2024 garden season

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I did plant more squash, deer ate it. My pot taters are coming back, but its probably to late now for a second crop. I have some thinning to do, just waiting on cooler weather. We canned 12 qts of mater juice this week, probably will can some maters for soups. Looking forward to apples, we will dehydrate some and freeze a few. Pears will be ripening in sept. I dont know what kind of pears they are, hard as a rock right now, but when they turn ripe, yum yum.
When I first moved here there were two OLD pear trees in the yard. Like you said, they were hard like an apple and very sweet.
I cut them down after they get damaged and became over-run with water sprouts.

Sounds like your gardening this year isn't a total flop after all. 👍
 
What I planted did well, what the deer didnt eat anyways. The tornado messed up my big garden. Kept me busy until the weeds took over. I still got more zucchini and squash than I wanted. Chickens appreciated it tho. My sweet corn produced very well for how much I planted. The peppers are still producing, onions like base balls. My pot garden did extra well, maters, taters, peppers. Cabbage turned black inside, and got eatup with worms. Dont know what exactly happened, but, I couldnt have eaten them all anyways. Even tho my seed corn got blown over, the pole beans are doing great. On another note, I went to the Amish market the other day. Normally they have tons of produce, this trip, the market was almost bare, I dont know if its because a bad growing season, or more people are buying faster than they can grow it. Bought 2 dozen ears of corn,, in the freezer, one box of maters, than we turned into juice, a yellow watermelon and a cantilope, both as sweet as sugar. OH, also got a plate of cookies, which is what we really went for, that and the fried chicken livers at a local resturant.
 
Lots of tomato's today. About 1/3 were split and yellow jackets were after them, I brushed them off and fed them to my layers that seem to be on strike for some reason. The tomato plants are pretty much done, not sure if it was all the rain of just plants overloaded with fruit.
 
@muddstopper . Just curious what the price of sweet corn is in your neck of the woods. $5-8 dozen here.
It depends on where you buy it. The amish corn (bicolor) was $6 doz and the maters where $12 box. I have seen maters for as much as $20 box and one guy said he was getting $30box. I believe The fruit stand closest to me was $6 dozen for bicolor corn, may of been$7 but I only bought a half dozen ears for supper one nite.

Edit. I just wanted to point out that maters are getting scarce around here. I bought the last box the Amish had and the fruit stands around here seem to be selling out to. The amish told me that they had a second crop about to come in, I figure they must of planted a determinate variety that all come in at once. My indeterminate plants are still turning it on, but I only plant enough to keep me in sandwich and salad material.
 
I got a box of maters at one of the local fruit stands yesterday, $15 box. made 9qts of juice. I think I found out why the amish market was all sold out. It seems the local stands have started buying produce from them to resell. Anyways thats what the stand owner told me. The local stand also wanted $34 box for number ones Thats when I told him I would just go back to the amish and pay $18 for their number ones, which is what started our conversation aobut the amish tomatoes. I got the canners for $15 which is still $3 box more than the amish charges, but it takes me a hour to drive over to tellico.
 
maters her not doing so hot yet. most of them rotting instead of getting ripe. Not many big varieties planted since they dont produce anything here. The wild large fruited cherries are about the only thing that makes anything and they are just now starting a little. Later in the season the sun lays too far south in the sky to ripen anything. THEN you get "store bought" tasting tomatoes which I dont eat!

Sweet taters look like the ground is lifting around the plants so maybe could have a few of them.
 
maters her not doing so hot yet. most of them rotting instead of getting ripe. Not many big varieties planted since they dont produce anything here. The wild large fruited cherries are about the only thing that makes anything and they are just now starting a little. Later in the season the sun lays too far south in the sky to ripen anything. THEN you get "store bought" tasting tomatoes which I dont eat!

Sweet taters look like the ground is lifting around the plants so maybe could have a few of them.
Good point about the sun. I was wondering if there aren't fewer pollinators later in the season, too.
 
I got a box of maters at one of the local fruit stands yesterday, $15 box. made 9qts of juice. I think I found out why the amish market was all sold out. It seems the local stands have started buying produce from them to resell. Anyways thats what the stand owner told me. The local stand also wanted $34 box for number ones Thats when I told him I would just go back to the amish and pay $18 for their number ones, which is what started our conversation aobut the amish tomatoes. I got the canners for $15 which is still $3 box more than the amish charges, but it takes me a hour to drive over to tellico.
Not sure what happened to the tomato market here but it got really crazy at produce auction. Large #1 were in the $50 and up range. Sweet corn I took today was $5.50 per dozen and cabbage was $2.80 per head. Peppers have been steady in the $12-18 range for 1/2 bushels of large #. Seedless watermelons have dropped to the $1-3 range.
 
So, are there fewer pollinators in late summer?

I did a google search and there are articles about fewer pollinators due to pesticides, drought, and other reasons, but nothing about a natural decline of available pollinators as the season progresses.
I know different "weeds" bloom at specific times and specific insects are drawn to them.
Like the gulf fritillary larvae and the Ocoee.
Monarch larvae and milkweed.

Does the amount of pollinators decline due to the change in the length of daylight, or some other natural change?
Do the pollinators have specific life cycles that make them dwindle in numbers as the summer progresses?
 
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