Oh, and Larry, those sweet potatoes look great to me.

Gonna edit this, I just did a quick google and yes, its stink bugs , this is what I found, and exactly what I'm seeing

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2011

tomatoes have been ripening like crazy. Those 3 bushes have been producing way faster than we can consume them all.

Which wouldn't be a problem because i can just give them to people all day long. who wouldn't like fresh, free, organic tomatoes right?

Well, that would be a good plan except that the tomatoes have these small yellow spots all over the face of them.

The small yellow spots on the tomatoes are caused by brown stinkbugs that i've seen around the yard. The term more commonly used is "cloudy spot". Its annoying b/c they seem to have hit every single tomato, leaving none sans spots.

They're pretty much harmless and can be eaten but the aesthetic damage leaves them a bit less appealing... :(

And this is the reason they call it cloudy spot right here. When the thin skin is pulled back a white "cloudy" spot is left behind where the stinkbug was feeding. Highly annoying and hard to control.

Thinking of using sevin dust but it's banned in the UK among other places so i am very apprehensive about using it. Literature says that it does not penetrate plant tissue, but they had to have banned it in the UK for some reason. I know that it (carbaryl, AKA sevin) can be used to make MIC that was the main cause of the plant disaster in Bhopal (killing thousands), so maybe that was a big factor in banning it...? not sure but i'll have to look further into it before i use it.

I just got in from preping an acre of land for neighbor for late crop. I noticed what looked like a grasshopper migration, south to my place, and I don't need them. Following the grasshoppers was a swarm of dragon flies, hope they were going to eat them.

The weather is getting too hot for me to get anything done. I always have something that needs repaired or harvested, and I don't like doing either in the 90 + weather.

Amy, I went out to check around more of my sweet potatoes, I did not dig any more of them, but I can tell that at least some of them are trying to put on potatoes. I will try to remove more of the weeds to give them a better chance to produce. We should have two more months for them to grow, and with a little help there should be enough to place some in storage.

It is so hot outside, I can only stand it for a short period of time. I did managed to pull a few weeds and pick 1/2 of a 5 gal bucket of tomatoes, now I need to find someone to give tomatoes to. I had to leave the tomatoes in the bucket because the counter tops are already full.

This is getting to be the time of the year to be blessed with splitting tomatoes.

On another forum, a man in Tahlequah area showed pictures of grasshoppers eating a dead snake. This is the second year they've eaten everything. Another person said they've moved to his squash, apparently less favored up to now.

It has been too hot to do much outside. Madge and I both try do do a little in the morning and evening, whenever we are not running back and forth to the doctor.

We have been giving a lot of produce away, but we are glad to be able to do that.

I started way too many plants this year. I started 3 different types of sweet potatoes. I found some growing in the pasture, I must have thrown some small potatoes out there for the deer to eat, and they failed to eat them.

I hope y'all are getting more rain than I am. I will have to haul water to some plants in the wildlife garden soon if we don't get a rain.

The grasshoppers are worse already than they got by the end of summer last year, but so far this has been a much better gardening year.

We are shown to have 100% chance of rain today, I went out and got hit by a few sprinkles, I hope that is not our 100% chance. The way the wind is bouncing around we could almost get anything.

I've had 3/4 of an inch today Larry. My radar looks like you'll get some.

Apparently dragonflies do eat grasshoppers. How cool is that. Unfortunately they also eat bees and butterflies. Plants that attract dragonflies are

• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• White Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
• Meadow Sage (Salvia marcus)

Amy, we have had quite a bit of cloud cover today, and a little rain in northwest Arkansas. The front that moved through here gave a few sprinkles, but not even enough to have to use the windshield wipers if you were driving in it. I will load up my 2 water barrels and water the 2 rows of peppers in the wildlife garden. I also have a row of flowers that I may water in the wildlife garden, but it is getting the time of the year that I have to start planning on pulling the plug on a lot of my plants.

I drove around on my place and neighbors place this morning. The grasshoppers seem to be worse on my sweet potatoes than anywhere else I went. I am trying to blame that on the Johnson grass in my sweet potatoes, and it always seems that I find grasshopper favoring Johnson grass.

I may be the only one stupid enough to get out in this heat, but I want to show you a couple of pictures.

This is the row of sunflowers, zinnias, roselle I have planted in the wildlife garden. The zinnias seem to be smothered out by sunflowers and roselle, but I think they still improve the looks of the wildlife harden.

This is neighbor's market garden. I can't take any credit for this, other than working the soil. We are trying to get stuff planted for fall.

Beautiful pictures Larry

Thanks, Kim. Neighbor really works hard in his garden, but things are getting rough, watering is going to become a problem.

I picked produce to give to daughter and grand daughter tomorrow, I gave away to three families yesterday, but the quality of the produce is dropping fast. I seem to be having more problems with insects than neighbor is. I have not sprayed yet, but I think that he maybe has sprayed a little. Squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes seem to be hit the hardest. Peppers and egg plant are holding up pretty well against the insects so far. I don't ever remember seeing as many lacewings as I have this year.

Thanks for sharing your pictures, Larry. That's so cool that you have so many lacewings. I certainly noticed a lot more of them and their eggs this year...along with the ladybugs. We had a lot of aphids and finally we're getting a decent number of green lacewings along with the ladybugs. Do you have a lot of aphids?

Your flowers are pretty. I had to cut down a couple of wild sunflowers that were bullying other plants. I do like the wild ones, but they really need to stay in the burn pile "garden". They just get so big and tall.

Jennifer, I had a lot of aphids, and I am sure I still have many, but my plants are really going down hill and I don't check them as often, or as closely. With the weather like it is, I spend less time in the garden. I am losing a lot of tomatoes to splitting and insects, and I wont go to great lengths to save them. I will still work to keep my okra and sweet potatoes going. I will also plant some fall stuff a little later. Madge and I are just not able to do the work that we use to do.

Where did everyone go? I have been a little under the weather and have not even dressed today. I have been a little depressed also, I have lost two more classmates in a week. It seems as though you have to work harder to get past 80.

My min/max is showing 100 degrees, if it is that hot where you are, maybe you should stay inside.

Well me and Jennifer has been busy canning vegetable soup:

It's been hot here too. about 100 degrees every day.

We're having to start watering now.

Rick

I need to water this evening, but I don't feel like it. We can only water every other day if we use the city water. When I get to feeling better I will start hauling well water or pond water, but that is a lot of work for what I get.

Seems like everyone has been busy. Larry, sorry you're not feeling well. And I'm sorry about your friends. When it gets hot, I get depressed. I know that a lot of people get depressed in the winter, but I don't.

I'm not depressed yet, though. But only because it's been a good year overall. I'll come back with a side-by-side comparison of last year and this year.

It's been busy around here, but I haven't really been posting because I feel like I ramble too much and it's boring. Figured everyone could use a break from me.

My daughter had a seizure 8 days ago and landed in the ER. She's okay, but can't drive for 6 months. Her appointment to the neurologist isn't until next month. It's upsetting because a seizure killed my first son. I will need to set some boundaries with my second job as I need to be available for my daughter...to help her get to appointments and whatever else she needs.

The garden is good. I gave a crate of tomatoes to a neighbor, tho. She has a lot of them, but we've had more this year and she has been canning. I'm finished with canning tomatoes. The only other things I want to can are Rick's soup. (We did mine last Sunday.) Black beans and possibly cowpeas.

Tonight, I did what I love most about gardening. Weeded, pruned, tied-up plants--stuff like that. I found my Orb spider too! I have an Orb every year but haven't seen it this year. She is in my zinnia bed.

So funny. I was just thinking about "where is my Orb" yesterday. Then I find her today. She was wrapping up a stink bug.

I only got to 3 beds in 2 hours. But, feel better about it all. I hate that I haven't been caring for my plants properly.

I ate the first Kajari melon tonight. They are delicious. What a nice surprise. But, when they're ready, they're ready. There's no grace period there.

Anyway, there's still so much to do out there.

Finally got a Dr. Wyches tomato to save seeds from. Just started that process this morning, but ate a slice of the tomato with my egg this morning. So good. Those plants look awful, tho.

We are on Day 16 of Whole 30. So far, so good. I'm still hungry all the time, though. Tom isn't. And that is good.

I'll not ramble any longer.

Same trellis. this year and last year.

Jennifer, I always enjoy reading everyone's post. I spend a lot more time sitting in this recliner reading than I should, but my old body wont take the elements like it once did.

I am sorry to hear about your daughter. I cant understand what its like losing a child. My sister has lost two of her children, and has one that has had seizures all his life, and has lived much longer than the doctors said he would, he is in his 50's now. I talked to my sister a few days ago and she told me that he had been having a seizure almost ever day. My sister is 78 and has 2 of her grown children living with her, they sort of depend on one another, all 3 of them have major health issues.

Madge went out this evening and pick tomatoes, we have tomatoes everywhere. I am really proud of Madge, and the way she tries to step in and care for the garden. A few days ago she ask me to mix up some spray for her cucumbers, because they had squash bugs all over them.

The next time I looked at her cucumber plants, they looked like someone had poured gasoline all over them. When I ask Madge if she used what I had mixed up, she said no, that she just used some stuff she already had. I am sure that Madge sprayed weed killer on her cucumbers, I know that she felt bad about killing her cucumbers, but I told her I would plant some cucumbers for her as soon as I got to feeling better. I did not want to say much about her killing her plants, because she already felt bad, she was so proud of her plants, but I wont use the seeds she has left because she paid over 50 cents each for those seeds. I expect my seeds are less than a penny each, but it is too late to invest a lot in a cucumber crop.

I hit the end of July wall. Had all the gardening I want. My appetite for home grown tomato has been sated, though I'd die for one come first of the year.

Made all the pickles I can eat. Really enjoying the Tuffy Stone bread and butter recipe.

Not gonna think about the garden till its time to plant winter cover.

Jennifer I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter! We love your posts!

Larry I'm sorry you don't feel well.

I hear you Lynn. But I like a fall garden. I need some greens.

Lynn, what kind of cover crop are you going to plant? My neighbor said he was going to buy 30 pounds of turnip seed to plant as a cover crop. I told him that was at least 3 times what we needed, but he thinks he will sell a lot of turnip greens. I already have all the fall greens seed that I need, but because of the talk of food shortage I may buy a few more seed just to have on hand. I like to already have my seed before planting time.

We are still getting tomatoes, but not the quality as the early tomatoes. We have been giving a lot of tomatoes away. Madge said her son was coming down from Stilwell this weekend and wants to take tomatoes back for canning. I think that we will have all he will need here at the house, if not, we have another 2 or 3 hundred plants we can rob. The home grown tomatoes are not selling well, but the trucked in tomatoes are selling. Neighbor has given me a few of his trucked in tomatoes which I did not like much, they taste just like Walmart tomatoes.

Lynn, your remark about how good a tomato will taste about the first of the year, reminded me of a remark I made to Madge some years ago. We had had a house full of company over the Christmas, New Year holidays, and I was so tired of turkey and all the other holiday food. After all the company went home, I ask Madge if she would like to go out for a pizza. We like to go where they have a salad bar, and I got some tomatoes about the size of grapes. I told Madge that those tomatoes were the best tomatoes I had ever eaten, so I squeezed the seeds out of one and brought them home and prepped them for planting. In a few months I was harvesting some of those tomatoes, I guess that the flavor must have leaked out of those seeds before I got them planted, because they did not taste as good as my other tomatoes.

I go drool at the seed racks everywhere I go, my last "Drooling trip" I found some Sun Sugar tomato seeds, so I had to buy them. I have Sun Gold seeds (and plants all over this valley). The wildlife must not like cherry tomatoes, or the plants are producing more that they can eat.

I love to read what y'all write each week. As a new gardener, I NEED to read about your successes as well as your failures. Mr Slowpoke Gardener, you are a sweetheart. Don't quit writing about loving your garden and your sweet wife. Hazelinok, prayers for your daughter. And Lynn Dollar, I feel your pain. I thought I would never get enough fresh tomatoes to satisfy me but I didn't even bother to slice one for supper last night. Ha! I want to hear about your experiences with fall gardens. I would love to plant a row of purple hull peas. Is that an option? When should I plant? Would also love some turnips. I love greens. But wouldn't planting again and again deplete my soil? I have horses and cows so I have plenty of manure to till into the soil but I don't know when to do that either. On a happy note, I planted six watermelon hills from seed given to me and can count 32 watermelons and six big cantaloupes. Cantaloupes weren't even mentioned when I was given the seed so I guess they were just a bonus! Of course, I don't know when to pick either of them so there's that! I have so much to learn! I live in southeastern Oklahoma and it is hot as blazes here. I'm already dreaming of Christmas!

Pam if you want to plant purple hull peas , need to put them in now so they'll have time to produce before frost.

I usually plant turnips around the 1st of Sept for fall/winter cropping. I eat the greens while they're tender till they start getting a little rough and then leave to make the bulbs.

You can amend your ground with manure before planting if it's dried /composted some.

Don't use fresh horse manure. It has too much ammonia , could burn the ground.

I amend my garden ground with cow manure over the winter after fall cleanup and till in by early Feb before time to plant potatoes and onions.

For picking watermelons there's an old trick of thumping the melon , if the thump sounds hollow then it's ready. For cantaloupes when they're turning yellowish and the vine is about to break off , they're ready. Beware of varmints getting to them before you , things like possums will eat them inside out and leave you an empty hull.

https://southeastagnet.com/2020/10/06/how-tell-watermelon-ripe/

For me , fall gardens are harder to do than spring gardens cause you got to start them right in the August heat and the bugs .https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/fall-gardening.html

Rick

Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to know!

Pam be careful with manure and hay, if the animal has eaten hay that was spray with Grazon , I think I spelled properly, anyway some pasture sprays use to contain a herbicide that can pass through the digestive track of some live stock. I had some problem one year, now I am more picky about the manure and mulch I use. If you are in doubt, just test the compost with pea or bean seed, they sprout faster and show damage faster than some seeds.

Another garden chart you may want to check is the "Arkansas Year-Round Gardening chart". I don't know how to copy or make links, but there is a ton of info on the web.

Pam, if you love greens, try to find a spot in your garden for curly leaf mustard, I buy my seed at the Farmers Co-op. I expect that you have a Farmers Co-op near you. I go see my sister in DeQueen Ar. from time to time, and when I check their Farmers Co-op, I find that they have about the same seed supply that I find around Ft. Smith. If you can't find any, I will send you some of the seeds I bought in Ft. Smith, I expect that I have 3 or 4 OZ of curly leaf seed. I feel safer placing my money in seed than I do of putting it in the bank. The seed prices have really gone up, but my bank account hasn't.

I try to keep a supply of different types of greens seeds. Some times I use greens as a cover crop, but my #1 choice for a cover crop is Elbon rye, but I am getting old and beat-up, and the rye is harden to till in, and seems to keep the ground wet longer.

Larry, I'm going with rye grass, same as last year. Amazon says I bought it on this day last year, that's a scary coincidence

Amazon Rye grass

It wasn't that hard to till in last January. I mowed it and then tilled. This year, I'm gonna take a soil sample to OSU Ext before I plant the rye. Then I can compare to the soil test I had done last March. That should tell me what my plants took out of the soil. Then get another soil test next Feb. Just to see what planting a winter cover alone does to the nitrogen level and PH of the soil . I can't remember the last time I added anything to my garden except when I was planting onions, I would feed them with some 46-0-0 when I planted. It was Urea

Kajari melons!

Jennifer, that is quite a haul. I don't remember seeing a melon like that, are they very productive?

Larry, It seemed to take forever for them to ripen. But once they're ripe, they are ripe. And it happens so fast. Aren't they pretty? I've eaten 2 already (not the ones pictured), have the pictured ones and gave one to Jaco, our neighbor. Today, there will be more.

I would say they are productive as the vines are still covered with all sizes of fruits. I can't remember how many seeds I planted. Maybe six on each side of the trellis. It's hard to remember because something ate a few of the first seedlings and had to be replanted.

I chose them because they can deal with the heat and they're pretty. Even still green, the fruit looks pretty hanging from the trellis. They are on the east side of my kitchen garden, closest to the road. I like to have pretty things there for passersby. Jessica (R&R) did a video a couple of years ago and she said something about how you have to check the vines everyday, because they ripen fast and you have to get them quick. I can't remember how she worded it....but it stuck in my head.

There's a West Indian Gherkin that volunteered in the raised bed next to it. It's a vigorous plant as well, so they're duking it out for space right now.

The flavor the Karjari is similar to cantaloupe, but not exactly. It has a pretty green flesh like a honeydew.

Speaking of vigorous plants. My Seminole pumpkins aren't doing so well and the Thai Something Kob might not make it. Even tho they are both C Moschata, both have been affected by SVB. There's a couple of vines left that haven't been. Fingers crossed. I don't need 70 pumpkins, but a dozen would be nice. Or even a half dozen.

Here's the thing....I'm pretty sure they do better when allowed so sprawl instead of being forced up a trellis. They can set roots along their vines that way....and outgrow damage. So, next year I need to figure out where they can sprawl. In 2019, they overtook the entire KG.

Also, the butternut in the SG. It's not doing so well. It's covered in squash bugs. If we could get a dozen of those, I would be thrilled too. We will see.

I just love winter squash and pumpkins--I want to grow all of them. So frustrating.

My list today:

Ferment cucumbers. pickle garlic, up-pot those little tomatoes started from the seed that I saved (I let them dry out yesterday, but most of them bounced back), make protein balls, and possibly find a recipe for the West Indian Gherkins.

We usually go to dinner on Friday nights, but we're going tomorrow instead. So, Rick is coming out to help water the SG and start some cabbage seed. The seed I started a couple of days ago hasn't popped up yet. A dozen or less plants is all I want. We're going to try them in our little hoop house raised bed. I've not tried cabbage in the hoop house., but did broccoli in the spring. The broccoli is going back to the hinged hoop this fall though. It seems to do best there.

Rick, of course, will put both in the SG.

What's everyone growing for the fall? I saw Pam wants to do turnips. Thanks for the prayers, Pam.

Cantaloupes just sorta fall of the vine when they're ready. Watermelons are harder to figure out.

Jennifer, thanks for the info. I don't have any idea what I will be growing. I plan on planting turnips, curly leaf mustard, Florida Broad leaf mustard, and collards, but I may not be able to, every time I get out and try to work I get sick, I have been to the Dr. 6 times this month.

I would like to grow cabbage also, but I know that I more than likely will bit off more than I can chew if I plant everything that I want to plant.

Madge and I go out to eat often, we know that we are getting much closer to the end of our life, and want to enjoy as much as we can.

A friend of the family just came by and brought some sausage and hamburger meat and ask if there was anything that he could do for us, of course there is not any thing we need now, but it made me feel good that he came buy. It is nice to live in a community where your families go back for generations. Some of my friends I can not even remember a time when I did not know them. Some of my friends are the children of kids that my parents grew up with, its like having a great big family. I have lived within 25 miles of where I live now all my life, and I plan on dying here.

I am so enjoying y’all’s talk. The harvests encourage me to dream big for next year. Larry it must be special to live home all your life. I have moved so many times I feel at home at church and that’s it. Jennifer thinking about you and your daughter.

Okay, Slowpoke. It's turnips and curly leaf mustard for the win!

Pam, I think you will really like the curly mustard, I had never tried any till this spring. My neighbor had planted some last fall, and it was so dry that we got very few things to come up other than onions garlic. This spring neighbor had some curly leaf mustard come up across his potato patch. Being that the curly lead was new to me, I had to try it, it was the mildest mustard I have eaten. I often plant mustard tendergreens for my aunt and uncle, they are too old to do gardening. anyway the curly leaf is milder than the tended greens. I had to buy some seed and plan on planting some this fall.

I am going to have to call it quits on my tomatoes. I have a good supply on the kitchen cabinet, a good bunch on top of the freezer, and many, many more in the garden

Just about what my house looks like , plus yellow squash , onions , potatoes....

That's the sign of a good year.

Rick

I‘m so jealous of your pictures! My tomatoes are almost non existent in this heat. Im hoping to keep them alive for cooler days and maybe more production. The grasshoppers have hit here and as if that wasn’t enough now the squirrels are stealing and eating the green tomatoes.

Larry & Jennifer please keep telling your stories - I love reading them. I am 72, my husband is 76 so I can relate to having to slow down - so slow down, just don’t stop. I too am fortunate to live near family and friends who check on each other, although my husband wasn’t raised like I was and he doesn’t appreciate people or relationships like I do. I have plans after this heat blast to start a Fall garden - mostly greens and green beans.

That's what our house looked like, but we've cleared them out. Starting to get back to normal. IDK if I want to see another year like this one. Its been a race to deal with all the tomatoes before they go bad, and I can't stand to see something I've grown thrown out. I want to see it used, somehow by someone.

And speaking of grasshoppers, here's a Twitter thread about them in the 1870's, though this guy calls them locust ........ he says due to a La Nina there were trillions of " locust " who ate everything .

Twitter thread on the 1870's

I would like to ask about what y'all do with winter squash and pumpkins? It seem as winter squash and pumpkins give a lot of "bang for the buck". I was prowling under out bed ( that is where we store our sweet potatoes and winter squash ) and found these left from last year. I would like to find more uses for winter squash. I would like to use then much like a carrot, like shredding and using in a salad.

I found these 5 squash under the bed from last year. There is not a lot of garden produce you can stick under your bed for a hear and still plan on eating it, and I would like to know of more ways to use it. Madge is too weak to deal with something this hard to cut up, and what I have in mind is shredding and placing in a zip lock bag and placing in the fridge.

Larry, I've only had a great year of winter squash in 2019. Had to store about 70 Seminole pumpkins. I pureed some and put it in the freezer to bake with. Others I just used fresh as needed. A few finally went bad in the early part of 2021. IF you can saw them in forhalf for Madge, she could bake them and then scoop out the flesh and puree it in a blender.

I really, really wish I could get a good harvest of them again, but struggle with the squash pests. It's like I posted earlier, I think they need to sprawl instead of being forced up a trellis...at least in the early stages. So they can put down roots along the vines and "outgrow" damage.

Thank you, Kim. You could share some of your dreams here with us. I love to hear about people's dreams and goals.

Jennifer, I do fix the squash like that, but most often cut then in half and bake. I am trying to come up with a way to make things easier on Madge, and to use the squash in different ways. We use winter squash and sweet potatoes in much the same way, I most often prefer sweet potatoes. I am hoping to find a way to use both like carrots, because I don't do well growing carrots.

The most productive squash I have tried to grow was a Brazilian squash sent to me from a member about 10 years ago. One vine produced about 400 lbs of squash, if you are trying to feed an army, that would be great, but it is hard to plant 1/4 of a plant, and they did not keep well.

I made a special table and used a machete, like a paper cutter to process those long 15-18 pound squash outside. I gave all the seeds I saved away, nobody needs a plant like that unless you are growing for a canning company.

Hmmm....other than baking and pureeing and storing in freezer and/or canning OR using them fresh for recipes, I don't have any ideas for them.

I also interchange sweet potatoes and winter squash in recipes. I use them in recipes like "black bean sweet potato" enchiladas and a variety of different soups and casseroles.

With the pumpkins, I use them to bake with, but I"m not sure how to make any of that easier for Madge as they have to be cut open and baked to be able to use.

I still have plants with tomatoes. This is really an abnormal year. Almost always, my plants are almost dead from the blight by the first of August and some years, I've already pulled them out.

But not this year. And a real oddity is four plants on one end of the garden are ready to be pulled out, the blight has completely taken them. While four plants of same variety at the other end are mostly healthy and are loaded with small tomatoes. For me, this is mind bogglng. The only difference is the tomato cage. The healthy plants are in the new cages I made from cattle panels. They would be 8 to 9 foot tall if the cage was that tall. They grew out the top and are laid over the side.

Overall, I also think enlarging my cages has helped with the blight. I have to guess the better air flow around the plants did something. There's so many other variables involved its hard to say for sure.

Also the four Cherokee Purple plants have not been impacted by the blight as severely as other plants.

Question I've always had, why do the tomatoes get smaller as the plant matures ? The first fruit is always the largest.

Lynn, I cant answer you question, but I sorta think God designed it that way, or man has screwed that up also.

Madge and I just got back from the wildlife garden. We picked about 5 sacks of peppers and eggplant, came home to the north garden and picked 2 sacks of tomatoes. Then we have all the tomatoes on the cabinet and freezer that pictured above. We plan on driving 30 miles to give to the kids. My comment is, " that if the kids really wanted this stuff they would come and get it". I like giving stuff away, but there is no need on forcing stuff on people that don't have time to mess with it.

I took 2 bags of produce to my aunt and uncle yesterday. I feel completely different about taking stuff to them, because they are old and don't get around well, but the still try to work like a slave, and what I take them helps stretch their fixed income a little farther. I am not trying to bad-mouth the younger folks, we all go through different stages in our lives, and we all have different priorities.

Lynn , I guess the plant has more energy at the start and has less later on to make tomatoes , like us as we get older.

Rick

Larry , At this stage of the season if I have a surplus of tomatoes and / or okra..or squash... I try to can it all up whether I need it or not. Who knows what will happen next year. War with Russia... Another pandemic... or just bad weather...

I guess I'm what they call a prepper.

On to fall planting when it cools down a bit.

Rick

On my plants, if all the later tomatoes were as large as the early ones if would rip the limbs off the tomatoes. I have noticed in videos that the plants that were grown in a controlled environment grow large tomatoes. A friend of mine worked in a group of greenhouses in Florida that grew produce in controlled environment that grew huge veggies, but the watering, feeding, light, and temp was controlled. The tomatoes were pruned and grown up some king of chain or cable, but when he told me what they got for their produce, I decided that I did not want any. Most of their peppers grew to full color before packaging.

I believe George said he puts the winter squash in the oven whole and bakes it til it starts to collapse on itself. The skin is softer then. It would be messier, but easier. I'll see if i can find where i read that.

I think it would be easier, but so far the cutting in 1/2 lengthwise has worked out best for us, but I would like to be able to extend our use of things that grow and store easily. I think I would like to shred and fry like hashbrowns., or use in salads like carrots.

We cook sweet potatoes like George, and the sorta pop them like a pimple after they have cooled, they they go into a pie of casserole.

Our hands don't work as well as they use to. Matter of fact, opening a jar is almost a thing of the past.