Garden is established and on its way

[BoomerD]

I cut back this year on maters. 2 "health kick" roma-style tomatoes, one Better Boy, and one Beefeater. I made up for it by planting more peppers. 2 jalapenos, 2 green bells, 1 red and one yellow bell, 1 Cubanella, one Anaheim, one "Spanish Spice," and one "Inferno."
The Inferno already has one 6-7 inch pepper on it, the rest, just some "babies" and/or blossoms.
I planted 6 each of 2 different varieties of strawberries last year...this year, I have over 100 producing plants...unfortunately, they're scattered EVERY-FUCKING-WHERE in the garden...but as soon as the "june-bearing" variety is done, I'm digging them up and moving some of them around...and tossing the rest.
My 4 blueberry bushes are starting to turn. I've picked maybe a pint so far...luscious blueberry deliciousness.

I fucked up and bought a bale of straw for berry bedding and mulch...the stuff started growing...
Now I gotta take it all out before my little raised bed garden gets over-run with oats.

 

[NetWareHead]

I fucked up and bought a bale of straw for berry bedding and mulch...the stuff started growing...
Now I gotta take it all out before my little raised bed garden gets over-run with oats.

You might have bought hay instead of straw.

I use heat treated straw/hay mix thats chopped so it absorbs water and doesn't blow away. Each bale is roughly $10 and it makes a great mulch.

 

[BoomerD]

You might have bought hay instead of straw.

I use heat treated straw/hay mix thats chopped so it absorbs water and doesn't blow away. Each bale is roughly $10 and it makes a great mulch.

Nope...straw. IIRC, it was $6 for the bale.
I pulled part of it up yesterday. The ground under it was covered in seeds and seed heads from the oats...plus dozens of green grassy-looking things about 8 inches tall. (and growing like weeds)

 

[GagHalfrunt]

24 Tomato plants, 6 each of Early Girl, Beefsteak, Supersonic and Better Boy. They've only been in the ground about 5 days now, but with the hot weather in the northeast they've done noticeable amount of growing in that short time.

 

[iRONic]

Well we are in what is technically a city. Its the outskirts of the city so the lots are still big, there are plenty of trees, we benefit from the heat island effect and the animals are pretty much non-existant. But if you venture a few miles out from where we are, its full on NH wilderness.

Nice.

 

[Cookie]

I just finished building my greenhouse 2 weeks ago 6' x 12'. I have a couple herbs, peppers and a tomato plant. I have a lot of landscaping to do this summer and my garden will not be ready for this year. Normally I grow peas, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, beans, spinach, romaine lettuce, etc in the garden.

What other things grow well in a greenhouse all season?

Next year should be better, I can start things from seed and hopefully the garden will be ready too.

 

[NetWareHead]

Nice.

I may end up putting a fence around the garden. We have rabbits or something munching on the lettuce and cats are destroying the catnip. All of the other plants are still too small but if we notice any more eating, a fence it is.

 

[iRONic]

I may end up putting a fence around the garden. We have rabbits or something munching on the lettuce and cats are destroying the catnip. All of the other plants are still too small but if we notice any more eating, a fence it is.

Ohman... if your plot is behind your house it won't be too bad then. Ugly garden fences visible from the street make baby Jeebus cry.

 

[NetWareHead]

Anybody can suggest what to plant in place of my red-leaf lettuce. I need a good summer lettuce. The hot weather is causing the red-leaf to grow tall and begin bolting. Flowers are appearing up top. I'll let the lettuce flower, give some food to the bees and then I'll rip it out. The leaves are not really that edible anymore anyway, they've lost their crispness/freshness. I just need a lettuce type veggie to plant in its place that can take the summer heat. I've heard some good things about romaine.

 

[spidey07]

Don't do much lettuce but thought I'd let others know about maters.

Temps have been so hot here that it rarely gets below 80 at night and in 100s during day. Those kinds of temps will kill tomato pollen, and hence I'm getting no production from those blossoms. Nothing I can do about it. Entire blossom stalks dropping off.

 

[NetWareHead]

Don't do much lettuce but thought I'd let others know about maters.

Temps have been so hot here that it rarely gets below 80 at night and in 100s during day. Those kinds of temps will kill tomato pollen, and hence I'm getting no production from those blossoms. Nothing I can do about it. Entire blossom stalks dropping off.

You can't do much about the temperature, but you can shade the tomatoes with a sunshade which will help.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8144922_desert-plants-under-shade-cloth.html

The old timers did it with white bed sheet suspended above the tomatoes if you wanna try that route before buying a specially designed shade. Strange example, but look up Godfather 1 movie, Vito's death at end of movie in the garden for an example of a shaded tomato garden.

 

[slag]

I only planted 6 tomato plants this year. They get full sun all afternoon and evening, and just a little in the morning.

When it was 100+ for the past few weeks, I watered them every 2-3 days and they were doing all they could to just survive in the heat. Now that its dropped back down to a blustery 92 degrees daily, they are producing fruit. I pulled 5 tomatoes and about 20 cherry toms off the plants this morning with many more about a day or two away from being ripe. For the first time, I also had to put out a bird net since my tomatoes were being eaten by flying things.

 

[JTsyo]

^ what kind of spam is that?

How do you tell it's time to pick zucchini? The plant only has one, think it is limited by the pot.

 

[NetWareHead]

^ what kind of spam is that?

How do you tell it's time to pick zucchini? The plant only has one, think it is limited by the pot.

I have a crookneck squash (same family as zuchini) in a pot and I'm going to plant it in soil since I'm seeing the same thing. The growth is stunted and it is falling behind other squash plants.

I don't let my zucchini get too big. I always laugh when I see people showing off huge zucchini the size of my forearm or bigger. Unless you are going for a size record, zucchini that big is tough, no longer crisp, bitter and the seeds are hard and well developed. Plus, the plant needs to expend large amounts of energy to grow the fruit that big. When they are the thickness of a toilet paper roll or even slightly thinner is when I pick them. They are still sweet and deliciously edible (even raw) and there are no seeds.

 

[bignateyk]

All of my fruit trees/bushes are being ravaged by some kind of blight.

Apple trees, Cherry Trees, Blueberries, Currants, Grapes, Blackberries, Raspberries are all getting brown spots on the leaves, which eventually kill the whole leaf. I've started dusting with copper/sulfur.