Our garden is still producing but in places we can see the signs of plants giving out. Since it’s August I guess it’s time to see some decay around the edges.
There’s still plenty of tommy-toes and tomatoes. We’ve also had a good crop of cucumbers in spite of the squash bugs that’ve been plaguing them. I guess hand picking the bugs does work at least a little.
Our peppers haven’t done as good as usual this year, but we are still getting peppers.
The green beans as usual are producing buckets full for us to can and to share. The okra is just now starting to come in. It seems awful late this year, but I think the cooler than usual start to summer stunted it’s growth.
Looks to be a pretty good year for winter squash. And the peas are almost ready to start eating—The Deer Hunter and I just can’t wait to eat them.
I’m hoping to plant at least a few things for our fall garden. With all the things going on with Granny I’m not sure I’ll get much planted, but hope to at least start some kale, mustard greens, and onions in a few places.
Here’s the best planting signs for August 2023.
Taurus: good for all root crops and above ground crops 7, 8
Cancer: best for planting above ground and root crops 11, 12, 13
Scorpio: best for flowers and above ground crops 21, 22, 23
Pisces: good for planting and transplanting above ground crops, trees and shrubbery 2, 3, 30, 31
Last night’s video: We Had a Great Book Signing at the Cherokee County Historical Museum.
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We ate our first picking of Mississippi pink-eyes last night and they were so good! My cucumbers did great at first, and then I got pickle worms for the first time ever!! It was all down hill from there. I may try a late crop, since we have such a long growing season down here in South Georgia. I’m flat wore out from all the canning I’ve done already, but there’s plenty more to come.
I have plenty of weeds getting on even in my raised beds. The sunflowers only seem to last a few days before they sag, but they are absolutely beautiful until they do. My giant Marigolds have finally started to bloom. I have had lots of cucumbers that I have given away outside of the 30 jars that I canned and the 2 large cucumber salads that I have made. I may keep the next batch that we get so that I can make them like your video and see how those turn out. That will probably be the last batch of them that I get because they are starting to fizzle out pretty quickly. I have had just a few tomatoes turn red and the rest are still really green. I am just taking the few that I have gotten and putting them into the freezer so that I can do something with them when they all finally turn. I have had a zucchini rampicante plant take over most of the garden. I have gotten 10 fruit from it. I have given a couple away and we ate a couple and I am just leaving the rest to turn to winter squash. They are very big, I think one or two of them are over 4 feet long. I have them on a trellis so they are straighter than the normal curly ones. It took over my bean trellis, so the beans died off and then it jumped to another trellis that had more beans on it. So far that trellis is letting me have a few beans. Not as many as I would have liked. The plant is now growing onto the lawn and it is like jack and the beanstalk or something. It just keeps going. This was my first experience with it and I have to say, don’t plant it anywhere near anything that you want to keep. It gets huge. Fall garden starting to go in as I pull out the summer stuff. I’m slow getting it in I think. I am going to have to look at a calendar for the best planting times for my area. Love your channel and your blog. Praying for Granny.
I am 73 years old and new to you—tube. You are so amazing in everything you do. I watch every time I see one of your shows or the girls
they are beautiful. Wishing you all the best
Do they say if Aries has a sign for planting. I have planted my garden on Good Friday before only to say it was a good garden but to early due to the freezes and have to cover it up every night so to frost or freezing rains or late snows in the year. Will I do it again not to sure as of yet but I most likely won’t due to all the work you have to do to make sure you don’t lose your crop of plants.
Evelyn-I’ve heard that about Good Friday, but we still get several heavy frosts after Good Friday so I’ve never tried it 🙂
My peppers didn’t do well at all this year. The garden started strong but with all the rain we had followed by high heat and humidity, it fizzled. And the deer got into it this year. Had some good tomatoes and squash but that was about it. All the tomato cages and stakes are pulled. I’m planning on a winter cover crop to help the soil. And raised beds!!!
Prayers for Granny.
Praying for Granny & all your precious family. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now. I enjoy it as much as the videos. I love all of the comments people leave for you. They are so heartfelt & interesting. Grammy from Texas
Our cucumbers are just starting to produce & are the perfect “eating size” We only planted one 5 gal. bucket but it will be enough for us. Our okra is “just starting” to see signs of okra right now. We planted five 5 gal. buckets of that so we will have enough for the hubby & I’ll freeze that. Our tomatoes (2 buckets) are just barley getting a few flowers & the peas & bush beans (1 bucket each) are blooming but no signs of produce yet. We planted about 1 1/2 months late this year. Next year I plan to start earlier & want to try your dill pickle recipe from Justin Metcalf. Praying hard for Granny today!!! Hugs to you all.
I missed yesterday’s post, and I would like to add I will keep Granny in my prayers to the great healer. She is indeed as tough as nails. and I have noticed she has an inner spirit that can never be defeated. I like to think much of what the greater generation has is passed on to us. My dad never ever once said he was sick but referred to himself as “lazy.” God Bless the BP family through what seems to be what we once described as “When it rains it pours.” My garden has really done good, and I have found on many vegetables, if I just get my “lazy”self out there and pick them off as soon as possible they keep bearing. Cucumbers being the best example, but it seems to work with peppers also. I love late plantings of kale, mustard, and Swiss chard because if the weather works in my favor I can still enjoy on up until Christmas. A mild winter lets me enjoy again before I till in the spring. Sometimes so hard to dig all those tough little volunteers under to start a new and unpredictable garden. Life is a lot of mixed blessings, and I have always seen such great things in your future, Tipper. You are such a hard worker with a quiet indomitable spirit.
I was late putting in my garden so late crops aren’t likely. I just yesterday picked my first two tomatoes. I got two cucumbers a couple of days ago.
I’ve been getting plenty of yellow crookneck squash. Enough for me, my kids, my neighbors and my kids’ neighbors. I only planted three hills this year knowing how hard it is to get rid of and that was too much. I think that next year I’ll plant a single seed and see if that also produces too much.
I still think I might get some corn. It’s either all twisted around and laying on the ground or still standing and skewed in all directions but I think I’ll still get something. I’ve sprayed the silks with Thuricide hoping that keeps worms out of the ears. I threw used coffee grounds around and under the plants the best I could and have more for later hoping that will deter squirrels. I have also gotten aholt of some peppermint oil to spray on and around the corn plants. It too is supposed to repel squirrels.
My beans are blooming and I’ve seen a couple of tiny little pods. I planted then about a week before a cool spell in early summer. Out of a row about twenty-five feet long only eight beans germinated. After giving them ample time to come up I replanted. That time most of them came up but now they are late.
I’ve been fighting Japanese beetles from the get-go. At first I kept them at bay with a little handheld battery vacuum. Then it was Neem oil and the vacuum. Once they started clumping up I started spraying them with Neem and then picking them off by hand. The Neem immobilizes them long enough that I can grab them before they fly off. Without spraying them first I can only get a few of them before they fly off. With spraying I get most of them. I don’t spray the whole plant because I don’t want to kill or drive away pollinators.
Speaking of pollinators I believe I have seen more honey bees this year than all the other thirty combined. They are everywhere. I don’t know what’s different but I hope the difference becomes the norm!
So do flowers do better when planted by the signs or not as much as the other garden plants?
Beth-I believe they do 🙂
Really enjoyed the book signing. I would have loved to have been there. The museum is quite interesting. Praying for Granny and all. Go quietly on and trust Jesus! Take care and God bless ❣️
Please pass along a hug and let Granny know she continues in our prayers. Thank you for allowing us to come along side as you all pass through these shadowy days.
My summer squash is gone and I keep thinking I will plant some turnips in their place. I’ve got to mow for hours today with little time left for gardening. Heavy rain is expected tomorrow through Friday. No rain is expected for Saturday but the ground will still be wet before possible severe weather rolls in Sunday. With all the wet weather, it’s looking like it could be after the 7th or 8th before the ground dries.
Be sure to share those green beans with Granny. Praying the mass is benign!
I’ll definitely plant collards, kale and Swiss chard. Later on in October I’ll be planting garlic. Prayers for Granny.
That’s a nice bunch of tomatoes! Have a blessed day. Prayers for You all.
I am struggling with my tomatoes getting really large but not turning red. If I pick them and set them on my picnic table then they will turn. Fortunately my peppers are doing good this year. I am going to try the pickles that Holman Homestead said they got from you. I believe it’s easy enough that I can do it. God bless you, all your family, and Granny as you go through another bump in life with Grannies health. Love to all of you!
I got plenty of cucumbers but they taste bitter. I put them in a container so soil is not optimal. Something must be done for I can’t share these bitter “pills” with anybody. I’d be ashamed. My tomatoes are coming in. Those Cherokee purples weigh heavy and my stalks are pooping out. I got a friend bringing rebar 8 feet poles today and sticking them in this ROCK. My bell peppers are really producing. Off 4 plants, I’ve cut and frozen about 9 big pretty ones. My green bean harvest is a 3 day plan. 1) pick. 2) snap, wash and bottle then refrigerate overnight. 3) pressure can those delicious things! My beans get bugs and I just squash every one I see, but what really gets me in a pickle, is when they’re doing bad stuff (reproducing) on my leaves—- of all the nerve and gall to have me witness such a spectacle of blatant disregard! Lol. Let’s keep on keeping on and smash a few bugs as we go!!! God bless you all and especially your beloved mother, Tipper. Prayer is no match for doctors or dirty politicians either! Lol Tipper, I need a sign to plant by the signs cause my signs need to be billboard size to even get it together!!!
I have had some green beans, Mississippi Purple Hull peas and plenty of tomatoes from a small garden that I was able to water. I lost my corn and this is the worst year I have ever had for okra, I never could get it to even come up, maybe bad seed. I have seen no one else’s okra (okrie or okry) taller than hand high. Except for 3 tomato plants I planted late and have been watering, everything is gone. This plants are new to me and are a cross between the Cherokee Purple and Carbon tomato. A lot of the area farmers lost everything and have starting plowing up everything. My “sweet potato “ friend (26,000 this year) thinks he may have lost a lot of them. The plants are starting to turn yellow and his fields of watermelons and cantaloupes are no good. A large amount of his livelihood comes from these crops. We have had 2 tenths of an inch of rain since that week of rain back in early June, only a couple of 5 minute or less showers that barely wet the grass. Areas around me have had more. 1-1 1/2 inches predicted over the next 3 days, hopefully we will get some of this. The weather radar is showing a few showers this morning but in the same areas that have been getting the rain all along. Praying for Granny and the rest of you, please remember me, tomorrow will be my wife’s birthday, I intend to spend time at her grave.
Praying for your Mama
On the hunt for rattlesnake beans and small cucumbers today for canning. My tomatoes are slowly ripening and very few peppers but the WEEDS are doing great!!
Praying that your momma has a good day and strength for you Tipper as a caregiver.
Blessings!
I have never planted by the signs but I think I will try it this month. Thank you for the information. Praying for your Mama.
Seems like no time ago you all were getting your beds ready to plant & now here it is Aug. & you’re talking of things being nearly done. The summer has flown by. I have watched you all every day in your gardens. Especially liked seeing Katie making her little bed she videoed for us. Makes me think about what I can do next year already. 🙂 Thank you for the good entertainment & the wonderful family time you spend together. Prayers for Granny & all of you who love her so much. May the Lord comfort everyone & give Granny peace & she be free from pain. Watching from Aberdeen , N.C.
We have already replanted a few things in the garden. We made two more cucumber hills and a couple rows of onions. They are all coming up nicely. I really want to try cow panels for our cucumbers next year. It looks much better than searching for them on the ground. We didn’t use the signs because we have had so much rain, we just had to do it on a day the garden was dry enough. Our son buys his dad a farmers almanac every year for his birthday. I think all the information about planting by the signs is so interesting. Thank you for sharing the dates and signs with us—And the picture showing your tomatoes is amazing. We have tomatoes but not like that for sure. I am still praying for your mama. Take care and God Bless!
Brenda your comment about only waiting until the ground was dry enough makes me think of my Daddy , he did not plant by the “signs”, he said the only sign he went by was when the ground (temp and moisture) got right. None of mine or my wife’s family would plant or work the ground if it was wet, it will cause dirt clods hard as rocks you will never get rid of. I heard a professional farmer from Georgia say the only sign he went by was the pecan tree, once it began to blossom, it was safe to plant anything.
This has been the fastest summer of my life! I can’t believe gardens are already showing signs of giving out. It is usually August in Illinois when local tomatoes start to be available. While I’m happy to have them, it always means back to school is near.
Praying for Granny.
Had missed that bit re: Granny until yesterday. Guessing it was because the CC were not turned on a couple times so just turned videos off.
Sorry to ‘hear’ about the potential news in Tough old bird. Esp.since the family recently lost Ms. Cindy. Am sure that Granny will be on the hearts of many.
We planted some tomatoes and bell peppers in raised beds this year. When we saw you and Matt using them, we decided to try them and we do like them. We aren’t getting many peppers, but they are producing, but we’re getting plenty of tomatoes. I’m keeping Granny and y’all in my prayers.