Posted on 09/30/2016 7:42:32 PM PDT by greeneyes
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Doesn’t look like insect damage so I am going to guess maybe they were in the ground too long?? Which reminds me I have some potatoes to dig. :)
We tries San Marzanos this year, just loved them. Also tried totem, a lot of tomatoes but not impressed overall.
Greeneyes .... hope your cold goes away before it gets too bad & your husbands foot heals up quickly!
Tuesday afternoon (in between rainy days), was ‘clean up the garden’ day and it probably took me 4-5 hours. Most of the tomato plants were ready to pull up - any large(r) green tomatoes were pulled & are ripening in the house. The egpplants, basil & zinnias were all pulled up as well. I left the 4 pepper plants - they are still producing. It was rather shocking how sore my back was the next two days - the mind is willing but the body is becoming aged.
My SIL gave me an heirloom variety kale - Lacinato aka Tuscan Kale or Dinosaur Kale. I read up on it & it sounds wonderful. I had a 9-plant flat that sat around for 2 weeks until I could get it into the ground Tuesday. Since then, we’ve had nothing but rainy days, including a brief spell of hail (quarter sized) & my kale is now “I-survived-the-hail” kale ... it’s growing like a weed - obviously loves Garden Tone & rain.
https://bonnieplants.com/product/lacinato-kale/
http://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/gardening/tuscan-kale/
Overall, I was very happy with my tomatoes this year. I will not grow Mr. Stripey again - very disappointed. I loved the Amelia & Celebrity tomatoes & the Parks Whopper Improved. I had a Sun Sugar (orange) cherry tomato plant for the 3rd year - probably the sweetest one I’ve ever tasted & produces prolific numbers of tomatoes. It took over (again) the spot where I was growing it. I’m not sure I’ll do one next year. The eggplants were outstanding - never been able to grow them before and I got two crops off of both plants (Black Beauty & Ichiban). The basil was great - enough to make a large pesto batch. The real “fun” was the zinnia patch - I sprinkled two seed packets in the middle of a bed that only had two tomato plants in it (one on each end). My mom made numerous beautiful arrangement & took them to shut-ins, gave to the staff at our church, and to relatives for birthdays. I’m planning a new raised bed just for a cut flower garden next year.
Amelia (determinate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/amelia-tomato/
Celebrity (determinate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/celebrity-tomato/
Parks Whopper Improved (indeterminate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/park-s-whopper-improved-tomato/
Sun Sugar (yellow cherry - indeterminate) https://bonnieplants.com/product/sun-sugar-tomato/
The not-so-secret secret to the great garden this year was lots of rain from early on all the way through July. We had a dry August, but everything was doing so well, I only watered once. Now, we’re back to lots of rain again ... 9.91 inches for the month of September which is 6” more than normal. If I plant more in the ‘fall’ garden (I plan on it), then everything should do well unless we get a very early cold snap. I can cover my beds to protect from frost. The other huge project & great success was my anti-crow fence ... LOVE it. Totally effective against the crows & it also kept out other animals (my brother’s dog who loves to eat Garden Tone & rolls in it, deer, skunks, etc.).
It’s always a ‘sad’ day when I pull up the garden, but seeing new plants growing is exciting. I’ve got lots of ideas for next year as far as what will go in which bed - hope to have a more organized and productive ‘plant plan’.
Just before I took this picture, most of them were lined up sitting on the fence which would have made a great pic, but before I could get the camera, most of them disbursed to the ground. Currently, they are keeping an eye on the fig bush that is in the process of ripening. Every time I see these 'guys', the song Bad boys Whatcha want, Whatcha want, Whatcha gonna do starts playing in my head. There is never a dull moment around here.
I love pickle juice - it’s wonderful with a cheese sandwich. Even better than a pickle and cheese sandwich.
I’ve grown San Marzanos this year, and love those little meaty tomatoes. I’ve decided I’m skipping the Rutgers and cherry tomatoes next year and growing all San M’s.
Hope you and hubby get to feeling better.
I only have butternut squash, a few late-planted zucchini, tomatoes, and bell peppers left in the garden. The rest quit, thank heaven ;) It was an exhausting gardening season but I learned a lot - and have ideas on how to make it easier next year.
I usually take the tops off my Brussels around the end of September here in northern Massachusetts. The plant won’t get much taller, so the plant’s energy needs to go into sprout production instead. I like to cut off (cut, not break) a few of the bottom leaves too.
This year I experimented with direct-seeding my tomatoes and the results were both good and bad. (Tomato “volunteers” pop up just fine without being started indoors, so I figured why not?) The plants are big and healthy, so direct seeding works. The drawback is that I’m closing in on my annual first frost date and I have too many green tomatoes and not enough color.
The lesson learned is that indoor starting gives you a running start on harvest time. I’m guessing I lost at least two weeks. Whoops.
I too am twitching to get my garlic in the ground! One distraction after another, but I’ll be howling if the ground freezes and the garlic is still hanging in the kitchen!
I’ve sprinkled Cheyenne pepper on my key hole gardens and
I think the slugs have move on. My beans and collards are
looking nice. Need to replant some peas, as some didn’t
take. Beet seeds need to go into the ground. Hopefully
while we’re gone we get a bit of rain. Our master gardener
planted some Swiss chard in one of my plots, thanks to him.
My baby carrots have not shown themselves, I’ll give them a couple more weeks to show if they don’t show, I’ll replant
I’m going to plant some cabbage and ? in the cabbage family.
These will be in syrup pots.
I planted way too many peppers this year, mostly jalapenos (45 plants). I used them to can salsa, bread and butter jalapenos, wicked pickles, cowboy candy, and Habanero Hellfire (a relish based on bread and butter jalapenos that is hotter than Hades!). That doesn’t include the bags of chopped peppers in the freezer. Last week, I picked most of the remaining peppers that were red (about 5 lbs) and put them in the food dehydrator. I’ve bagged them up, and I think I’ll run them through the food processor to make jalapeno/habanero chili powder. I pulled almost all the tomato plants back in August, but left a handful, so I have a few fall tomatoes that are ripening now. I had planned to do a fall garden, but bugs were bad this year and I’m tired of fighting them. We need some good cold this winter to reduce the bug population. So, now I’m in the thinking/planning stages for next year’s garden. It’s time to go through all my seeds (I’m a seed hoarder) and get a plan going.
I’m going outside now to pick more peppers. It’s 59 degrees here today, yay. My hot banana peppers are hot as firecrackers, too hot even for me. I guess I will just cut them up and freeze them. The Chocolate Beauty bell peppers did well and are very tasty. I’ve had a flock (18) of wild turkeys visit my yard almost daily. They are not afraid of me in the least and come quite close. It’s a pleasure to live in the country after living in a steel town much of my life.
Black Krim are not as hearty as the purple cherokees and you won’t get much yield...you will never forget the taste of a big healthy one though!!!
The San Marzano is considered one of the best sauce tomatoes. I would agree, The best flavor. We used them for anything, fresh salsa with cilantro and onion. Stewed they would be great as they are very meaty. Very few seeds. Also the best cut up for salads IMO.
Beautiful! Did you plant them whole or cut them in half? I love sweet potatoes but in Michigan it’s just too short of a growing season.
Syrup pots? Do you mean tapping your tree’s this fall?
Horrible chest congestion, etc; off work all week.
Weather still holding, and wife has been picking beans, squash, & tomatoes. .
I dragged myself down there a couple of days ago to dig what was left of the carrots. Something got in, are all the tops, and broke off a lof them & and ate that, too. Some even looked like they had been dug out. :-(
I just planted them whole. I really don’t think anything will come of them but I had the room so what the heck. They are a beautiful plant so far...
Take care of that congestion. Lots of it out here on the north coast...
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