official veggie gardener's thread

[BoomerD]

i need to buy myself a nice hoe :awe:

things are looking decent here... all of my pepper & tomato plants are thriving... is it too late to throw in an early girl or two, and some onions?

i should throw up an updated pic :hmm:

Especially for us small-plot gardeners, the hula hoe is a good tool.

http://www.gardeners.com/Hula-Hoe/3...&SC=XNET8019&gclid=CNfxse-qiaICFRRUgwodeWovUw

I think I paid <$15 for mine at Home Depot a few years back. There are several variations and knock-offs of the Hula Hoe. (also called a stirrup hoe) They'll all do a good job.

You should still be able to get some veggies in the ground and get good production. (depends on your growing season)

 

[meltdown75]

wow that looks perfect! thanks for the linkage

 

[eplebnista]

Have a couple of squashes almost ready to pick finally, as well as a couple of patio & a handful of sweet 100's tomatoes starting to turn red.

 

[eldorado99]

I'm still waiting for my corn to spring out of the ground. Strawberries are coming along nice though; including 2 wild varieties I took from the ground last time I went hunting in the alpine. I have no idea what kind they are so hopefully they taste good.

 

[DrPizza]

Hey, thanks for reminding me - I have several patches of wild strawberries on our land. Time to go pick some goodness. My strawberries are doing great. Gotta pick the buds off so they'll put more energy into growth before they set fruit. I'll let them set fruit starting around the end of June. I'm envious of the longer growing season some of you guys get - most people around here don't plant much before Memorial day due to the risk of frost. Picked up all my peas, beans, and corn seeds today - about 3 pounds of seeds to start with. Also picked up cantelopes, zucchini, watermelons, and butternut squash.

 

[TraumaRN]

Well I'm already donating stuff to neighbors/family. Have so much freakin spinach that I gave some to my mom/dad, and some to my aunt and uncle and I'm giving some to the neighbor across the street tonight....and there is still way more than enough for me and my wife.

Funny thing is I figured that the soil I planted the spinach in was the poorest soil in my yard, it's really clay filled and doughy soil but they love it...I'll post a pic later of whats left after picking...

 

[cliftonite]

I took this year off. I haven't had good production the past two years. I used to plant ~ 100 tomato, ~50 eggplant, ~50 okra, various spinach, and a few gourd/squash.

 

[DrPizza]

I took this year off. I haven't had good production the past two years. I used to plant ~ 100 tomato, ~50 eggplant, ~50 okra, various spinach, and a few gourd/squash.

What the hell do you do with all that eggplant??! I've never heard of canning or freezing eggplant.

 

[eldorado99]

What the hell do you do with all that eggplant??! I've never heard of canning or freezing eggplant.

World's largest eggplant Parmesan?

 

[fatpat268]

Funny thing is I figured that the soil I planted the spinach in was the poorest soil in my yard, it's really clay filled and doughy soil but they love it...I'll post a pic later of whats left after picking...

For a couple of years (in my ignorance), I planted almost everything in a topsoil/clay mixture without much organic material. Spinach, lettuce, and potatoes were some of the few plants that actually thrived in that soil.

 

[cliftonite]

What the hell do you do with all that eggplant??! I've never heard of canning or freezing eggplant.

Large family. Lots of eggplant curry & chutney.

 

[spidey07]

Broccoli is ready to pick. Caulflower needs another week or two. Cabbage maybe another four weeks. Maters are super happy and growing a few inches per day. Blooms everywhere and good pollination temps. Having good fruit set on the maters. 85 percent.

 

[BoomerD]

My grandkids found the first red strawberries yesterday...those disappeared quickly.

I picked one of my jalapenos this morning for use with breakfast. Disappointing. Decent flavor, zero heat. I think the weather hasn't been hot enough yet for them to develop. That should change. Weather's been in the 90's for the past couple of days and will continue for at least the next couple of days...maybe longer. (I KNOW the 100's are coming...and I dread it)

Getting to be tons of green tomatos on the plants. Some are getting pretty big. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I'll have pickable fruit.

 

[spidey07]

Boomer,

I like to let my jalepenos grow until the skin starts getting dry and steaks occur. That means they are hot and ready.

 

[BoomerD]

Boomer,

I like to let my jalepenos grow until the skin starts getting dry and steaks occur. That means they are hot and ready.

Yeah, this one was mostly just a test. I knew it was premature picking...It was a nice dark green mottled with black, so I had hopes it would have started developing some heat.
I miss having jalapenos in the house, but the grocery stores only have them from Mexico...and I do NOT buy any produce from Mexico. (very lax health standards...and lots of their crops are irrigated with raw sewage water or from rivers and streams full of raw sewage.)

 

[Marinski]

i got some red pepper, green pepper, ancho pepper, cherry tomato, roma tomato, 2 types of green beans, pea pods, 2 types of onions, various lettuces, basil, oregano, celery, carots

 

[meltdown75]

my tomatoes are growing at a ridiculous rate now... i need to support them before this garden becomes a viny mess. lol

 

[eplebnista]

Picked the first cucumber today. The squash seem to be growing, albeit very slowly.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Picked the first cucumber today. The squash seem to be growing, albeit very slowly.

Wow, where do you live? My cucumber plants are about 2 inches tall now.

 

[eplebnista]

Wow, where do you live? My cucumber plants are about 2 inches tall now.

NW AL. Planted the first and second weekend of April. Actually made a mistake and planted the squash and cucumbers too close together so that they are crowding out each other as well as other plants too. :$

 

[spidey07]

my tomatoes are growing at a ridiculous rate now... i need to support them before this garden becomes a viny mess. lol

I've learned from my mistakes as a tomato master. You need to stake or cage them EARLY. So do it now, as in today or tomorrow. Once they take off they will grow at an incredible rate and you can't really train them or stake them without breaking the plant. Once they are even 1.5 feet tall they need to be staked and trained.

And don't forget your pruning. If you want fewer, but larger fruit try to keep just one main stalk and take suckers off every day or two. These are branches from the main stem at a leaf intersection. I will normally leave the sucker branches off the main one just below the first blossom cluster and keep it to those 3 stalks. Every sucker is then pinched off without mercy or hesitation.

I have 8 foot metal stakes at the plant and run smooth masonry string horizontally between them to support the plant every 8-12 inches or so. these stakes have 1x1 inch wood staves on top to keep the whole mess secure.

We had some pretty strong winds today and if they weren't as secure as they were I'd have a lot of severely damaged tomato plants. Do it now. Or just cage them. Caging works well and you can just let them go without worrying too much about pruning. You'll get tons of fruit, they just won't be as big. Really just depends on what you want. My paste tomatoes I cage because I want a large number of fruit and don't care about size.

Maters are about chest level right now and super happy.

 

[Gooberlx2]

My grandkids found the first red strawberries yesterday...those disappeared quickly.

Gooooo! I went out to check on mine today. Some critter ate half of my first red berry...bastard! Guess I need to get a fake owl or something.

 

[DrPizza]

Woohoo! The groundhog is dead. And, a skunk that had been living in the area is dead too. Both shot. That's two less animals that I have to worry about getting into my garden.

Unfortunately, the skunk was out in the daytime - now I have to worry about rabies in the neighborhood - the potential for rabid bats, more rabid skunks, etc.

Poured last night. 2-3 inches of water in the feed bins that are out in the yard. That really set back my planting for today. Now I've gotta bust my ass next week getting the last of the garden done.

 

[spidey07]

Ate my first broccoli tonight. It was a 45 day early variety. I let it go too long and it was a little flowery. Good green flavor but just left them too long. Herbs are going nuts and have to harvest them every few days.

Herbs are done in huge pots on the deck.

 

[TraumaRN]

I've basically given up on my spinach, I'm picking it daily, given it away to half the block and still have more then I know what to do with, and with the heavy rain last night it exploded in growth yet again...guess I know for next year to cut down on my planting by at least half...