2021 Garden Thread

[liphunter]

I was going to put this in funny stuff, but I was afraid people wouldn't take me seriously!!! Happy to help!

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, liphunter said:

I was going to put this in funny stuff, but I was afraid people wouldn't take me seriously!!! Happy to help!

And boys it sure grows big maters and peppers!

[Fish24/7]

Mid season tomato  pruning  time. Every leaf and sucker below the lowest fruits get the chop now, and all suckers without flowers are also taken. Focus the growing energy towards the main stems and existing fruit. It takes forever to grow  these so time is something you have to take advantage of ,especially now.

You don't want leaves touching your tomatoes either. Those hornworms and such like to lay under leaves that touch and lay on the tomatoes and eat on them so keep the foliage cleared for the most part so they don't have a place to hide and feast.

Every plant is loaded with groceries. All plants got a milk bath this morning too. Plants have to have airflow and some kind of natural fungicide because now  when it's super hot and humid is when the diseases will thrive so you gotta be one step ahead. Milk works. Im doing this once a week now. .60% water to 40% skim milk. Mist the leaves in the morning as the sun rises.  Still soil soaking with Neem oil every two weeks now. 1tbsp.  per gal . Still no bugs. Doesn't bother the bees or "good predator bugs" since they don't eat the leaves. Still doing the same feeding schedule ,just cut back on the N a little  and boosted the P and K. I want tomatoes,not leaves. Foliar feeding with cal mag once a week too.  

 approx. 50 maters on this plant. I sell by the pound so it should be a great harvest in a great weeks with 11 plants. . Have been getting some nice ones over a pound too!. (Pics to follow)

Watermelons and lope melons are still good, a few  jalapenos and hundreds of sweetheart tomatoes are ready to pick today too. 

[Fish24/7]

Picked a few this morning for my family.

[BilletHead]

             Tomatoes really coming in now. First to ripen was the Cherokee purple. Had not planted those in years but @ness has such good luck I thought I would give them a try. Black Krim and celebrity are not far behind.

 Cherries galore yellow and red.

Peppers too. Lots of jalapenos and serrano.

    Looking good except for a couple plants with leaf curl. Then some death of branches .  So many fruits not an issue and plenty to share with friends. Not planning on and dehydrating this year. Still have gallons left. Good as the day we did them. Did some trimming and topping off of plants today. So many tomatoes below and no need to fight tying up the tops. Sometimes it can be a hassle and I don't want to use the ladder to work them. Cucumbers are kaput and I pulled them. 

[ness]

41 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

             Tomatoes really coming in now. First to ripen was the Cherokee purple. Had not planted those in years but @ness has such good luck I thought I would give them a try. Black Krim and celebrity are not far behind.

 

    Looking good except for a couple plants with leaf curl. Then some death of branches .  So many fruits not an issue and plenty to share with friends. Not planning on and dehydrating this year. Still have gallons left. Good as the day we did them. Did some trimming and topping off of plants today. So many tomatoes below and no need to fight tying up the tops. Sometimes it can be a hassle and I don't want to use the ladder to work them. Cucumbers are kaput and I pulled them. 

Funny -- I've had a few Black Krims (which I started doing again after your success with them) but no Cherokee Purple yet this year. Tons of green fruit on everything but they're kinda stalled out. Getting some Septoria, so I need to get on it.

Getting some banana peppers and will pickle them soon. Bells, Jimmy Nardello, cherries are coming along slowly. Had two decent bells turning, then something came in and ate them over the course of a couple nights. Looks like it was a mouse based on a couple Mickeynuggets on the inside of one of the peppers. Why poop in your food???

First round of bush beans are finishing up, second round started. Have some beets, carrots, chard.

We did something different this year: we devoted most of an 8x4 bed to herbs. We used to do a just a few in pots before. Got all kinds of stuff going on in there and we're learning what to do better next time. Basil is going nuts and shading out rosemary, thyme, marjoram. Based on $2.99 for about 8 leaves at the grocery store, we've got about $10,000 work of basil  We'll prune it back. Herb is our favorite part of the garden to just look at. So much going on in there. And, we're using it too. 

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, ness said:

Funny -- I've had a few Black Krims (which I started doing again after your success with them) but no Cherokee Purple yet this year. Tons of green fruit on everything but they're kinda stalled out. Getting some Septoria, so I need to get on it.

Getting some banana peppers and will pickle them soon. Bells, Jimmy Nardello, cherries are coming along slowly. Had two decent bells turning, then something came in and ate them over the course of a couple nights. Looks like it was a mouse based on a couple Mickeynuggets on the inside of one of the peppers. Why poop in your food???

First round of bush beans are finishing up, second round started. Have some beets, carrots, chard.

We did something different this year: we devoted most of an 8x4 bed to herbs. We used to do a just a few in pots before. Got all kinds of stuff going on in there and we're learning what to do better next time. Basil is going nuts and shading out rosemary, thyme, marjoram. Based on $2.99 for about 8 leaves at the grocery store, we've got about $10,000 work of basil  We'll prune it back. Herb is our favorite part of the garden to just look at. So much going on in there. And, we're using it too. 

                  Lots of herbs are perennial and you can have them the next year. Of course you know that. We have a patch of oregano and Mexican oregano, sage, Both German thyme and lemon thyme that over winter. Some garlic chives. They can go pretty crazy but we do some pulling to control them.  We pot out basil and up until this year our rosemary. Last year before the deep crazy freeze I noticed some green on the two plants. Took the planters in the shop. This Spring put them both into the ground and good grief we have it nice, plenty to use and dehydrate again. Looks better than in the pots from previous years even. This winter I may dig it up and bring inside again.  If you want any of these herbs come get them. Oh yea you will have to drive out of your four county area. Maybe we can do a lunch and I will deliver this fall?,

[ness]

33 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

                  Lots of herbs are perennial and you can have them the next year. Of course you know that. We have a patch of oregano and Mexican oregano, sage, Both German thyme and lemon thyme that over winter. Some garlic chives. They can go pretty crazy but we do some pulling to control them.  We pot out basil and up until this year our rosemary. Last year before the deep crazy freeze I noticed some green on the two plants. Took the planters in the shop. This Spring put them both into the ground and good grief we have it nice, plenty to use and dehydrate again. Looks better than in the pots from previous years even. This winter I may dig it up and bring inside again.  If you want any of these herbs come get them. Oh yea you will have to drive out of your four county area. Maybe we can do a lunch and I will deliver this fall?,

For us, the basil in a smallish pot we used wasn't really worth it. Thinking it may grow a *leetle* better in the bed we put in four plants. They're huge and it's only July  I may pull 1 or 2 of them yet this year. 

Here's what we've got: sage, dill, English thyme, French thyme, Greek oregano, chives, Italian parsley, marjoram. Going to be interesting to see how stuff finishes out the summer and overwinters. I'm sure there will be pruning, digging, changing things up as we learn. 

 

[Quillback]

Greek salad fixings, tomatoes and cukes are from the garden.

[ness]

Just watched a squirrel run along the top of the fence with a green tomato in its mouth. Almost got a picture of it but no go. Dang it!