2008 Garden Update

[dalthauser]

* Peppers are starting to produce.  Here is a picture of a Bell I harvested yesterday.  It weighed 12 ounces.  How it looks in my hand is how I picked it off the plant.  I don't wait for Bells to turn red because it usually gets sunburned before that could happen.
 

* The cucumbers are climbing pretty good by now.  They aren't doing as well as I hoped, but I'm going to wait and see.  This is a new Japanese variety - so it might be partly due to that.  Might go back to the old variety next year.


* Tomatoes are producing like crazy.  I'm harvesting about a quart of cherry tomatoes a day.  I have 444's as well but they aren't nearly as prolific. I'm letting them grow wild this year with no staking (even though I put in stakes in the beginning) and no pruning.  This coming Wednesday I'll be making fresh salsa since all the ingredients are harvestable (onions, tomatoes, chilis).


* Last years cucumbers volunteered to grow in my tomato patch.  Not sure how the seeds found there way there since the cucumbers grew a whole patch over last year.  I'm going to leave them alone even though I have others growing elsewhere.  Never turn down a plant trying to make you food I say.


* Now that the blackberries are done producing - time to prune back the canes so the new canes will receive all the water and nutrition for next years crop.  This truly is hazardous duty - even with gloves.


* I have two volunteer blackberries that rooted themselves.  This makes me smile.  I am going to transplant them to buckets and maybe find them a home.   Otherwise the mower will get them.


* Some people throw their change on the kitchen table when they come in the door.......

Comments

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

Your garden certainly is prolific (I can see you've put lots of work into it). Enjoy!

Mmmmm.....cucumbers :) I have been planting Muncher Burpless ( thin skinned, ground variety) in recent years as well as Lebanese . The Muncher Burpless I found out has another name, but I'd have to dig out the packet to find out what that was.

No garden in at the moment. I can't even get Gyro to slash it :(

[sahlah.livejournal.com]

I have veggie envy... I haven't had a decent tomato since late last summer. Sigh. I refuse to buy the hothouse softballs.

Your little blackberry volunteer makes me laugh. I have them all over the back yard... I wish I could send them to you.

[walksbeauty.livejournal.com]

WOOOO....looking so good! You must be months ahead of us... we have only baby seedling 'mater's, cukes, beans & squash!

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

We start early here and end early because once mid July hits the only thing that will grow in the heat is cactus and okra. Once mid September comes we can grow another warm season crop before it gets too cold, so that's good.

[walksbeauty.livejournal.com]

Jack always refers to the Texas growing season being adjusted around the heat and I just haven't ever experienced it before so it's funny to realize you actually have 2 growing seasons!~ that is so cool....

[madamealexis.livejournal.com]

Your garden is great!

My testers on the balcony are not doing so good. I think it's because of the amount of sun light I am getting. I have had some tomatoes and my first yellow bell pepper has started growing. I have no cucumber or squashing growing on the vines yet.

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I wish I had time to make it look nicer.

Yeah, vegetables that fruit reguire lots of sun. You could put some artificial light on them with a grow light if that's feasible. Leafy stuff like lettuce, spinach, parsley, etc. don't require such intense light.

[minemouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, look at those gorgeous tomatoes....Yumm.

[joebanks.livejournal.com]

Damn nice pepper, i never got anything bigger then a golf ball, now i got those six plants from my neighbor - pressure!

I have to make one last try at finding a cherry tomato plant this year; it seems no one stocked enough.

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

You could buy a punnet of ripe ones if you can get them at your supermarket and plant the seeds of one - that works!

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

I'm no good at growing capsicums either!

[bright-feather.livejournal.com]

WOW!!! Look at all those yummy veggies.

[reyvin.livejournal.com]

Those look awesome! I wonder how much of that I could do as container gardening. I always want gardens but apts make it difficult. Yours looks wonderful.

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

You can do most things in a container. For large plants like peppers, tomatoes, and cukes - be sure to choose a large container (like a 5 gal bucket or larger) - otherwise they will dry out fast. I even grew bush beans in a window box once - good concersation piece :)

[ex-kitschyhi349.livejournal.com]

Nothing beats homegrown tomatoes! MmMmMm.