

You too Sammie. Let me know how it turns out. Two more of my 8-week-old seedlings died today. I deliberately cut back for fall harvest. Started with 16. Down to 10. One by one....

I have two Black Krims and one Moreton inside under lights, about 3 weeks old. These may be my only hope unless Mesquite Valley Growers comes up with some large seedlings soon. I might even settle for Celebrity.

kdoble · August 6, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by cottonpicker

I am losing several of my plants to Late Blight. Maybe all of them, eventually. .

I am so sorry you've been affected.

I live 1 mile from VF Nat'l Park...I beg you for mercy and pull the plug on those plants.

Have you been able to enjoy any tomatoes this season? So far I have only had a few Sungold's that weren't that sweet. I keep my fingers crossed that the ripening gets going on the others before disease takes over.

cottonpicker · August 6, 2009

Not to worry 'bout wind-borne spores. I yanked'em out, bagged & trashed the diseased ones. Couldn't take a chance. Have gotten some ripe Earl's Faux, Black Mtn. Pink, Sungolds, Stump of the World & Lg. Red Cherry.
Wish you good luck, neighbor! (I live in Shannondell)

July 30, 2009	#1
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	I feel like giving up! It has been in the 100's for the last three weeks (at least), I am still getting some tomatoes, but I have set out 3 seed trays and every time it seems like something happens to them. The birds eat the plants, a dust devil comes through and knocks them over, or they just plain dry out. At this rate I am only going to have 8 plants this winter. Then there is the problem of it is just to danged hot to go outside and do anything. The other night at 10 o Clock it was 100 outside. I have to go build a fence around the garden to keep out the ground squirrels but I just cannot get up the muster to go out in the heat to do it. I know I just won't have much of a garden this winter if I don't start stuff now, but danged it all, I am sick of this heat (and the gosh darnoodleyed critters eating my transplants). Sorry for the rant, but I thought I would start a thread for those of us who just needed to vent about their gardens. Sammie K.

July 31, 2009	#3
Nightshade Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: So. California Posts: 178	IETA: Oh, my, Jeanne, you posted while I was writing to Sammie. If anyone ever deserved an opportunity to rant, you do. 4 Inches of grass hoppers? You had a plague! I'm so sorry. Rant away! Sammie, I can feel your pain. We have the heat and the ground squirrels here in an over abundance. BobEx or some othe predature urine spray will help protect your plants until you get the fence built, but gardening becomes a real chore in this season. I think of it as the learning season. Every year, same thing....learning what plants are going to curl up and die no matter what you do, and learning how to keep the rest alive and, hopefully, productive. This is also the time of year when I remember all ove again, why it is that I like container gardening. I have almost filled my sunporch with 25 pots of squirrel-chomped veggies and herbs. Obviously I didnt get the predator urine sprayed in time to protect them this year, but now that they are all inside, I'm rather enamored of the idea. I have a whole vegetable garden going in there...complete with a praying mantis that hitched a ride on a pepper plant! Is there anyway you can you set up an indoor area? I have a $20 Baker's Rack from a thrift shop that is light enough to be moved around. If I need it in a spot that doesn't get south sun, I clamp on some infexpensive CFC lights. It's not ideal, but it's better than no having no starts come autumn. Jan Last edited by Nightshade; July 31, 2009 at 07:50 PM.

July 31, 2009	#6
velikipop Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Langley, BC Posts: 768	Sammie et al, Don't give up. It will get better, there is always next year, and sometimes it can get worse. We had an awful year last year and what looks to be an outstanding one this year. The vageries of gardening and all the unknowns make me appreciate what old time homesteaders and farmers had to deal with and some still do. I think that to be a gardener you always have to be optimistic and accept whatever Mother Nature throws at you. Alex __________________ I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan

July 31, 2009	#7
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I bet those grasshoppers would make good fertilizer. Maybe mix them into the compost pile, or just bag up a few bushels and save them for next year. One could gather up a bunch of them and go trout fishing, too. You may not have vegetables, but at least you will have fresh trout. They like grasshoppers as much as grasshoppers like veggies. __________________ -- alias

July 31, 2009	#8
cottonpicker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SE PA..near Valley Forge Posts: 839	I hear you....and , this weird year, will agree. I am losing several of my plants to Late Blight. Maybe all of them, eventually. Very discouraging.... __________________ "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause". Victor Hugo

July 31, 2009	#2
montanamato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Montana Posts: 1,038	I really want to rant but am afriad if I really got going I wouldn't be able to stop...I guess I am thankful for the past 25 years of good harvests, because the grasshoppers got everything this year and there will be no harvest....I too, have trays of seedlings of escarole and other greens I should be replanting in the cold frame, but I haven't been up to clearing out the 4 inches of dead hoppers in there... At least the weather has cooled down..81 for a high and 46 last night... Jeanne

July 31, 2009	#4
spyfferoni Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 675	I have given up on this year and just hope I'll have good health and a cooperative baby next year. The weeds are doing fabulous though! Somedays I wonder why I bothered planting anything at all this Spring. Hopefully I'll get some decent ripe tomatoes and a few peppers from my neglected garden.

July 31, 2009	#5
beeman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 692	I share all your pain, but I have the complete opposite, rain and cold. Add to that another year with my 'wilts' problems. As to the weeds, you might try 'solarizing' the whole garden. I run the tiller through, turning everything under, then water well, cover the whole thing with 'black' plastic and leave it to cook in the sun, for a few weeks.. I have done it now for three years and 'do not' suffer any weeds. The garden grows well, weather permitting, but the plastic cooks the weed seed. What have you got to lose, give it a try.

July 31, 2009	#10
lj in ny Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: NY Posts: 58	I had a neighbor when I was a kid who ate chocolate covered grasshoppers. My mom said it was a delicacy-EEWE!!! Maybe you could try making chocolate covered grasshoppers and market it as a "boutique farm-grown gourmet delicacy"! Rich people will buy the craziest things!

August 3, 2009	#11
AZRuss Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 171	I just posted in another thread somewhere that I'm afraid the intense July/August heat we're having here might preclude a fall crop. The seedlings that I have gotten out are hanging on but I don't know how long they can take it. On top of the heat, the afternoon winds have been quite strong. Wierd weather year just about everywhere it seems.

August 5, 2009	#12
desertlzbn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 659	Well I have two trays of plants, I plan on separating them tomorrow. They just have the first couple of true leaves emerging, so I hope they do ok. I also have about 12 plants that are almost 4 inches high in 4 inch pots, I need to get them in the ground, but cannot hardly stand being outside right now. Good luck Russ.

August 6, 2009	#15
cottonpicker Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: SE PA..near Valley Forge Posts: 839	Not to worry 'bout wind-borne spores. I yanked'em out, bagged & trashed the diseased ones. Couldn't take a chance. Have gotten some ripe Earl's Faux, Black Mtn. Pink, Sungolds, Stump of the World & Lg. Red Cherry. Wish you good luck, neighbor! (I live in Shannondell) __________________ "Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause". Victor Hugo