Sjoerd, your strawberries look edible. Right off the computer. You spoke of rain. We sure would welcome rain here. The clouds hold promise, but they often tease. I'm hoping our squash and zucchini aren't attacked by Squash beetles. I saw a couple flitting about, but I see no evidence of eggs. We ate a few small ones already.
Thanks for your comments, GP. They were quite a tasty bunch this year. I had the last harvest last night and promptly singled out some really good fruits for some shortcake and whipped cream. I just couldn't let all those go into the freezer without a final quality control.
i think a moderator should ban pictures like those strawberries its not helping my diet at all i've had similar good results with our strawberries this year and managed to stop the birds, squirrels and everything from eating them first. Out of interest how many plants do you have as i'm looking to buy some more for our strawberry mound, as my 4 plants aren't producing enough... I growing corn for the first time this year and its looking good so far. currently about 3-4ft high. other than keeping it watered and weeded is there anything else i should be doing with the corn at this stage?
You have just starved me to death Sjoerd.The only time I tried to raise strawberries over nite the cut worms ate the tops out.I got a lot of fresh ones but was so upset when the worms killed them.Loved the photos from above.
Hello DAN--Good to see you, mate! Where've you been keeping yourself? What a nice thing to say about the straw pic. Hahaha--that was the best kind of compliment. Good news that you are having (or had) a good harvest this year. Hmmmm....How many plants do I have? Let me think a moment. I believe that I had ~60 plants, all told in all of the beds. I am pulling out most of my plants , in fact I totally demolished the beds over in the new garden today. I shall be getting rid of all of my plants this year and buying new ones. I shall also take some plantlets from a few plants that I will let stand until august. After I have the plantlets, I will destroy those 'mother' plants as well, after I have the plantlets cut free and planted-on in a new bed. I can see that you would like to expand your your strawberry bed--four plants would not be enough for me either. As for the corn. Your corn is way taller than mine at the moment, but since posting this thread, it has grown quite a bit...but still not as tall as yours. You asked about doing things at this stage--I can't think of anything except perhaps adding some bone meal and earthing-up. But this is something that I would have to see with my own eyes in person there. I apologize but I cannot reallybe specific, as I sort of use a combination of "reading" the soil and weather conditions as well as knopwing the history of the plants...you know, like how the plants have been developing. I would like to ask you if you fertilized your corn plants at the time of planting...and did you plant them as seeds in the ground , or did you transplant them? Did you plant them in level or sunken ground, or in furrows? At any rate, good luck with your corn this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed for mine as the conditions have not been 'usual', nor do I have any indicatiuon that the weather will change to a more hotter and dryer trend.
Hello DAN--Good to see you, mate! Where've you been keeping yourself? What a nice thing to say about the straw pic. Hahaha--that was the best kind of compliment. Good news that you are having (or had) a good harvest this year. Hmmmm....How many plants do I have? Let me think a moment. I believe that I had ~60 plants, all told in all of the beds. I am pulling out most of my plants , in fact I totally demolished the beds over in the new garden today. I shall be getting rid of all of my plants this year and buying new ones. I shall also take some plantlets from a few plants that I will let stand until august. After I have the plantlets, I will destroy those 'mother' plants as well, after I have the plantlets cut free and planted-on in a new bed. I can see that you would like to expand your your strawberry bed--four plants would not be enough for me either. As for the corn. Your corn is way taller than mine at the moment, but since posting this thread, it has grown quite a bit...but still not as tall as yours. You asked about doing things at this stage--I can't think of anything except perhaps adding some bone meal and earthing-up. But this is something that I would have to see with my own eyes in person there. I apologize but I cannot really be specific, as I sort of use a combination of "reading" the soil and weather conditions as well as knowing the history of the plants...you know, like how the plants have been developing. I would like to ask you if you fertilized your corn plants at the time of planting...and did you plant them as seeds in the ground , or did you transplant them? Did you plant them in level or sunken ground, or in furrows? At any rate, good luck with your corn this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed for mine as the conditions have not been 'usual', nor do I have any indication that the weather will change to a more hotter and dryer trend. Hello GLENDA--So nice to hear from you. Glad that you liked the posting. What a shame about those cut worms ruining your strawbs. Do you think that you will try again sometime?
thanks buddy, been melting in our hot early summer. Thanks for the strawberry count, Gives me a good target to aim for.. no probs on the corn i didn't expect to do anything but wanted to check as i know you often have some tricks up your sleeve as for planting i have them in a raised bed direct sowed them as seed pretty early in the year. I have put leaf mulch down to slow the weeds and prevent drying of our sandy/clay soil mix. Fertilised them when they were small to give them a boost. and been watering them consistently with a soaker hose under the leaf mulch. Heres how it looks at the moment, probably sown closer than it should but i was keen to get it 4 rows wide for polination. My first Corn growing season ( photo / image / picture from Danjensen's Garden ) heres a shot of the bottom of the plants to my untrained eye they look strong. bottom of corn plants ( photo / image / picture from Danjensen's Garden )
Sjoerd I don't think i'll ever plant anymore.Cut worms everywhere here.Its already so hot and the cut worms seem to to thrive on heat.Your posts are always so interesting.Thank you for so much information.
Thanks DAN-- I was glad to read your info concerning how you planted and how you care for your corn. I sounds like you are really on the ball with your crop. I would get rid of those weeds down around the base of your plants though. I try and keep them down as long as I can and until they have ears with kernels on them. I am a bit fanatic on this point because I feel that even the smallest weed takes away too much nutrition at this developing stage of the corn plant's growth. I do this with my other crops as well because it is important to me that my new little plantlets get as good a beginning as is possible. I cannot wait to see how your harvest turns out. GLENDA--I can understand your frustration completely. I wish that I lived around the corner from you, I'd come over and help you sift through your soil and remove these most diabolical of pests.
Sjoerd, I'm almost fanatic about weeds too, but the heat makes it difficult to persevere. Glendann, we use rods made from wire clothes hangers. Sections are cut about 5 inches long and inserted half way into the soil alongside the plant. The cutworms cannot cut through the wire. We haven't had a problem since we began using them. Also keeps Black birds from stealing the tomato and pepper plants. Maybe this would work for you?
GP--I am glad to hear that there is another "weeder". Sometimes I get a bit carried-away with weeding, but when I see something else to do, I shift jobs to get a different body position. Hahaha. The heat plays a definate role, you are right.
don't want to hijack your post, but wanted to ask for more advice on the corn... Just wanted to check with you on the info i have read. i've now got tassles forming on the top and i believe the silks are the fine hairs on the main stem which are now a cm long. I think i'm right in the pollination occurs with the tassles dropping pollen onto the silks. So if i give the corn a shake, it mimics the wind blowing. (not a lot of wind at the moment.) first time growing corn and i'm fascinated by the polination method. very ingenious.
When I speak of "silks", I am talking about the fine strands that stick out of the end of corn ears. They begin with a light colour and then eventually turn very dark brown. Yes, pollination occur when the pollen in the tassels is deposited onto the silks. I always give my corn little shakes (just to be sure) from time to time when the wind is still.
I probably gained 10 more pounds by just looking at that yummy dessert. My mouth is watering so . . .
