View Full Version : Garden updates?
I'll go first. The pole beans are petering out......just a few now and then. The vines have turned brown. I did plant a late row of bush roma beans, and got a few handfuls out of them. But when I plant beans later in the season, they just don't do as well.
The cucs continue to go like gangbusters. the peppers are marginal. I've gotten enough to put on all our Friday night pizzas.
The tomatoes are doing pretty well and the mice aren't ruining them all anymore. I did pick alot of them early and let them ripen in the house, to avoid the mouse's appetites.
I also think the birds are pecking on some of them too.
The butternut squash has never done very well, but I do have a couple of them growing. The marigolds seem to have kept alot of the squash bugs away.......but now the bugs are congregating on the only zuchinni out there. Won't be eating that one.
What's grown the best in the garden this year are the milkweed plants I let grown. Man......they are 8-9' tall and I have about 130 seed pods. I've read that there are places that are collecting them for distribution, so I'll send them there, once they start to open.
The weeds in the garden have gone to seed.......so next year will be another weedy year. Wish we could get on top of that....
I did just buy 4 broccoli plants to put in a container in the back yard, for a Fall planting.
What's up in your garden?
Great year for tomatoes and greens.
Squash are producing now but due to drought they don't look fabulous.
My apples look terrible, likely due to a combination of weather factors. Mildew of some sort, insect damage, and the tree is dropping apples at a high rate.
The grapes, however, are beautiful and nearly ripe. Very sweet this year, too - I tried one a couple of days ago. They're a Concord variety and it took a few years for the vine to really begin growing and producing, but now it's going gangbusters!
Rosemary, what do you do with your grapes? I used to put some in a canning jar with some sugar and it would turn into grape juice.
I grew zucchini, butternut, buttercup, peppers and tomatoes this summer. Also a few melons that did not produce much.
The zucchini and tomatoes did best; I have removed everything except the last tomato plant which is Kellogg's breakfast variety and apparently a late producer. I am going to plant cover crop in all my beds next week. I might leave that last tomato plant in and cover crop that bed when it is done.
I'll miss having fresh produce at home this winter but the Master gardener plot will have kale, chard, onions, beets, carrots, lettuces, micro greens, parsley and cilantro. So, I'll eat out of that garden this winter for go to the year around organic farmer's market.
I always miss fresh tomatoes over the winter. They are my favorite crop. I buy the Campari tomatoes from Costco over the winter as they are grown in the US and not shipped in.
I planted garlic (four kinds and testing them for taste), green and wax beans were loaded, tomatoes (slicers and large cherry are wonderful and still producing) Bartlett pears gave two and half bushels shared with friends, about 3 qts of tiny delicious grapes that I ate over a week and a half, some Gala and Courtland apples coming (one dwarf tree of each and they cross-pollinated each other) and probably a bushel of Concord grapes to make juice for jelly spread eaten with peanut butter and to make a jelly dessert.
The berry bushes were eaten by the birds mostly and other critters, I suppose.
Mostly I got enough of everything growing to enjoy now, preserve and also share.
Tussiemussies
9-8-13, 12:54am
I planted garlic (four kinds and testing them for taste), green and wax beans were loaded, tomatoes (slicers and large cherry are wonderful and still producing) Bartlett pears gave two and half bushels shared with friends, about 3 qts of tiny delicious grapes that I ate over a week and a half, some Gala and Courtland apples coming (one dwarf tree of each and they cross-pollinated each other) and probably a bushel of Concord grapes to make juice for jelly spread eaten with peanut butter and to make a jelly dessert.
The berry bushes were eaten by the birds mostly and other critters, I suppose.
Mostly I got enough of everything growing to enjoy now, preserve and also share.
Sounds great razz!
CathyA, this is only the second year that we've had a significant number of grapes. Last year I cooked them to make some juice. I didn't sweeten it, and it was powerful stuff - we diluted it a lot with water. I think I'm going to make jam this year.
gimmethesimplelife
9-8-13, 5:13am
My garden update is that as I have posted before, we are getting the pool in the rear of our property drilled and filled with dirt and I am going to start a ''surviving the recession" garden in it in October. October is when we here in Phoenix can plant most of the crops that you'all in other climates plant in the summer. Here gardening is very different. Summers here are good for eggplants, tomatillos, squash and okra - pretty much anything else you plant in October.....I'm thinking a peach tree (there is a variety that actually does well here) and maybe an apricot tree and then various veggies. So excited about this.....and I live close to a Starbucks that is really cool about giving their coffee grounds out for free.....great fertilizer! Rob
Rosemary..........you jogged my memory.........I didn't add sugar to the grape juice, since, like you said, its very sweet all on its own.
fidgiegirl
9-8-13, 11:42am
We have had so many zucchini I can't even look at another one. They are chopped up and frozen for winter for when I'm done being sick of them. :)
Our kale did all right in the end. We planted so many seeds and many of them drowned in our excessive spring moisture, but just enough germinated to get a respectable amount of kale. I blanched and froze a bunch last weekend, and hope for one more round before frost sets in as I left the plants growing.
We got a number of carrots from those seeds, too!
Tomatoes are doing great! Lots of fruits on the vine, and some of these hot days are helping them to ripen.
Squash did great at my parents' house (about an hour away). We always do it there since they have a lot of room and my dad waters it every day, but won't harvest - so squash is perfect - it needs lots of room, and pretty much gets harvested once. We also had a TON of tomatillos form up there, but he said the sunflowers all toppled on top of them, so we'll see if we get any fruits by the time we can make it up there.
Our peppers did surprisingly well.
One thing I think we'll plant in the community garden next year is kohlrabi. My dad introduced us to the veggie this year - evidently his grandma always used to plant it and he had fond memories of eating it straight out of the garden with her growing up in Pennsylvania. So he wanted some plants put in the beds at their house, and we did, and it was delicious! We really liked it and it was so easy. Also, I'd like to put in more beets. We loved the few beets that grew this year, and they were really an afterthought - just chucked some seeds in the ground.
Another lesson - can't plant the community garden so tight. Now that everything is fruiting it's hard to harvest because it's packed and we don't want to step on fruits, etc. Lesson learned!
AND! Lettuce does crappy at our house. That needs to go in a the community garden as well. It could be a real money saver. Would like to do more herbs, too, especially basil for pesto.
Well, I learned a lot in the garden this year. I had a (small) plot at the community garden plus put garlic, asparagus and strawberries in at the house (which is really too shady for any of those). Best results were from the lettuces but also broccoli did well. Oddly, I didn't plan to plant broccoli but brussels sprouts and got the wrong seedlings. OH, well. Next year.. I'll use the community patch for the garlic and some tomatoes but put LOTS more compost in beforehand, and also mulch heavily. The berries are okay but I need more space to get much yield. They are ever bearers, and I have some in the community garden and the leftovers were stuck in a bed here at the house. I am not sure they are a good use of space. Beets didn't work at all....not sure why. Rainbow chard was okay but the white was the best. My four tomato plants were pathetic and I think it was poor soil. My patch had not been gardened before, though it was all double dug. Compost, compost, compost.
I am only slightly optimistic about the asparagus. It is probably not rich or sunny enough but the ferns look pretty lovely right now.
Gardening is always about learning for me. I hope to garden until I am dead.
Good point, Kelli, about lettuce saving money. I think that was good for me this year. I wish I had some more basil. I should say that some of the herbs are good: I have dried peppermint for tea, sage, tarragon. I could freeze some chives but I never use them frozen so no point. Maybe I can pot some up; I think I finally do have a window for them. Parsley looks great but I never remember to USE parsley and it is pointless dried.
Next year: dill and a special box or bed for basil. I hope I remember!
leslieann......you might already know this, but you're not supposed to cut any asparagus the first year they produce. Then cut just a couple the 2nd year. I believe you can start cutting all you want by the 3rd year.
The fact that your ferns looks good now is a good sign!
Things we have harvested already: Tons of kale, collards, spinach, chard, sorrel, rhubarb. 40 heads of garlic.
Things we continue to harvest: Yellow squash, zucchini (2 plants, just the right amount!), small tomatoes (2 varieties), peppers (7 varieties), red potatoes, Provider green beans, sugar snap peas, mounds of basil, mint, chives, other herbs
Things not quite ready but we're looking forward to soon: Large tomatoes (still ripening), tomatillos, cantaloupe, corn, sweet potatoes
Things we've planted for a fall crop later (under hoops): Spinach, kale, lettuce
Things that will (sadly) probably not produce, because I got them in too late: Lima beans, second crop of green beans, watermelon, okra
Our community garden is absolutely nuts. Great year, lots of rain and heat.
Blackdog Lin
9-9-13, 8:16am
Very cool to hear about everyone's gardens!
We are down to tomatoes and okra. Lots and lots of okra. Been giving away both like mad, as we have enough tomato products canned already, and one can only eat so much okra during the winter.
DH has romaine and broccoli seedlings going on the patio, both of which are looking good. Those plus radishes will be our (hopefully) fall gardening. I helped him till the edges of the garden yesterday, as we need to get the seedlings in the ground. I'd love to get a bunch of broccoli in the freezer for this winter.....
Like Lin, we have tomatoes and okra coming out our ears. Zucchini is still hanging on. Cukes are shut down because of heat, but should fire up when it cools off. Carrots, beets and kale all doing great in the 'juicing' bed, mostly because it only gets 3 hours of sun a day. Winter squash all looking strong. Eggplant got a second wind so we have 30 or 40 little purple globes hanging on them. All peppers are doing great in the heat (104* today), especially the hot varieties. Still holding off planting some fall crops. Its probably too late already, but its just too dang hot for this gardener to get excited about working in the sun.
Gardenarian
9-9-13, 1:50pm
Nothing did very well for me this year, except for the fruit trees (always reliable.)
Tomatoes, eh, got very few. Lots of arugula and chard. Cucumbers all got eaten by some bug. Pumpkins are ripening but there is lots of mildew on the leaves - not sure they'll make it.
I've been focusing more on landscaping (new fence, new borders, replacing old shrubs) and didn't spend the time on vegetables - it sure shows.
Successes this season: Green beans, kale, tomatoes, butternut squash, peppers.
Not so much: okra, beets, Brussels sprouts (never again).
Green beans are almost done...just a handful here and there a week. Kale is about through. Peppers and tomatoes still coming on strong. Have put up quite a bit of tomato sauce and have made some salsa.
I am currently trying to start fall crop successions of lettuce, green onions and spinach. We'll see.
fidgiegirl
9-14-13, 11:09am
The big question of today is will the tomatillos have survived being buried by the sunflowers that toppled over on top of them? We have a garden bed at my parents and we were getting a very good number of tomatillos but then my dad reported that the sunflowers smooshed them. So we shall see!! If we get the fruits I think we had on the plants, we'll be swimming in them. Will try to remember to update you later!
My garden update is that as I have posted before, we are getting the pool in the rear of our property drilled and filled with dirt and I am going to start a ''surviving the recession" garden in it in October. October is when we here in Phoenix can plant most of the crops that you'all in other climates plant in the summer. Here gardening is very different. Summers here are good for eggplants, tomatillos, squash and okra - pretty much anything else you plant in October.....I'm thinking a peach tree (there is a variety that actually does well here) and maybe an apricot tree and then various veggies. So excited about this.....and I live close to a Starbucks that is really cool about giving their coffee grounds out for free.....great fertilizer! Rob
Oh, yes, Rob! Definitely plant peach trees! Ours in Phoenix did really great, better than the lemon, orange or grapefruit. Look at the Phx Permaculture website for suggestions on varieties...they also hold a sale in mid-winter complete with training, taught by a guy named Greg. Thanks for the explanation about the tomatoes-I always tried to get them in in March, and I think I got like 3 tomatoes over 3 years, from a dozen plants. But basil and rosemary went totally nuts and we were kept in pesto :)
For this year, in N Colorado, we are getting buckets of tomatoes. I must have put up 30 lbs last week, and now we're drying all the cherry/grape size ones. I had filched the seeds from heirlooms from last year so everything but the seed starter and containers to start were free! Probably the amount we got last year and this would surpass the money spent on making the raised bed.
We got plenty of feral lettuce last year from seeds that fell off the plants when I pulled them last fall so that was pretty awesome too. I noticed some seedlings starting up from plants I let go to seed this year, so maybe we'll get a fall crop too. I tried dried beans which seems to have worked but didn't produce a ton because the tomatoes took over nearly completely. I think there are some shallots and garlic under there somewhere but have no hope of finding them until first frost when the tomatoes die. For fruit, we got another nice crop of currants and planted raspberries, peaches and plums. Somehow one of DH's coworkers got a bunch of peaches so we saved seed and will plant those in spring after frost too.
Tussiemussies
9-15-13, 7:25pm
Wow, pug that sounds like quite a yield that you've had this summer! Bet you're having some great meals with what you produced....
Since I didn't get to have a garden this year it's nice to hear about what everyone else has done...
Christine, a couple of days after that post, the gardens here all got whacked by a big hailstorm. It looked like a bomb went off.
My house wasn't hit too bad, and we're still harvesting corn, tomatoes, peppers, and of course everything that was underground :)
The coolest thing that's happening is that my Jerusalem Artichokes are blossoming. They look kind of like these: 1315
Beautiful daisies.
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