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MacBeth
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| Posted: Oct 15 2005 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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Ouch!
On the list of things I will NEVER plant again in any garden I ever own (unless I suddenly become a serf in fairy-tale land, and wish to make trouble for the ogre who has taken over the castle...):
#1:  Gourds! OK, I planted 2--count 'em!--2 gourd seeds, and I have several hundred gourds. First, they wrapped their insidious little vines around and around my garden, choking off the corn, squash, watermelons, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, etc. Then, they tried to escape my yard by climbing up the neighbor's border of lovely young arborvitae. Then (and if this does not beat all, what does??), the two plants burst into flower, which, of course, attracted swarms of pollinators, and began to fruit in a most prolific way! Paul sold a few at the beach, and I did drop some off to unsuspecting friends  , but I went back outside today after 9 days of unbelievable rain, only to find 30 or so more gourds under the leaves. When will this nightmare end??
#2:  Tiny tomatoes. What a waste. All that plant for a mouthful of taste.
#3:  Spherical yellow cucumbers. The dog consistently mistook them for tennis balls and ran off with them. Oh, and they are impossible to peel. And they were full of huge seeds. Never again!
Time to  the garden and prepare for next year...remind me of this post in the spring, OK?
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog 
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alicegunther
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| Posted: Oct 15 2005 at 7:25pm | IP Logged
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A friend of mine had pumpkins take over a quarter of her yard after a squirrel ate a pumpkin decorating her porch and scattered seeds everywhere!
BTW, my girls said your tiny tomatoes were the best they ever tasted!
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mother of seven!
     
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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mary
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| Posted: Oct 15 2005 at 8:15pm | IP Logged
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I would never have a garden without Sweet 100s! One man's poison and all that. Thanks for the hint on the gourds. Last year I bought some and the kids made birdhouses for Christmas presents. I considered planting a few from the seeds we took out. Now I will know better - especially after our pumpkins did a similar take over this summer.
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Kelly
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| Posted: Oct 16 2005 at 9:31am | IP Logged
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I think we had too much rain and humidity this summer. The only thing we managed to grow with any success was beans. Lots of bugs, too.
When we were in Yorktown, we noticed the "colonial farm" used guinea hens for pest control. I used to have these as a child, but don't remember much about them. Anyone out there ever raised guineas? My children are agitating to get some for our bug-covered garden. Any experience out there? Do guineas "do" eggs that you can eat, too? As a child, I primarily remember chasing them ...and the fact that they "barked" at night at intruders. Well, not a REAL bark, but they made a ruckus if they noticed anything unusual, veritable little watchbirds.
BTW, I'm with you Mary on the Sweet 100s. They are soooo yummy. Macbeth, how can you spurn tiny tommy toes?
Kelly in FL
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Sarah
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| Posted: Oct 16 2005 at 8:40pm | IP Logged
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My mistake this year was planting everything too close together, so when I was 9 months pregnant, I couldn't get at anything. I could see everything ripening, but I couldn't reach it. I would just stand there, gigantic and helpless, peering into the entangled kingdom, longing for the fruits of my labor. Why didn't I send the kids into it? I did, and it was "itchy." Now that we had a frost that killed off the leaves, I can't believe what was under there. Cucumber baseball bats, and I don't want to even tell you about the tomato mess. Next year-follow the suggested spacing. I also didn't pull volunteer cosmos and they added to the chaos.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Oct 18 2005 at 9:16am | IP Logged
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Kelly wrote:
BTW, I'm with you Mary on the Sweet 100s. They are soooo yummy. Macbeth, how can you spurn tiny tommy toes?
Kelly in FL |
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You know, I have planted some kind of cherry or smaller tomato most years, and been pleased, but this year I was stunned by the tomatoes my uncle planted...they ware a medium sized "4th of July" variety, and they are astonishingly abundant producers, and delicious. I am a convert! The plants were fairly compact, and the harvest was so great that he froze many, many tomatoes for sauce all year (uncle is Italian). So next year, I'm with him.
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
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Karen E.
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| Posted: Oct 18 2005 at 10:13am | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
BTW, my girls said your tiny tomatoes were the best they ever tasted! |
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We grew delicious little grape tomatoes this year but I have yet to convince my children that they're a treat. Last night at dinner I said, "Girls, the Gunther girls LOVE these things! You should give them another try."
Emily's response? "I'll send them these."
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Karen E.
mom to three on earth, and several souls in God's care
Visit my blog, with its shockingly clever title, "Karen Edmisten."
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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| Posted: Oct 18 2005 at 10:29am | IP Logged
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I love the little tomatos but I am with MacBeth on the gourds. I have had them over run my garden and then pop up in the compost and then the garden again as the compost goes into the garden.  Now I only plant birdhouse gourds and they trellis on a large teepee.
God Bless,
Wendi
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Sarah
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| Posted: Oct 18 2005 at 12:41pm | IP Logged
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Macbeth-
Could you find out more about those tomatoes. Does he buy seeds from somewhere? Where do we get them? That's what I need in my garden. I, too planted, many sweet 100's and my kids aren't big on them.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Oct 18 2005 at 1:28pm | IP Logged
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Hey Sarah!
Burpee carries 4th of July hybrids. Oh, and they look just like the photo, and they taste even better  .
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Gourd again? NOT!
