Garden Geeks thread

[jen]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

A squirrel stole a dahlia off my patio. It was dead (I think I can guess why ), but he took the whole plant. Saw him do it. He climbed right into the pot. Fluffy-tailed rats. Guess I need to spray those.

And I got 3 raspberries. They were delicious (it's the first year, so I'm surprised there were any).

Really? I would like to do this now that we have a place, but am wary. This may have inspired me for next season.

I keep it outside in summer, and move it inside before first frost. I've had it probably 3 years, and have gotten a few tiny unripe lemons, but they never grew any bigger. Biggest one now is slightly larger than a golf ball, so I'm hopeful for some useable ones. I think they are Meyer. I did a lot of trimming back last year, so that could have been the key.

edit: and in reading this again, if you're talking about the cucumbers, and not the lemons... that was probably my inexperience.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Really? I would like to do this now that we have a place, but am wary. This may have inspired me for next season.

I lived in Lowell the first 8 yrs we owned a house. Did tomatoes, cukes, summer squash and Zukes all in containers.

[alfablue]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I lived in Lowell the first 8 yrs we owned a house. Did tomatoes, cukes, summer squash and Zukes all in containers.

Because I have an invasive root problem, I do all of my food gardening in containers. Self watering (rain gutter grow system, from rain barrels), air pruning, containers.

The only issue I am finding is that I do really need 5 gal buckets for tomatoes. But they still work well.

[FreshFish]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Weird weather patterns played havoc with tomatoes earlier in the growing season, but finally they have stabilized and started to bear fruit. 2 quarts of sauce so far, another 2 quarts worth lined up ready to be peeled and cooked, and plenty more on the vines. Late in the summer to be harvesting this many.

Something really destroyed our bush beans this year. We had to put up supplemental fencing around the bean patch. Not sure if it was the groundhog (a new occupant from the neighbor's yard that loves to feed on the clover in our "lawn") that appeared this summer, or some other herbivore new to the neighborhood (rabbits only eat the sprouts and don't eat the leaves; something stripped all the leaves off all the bush beans until we put the fencing up).

Good results from lettuce and peppers.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Picking tomatoes, Summer Sq, wax and green beans, and cukes.

SOunds like a groundhog although our rabbits eat everything to a stub

[FreshFish]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

SOunds like a groundhog although our rabbits eat everything to a stub

Hmm... our rabbits eat the bean sprouts but leave the regular leaves alone, have never had trouble before this year and there are rabbits aplenty around us. The groundhog is a new "tenant" this year, never been around before.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Hmm... our rabbits eat the bean sprouts but leave the regular leaves alone, have never had trouble before this year and there are rabbits aplenty around us. The groundhog is a new "tenant" this year, never been around before.

They are voracious. They eat anything and everything mercilessly. Fence quick. Once they figure out where dinner is they also figure out how to go over the fence like a ninja

[bucky15]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Anyone else notice that they got fewer tomatoes this year than last? The summer in Wisco was very mild (I think it only reached 90 degrees 1 or 2 days) and damp, I am thinking this had a lot to do with the drop in production. Thoughts from someone with more knowledge and time gardening?

[alfablue]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Anyone else notice that they got fewer tomatoes this year than last? The summer in Wisco was very mild (I think it only reached 90 degrees 1 or 2 days) and damp, I am thinking this had a lot to do with the drop in production. Thoughts from someone with more knowledge and time gardening?

I noticed that in Michigan, too. What's been really odd was a slow July and Aug- and in the last two weeks of August- new flowers appeared, which has jumped late Sept tomatoes way more than expected.

I thought it was my feeding system, but others have also mentioned an odd summer.

[bucky15]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I noticed that in Michigan, too. What's been really odd was a slow July and Aug- and in the last two weeks of August- new flowers appeared, which has jumped late Sept tomatoes way more than expected.

I thought it was my feeding system, but others have also mentioned an odd summer.

I also have some new tomatoes that started a few weeks ago. I don't know if they will make it to full size, the nights are starting to get close to frost levels. Thanks for the reply, nice to know it is the odd summer.

[FreshFish]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

Anyone else notice that they got fewer tomatoes this year than last? The summer in Wisco was very mild (I think it only reached 90 degrees 1 or 2 days) and damp, I am thinking this had a lot to do with the drop in production. Thoughts from someone with more knowledge and time gardening?

For us here in the Northeast, it was the late start to the growing season more than the cooler than usual summer. We had a freak snowstorm in late April that nearly killed off our tomatoes entirely, and probably would have had we not covered them. it took them about a month to recover.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

I am in New England- mine are producing but they took a lull in the heat. Now are flowering again too. Same with beans and squash

[FreshFish]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

The past several weeks, we've had weather that really revived our tomatoes, they have started to bear fruit wonderfully well.

Three types in particular worth noting.
-- Magic Mountain. Tried growing them last year for the first time, they are even better this year. They combine the fecundity of cherry tomatoes with enough size (diameter ~1.5 inches) so that it is worth the time and effort to make sauce. Five or six quarts so far with half again as many left to harvest.
-- Amish Paste. New this year. Superb for sauce, less liquid than other tomatoes, plant is hardy, grows large, and bears fruit regularly.
-- Brandywine. New this year. They taste too good to use for sauce. Absolutely one of the best tomato varieties ever. Plant is huge, need a stepladder to tie up the top branches and harvest fruit from them. Large, succulent tomatoes and long bearing season.


Also, the tomatillos have recovered nicely. Every year we wonder how those tiny scrawny little shoots can possibly survive, every year we get a huge bush around 6' tall and 4' around. I wish we could find something to do with them other than make green salsa. It tastes really good, but the harvest comes in far faster than I feel like chopping*.



* One year I tried using a blender, I thought it tasted okay, but the boss didn't like the consistency compared to chopped version.

[leswp1]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

We have had an on again, off again season. Started with them bearing well but then had cold, rainy followed by HHH and very dry. Juliet, Money Market (?, I think), Big Beef and an early determinate that hasn't stopped bearing yet. They are still going steadily giving us tomatoes but not tons.

Beans are at the end. Leaves look like lace- chewed to bits.

Summer squash suddenly got borers and Pffft. That was that.

Volunteer Butternut Squash in the compost heap has 2 huge squash, lots of buds but no other squashes coming.

Parsley is going nuts

Basil looks OK.

[walrus]

Re: Garden Geeks thread

We have had an on again, off again season. Started with them bearing well but then had cold, rainy followed by HHH and very dry. Juliet, Money Market (?, I think), Big Beef and an early determinate that hasn't stopped bearing yet. They are still going steadily giving us tomatoes but not tons.

Beans are at the end. Leaves look like lace- chewed to bits.

Summer squash suddenly got borers and Pffft. That was that.

Volunteer Butternut Squash in the compost heap has 2 huge squash, lots of buds but no other squashes coming.

Parsley is going nuts

Basil looks OK.

Just picked 2 buckets of Italian and plum tomatoes. Soon to be simmering into sauce. Already canned 28 pints, going for 40. Also picked a peck of chiles and jalapenos, going in dehydrator for pepper flakes.

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