Posted on 07/15/2011 5:13:42 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. It has been another week of hot humid weather. My little garden got its small share of a 60% chance of rain yesterday afternoon. A nice pop up T-storm spent about half an hour dropping a nice steady rain on my garden. There is a 70% chance of rain today. If the percentage for rain is not above 50 the pop up T-storms seem to pass me by. I did get to harvest about a dozen ripe tomatoes this past week but they are on the small side. My replacement paste tomato plants are coming along just fine so far. I will leave them to develop in their 5 inch peat pots for a couple of more weeks before setting them out in the garden.
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I hope all your gardens are flourishing.
It flooded some of the raised beds and laid down the corn, and exposed the roots in the newest planted section. Some of the soil washed out of the bed too.
Tomato branches that I hacked off and stuck in pots are doing well with lots of flowers, and some tiny green tomatoes finally appearing. The ones I planted this spring are growing very slowly. Hubby has had a few cukes and enough green beans to cook up a couple of batches.
My beans have flowers right now, but no beans yet. Corn has silks, but they were burgundy colored, and the leaves at the bottom were kinda yellow and red. I put a Tablespoon of blood meal between the plants, and the silks are a better color now, so I guess they needed nitrogen.
Hubby still has not planted the garden where he harvested the wheat. He decided to make it bigger, and put in raised beds about 40” by 32 feet. He may just have to plant a fall garden at this rate. LOL
We have had several batches of wild blackberries and some great looking volunteer tomatoes in the compost heap.
Have a great weekend. God Bless.
I may try to get something to shade the plants. I had some in big pots a couple of years ago, but they didn’t do well at all.
Your tomato plants look 100% healthier than mine!
Glad to hear the babies are doing fine.
Even though Earth Boxes and global buckets are containers; they are SELF-WATERING systems, and that is KEY.
The two branches that broke off my beautiful Purple Haze tomato plant in a storm a couple of weeks back are BOTH rooting nicely...even MORE PH maters to enjoy! Nom!
I harvest the spinach and lettuce all winter and spring. The carrots are ready in the spring, and the onions are pulled in June.
In October, I plant winter wheat, and garlic. The garlic is not ready until next October, but the wheat is ready mid-June of the next year, and can be followed by a crop like beans.
I may try the Earth Boxes next year for some of my crop.
I need to get ambitious today!
I love Earth Boxes...I add a few to my collection every year. I just noted on another gardening forum that tomato growers in the Dallas area report great success with shade cloth...they were talking temps in the low 100’s.
Green Tomato Salsa Relish
Makes about 3 cups
2 large green tomatoes, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, scored and chopped
1 tart apple, 'Granny Smith' type, chopped
2 jalapenos, cored, seeded, finely chopped
...(hotter or cooler as you wish, of course)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs chopped fresh herbs
...(this could be cilantro, mint, basil, mixed -- your choice)
½ tsp. cumin (optional)
Combine the tomatoes, onions, peppers, apples, garlic, vinegar, and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about an hour.
Stir in the jalapenos, herbs, and cumin if using, and simmer for 5 more minutes. Carefully blenderize until still somewhat chunky. Season again to taste.
Great Pictures. Do you use the rye grain or just plow it under?
Tell me more about this “Dr. Earth”. Please.
And you are most probably correct that it was Jungs that I received these free seeds from, as I ordered some beans and my corn from them.
What I cannot find to control is the helmeted tannish/brown/gray squash bugs. I have about given up on planting zucchini no matter where or what soil I plant them in as soon as they start blooming they are immediately infested with these plant killers. I spent over an hour just on three plants, killing by hand the mating adults, some newly hatched young, and cutting out the eggs laid on the leaves of the plant. I HATE squash bugs.
Thanks for the info! The first time I planted black-eyed peas, 3 years ago, they were excellent & were just some dried ones from the grocery store meant for cooking. Last year I did the same and they had no flavor. This year they are, like yours, just now being harvested & the taste is good, but seems like there are too many ‘onesies’. I remember that 1st year the pods were reeeaaaally long and well filled out. Maybe as the season progresses this will improve. Thanks, again for your help.
This is good to know. I have no clue what I am in for and I have planted the plants in two separate locations. Both places are tiller accessible IF I get to that. But my dilemma has been to stave off the bug attacks. We shall see if I ever get to harvest even one fruit.
I too do not plant as much in each sq ft. as they say, because I like to go back in and plant a little beans with the corn, and basil with the tomatoes.
1 sweet red pepper, scored and chopped.
What is meant by scored?
Since y’all are saying how good they are so , I'll be sure to try some next year.
That enabled them to survive and fruit, but it wasn't entirely satisfactory. My own conclusion was, I will never do "hanging" tomatoes again. They dry out too fast, plus are subject to stem breakage as they sway or torque in the wind.
IMHO, though, shading does help tomatoes in very hot dry weather.
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