2011 - How Does Your Garden Grow?

[bbj101]

I was busy all day, left at 7:30 am and didn't get home until just now (12:21am) so obviously didn't get to take the other pictures to show the teeny tiny plants progress from then to now! but I will try to do it first thing.. im proud of my lil mess of plants haha. Best I can do with no space.

[bbj101]

Got the new pictures for you all to see.. Let me know what you think..

Boxwood Basil and Rosemary


Tomato Plant 1


Tomato Plant 2


Squash Plant


My "Not So Well" Taragon and My Yummy Sweet Basil


Eggplant


Different Types of Onions (they got hurt in last nights storm)


Everything was from seed except for the boxwood basil and the eggplant..

[Toepopper]

Looks real good, your tomato plants are healthy and planting them in containers gives you the added option of bringing them indoors once the cold weather sets in and you can enjoy fresh tomato's while the snow flies.

[acet7]

I had two tomatoes on the vine that were ripening but the skin started to burst. Must have been yesterday that they did that. I looked it up online and it said that it can be caused by dry weather followed by heavy watering. It has been real hot here in FL and we did just get a ton of rain. I'm bummed. I have four other tomatoes that are still green and I will watch them closely. I also have my first bell pepper growing its about 1.5 inches long. Will try and upload pictures sometime soon.

[Watchman]

I've had that problem all the time, including blossom end rot. A very successful local gardener has told me the same thing - trickle water or "fertigation" only on tomatoes and peppers. Fertigation is taking a 5-gallon bucket and drilling ONE hole big enough or small enough that water leaks out to no larger than about a pie plate in size. Let it go straight to the roots. Do not spray water. You make a home-made fertilizer by using another large bucket, fill it to the top and add a small bucket of manure and let it "brew" for about three days. Put a bucket ful of the fertilizer solution in your drip bucket and fill it to the top with water - you don't want to OVER fertilize it. Water about every three to five days. This is an interesting concept and I'm going to study it real hard for this dry Free Wyoming weather. On a side note concerning the weather here. It IS dry but we are having flooding problems because of the mountain melt-off. No living person in this area has seen it as bad EVER.

[acet7]

Well all of my tomatoes skin split (all 6 of them) I guess it was too much heat and when it rained it messed them up. I do have one green pepper going its about 5 inches long. My flat leaf parsley and basil are going strong. I’m going to try the tomatoes again in a more shaded area to see if that helps. I’m not much of a green thumb but I’m trying.

Updated 8/14/11
My one pepper also just burst I spoke w/ my brother in law and he said for me to wait till Oct to plant the tomatoes as it is too hot right now for them.

[SS5R]

Our garden has well this year. We have harvested onions, garlic, and half of our potatoes. Our lettuce and spinach crop was our best ever and I just planted it again for the cool season coming. We continue to get tomatoes, kale, carrots, green beans, summer squash, peppers, shallots and a verity of herbs. Our tomatoes are doing very well it has been a mild summer here. I also put a lot of ground up eggshell in the holes I planted them in; I don’t know if that made the difference or if it’s the weather. The only thing that didn’t do well was the Fava beans, the plants were large but the beans had some black spots on them that ruined them. All the apples are done but the pears are coming in this time of year, no peaches on the peach tree this year.

[side_job]

Never put in a fall garden, but I would like to. Im zone 6 anyone have any suggestions for what would make in my area? We are running 75-80 day high, 55-60 low right now.
thanks

[SS5R]

That’s about the same temperature as here right now our days are a little warmer 85 you could try lettuce, spinach, kale, beets, carrots, and broccoli.

[side_job]

Thanks, what are good cover crops to winter over? Seems like people around here grow turnips and similar greens, but I have zero experience with those.

[Toepopper]

I just started some cabbage seeds and a couple dozen snow peas. It usually stays warm enough here until Thanksgiving to grow these 2 crops and get a second harvest before winter sets in. Large farms are planting grasses, fetch and sod grasses that will be harvested in February down in the lower elevations .

[acet7]

Well I have two baby bell peppers so far and have one bean stalk sprouting. And I think I have one tomato seedling growing. I was told in FL you can plant in Sept due to the summer heat is too much for the plants and thats why mine died before.

[side_job]

well I picked up a few packets of turnip seeds, and have thoughts of turning over the garden and sowing them tomorrow. Im hoping when I get my chicken flock, and the rabbits my son wants Ill be able to get some good compost for next springs plantings.

[Toepopper]

As mentioned in a previous post, I decided to plant an experimental crop of Virginia peanuts this year to determine if they would grow in this climate. The plant seed all germinated and grew into large vigorous plants but when I dug them up to harvest the nuts there were only a handfull to collect. Don't know what went wrong, the soil was a foot deep and remained loose and it had plenty of fertilizer in it. Maybe it does not get hot enough here to produce a crop?