From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Michael Trew wrote:   
      
   > It was mentioned on here not long ago about end rot.  My zucchini plants   
   > took off, and are huge.  I picked one over a foot long today that seemed   
   > quite solid, but the two others I picked were shorter, and the ends were   
   > starting to rot.  Is there a reason for this?  I think I'll just chop   
   > the bad end off.   
      
     usually blossom end rot is a sign of uneven water   
   supply or too much watering in general.  so it depends   
   upon what your weather has been like.  other related   
   issued could be not enough calcium in the garden soil   
   or too much nitrogen fertilizer.   
      
     when it shows up here it is usually on the tomatoes   
   and only the first ones to ripen (because the plants   
   did not have a fully developed root system while   
   setting the first fruits) so i often can avoid the   
   problem by removing the first flowers on the plants   
   so those fruits won't develop.  even watering during   
   the hot spells also makes a difference.   
      
      
   > I gave one of the soft-end ones to my neighbor who's going to fry it.   
   > I'm in a debate what I'll make, but I might batter and fry some of it,   
   > serve with tomato sauce, and shred the rest of the zucchini for zucchini   
   > bread.    As is tradition, my cabbage was half eaten, and the ones that   
   > weren't eaten look like they'll amount to nothing, for some reason.  At   
   > least the groundhogs are leaving my zucchini alone this year.   
      
     groundhogs always like to eat whatever they can get   
   at in the gardens here, but i have fences up which do   
   discourage them.  if i see them in the grassy area i   
   will hunt them.  not something i like but they can do   
   a lot of damage quickly along with their holes in the   
   banks of the ditches for their dens aren't good for   
   the ditches.   
      
      
   > I haven't grown green beans in years, and I left many of them on the   
   > vine too long.  The pods swelled up and became too firm.   
      
     some beans are ok to pick at the shelly stage (before   
   the beans have started to dry out) and can be shelled   
   out and cooked.  they should cook faster than a dry   
   bean.  some varities of beans can also be eaten at the   
   full pod stage but this isn't normal for a lot of green   
   bean varieties.  or you can leave them to finish up   
   drying and use them as a dry bean later or keep the   
   seed for replanting.   
      
     usually i can get a few pickings from my fresh bean   
   plants and then i'll leave the rest to finish as dry   
   beans as we can never have too many of those.   
      
      
   >  My tomato   
   > plants are huge, but I've only had a few ripe tomatoes so far.  Bell   
   > peppers and banana peppers didn't grow much.  I don't have a single bell   
   > pepper ready.  I haven't hardly looked at the other bed with potatoes,   
   > onions, garlic, and horseradish.  I think I planted leeks this year,   
   > too.  Watermelon, carrots, and a few other things I'm forgetting.   
      
     do you have trouble getting enough sun for your   
   gardens?   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)