Jump to content

Gardening 2022: Lettuce Begin


Mrs Whiggins

Recommended Posts

37 minutes ago, miguelito said:

Nuts.

 

I saw a fat and happy checkered garter snake last weekend.  Hopefully that's the only garden snek I have. 

They are most active when the sun starts to set.  They also tend to chill in areas that are cooler.  So if you have any old stuff lying around to shade/protect them, maybe police that up?  But yeah, they love them some frogs!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

Lawn stuff needs it's own thread. Different animal.

 

49 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Agreed.  Guy tried to start one yesterday and some cock bag shit all over him for "duplicate threads".  

yup, i tried that and a drunkass who doesn't even post on this board got super cunty about "duplicate threads"

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Herb garden  Basil, purple basil, lavender, Mexican heather, penta, sage, rosemary, oregano, more basil, mint, cat nip, variegated oregano, variegated Sage, mums onion radishes wildflowers lambier

 

Big garden update, potatoes and tomatoes are thick, blackberries are taking off

 

7576D881-EDFC-4975-A919-ACD737B267F4.jpeg

CBC1285F-5B21-4FC5-8D6F-7A2E43A7AD88.jpeg

0B73725D-81DD-48BB-8FA2-600035A36A20.jpeg

5D567218-4D3B-403B-B673-37D62162FE1E.jpeg

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something has been digging holes at night. The fencing isn't disturbed, and the stray cat that was shitting in my yard was killed by a coyote this week (chronicled on the neighborhood fb page). I'm thinking some sort of bird. Or maybe just toads? 

 

 

holes1.jpg

holes2.jpg

holes3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One week later... the rain really blew up my tomato plants. 

I definitely made some mistakes on my plant positioning. These tomatoes have already gotten as big or bigger than I've ever had them get in pots - but they are starting to swallow up my pepper plants. Next year I'll stick all the 'maters in the back and peppers in the middle, with strawberries, onions, and herbs in the front. 

I may change my tune in a couple months if the summer sun changes the dymanic. But for now, I may need to prune a few branches of my tomato plants just to give my peppers some breathing room. 

Also, next year that cucumber gets his own section to himself. What a huge asshole. Had to tie some strings off so his feelers wouldn't molest anyone. 

 

 

garden 4.29.jpg

garden2 4.29.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn April snow ‘storm’ killed my cucumber starter. The tomatoes survived but just. They were on the struggle bus for a couple weeks. One should be good.  One may not produce much. 
 

at least the mountain has some killer snow for the rest of the late ski season here.  All the way through may! Hell yeah. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice!  My blackberry vines are pretty full of baby berries like that.  This is my first year with them, and I'm wondering if the birds are going to fight me for them. 

 

I have one bed that the strawberries took over.  I had like 3 or 4 plants last year, and they sent out runners everywhere, and I just let them go.  So this year they are producing pretty well, but most of the berries are rotting where they sit on the dirt.  I think I need to provide some pine needles or other mulch to prevent rot.  Y'all have much experience with that?

But damn, there's nothing like a fresh sun-warmed strawberry.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a shot of my blackberries this morning.  There are hundreds of them on just a few vines:

20220507_100619_resized.thumb.jpg.91c4d665a0e8fe6502d8c742ea88595d.jpg

 

 

And I think I mentioned these little wheeled seats before.  It's a little cart you sit on and can wheel back and forth along your raised beds.  There's even a little tray below the seat where you can hold tools. 

 

 

20220507_102422_resized.thumb.jpg.ffcc908affbc6e810f5fbb795798cca6.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

af9a46049c9053ed3a49ade6d12c4dc1.jpg


What is happening to my tomato plant’s stem? Of the 8 plants I have they all seem to have been affected by this to some degree. On some it’s just a section of the stem with no hairs. This was the strongest of the plants other than this section.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, miguelito said:

Not sure, too much water?  How does the rest of the plant look?

I don't think that's a sign of nematodes. 

I don’t think it’s too much water, but I’m not sure. The rest of the plant is great, growing fast and strong. 

8 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Perhaps a fungal pathogen as the culprit. If so, a fungicide may help. I use a spray on mine once in a while but I will need to go look up the label as I cannot recall the name. 

Thanks, I’ll give that a shot. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, heso said:

I don’t think it’s too much water, but I’m not sure. The rest of the plant is great, growing fast and strong. 

Thanks, I’ll give that a shot. 

It's worth a try. It's good that the rest of the plant is doing well, and that was why I mentioned a potential fungus. Look up Southern Blight on tomatoes because I think that is one that sometimes affects the stem first. It is a soil borne pathogen if I recall, and there are remedies one can take to reduce it in the future. I treat my tomatoes terribly--I put them too close together, don't give them enough support, and forget to trim the lower stems to keep the water off the plants. So my plants don't always reach their potential. But I do try and keep the soil in good shape because soil diseases get out of hand quickly and once begun may require sterilization to render it fit again. Ugh.

Hopefully that is not the case with yours and maybe it was just a small critter taking a nibble or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/10/2022 at 11:57 AM, NorthLoop said:

I've got a little of that too. Hopefully nothing serious. 

I treated with a bit of liquid copper.  Looks like it could be bacteria or a fungus.  Bacteria is bad and not super treatable but copper can work.  If it is a fungus, copper should help as well.

 

I'm trying this - https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Ag-02901-Liquid-Fungicide/dp/B007PJRPKW/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So my starter trey got flooded and all mixed up.  These sprouted and keep going but not sure what they are. Any help? 
possibilities are cucumber, santium tomatoes, basque hot pepper, beets, basil or arugula.  Not likely those last two. 0307C3B1-A774-4D63-9611-676C58291181.thumb.jpeg.a2c044662fe8bf694e6f4605c3ce8907.jpeg20AE5764-ECE6-45E4-B2DA-0207F8615163.thumb.jpeg.d1db63ae840f0ef38fadbc9d43646fc7.jpeg0713A210-74B3-468D-9822-43147261107E.thumb.jpeg.9f2e89ac1139cbc8beb501a129bb25c5.jpeg 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also does anyone have any good basic pickle recipes? 

I've never pickled anything before and I want to try some cucumbers this year. The problem is that Google results are mostly mommy food blogs that tell you more about what Caiden, Aydyn, and Maxxtyr wore to church on Wednesday than providing a decent how-to. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I guess I fucked up and let the first cucumber sit on the vine too long. It went from green and white to yellow in one day. The whole reason I didn't pick it was because it wasn't fully green yet but it went yellow in a split second. Google says I can still pickle this but it will taste like shit if I try to eat it as is. 

Am I good to pick these before they get fully green? 

 

pickle.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't say for sure, anytime I've tried them when they're not the usual darker green, the flavor is poor. You'll likely have to slice it, taste one and then decide if you want to pickle.

I make a simple fridge pickle recipe with a cup of water, a cup of white vinegar, and a tablespoon of kosher salt. Stir til dissolved, bring to a boil and pour over sliced cucumbers packed into the jar and fill liquid to brim. Let cool prior to tightening lid. Let rest in fridge for 48 hours and then good to go. I think they keep for a month but ours never last that long. I also add a peeled clove of garlic to the jar. Really easy.

Picked my first tomato of the season. mmmmmmmmm.

Am hoping this week's heat won't kill production. I had plenty of fruit, but a lot more flowers left but temps in the nineties and tomatoes don't like it. Our swiss chard is managing, the lettuce was all consumed but our cucumbers are not as far along as yours.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

That particular one was hiding on the ground in the shade. Some of the things I read said to expose the fruit to as much sunlight as possible to get them green. Maybe that was the issue.

Cucumbers are very good at hiding. So are zucchini for that matter--and those will grow a foot overnight I swear.

9 hours ago, Texas St. Armadillos said:

Found some leaf feeted nymphs hanging with my tomato plants.  Got about 20 or so.  Those guys are fast.  Insecticidal soap will be here in the morning.   

Yes! I do not like those pests.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/18/2022 at 8:34 AM, NorthLoop said:

Also does anyone have any good basic pickle recipes? 

I've never pickled anything before and I want to try some cucumbers this year. The problem is that Google results are mostly mommy food blogs that tell you more about what Caiden, Aydyn, and Maxxtyr wore to church on Wednesday than providing a decent how-to. 

I think this is the recipe we used last year.  Scroll to the bottom to skip the reminiscent stories of sister Linda and Aunt Marge and eating jars of pickles while summering in Vermont or whatever these bloggers talk about.

https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/homemade-claussen-knock-off-pickles/

Pretty easy and turned out great.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

How are y'all's tomatoes doing in this homicidal heat?  My Juliet tomatoes keep producing away... been good to me.  My Matt's Wild Cherry looks like crap but keeps producing... they're just tiny tomatoes.  Green Zebra growing like a weed and I have T W O tomatoes :/ which sucks because they taste awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My cherry tomato plants turned into a fucking jungle before popping out anything. Finally seeing little green balls all over them now. My regular tomato got real big real fast, but seems to not be liking this heat. It's first round of fruit is on the vine still - 4 with no more coming it looks like. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Celebrity variety has produced beautiful tomatoes as it always does, but the number is down this year. I think the early heat wave stressed the plants some. The Early Girl and the San Marzano had some issues with blossom end rot--again I think with it being so warm so early I may have over watered them some. I cut back on planting the plum style variety this year-only the San Marzano. If it's going to be a scorcher of a summer then I may bag some of the other crops early and start seed indoors for fall. Usually by the end of June as tomato production ends, I take a limb from a mother plant and bury it in a pot next to the plant until roots form and then use that as the fall crop of tomatoes. But keeping it watered and happy is a bit of a chore. Lately it has been fighting on too many fronts between the yard, garden, and some of the mechanicals/appliances indoors are reaching their lifetime limits so having less 'farming' in the heat will be a boon.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...