Yep. My gentleman friend's hobby is shooting trap. He only has to wait a week whenever he doesn't do well.
I mentioned in some post a couple of weeks ago that the only year I grew corn it was overwhelmed with ants. I never tried again because I had no idea how to prevent them.
I've never done that and know that I should. Where does one get a test kit. I've never seen one but never really looked either. We have no nursery here which is why my gardening supplies come from Wal*Mart.
You answered my question before I asked. I was wondering what a good gardening book might be. I have Sunset and some other, but they don't really go into problems or details. Too general.
The in the US, look to your state cooperative extension service for soil testing. You can check the phone book (in the County Government section) to see if your county has an extension service office, or use the following web site to look for your state soil testing lab (this site includes links to soil labs in Nova Scotia and Ontario Canada, too):
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order a test kit, which will come with instructions, which you follow to gather you soil sample. Mail it back and wait for results and recommendations.
John, can you start them from seeds on Long Island? Are you living in a much warmer place that I am? If you are planting seeds, when do you have to start them? It may be too cold here for that.
That depends on how fast the soil drains, day temperatures, whether it's windy, etc. A hot wind really dries out the plant. Poke your finger into the soil, if it's damp then the plant doesn't need watering that day.
Most gardeners find that it's a progressive takeover by mildew that ends the life of zucchini plants. The leaves turn white with mildew, but the plant valiantly struggles on, bearing new flowers right to the last.
A slow hose is fine. I pictured a sprinkler dowsing the whole plant.
Let's back up a bit. The zucchini fruit can be picked and cooked the day its flower opens or any days later. If you pick them at the just-flowered stage it really doesn't matter whether that particular flower has been pollinated or not: by the time the plant realizes that that flower has not been pollinated and prepares to abort that tiny fruit it discovers IT IS TOO LATE---you've already picked and eaten the youngster! It is only if you want the fruit to develop to a bigger size that you'll need to pollinate it. In this regard the zucchini stands out from all others in the curcubit family--you can harvest a good crop from your plants even if you don't have bees and don't hand pollinate--provided you pick the tiny zucchinis just after the flower has finished. The flower opens in the early morning and lasts just one day, by the next day that flower is limp and starting to wither. That's the best stage to harvest it, and after a few minutes steaming add a dash of butter and a sprinkling of pepper! Did you know the open flower is edible, too? I've seen mention of cooking it in batter, but we'd just throw the flower over the fence for our pet sheep. Shake any bees out first.
The day after the flower has fully opened. At this stage they are about the length of your index finger. Maybe leave it for one more day, try it and see.
Yes, they are well camouflaged for concealment among the foliage. Pick any big ones immediately you spy them, to encourage the plant to go on producing more flowers. Best to note where the flowers are each day and search that spot the following day. The yellow flowers themselves are definitely not camouflaged!
The plants grow quickly and start bearing early in their life, so they don't need anywhere near the long growing season of pumpkins, etc., where you have to let the fruit reach maturity. You can probably stagger some plantings throughout summer.
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