Figs with Yellow Jackets. 9.17.18

 This year, almost all of my breba crop was lost to yellow jackets.  I've grown figs for 18 years, and never lost a crop to any insect, including yellow jacket.  This year was kind of a biblical plague of the creatures.

One nest was inside the garage wall.  After trying traps, and catching what looked like thousands, I gave in and hired an exterminator.  That took care of those.  However, there are still yellow jackets now eating the main crop.  I've hung traps in the trees, which are catching many yellow jackets.  There seem to be less, but there is still some damage.  We'll see!

More tomatoes, for drying. 9.17.18

 I've made enough tomato sauce.  There are still some ripening tomatoes, especially on the sauce tomato plants.  Now, with cool wet weather, there are rotting tomatoes too. 

I wanted to make use of some of the remaining fruits.  It's been a great tomato year!  So, I gathered what I could find, and it turned out there were more than I thought.  I washed them off, sliced them, and put them through the dehydrator.

I use a low setting.  They turn black in the high setting.

These are so delicious.  Great in salads, casseroles, breads, cornbread.  When thoroughly dry, almost crispy, but not black, I place them into a freezer bag and store in the freezer.  That way they don't get moldy or flies.  They'll be good for a year.

Sun drying is not an option in this weather.  Plus, I think the UV might decrease nutrients and flavor.  The air dryer is a perfect way to preserve these tasty fruits.

Sauce Tomatoes. Tomato sauce. Great year in 2018. 9.7.18

Despite other challenges, the sauce tomatoes have been a start crop this year.  Until 2016, I thought that growing sauce tomatoes wasn't worth the effort, but had never tried.  Then I grew some, and made my own sauce, and I was amazed at how good it was.   Far better than any commercial sauce.  I also thought it would be a lot of trouble to make tomato sauce, or very complicated.  It's not.

The challenges of growing sauce tomatoes, in my yard:
1.  Deer.  So I grew them in a fenced bed this year.
2.  Lack of experience.  Now I have it.
3.  Blossom end rot.  This was a big challenge during previous years.  I read it was insufficient calcium, or too much watering, or too much nitrogen.  I added lime to the soil, watered less, and gave less nitrogen, but did not have an improvement.  This year, I grew 3 varieties:  Ranger (From Territorial Seeds), Big Mamma (From Burpee), and traditional Roma (I forget where ).

As it turned out, the Ranger and Big Momma had not blossom end rot at all.  The Romas, in the same bed, had a fair amount.  So I think the hybrids are better.  As for flavor, I didn't test side by side, but the sauce is excellent.  As for productivity, the Big Mamma tomatoes are huge!  And meaty.  But the Ranger tomatoes are a good size and meaty, and I think pounds per plant is more with the Rangers.  I didn't measure, but I got a lot more tomatoes on the Ranger plants.

The photos show how I make the sauce.  No added salt or sugar or anything, just tomatoes.  Additives go in when I make something using the sauce.  It's very simple.

1.   Wash the tomatoes.  Remove stems.  Cut each into big chunks - halves or quarters.  No water is added.  No salt, no sugar.

2.  Heat on low/medium until they release their juices and start to boil.  Stir with wooden spoon to prevent sticking to the bottom, about once
every 10 or 15 minutes. Then reduce to the lowest setting.
I change to a mesh colander for lid.

3.   Simmer for about 90 minutes.  I've seen shorter and longer times.  This works for me.  Volume reduces by about 1/3.  I think more watery tomatoes would need longer.

4.   Replace lid and let them cool off.  A few hours or overnight.

5.  Use food processor to puree, skins, seeds, and all.  I don't remove anything.

6.  Portion 1 cup per labeled 1-qt freezer bag.  Freeze flat, then arrange in plastic box in freezer like cards in a file.  I use these about one per week, for a year or more.

I think most sites say they will keep for a year.   I think that by the end of the season, I'll have about 50 pouches, which gives me about 1 per week, which is about perfect.

Bearded Irises. Trying Once Again. 9.6.18

Night Hawk.  2013.

Mixed Bearded Irises.  5.19.15

Edith Wolford.  5.15.14

I had given up on bearded irises.  They are probabl my favorite perennial flower, at least when in season.  And they are considered very easy to grow.  They survive hot dry summers, buy going dormant, so need little care then.

However, for some reason, they've done so poorly in some years and locations, I gave up.  They develop leaf spot and bacterial rot, die and fall over.  Meanwhile, it's difficult to keep them weeded.  So I gave up.  I didn't throw them away.  Instead, I dug out the clumps and moved them to the sunny side of the edge of the woods, where I cleared out blackberries.  There, I let them be, to die or grow as they see fit.

This year, there wasn't much  bloom.  I didn't expect it.  But the leaves were stronger and thicker than in previous years, and they did not have any bacterial rot or leaf spot, which were scourges for me.  Deer didn't touch them, which is great.  I did not water all summer long, and they continue to survive and grow into healthy-looking clumps.

Unlabeled Bearded Iris Clumps - In Recovery.  9.6.18

Bearded Iris Rhizomes Planted Summer 2018.

 I decided to give them another try.  This time, I'll plant them in unamended soil, unlike the compost-amended soil that I had in raised beds in the past.  This location was a blackberry bramble for many years.  In 2017, it grew sweet corn.  In 2018, it grew garlic.  I have not added compost.

As for which irises, since I was basically discarding them, I didn't label the clumps.  I'm leaving most in place in the border, but re-rescuing any that are in shade or too close to trees.  One is transferred from a front border.   Most but not all, are historic varieties.

In addition, I ordered rhizomes from Schreiners' in Oregon.  This is the best sources, of the healthiest rhizomes, that I know.  I ordered, and planted, Victoria Falls (light blue), Cheetah Cheeze (Variegated Orange flower with white splashes), Zin City (Burgundy), Play to Win (Yellow falls, white standards), Beverly Sills (Pink-ish, an older variety), Edith Wolford (I liked this in garden.  Blue falls, yellow standards), Red Hawk (and old one that I grew and liked, brick red, sort of), Owyhee Desert (an odd combination of white and sandy buff colors, and tiny burgundy splashes), and Padded Shoulders (white standards, falls with splashes of buff).  There was a free bonus of Starting Fresh - white standards, falls with blue and white.

That's probably  more than I should have bought.  I know that if they bloom, I'll  like them a lot.  This location is difficult to reach with the garden hose, so I want it to need minimal or no water next summer, good for irises. 

I also picked up  the package shown, from Costco.  The deep red color is "My Friend Jonathan" and the blue is "His Royal Highness". 

I may move a few other clumps that are in the trees, where they will dwindle away unless moved.

It will be nice if they bloom like they did at their best.  If not, it's not much of a loss.   I'll hope for flowers next may.

The Bamboo transplants, progress Report. About 2 summers later. 9.6.18

 These are the timber bamboo divisions that I divided (via Sawzall) and planted in Jan, 2016.  They are in the chicken yard, so get more water and fertilizer (via chicken) than other bamboo plants that I planted.  They have made great progress.

The original photo is a link to my prior post, when transplanting them in Jan, 2016.

My conclusion, is that the Sawzall method of dividing bamboo clumps, works.  They took hold, and are growing nicely.  There is a big variation - one fell over last winter, and has just a small pole which does look healthy.  The others are becoming nice shade for the chickens, and are taller than the original poles.