Author Topic: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017  (Read 105619 times)

ender

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #450 on: July 10, 2017, 07:10:40 PM »
probably tl;dr. sorry :D

Can you easily freeze pesto? I wonder if I should plant a bunch of basil. Though my wife dislikes pesto immensely I really like it..

Basil turns black in the freezer - so make sure there is enough oil to cover any pesto and I think it is fine.

Maybe I will do that then. I kind of want to play with starting plants inside anyways and it'd be nice to try on a "throwaway" setup I don't care about since next year I'll be a bit sad if our started plants fail.

Here's the pile of pea plants that gave us about 7.5 pounds of peas (in about 29 feet of plants):



They might have kept going but the powdery mildew was really getting bad on them. Unfortunately I showered all the beans with it when pulling them out... :\  at least they are nearly done too and no where near as susceptible as the peas are (in theory, at least).

Again pruned tomatoes and this time pruned all of them. Anecdotally it seems this is having a huge impact, as the plants I had pruned within the past week now all have well over a dozen flower clusters and most of which are new. Hard to tell whether that's causation or correlation, but either way the large number of branches I pruned weren't doing much. I think next year I'm going to try to get ALL very tall tomato cages as many of the tomatoes are already above the top of their cages and it's still early July! I might have to stake/tie them at this rate.

Gosh I forget how good Sungolds are. Next year we might just plant them for cherry tomatoes. We have a few cherry varieties but again Sungold is by far my favorite.

Many of our purchased/transplanted peppers are anemic. The only ones which are really doing well are ones we transplanted first and which were large when we did that - next year I'm going to aim to have all the pepper transplants like 8" or taller when we plant them in late May.

Pulled out more beans tonight too. Up to about 6.5 pounds (from ~24 linear feet worth, 3 rows of about 8 feet long and about a foot row spacing). Going to be a good amount as we'll get more from them too. Then a good sized area will free up between peas/beans (probably a 10x15 area?) and I have to figure that out. I guess that could be a lot of basil ;)


FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #451 on: July 10, 2017, 09:57:23 PM »
I saw a hint of color on one of my Sungold tomatoes today! :D

Got a good-sized handful off of my second-year blueberry bush today too, with more to come.

Unfortunately, it looks like my peas are once again a FAIL. Maybe it got too hot? Other beds in my community garden have peas that are still going strong, though. Mine have mostly dried up despite diligent watering, and have produced exactly one pea pod. The same thing happened last year.

I can't figure out whether the tomatoes in the community bed are a bit stunted this year, or whether it's just that the ones in my back yard are SO full and bushy and healthy, that they just look a little spindly by comparison. I've also been diligently pruning them and shoving them back into their cages when they threaten to sneak out of them, so perhaps they are just more contained. I should go look at last year's garden pix and see where they are compared to last year at this time. All but 3 plants are currently making tomatoes. The other 3 have flowers on them, but don't seem to be fruiting. They are all heirloom varieties which I know can sometimes be tricky, and low bearers. (White Beauty, Brandywine, and Gold Medal, if anyone's interested. I was especially interested in White Beauty but so far it's just making flowers that shrivel up. Oh well. Started from free seeds, so I'm only out my time and effort.)

Since we are almost in the same city, I'll chime in on that.
My peas were an absolute failure 2 years in a row. next year I'm not going to even try. It's either weather (this year) or rabbits (last year).
I have picked only 2 blueberries from a 3-4 year old bush. Others are still ripening - I covered them with cottage cheese cloth (birds), may be that's the reason?
Tomatoes: HUUUUUGE ! Switched to Early Girl (YESSS!!! Wonderful! big fruits, already turning yellow. Big vines, lots and lots of fruits. Indeterminate, meaning I will have them produce until October if I keep pruning them right), Monster (big big fruits, later in season than girl tho, which is good), same cherry (nice and better than last year).
Cucumbers: crying here. Not good at all this year. No bees, no rain (lately), no nothing. Bunnies ate 4 bushes to the roots. The ones that are still there produce nothing, even with hand pollination
Peppers: topped them at 3 leaves. So they are going to produce fruits (or how do you call it?) later than non-topped ones, but the crop will be better by a huge margin. Already seeing little guys there.
Cilantro: meh, I'd call it fail. Not good
Parsley: meh, better than cilantro but still. Don't know WTF.
Dill: good
Basil: OK to good
Pumpkin: no idea, there's a monster bush 4x4 ft in the garden :) bloomed today. Gonna take over the garden
Experimental potatoes (just to show my family how potatoes grow) not very good,  probably because of pumpkin shade (potatoes need sun)
Blackberries: joke. No idea WTF is going on, bloomed a lot, but then NO berries.

Weedy Acres

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #452 on: July 11, 2017, 07:01:06 AM »
I freeze pesto in snack sized ziplock bags with great results.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #453 on: July 11, 2017, 07:55:43 AM »
I've never had luck with cukes. Or Early Girl. Whenever I've grown Early Girl, the yield was just OK and the plant invariably looked like shit. Seriously, one year it was a brown stick with a few leaves on it - but still making tomatoes, however feebly, so I just let it do its thing until they ripened and the whole thing keeled over. Fourth of July is my new favorite early variety, though the name is false, I never actually get ripe tomatoes by the 4th. I think last year it was the 18th. This year there are bunches of tomatoes on it but all still very green.

Now that I have yard space I might try starting peas really early like you're supposed to. I feel like not being able to direct sow until late April, as that's when the community bed opens, impedes things. But that means I need a bunny fence at home. Ugh.

My cilantro did very well, then suddenly got bitter - but hadn't actually bolted. For me, cilantro doesn't last that long - maybe a few weeks. I've read that you should continue sowing seeds all season so that when one plant's dying, another is getting ready. Meh. I don't eat that much cilantro so that doesn't seem worth it. Though I do have more seed, and some spaces opening in the community bed as stuff dies off in the heat.

Not to make you feel bad, but I have TONS of bumblebees in my backyard. One day I counted at least 12, happily pollinating the flowers that my landlord put in. I asked him what they were and he said hydrangea - they don't look like hydrangea to me, though, they're less poofy. Maybe a different variety? Anyway, maybe plant some pollinator plants near your veg garden if you have the space? They seem to be making the bees very happy.

ender

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #454 on: July 11, 2017, 08:21:15 AM »
Or Early Girl. Whenever I've grown Early Girl, the yield was just OK and the plant invariably looked like shit. Seriously, one year it was a brown stick with a few leaves on it - but still making tomatoes, however feebly, so I just let it do its thing until they ripened and the whole thing keeled over.

Huh. Our early girls are on pace for an astronomical crop right now - each of them has already produced a half dozen tomatoes and each have probably 5 clusters growing now with another dozen recent flower clusters.

Quote
Not to make you feel bad, but I have TONS of bumblebees in my backyard. One day I counted at least 12, happily pollinating the flowers that my landlord put in. I asked him what they were and he said hydrangea - they don't look like hydrangea to me, though, they're less poofy. Maybe a different variety? Anyway, maybe plant some pollinator plants near your veg garden if you have the space? They seem to be making the bees very happy.

I've wondered about whether peas/beans help with this. The peas flowered first, then the beans, with tons of flowers - so our garden is full of bees too, in fact I was annoyed the other day that there were so many bees in the bean plants that I didn't want to pick them!

We also got burrowing honeybees on the perimeter of our patio. And I'm sick of shooting down paper wasp nests.. I wonder if there's something I can spray to get rid of them or stop them from rebuilding nests in our overhangs.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #455 on: July 11, 2017, 10:54:33 AM »
@This Prior. Early girl:

Kaybee

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #456 on: July 12, 2017, 08:52:38 PM »
Oh my...I missed this thread (probably because I've been out in the garden so much lately).  I only have a tiny plot in a community garden but I've been harvesting lettuce, beet greens and a tiny bit of spinach regularly for a few weeks now.  My tomatoes are starting to fruit but they look like they'll need a bit of time before anything's ready to be picked.  I've been thinning my carrots and beets and they're starting to look pretty much full size (carrots probably need another week or so).  I had a huge radish crop which was funny, because I originally planted them simply because they are a quick crop but now I really like radishes and am impatiently waiting for the next wave to start growing.

Beans are growing but no actual beans have been sighted yet.

Strawberries...between the birds and squirrels, I haven't had a chance to have a single one but I'm trying to not buy more garden stuff at this point.  I'll dig out some row cover and see if I can rig something up at that end of my plot.

My bell peppers aren't doing much (I didn't know I had to top them!) and were hit pretty hard by a recent hail storm so I might just give up on them.

I also have a bush squash plant but this is my first real garden so I very naively squished a lot into my plot.  The squash is not getting a lot of sun due to other plants so I'm not expecting much there.

I thought I'd try gardening to see what it was like to grow some of my own food...I had no idea it would become so addictive!!!  I'm already trying to plan for next year. :D



horsepoor

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #457 on: July 12, 2017, 09:37:36 PM »
Trying to decide what to plant after we rip out our peas/beans.

In Iowa, anyone have suggestions? We could do more of those I guess..

I'm not sure how the Iowa growing season is, but here I just dug up some early potatoes and planted parsnips, beets and carrots in their place.

This weekend I'm starting cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower inside and will plant them out under shade cloth in mid-August.  That worked last year to give them enough time to grow before the weather cooled, but not so much that they bolted.  The shade cloth will come off in September.  I'll also try for a fall lettuce crop planted around Sept. 1, and a few radishes.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #458 on: July 13, 2017, 07:26:36 AM »
Trying to decide what to plant after we rip out our peas/beans.

In Iowa, anyone have suggestions? We could do more of those I guess..

Ender -- in Iowa you can do a fall crop of carrots or greens, planting in early August or so . . .

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #459 on: July 23, 2017, 03:13:15 PM »
I feel like my garden is not very Mustachian this year.

All of the tomatoes in my community garden appear to have gotten hit with early blight and just were not looking as vigorous as they had in past years (or as vigorous as the ones in my backyard). I did some research and talked to folks at the garden center, and came home with a bottle of organic fungicide (we are only permitted to use organic products in the community garden). $9.99. Also got some tomato-specific soil amendment that I've used in past years with great success, because the garden folks pointed out - and I knew this but don't have much choice other than to not grow tomatoes for a year or two - that if you keep growing the same plant in the same spot the soil's nutrients get depleted. $12.99.

After a few days of applying both, the tomatoes are looking happier and less diseased! But, I think about how many 59-cent cans of tomatoes I could've bought at Aldi instead and started feeling kind of disgusted with myself.

I don't just grow my own to save money, though. I do it because I enjoy it, because homegrown tomatoes taste better, because I get to try new and different varieties, because it's important to me to be in control of my food supply to the extent possible as a city dweller with very little access to land.

I still feel kind of angry with myself for spending $25 and change after tax, when I know I won't get $25 worth of tomatoes back out of it. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

StarBright

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #460 on: July 23, 2017, 03:25:22 PM »
I feel like my garden is not very Mustachian this year.
 . . . .

I still feel kind of angry with myself for spending $25 and change after tax, when I know I won't get $25 worth of tomatoes back out of it. Does anyone else ever feel this way?

I do feel that way until I eat my first couple of tomatoes. The first slice of Cherokee Purple on my BLT or with mozzarella and basil and I'm always thankful I plant them.

On a tomato note - we got some free Brad's Atomic Grape starters from our head community gardener this year and I'm not sure when they ripen! They are huge for "grape" tomatoes and they've been green and purple for weeks. It is driving me crazy.

I was also a dummy and planted two indeterminates too close to each other and now I have a six foot jungle of tomatoes in one of my 4x4 plots).

G-dog

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #461 on: July 23, 2017, 03:26:25 PM »
OH yes! On a pure cost basis (seeds, plants, amendments, watering...) I think there is a poor ROI on lots of garden stuff.  But it's not just cost, is it.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2017, 04:23:48 PM by G-dog »

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #462 on: July 23, 2017, 04:21:23 PM »
I sometimes have that feeling of why bother too - and then I get a fantastic pick of something - and bam - feeling is gone. 

Today I harvest all the garlic and onions.  The odd garlic was going mushy.  I think that the super wet weather is not good.  I got a decent harvest. They were drying on a cardboard box in the garden until it started to rain .  Now they are on the garage floor.
I was also able to pick a quart of yellow bush beans and one - but a good size - golden beet.  Last week I picked two rodinia beets.  All three are simmering away.
Tomatoes are coming along....any day now.

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #463 on: July 23, 2017, 05:10:53 PM »
Lousy year for tomatoes here- early blight was bad, weather was bad- but hoping some late volunteers will save the season. Garlic heads on the small side, shallots ok, carrots happy. Beans mixed, cakes happier than I've seen them, peppers just kicking into gear after a rough start.

It's not economic but it's tasty, pushes me to eat more veg, and I think of it as therapy and community building- do a lot of passing things over the fence with neighbors.


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Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #464 on: July 23, 2017, 05:31:03 PM »


I do feel that way until I eat my first couple of tomatoes. The first slice of Cherokee Purple on my BLT or with mozzarella and basil and I'm always thankful I plant them.

Ooooooo, thank you for that reminder. Last year I grew Cherokee Purple and it made exactly one huge tomato. It was glorious. This year I've got probably 8 tomatoes on that plant, with more coming. Not ripe yet, but I cannot wait! I'm so happy I planted that one again this year; almost didn't because of last year's poor yield.


I was also a dummy and planted two indeterminates too close to each other and now I have a six foot jungle of tomatoes in one of my 4x4 plots).

Ummmmmm, we will not discuss the jungles that are currently going on in both my community garden plot and in my backyard. I tried so hard to stay on top of the pruning, too. Yikes.

OH yes! On a pure cost basis (seeds, plants, amendments, watering...) I think there is a poor ROI on lots of garden stuff.  But it's not just cost, is it.

No. It's not. It's a hard thing to explain to someone who doesn't also garden. I often get "but.... you can just buy that stuff at the grocery store, can't you? Why put in all that work?" I don't bother explaining it any more.


Rural

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #465 on: July 23, 2017, 08:07:18 PM »
Finally getting some ripe tomatoes. They've been green forever.


And this is the third year of purely volunteer regrowth tomatoes (Black Cherry heirlooms). Aside from the cost of watering every few days, I haven't bought anything associated with tomatoes since 2014, but I still haven't finished all of last year's harvest. The key seems to be to plant the tomatoes right next to the compost heap.


I wish, though, that I'd bought some Cherokee Purple seeds. The last time I grew them, which happened to be 2014, I also got exactly one glorious tomato. It was worth the cost and the summer of trouble, even now that it's a three-year-old memory. It made me remember what summer is supposed to be like, and for a few minutes I was young again and the US was celebrating its bicentennial. Hmm. Next summer I plant Cherokee Purple on the other side of the compost heap.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #466 on: July 23, 2017, 10:09:06 PM »
Almost all my tomatoes in the raised bed are loosing leaves (turning brown and fall off). What is it? Dots appear and then all dry. Fruits are OK, but I worry that with less foliage the plants will produce less. They looked sooooo healthy 3 weeks ago

jlcnuke

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #467 on: July 24, 2017, 07:27:42 AM »
Almost all my tomatoes in the raised bed are loosing leaves (turning brown and fall off). What is it? Dots appear and then all dry. Fruits are OK, but I worry that with less foliage the plants will produce less. They looked sooooo healthy 3 weeks ago

Likely Septoria Leaf Spot or blight. For either, the "treatment" is pretty much the same. Cut off infected leaves (most places say to, some say it doesn't matter though for septoria) and use fungicide to help minimize the spread (a copper fungicide is what I use). The fungicide won't "stop" or kill off the infection, but can help protect non-infected plants/leaves.  I've lost ~1/2 of my plants both the last two years to such things though, so I may not be the best person to consult..

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #468 on: July 24, 2017, 10:19:43 AM »
I have been using copper fungicide for my early blight and it does seem to be helping. I also cut off the infected leaves - doesn't seem to have hurt the yield much, and the foliage is growing back.

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #469 on: July 24, 2017, 12:48:32 PM »
It's storming out today, so time for some inside activities instead of gardening. We've been eating bush beans, zucchini, carrots, and some early potatoes, as well as all of the greens, of course. I've been running a mini weekly CSA with friends where they pay me what they can/like for produce and it's been pretty fun. Not really making much money, but at least the food isn't going to waste. I've also donated a lot of greens to the local youth shelter :)

Here's a picture of yesterday's harvest. Round and long zucchini, carrots, and golden beets.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #470 on: July 24, 2017, 03:15:35 PM »
I have been using copper fungicide for my early blight and it does seem to be helping. I also cut off the infected leaves - doesn't seem to have hurt the yield much, and the foliage is growing back.

Suggest an inexpensive one that you might have tried? There are many in store from $10 to $60

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #471 on: July 24, 2017, 06:43:26 PM »
Mine was $10 for a bottle about the size of a bottle of spray household cleaner. I got it at my local Fancy Garden Center but looks like you can get it online too: https://www.amazon.com/Bonide-811-Copper-Fungicide-473ML/dp/B00BSULSHA

$60?! Yeesh.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #472 on: July 24, 2017, 07:36:04 PM »
I have herbs (basil, cilantro, dill, parsley) in the same bed under the tomatoes. Will it hurt them and ME? :)

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #473 on: July 25, 2017, 06:56:11 AM »
I have dill right next to my tomatoes and it seems OK. I'd just wash it first.

jlcnuke

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #474 on: July 25, 2017, 07:11:31 AM »
I have been using copper fungicide for my early blight and it does seem to be helping. I also cut off the infected leaves - doesn't seem to have hurt the yield much, and the foliage is growing back.

Suggest an inexpensive one that you might have tried? There are many in store from $10 to $60

I use this https://smile.amazon.com/Bonide-811-Copper-Fungicide-473ML/dp/B00BSULSHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500988079&sr=8-2&keywords=copper+fungicide

Diluted in a sprayer. It makes 8-32 gallons, but I generally go with 1-1.5 oz/gallon (not measuring exactly each time). So I get ~12 gallons for $16.

jlcnuke

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #475 on: July 25, 2017, 07:13:24 AM »
I have herbs (basil, cilantro, dill, parsley) in the same bed under the tomatoes. Will it hurt them and ME? :)

I've sprayed it on all my plants (including herbs) without any damage. I'd recommend not spraying them the day you plan to harvest from them, but it shouldn't be a problem.

Trees/bushes, on the other hand, should be avoided. Copper fungicide should only be applied to peach trees (for instance) when dormant or it will damage the tree (temporarily). I learned that one the hard way :(

A Definite Beta Guy

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #476 on: July 25, 2017, 03:31:58 PM »
OH yes! On a pure cost basis (seeds, plants, amendments, watering...) I think there is a poor ROI on lots of garden stuff.  But it's not just cost, is it.

Honestly, the value of the herbs alone are going to make up the entire garden cost in like 6 months.

Growing swiss chard has also been pleasantly beneficial.

Tomatoes seem to return a decent amount.

Onions and beets were a less than awesome idea. I think root crops are definitely getting axed next year. Carrots might be the exception, but I'm really bad about thinning my carrots out.

I am not planting a dwarf squash in a container ever again....no sirree!

Peppers are not growing well at all. We had one tiny fruit so far.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #477 on: July 26, 2017, 06:47:46 PM »
I have been using copper fungicide for my early blight and it does seem to be helping. I also cut off the infected leaves - doesn't seem to have hurt the yield much, and the foliage is growing back.

Suggest an inexpensive one that you might have tried? There are many in store from $10 to $60

I use this https://smile.amazon.com/Bonide-811-Copper-Fungicide-473ML/dp/B00BSULSHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500988079&sr=8-2&keywords=copper+fungicide

Diluted in a sprayer. It makes 8-32 gallons, but I generally go with 1-1.5 oz/gallon (not measuring exactly each time). So I get ~12 gallons for $16.

Got it at ACE. Didn't read instructions yet (As I wasn't sure it's the right one), Do I spray on leaves AND fruit? Ground as well? I don't think I have a big sprayer - just one of those little ones from household

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #478 on: July 26, 2017, 07:14:39 PM »
And How often should it be applied?

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #479 on: July 30, 2017, 09:19:48 AM »
I harvested 2.5 pounds of yellow beans last night.  Delicious.
I am also getting a good number of zukes and the odd cuke.
Tomatoes are coming along.  I ate one yellow pear shaped cherry tomato yesterday.
Onions and garlic are drying out in the sun.  Some of the garlic was rotting but I think I caught it soon enough.

G-dog

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #480 on: July 30, 2017, 12:45:29 PM »
Tore out the zucchini - between fungal disease and maybe some insects - it was dead/dying. One plant kept trying to put out new growth and even had some very small fruit, but now it's in the compost waste bag with the others.  sigh....

jlcnuke

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #481 on: July 31, 2017, 03:37:04 PM »
And How often should it be applied?

Apply every 1-2 weeks while you still see evidence of disease on the leafs/plants.


My green beans are starting to come in now. The peppers I planted late (pepperoncini) in the new garden (that had no nitrogen initially) are still stunted some but starting to fruit now.
 The cantelope plants are FINALLY producing. I should have the first one in the next week or so I'd guess (wild guess, but the largest is now about 80-90% the size of the melons in the stores). My cucumbers have been quite prolific and are getting to be more so. I've gone through about 3 quarts worth of pickles and I have 11 quarts pickled and untouched. At this point I'm just waiting to find my "favorite" recipes (trying a new one every batch of 2-4 quarts). I may cut back the number of plants some next year. Bell peppers are getting some rot again, so had to go spray them again this week, but otherwise the peppers have been doing pretty well (and getting better now that we're stringing together more than 1 day in a row without rain and cloud-cover...).

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #482 on: July 31, 2017, 10:09:04 PM »
My Mortgage Lifter tomatoes are small this year, but they taste amazing. 

I thought I'd lost my zucchini plant, but the entire top died off and healthy leaves are growing from the base.  The yellow crookneck looks pretty good, but has only made like two fruit.  It's weird not drowning in summer squash this time of year.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #483 on: August 01, 2017, 07:47:35 AM »
My mortgage lifters are still all green, but this year they are HUGE! I grew them a couple of years ago and they were much, much smaller. Didn't do anything differently, so, ???? Looking forward to being able to taste one!

Cache_Stash

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #484 on: August 01, 2017, 08:21:27 AM »
And How often should it be applied?

Apply every 1-2 weeks while you still see evidence of disease on the leafs/plants.


My green beans are starting to come in now. The peppers I planted late (pepperoncini) in the new garden (that had no nitrogen initially) are still stunted some but starting to fruit now.
 The cantelope plants are FINALLY producing. I should have the first one in the next week or so I'd guess (wild guess, but the largest is now about 80-90% the size of the melons in the stores). My cucumbers have been quite prolific and are getting to be more so. I've gone through about 3 quarts worth of pickles and I have 11 quarts pickled and untouched. At this point I'm just waiting to find my "favorite" recipes (trying a new one every batch of 2-4 quarts). I may cut back the number of plants some next year. Bell peppers are getting some rot again, so had to go spray them again this week, but otherwise the peppers have been doing pretty well (and getting better now that we're stringing together more than 1 day in a row without rain and cloud-cover...).

My favorite pickle recipe is using just dill and garlic.  No other spices or herbs (salt, water and vinegar of course).  It's simple and they are awesome.  I pack the jars and pour the cooled liquid over them and put them in the fridge (cold pack).  They last up to three months and are really crispy.  It takes about 3-4 weeks before they are ready.

ender

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #485 on: August 01, 2017, 05:26:17 PM »


Good harvest tonight, about 8 pounds of tomatoes, nearly a pound of Jalepeno (from one plant! and it's only August 1st so far), 1.5 pounds of cherries and other peppers each.

Up to 62 pounds this year now. 26 of tomatoes, nearly 16 of green beans from maybe 25 feet worth of plants (!), about  7 or both peas and zucchini (RIP) each, and the balance being Jalepeno/peppers/tomatillos.

Rural

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #486 on: August 02, 2017, 03:48:16 AM »
Nice haul Ender!  All my tomatoes have been mature but green on the vine for several weeks.  Only the cherry tomatoes are turning.


Huh. Same thing here, green but otherwise happy-looking tomatoes for weeks.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #487 on: August 02, 2017, 05:43:40 AM »
I once heard that lots of green tomatoes not ripening can be a sign of nutrient deficiency.  The easy fix was a dash of epsom salts on the soil surface with a splash of rain water.  Worked great from me.

Really envious of the haul Ender.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #488 on: August 02, 2017, 09:25:36 AM »
I saw signs of ripening on a couple of the backyard tomatoes, finally!!

My strawberries are doing another small round of fruit. Just a couple berries on each of my 3 plants, but they are visually PERFECT and large and ripe and oh so sweet. :D

Northern climate folks, is it your experience when growing peppers that the plant will only make 1 pepper at a time? I have a Chocolate Beauty that's making a lovely large (but as yet green) pepper. It tried to make a couple of more, but those are stuck at the tiny-butt-end-of-a-pepper-poking-out-of-the-bud stage, and have been for a couple of weeks. This has been my experience in past years as well, with normal peppers. The mini peppers seem to be able to handle making multiple peppers at a time, but not the regular sized ones. Oh well. I hope the ONE pepper I get off this thing ends up tasting good, at least.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #489 on: August 02, 2017, 06:56:27 PM »
@This Prior. My bell peppers are very slow. Just a couple of fruit here and there. But jalapenos are in dozens if not in hundred or more (total). I think a couple of seeds in bell bags were actually jalapenos, as I have a map of what I planted and it doesn't match :(
Waiting for jalapenos to go red this year for extra spice. They will be HUGE by that time

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #490 on: August 02, 2017, 08:08:29 PM »
A recent harvest:


Rural

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #491 on: August 02, 2017, 09:35:02 PM »
I once heard that lots of green tomatoes not ripening can be a sign of nutrient deficiency.  The easy fix was a dash of epsom salts on the soil surface with a splash of rain water.  Worked great from me.



Huh, magnesium shortage, maybe. I may try that, thanks. I have the epsom salts on hand and rain due this weekend.

SisterX

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #492 on: August 03, 2017, 12:44:00 PM »
Finally posting something in here again, as I actually have a tiny bit of progress. It was a crazy start to summer (to make the story short, I found out I was pregnant, we closed on our house, and then my dad died on moving day, all in less than three weeks) so my garden has been blatantly ignored, to the point that I can't believe any plants survived at all. There's been ZERO rain here and the watering has been intermittent.

Still. Got the first few tomatoes ripening, and a bunch more on the plants. I'll use them to supplement what I buy from the farmer's market to make tomato sauce for the coming year.

I got one giant zucchini (with which I'm going to make this) and the rest all withered away. I'm certain it's nitrogen deficient so I've, uh, been peeing in the planter. Well, not directly in there. I've occasionally used the toddler potty, watered it down some, and carried that outside. It works, though. Got a few more tiny zukes starting, which will be thoroughly washed before consumption. :)

My potato plants are showing the first signs of being done. As I was trying a new method of growing them this year (in a structure I built out of pallets) I'm excited to see what the harvest might be like. Just a few more weeks....

My other crop doing really well are my onions. They're nothing like grocery store size, but I'm rather impressed I got them to grow at all. Not from starts, either, but from direct sown seeds. Woo! I think I've got about 30 small onions, and they'll keep growing for a while yet.

A few odds and ends: some blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and basil.

Soon to harvest: the apples off my mom's tree. We're going to sell her house (she can't live alone, needs assisted living) so this will be the last harvest from it.

Am getting from friends or urban foraging: plums, blackberries, pears, and more apples. (I make not only applesauce but we press our own cider, so we're always on the lookout for more apples.)

Since we have our own property now (!!!!) I'm planning and prepping for putting perennials in next year. So many yummy choices! And next year should (hopefully) be somewhat less crazy, so annuals might have a better chance too. I really miss having my own homegrown carrots.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #493 on: August 03, 2017, 09:34:32 PM »
Hi Folks,

I just applied bonide copper fungicide on tomatoes and cucumbers, when 1.5 hrs later we had a downpour and strong winds. Did it ruin my application and I should reapply? :( such a waste if need to redo

Fishindude

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #494 on: August 04, 2017, 08:09:25 AM »
We are covered up in green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes right now.  Doing my best to eat a bunch of them nearly every day.
Hope to run across some good sweet corn this weekend and put up a mess for the freezer.

Enjoy this stuff while it's fresh, because it will be done around here in a couple months.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #495 on: August 04, 2017, 08:43:40 AM »
The zuchini avalanche has begun here.  Two plants are in overwhelming production mode.  The cukes are doing poorly.
Tomatoes are starting to ripen up - we just had five days of good heat. 
I also picked a huge bouquet of flowers for the kitchen island. 

Fishindude is right - eat up and put away.

SAfAmBrit

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #496 on: August 07, 2017, 12:00:00 AM »
After 3 months of tomatoes my plants are giving up. I got a hold of 20 milk crates so started filling them today - hoping for some good results - desert soil is hard to grow in. Planted some Romaine, cucumbers and curly parsley today. More to do but so little time. I built a drip system out of "stuff" in the garage - I am excited it worked.

Great progress by all.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #497 on: August 07, 2017, 09:35:22 AM »
Ferrum, at the garden center they said to apply anyway if it's going to rain, because the rain spreads out the fungus. So if you can kill off some of the fungus before it rains and is washed onto healthy leaves, that will help.

That being said, if we have a downpour I have been reapplying. My plants don't look great, but they've definitely improved.

I got my first ripe Cherokee Purple yesterday! I'm so excited! And I may have some ripe yellow mini bell peppers soon; they are starting to turn color. It's been an awful pepper year for me, so I'll be sure to savor those. :)


Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #498 on: August 07, 2017, 11:51:49 AM »
Our grape sampling survived three weeks of summer vacation without supervision. They have grown well in there plastic crate.

Our strawberries have produced well. There were even some ripe strawberries left when we came back.

We have gotten raspberries in the garden that have spread from somewhere else.

Sister C

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #499 on: August 07, 2017, 07:05:55 PM »
We planted greens this year for the first time (from seed), as well as herbs which we've done before (also from seed).  And we've had huge ongoing harvests of kale for the past two months with very little effort.  I'm planning to use a simple fabric row cover to extend the growing season.  The basil plant is huge but is developing some sort of black dusty fungus.  We will probably just ditch it- unless anyone has any easy/frugal suggestions?

One exciting discovery- you can plant scallion bottoms (with roots) after you've used the green part and they will grow more green shoots!  I read that tip somewhere on the MMM forums and it is sort of mind blowing to watch.

We have one cherry tomato plant which hasn't produced much- but the baby gets a kick out of eating a couple of cherry tomatoes every time we're in the back yard!  Same story with the raspberry bushes.  I bet next year they'll take off...

All in all an enjoyable and cost effective food growing experience.