[apcohrs]

I only tried tomatillos once; didn't get anything and have not tried again.

My problem this year is cucumbers. ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!
I'm drowning in cukes!!!

[Laurierace]

Drowning in cucumbers is a good thing! People like those so they are easy to give away. I have given away at least 20 this week.

[grayarabpony]

Did you only have one tomatillo plant? Have to have more than one.

[Bacardi1]

That's strange. I have seeds for both green & purple tomatillos, but didn't get to plant them this season. Am hoping they'll still be viable for next year. That said, everyone I know around here who grows them has them coming out of their ears.

Two things I can tell you that folks around here have told me when I asked about them is 1) tomatillos don't self-pollinate. You need at least two plants - more would be better - in order to get fruit; & 2) tomatillos will frequently flower & then sit with the blooms till later in the season, then suddenly start setting fruit like crazy. So I guess the gist is you need several plants & a lot of patience?

[Laurierace]

Did you only have one tomatillo plant? Have to have more than one.

Ah, that explains it! Yes, I did have just one. Those things are giant, not sure I would want two of them.

[pony grandma]

Kroger has this new health salad $7.99/lb and I can make it mostly from my garden for a lot less and fresher too:

thin slice fresh raw young kale leaves (remove ribs)
cut thin carrot stix
cherry tomatoes
edamames
small cuts of broc, can slice some young broc leaves too
sunflowers seeds
dried cranberries
fresh blueberries
red onion
you can add some nuts too

I topped it off with some white balsamic vinegar dressing.

This really went well with some BLT's tonight. A once a yr treat that we can't pass up!

[CarolinaGirl]

Finally picked my big watermelon today, 29.2 pounds!! We're still trying to decide what to do with it... we have considered making it a vodka melon lol: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...4&l=6ea2acccd3

[2DogsFarm]

I only tried tomatillos once; didn't get anything and have not tried again.

My problem this year is cucumbers. ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!
I'm drowning in cukes!!!

Wish I wuz U
My pickling cukes are not producing a lot.

From your big cukes you can make freezer pickles and have them all Winter:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1836...253196,00.html

I am drowning in peaches!
They are small but delicious.
So far I've made microwave peach butter, peach jam in the crockpot, peach bread pudding & a peach cake. I am getting tired of peaches in my cereal, peaches out of hand & peach smoothies.
I had some people pick the tree - along with my 2 pear trees - and all are pretty well done now.
Next is the apple trees - 3 of them loaded with fruit & just starting to ripen.

My big tomato plants are not putting out a lot of fruit but the yellow pear tomatoes are going nuts.
Summer squash is going very slow and the Winter squash seems to have succumbed to some sort of rot that ate out the vines, although they are still blossoming.

Carolinagirl:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/s...ipe/index.html

[SmartAlex]

I have decided... there's nothing attractive about an August vegetable garden.... But my side looks a lot prettier than the neighbor's side. All their squash and cukes succumbed to mildew and have been pulled out.

Yesterday I finally hacked into the tomato vines and restored order. It was a leafy green jungle! And the cucumber vines, which are also holding up well and disease free, have new blossoms on them. Maybe I'll get a late crop?

Beans are in full swing. Last year I froze 6 gallons. Goal for this year is only 3 gallons.

Onions have been pulled. Potatoes need to be dug. Anyone know how long I can leave potatoes in the ground and not begin to lose them? Seems early to be digging them.

[CarolinaGirl]

Started clearing out the beds today. I removed the watermelon and cantaloupe vines that are done. As well as the dead corn stalks and the dead sunflower. I dug up the rest of the sweet potatoes, as I dug one up about two weeks ago to check them out. We got a probably two good sized potatoes from most plants plus some smaller ones (http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...31387317_n.jpg). Anyway cleared off the trellis of sweet potato vines, with plans to put in fall green beans and then probably some snap peas as well eventually. I also dug up the onions that I planted late... probably too late as they didn't do very well at all and were total duds.

I planted some soybeans for edamame about three weeks ago. I was under the impressions that they were free standing plants, but these seriously seem like they want to vine... they pretty much have that small bed to themselves though so I've just let them do whatever they want.

[Saskatoonian]

I was just skimming this thread with my stomach growling and getting depressed that I'm hopelessly incapable of growing any food but herbs, when I realized that I do seem to have 1 talent: berries of the prickly variety. This year was amazing for raspberries and blackberries for some reason.

But back to the discovery. I have a couple of thornless blackberry bushes - triple crown, maybe. Very cultivated. I also have a line of wild blackberry bushes along the back of my yard. Taste test time. The cultivated berries were gorgeous and nearly golf ball-sized, but they tasted like nothing. The wild berries were amazing. Just a little PSA from the veggie-impaired. Back to my flowers.

[JB]

I *love* wild blackberries. Love love love.

There are some thornless cultivated ones that are fantabuluos - my Dad has some. A few of the biggest roundest ones are too watered down, but they're far and few between. Most of them have SO much flavor, varying from a bit sour if they are smaller and more dense, to sweeter if they are bigger and more plump, but omg are they delicious.

[buck22]

I have decided... there's nothing attractive about an August vegetable garden....

Potatoes need to be dug. Anyone know how long I can leave potatoes in the ground and not begin to lose them? Seems early to be digging them.

Absolutely agree about August. SO and I were bickering yesterday over the state of the garden (it looks so lovely in June, now its a jungle), and I had to remind him "it looks like hell *every* August, welcome to the end of summer".

I have found potatoes will stay in the ground without rotting for a good long while as long as the ground is on the dry side. If wet, dig very carefully to avoid scratching them, or wait until it dries out before digging. I stop watering potatoes when they flower, wait for the greens to almost completely die back. Potato bags did not do well this year in the heat.... small taters, small yield, but STILL beats store bought.

With our warm winter I am going to try setting up a greenhouse and doing a winter crop of potatoes.

Anyone know what the farmer's almanac has to say about this winter coming up?

[SmartAlex]

That's the trouble with potatoes... rain prediction.

I watered mine a little in June, but it's really hard to get inspired to water a potato patch. The first row went in 6 weeks early (even survived a snowstorm) so those were dug weeks ago with good yield and we are set with useable potatoes until frost.

I'm going to dump my pots because I seem to have gotten too wet a mixture in two of them and I'm worried the potatoes those will rot. Two pots are still green and nice so they can stay.

The last two rows have recently died back completely. I may check on one end of them and see just how damp things are under there. It is on a slope so it drains well, but we have been getting consistent 1/2" of rain every few days for the past two weeks and it is more moist now than it has been all year. I'm just trying to decide if they will keep better in my basement or the dirt. Decisions decisions.

[carolprudm]

I only tried tomatillos once; didn't get anything and have not tried again.

My problem this year is cucumbers. ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!
I'm drowning in cukes!!!

Try braising them!
Peel, seed and shred 3 large but still green cucs. Mix in about 1 tablespoon salt and put the shreds in a colandar in the sink.

Let sit for an hour or so. Remove by handfulls and squeeze out as much moisture as you can and dump into a shallow baking dish with some minced onion and herb of choice, I used tarragon. Bake at 375 for an hour. I served this with broiled salmon and lemon sauce....hald mayo, half sour cream and lemon juice.

2 people ate 3 cucs that was.

You can also make cucumber soup and freeze it(before you add the sour cream)

http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/juli...er-soup-312887

I used tarragon though