[AT] Off topic but tractor related

Thu Jul 8 13:55:39 PDT 2010

It was officially 99 here yesterday but I saw 100 on my truck thermometer 
while driving down the road at 60 mph.    I was stopped with the engine 
idling for a while talking to a fellow and it went to 111.  I realize that 
was engine heat but still.  Today it is cooler by about 10 to 15 degrees but 
it's humid today and actually feels just as hot.

I guess some sort of mixed greens would do well for a winter cover and I 
like all of those things raw in a salad but I don't like the bitter greens 
cooked.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "David Bruce" <davidbruce at yadtel.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:23 PM
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Off topic but tractor related

> I use a mixture of turnips, mustard, radish, rape and kale as my winter
> covercrop for pat of the garden.  I like the greens and in addition I
> get the covercrop.
>
> My few potatoes didn't do squat, my onions are ready to harvest but with
> near triple digit temps it won't happen today.  My unofficial
> thermometer reads 104 but it is usually + 5.
>
> Heard a noise and my Chow and I looked out.  She went to make sure the
> UPS man wasn't bothering my mom and I said "no way".  Hot, humid and by
> these conditions should be late August.
>
> David
> NW NC
>
> On 7/8/2010 1:50 PM, charlie hill wrote:
>> Thanks David.  I'm not fond of turnips (at least the greens) or mustard 
>> so
>> I'll probably pass on those.   Of course I could plant them just for the
>> heck of it.   I am tempted to try some fall potatoes.  I'll look for one
>> with some eyes and give it a try.  I don't have any certified potato sets
>> but I have some I grew and I have some sulfur to coat them with.   I 
>> planted
>> my onions late and with the dry weather they didn't do well.   The tops 
>> were
>> big but limp.  They wouldn't stand up like they should.  The onions 
>> (bulb)
>> didn't grow well and none of them ever reached a size bigger than a golf
>> ball.  Then the strangest thing happened.  I noticed the tops were dying
>> back so I decided to go ahead and dig them.  The next day I went out and
>> almost all the tops were gone,  completely gone.    I dug up the onions I
>> could find where there were some tops and dug up about half of the rest 
>> of
>> the row and never found a thing beyond the few tops I could see. 
>> STRANGE.
>> I would say critters  got them but the row wasn't disturbed and there 
>> were
>> no mole trails near the row.  I'm going to dig some more.
>>
>> I hadn't thought about winter squash.  I don't really have a good spot 
>> for a
>> garden here at the house.  Plenty of land but too many trees and it's
>> terribly sandy and dry here.  The farm is too far away for me to really 
>> tend
>> to a garden there so I'm just experimenting here and trying to hone my
>> skills.
>>
>> Does anyone know about Jerusalem Artichokes (different than regular
>> artichokes)?  It's kind of a sunflower type plant with a tuber root that 
>> is
>> edible.  It's not a fall crop. Just interested if anyone knows about 
>> them.
>> Yes, late January is the time to plant onions here but I didn't get them 
>> in.
>> In March when I went to buy my seed potatoes they still had some onion 
>> sets
>> and they were cheap so I decided to try them.
>>
>> Charlie
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "David Bruce"<davidbruce at yadtel.net>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 1:26 PM
>> To: "Antique tractor email discussion 
>> group"<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>> Subject: Re: [AT] Off topic but tractor related
>>
>>> Charlie,
>>>
>>> My choices would be beans, squash (both summer and winter squash),
>>> cucumbers and later on (maybe late August) turnips and other greens like
>>> mustard.  Not sure about potatoes either but if you have room why not?
>>>
>>> Lots of people here plant potatoes and onions in February so maybe even
>>> in January for you.
>>>
>>> David
>>> NW NC
>>>
>>> On 7/8/2010 12:41 PM, charlie hill wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have a question for the gardeners and farmers in the group,
>>>> particularly
>>>> those familiar with the growing season and conditions of coastal NC.
>>>>
>>>> I've been growing a small garden this year.  It's really an experiment 
>>>> to
>>>> see what I remember from my youth.  I haven't grown a garden beyond a
>>>> couple
>>>> of tomato plants in 30 years or more.
>>>> So far my experiment has done ok.  My potatoes were a disappointment 
>>>> but
>>>> that was the result of a very dry spring.  The potatoes I got were nice
>>>> and
>>>> healthy but there just weren't many of them.
>>>> Only 2 or 3 per hill.  They have been dug now as have my onions that
>>>> didn't
>>>> do well at all.
>>>>
>>>> My question is what plants can I plant now and into the late summer to
>>>> get a
>>>> late summer or fall crop?   I've got lots of tomatoes growing now and
>>>> they
>>>> are starting to ripen nicely.  I've got squash and sweet potatoes 
>>>> coming
>>>> along and some beans I planted late just to see what they would do. 
>>>> They
>>>> are starting to flower now.   But I want to use the potato and onion 
>>>> plot
>>>> for some sort of fall crop.  Preferably something that cans well.
>>>>
>>>> Any suggestions?  I considered trying another potato crop.  I think 
>>>> there
>>>> is
>>>> enough growing season left but I can't find any reference online to 
>>>> fall
>>>> potato crops.  I'm thinking some cucumbers would work.   When I was a 
>>>> kid
>>>> we
>>>> planted two cucumber crops a year.  Who has an idea?  It doesn't 
>>>> usually
>>>> frost here until at least mid October.  I'm on high sandy loam so soil
>>>> moisture is my biggest concern.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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