Finally. Well, kind of. I still want to plant some sunflowers and more cucumbers when Will hauls out a couple more trellises for Suyo Long cucumbers to climb on. I like my cucumbers straight and left to grow on the ground the Suyo Longs will twist and turn like so many snakes. They taste the same but it’s harder to slice them nicely and we do love our cucumber salads.
I had to replant a good chunk of our various corns as, due to the hot, dry weather, then heavy rain, the germination was poor. I’m sure they just started to germinate, then it got dry again and they all shriveled up. The heavy rains did nothing to help them at this point. Oh well, in gardening, some years certain crops do wonderful while others struggle. That’s one reason I can up all I can during those great years; you never know what next year may bring. (Not planning on the zombie apocalypse, just poor growing for some crop or another.)
Our rhubarb is fantastic this year. Some of the leaves measure 3½ feet across! And many of the stalks are nearly as thick as my wrist. I gave a bunch to our friend, Sherri, to can. Today we went out and pulled a bunch more for me to can and bake with. Lightly pulled from only two plants netted us about 30 pounds worth. Now that’s impressive! Rhubarb sauce, pies, and cookies, here we go. It’s kind of a celebration of finishing planting all six gardens. Yea!
— Jackie
Dear Jackie,
Wow, that rhubarb is awesome. You could probably dry them out and use as tomatoe stakes next year. LOL But they taste too good for that (although they are so big, you probably could) You guys stay cool. We are in the heat wave here in southern middle Tennessee. I have been canning up a storm to get all my stuff stored up and done before it gets too much hotter. Many years it just turns hot and everything just dries up. So, I try to get done early.
The tomato stakes were my first thought when I saw that rhubarb! But then it’s not one of my favorite things. After a long hot dry spell here in central Ohio, we’ve gotten 3+ inches of welcome rain. Our sweet corn is tasseling and looking good. Congratulations on getting all the garden planted! I found full size potatoes already. Take a breather and enjoy the wonderful food you have grown.
We love our rhubarb. I use my grandmother’s rhubarb pie recipe (found the Jackie Clay’s Pantry Cookbook), which has eggs in the filling and meringue on top. The egg custard tames down the sour in the rhubarb and the meringue is a plus for sure. It’s been hot and dry here, but we did get some rain, so we’re hopeful.
We’re impressed with the rhubarb crop this year too. I’m thinking baseball bats?? Now we’re on to weeding as the weeds are horrible this year. Ugh!
Jackie, my rhubarb doesn’t seem to be growing very big. I don’t know if it needs some type of fertilizer/nutrients that it is missing.
Debbie in MA
WOW! My rhubarb has never been like that, probably a different variety. My rhubarb and red raspberries came from my great grandfather’s garden, along with several of the flowers around the yard. He was alive until I was 11 so the connection by having the heirloom plants is meaningful to me. And my cucumbers didn’t germinate great so I need to do a little replanting. And I’m trying to figure out where I can tuck in a delicato squash seed or two – I just pulled a set of poorly performing onions, I wonder if I can convince the squash to stick to a small space… probably not.
my rhubarb is from my Granny’s. Her’s never got quite as big as Jackie’s, but oh super flavor. i had 6 plants but over the last 20 years all but 3 have succumbed to the semi arid region i live in. she lived just below a 11,000 ft mountain. hope i can keep these three going. heirloom connections are only one of so many reasons we garden. if you’re successful on convincing your squash to stay put, share your secret! happy gardening
If you want to ensure you keep your family heirloom rhubarb, just harvest some mature seeds and plant a few indoors, come spring. That will give you an ongoing supply to make sure they don’t die out like so many family heirlooms do. Our variety is what Mom called Homestead Victoria, a variety her mom grew in Canada.
Jackie, glad you’re about done planting. Those Suyo Long do need a trellis.
The Hopi Gray squash I got from you is trying to take over one of my 4’x16′ raised beds. It did that last year too, but is well worth it. Great tasting, even when huge, and they hold forever after being picked. I’m thinking I’ll have to prune it to keep it in check as I have Kajari melons bearing fruit in the same bed.
Oh, and the Black Beauty Zucchini I got from you is also producing while maintaining its bush habit–nice to see in my limited space.
Hi Jackie! That is some rhubarb! Ours was big and thick as well, but not nearly like yours…maybe next year! :-) I do have a question though. I planted several types of beans, (bush/climbers, etc) and they all came up quite well. However, my yellow bush beans seem to be stunted at about 4 in and don’t seem like they are doing much; while the other 4 types are climbing and expanding great. Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is that they are close to the potatoes, but wasn’t for sure if that mattered. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks for all your wisdom!
PS…we have had a lot of rain and cloudy days, but odd that it would affect these beans and not the others
A good shot of fertilizer such as fish emulsion, might help your yellow beans kick into growing mode. No, being by the potatoes wouldn’t affect them. I do know that some varieties handle weather stress better than others do.
This is the first year We have not planted a garden. I always put up extra in case the next year crop did not do good.
This year my husband passed in the spring and a garden was the last thing on my mind. You have been through this once and you know what it is like. I do enjoy reading about your garden and pets. Flowers are beautiful also. My daughter insisted that I have flowers on my front porch and my neighbor brought over flowers to me.
Vegetable garden can be conveniently, nicely, and helpfully distracting.
That was so nice of your daughter and neighbor. From my experience, keeping busy with taking care of Mom and Dad plus son, David, building a house and gardening was a huge help at aiding me in lessening the grief I felt after my husband, Bob, died in February.
Oh my I never have seen Rhubarb that big. What kind is that? Oh my!!
I appreciate the rain but now the weeds are huge! So back to work!!
Yep, our weeds are horrible this year too. Our rhubarb came from a root of Mom’s, which she had brought to Michigan from Canada. She called it Homestead Victoria. All I know is that we sure love it.
OMG on the rhubarb!!! I’m in northern MN also (going on 4 years now) and have 2 obviously very weak rhubarb plants. Do you know what kind yours are and how long you’ve had them? I might need to plant some more. My two plants are 4 years old and I didn’t pick anything from them the first two years.
The crazy weather here has sure affected germination in my garden too, hot & dry, then pounding downpours that made the surface to hard for little sprouts to push through. Then cool and wet that encourages diseases! That can all be worked around & with. What is the worst? 4 times this year the herbicides sprayed on neighboring farm fields has drifted into our yard, damaging the veggies and even 20 year old oaks. This has happened for the last several years and seems to be getting worse. But God willing there will be enough for the table and some for the freezer. One of the definitions of gardening is Hope For The Future!
And Jackie, your rhubarb is gorgeous!
Peace, Vicki
I *thought* my zuke seeds germinated but see no sign of them. I’ll have to put up my “barrier” as I suspect a rabbit dined on it.
I see too much clover in my strawberry bed as well as some grass and of course, catnip. This Saturday I will finish the end of the other perennial bed which I started last Saturday. Then start the strawberry bed. As I type this, the feels like temp doesn’t look to be but the mid-80s. I set reasonable goals for weeding on hot days. If I’m not around, the weeds *will* win.
We patronize an employee owned grocery store (take the back way = no stop lights and only a couple of stop signs). Hit it this weekend to beef up some supplies. We usually don’t purchase any meat there except for T-day turkey or some deli meat. Overall they do have the best overall prices – and selection. They know their patrons and stock their shelves accordingly. We had to ask where a couple of items were located. Both employees did not hesitate to tell us AND *without* have to look at their phone! The store treats their employees well and it shows.
Good Friday was 3 weeks later this year than last. Have managed to keep better half from digging taters too soon. Probably *could* dig a plant or two now but we’re not at 90 days yet. The variety we planted are 90-100 days. I want the most bang for our buck this year when it comes to taters.
Selena, here in far north California, zone 9, I’ve re-sown my zucchini seed probably 4 times. They come up and die, or don’t get more than an inch high. Never had this happen before.
Mine did finally come up. Fingers crossed.
The crazy weather all across the country is sure making gardening frustrating. Some seeds just don’t come up, either rotted in the ground from cool and rain or dried out from heat and drought. It’s tough but we keep on keeping on. I’ve been replanting a lot too, hoping for a late fall frost.