I feel like I won't have to water for weeks bc the soil is saturated. There is still a chance of rain every day but I never hand water I use soaker hoses. I don't have an ADS the soaker hoses work perfect at least for me.
Spring Gardens 2015 Pt 2
things really coming along well. Starting to get a lot of little marbles starting on my tomato plants. and the cantaloupe is starting to take off. Now if those watermelon seed will just come up.
Jmc1987,
Those marbles are adorbs!!!!
Here's a quick update. I should eat a handful of my first ever Black Cherry tomatoes this evening, if they're still on the vine, LOL!!!
Lisa,
I hear yah about feeling waterlogged. Although, in my case, it is very appreciated, cause now I don't have to throw a ton of $$$ through the hose pipe, LOL!
Clockwise from 1:00
→Contender Green Beans
→Sioux Tomato
→Strike Green bean blossoms
→New Big Dwarf tomato
This message was edited May 15, 2015 2:08 PM
Here're my Black Cherry trusses!
Wow, everyone is doing great with your veggies this year! Way to go all!
Finally some of the tomatoes are staring to ripen.
The red larger one are Nineveh. It is a very short plant loaded with huge fruits.
Then I am impressed by red GLACIER – 55 days as promised.
Then red long ones are Juliet.
Small red cherries: Peacevine Cherry, Sweet Millions
Yellow cherry: Gold Nugget, Sun Gold II and the larger one Jeaunne Flamme
Chocolate Cherries (my favorite) and a few Blue Berries tomatoes
This message was edited May 15, 2015 7:16 PM
I took a little stroll through the garden this evening.
Super Sioux Tomatoes
Marmande Tomatoes
Alaska Peas
Blackberries everywhere!
Pole Beans
our wild blackberries around here are mostly still mid bloom (the ones that you can even get to anyways, no thanks to all the poison ivy), and the blackberry "stick" i bought from walmart this spring is just getting a good start with its growth
This message was edited May 16, 2015 12:14 AM
Those Super Sioux are beautiful!!
Prudens Purple, wooden trellis, gonna shake em a bit for more blooms. 2) Rootbeer plant. 3)shallots I brought downfrom Wis 4) garter snake in the zinnias. 5)lemons
ok, curious me has to ask why it is called Rootbeer plant, lol
You gonna brew us some root beer? Everything else looks great!
Today's harvest. More blackberries, peas, and one jalapeno. The jalapeno I could've probably left on there a few more days, but i was impatient. LOL
Those berries are going in some muffins I'm making today. :)
Piper auritum, yerba santa, Mexican pepperleaf. Its used to wrap and flavor foods. It has returned on its own after dying back.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/food/2012-08-24/hoja-santa/
I know we need the rain and it's saving me money on watering but I haven't gotten anything planted its just too wet to clean out the weeds in the garden much less plant anything. The copious amount of moisture are hurting the gardens in my area. Weird spring weather!
Lisa, day before yesterday we stop over in Dallas airport , I saw a lot of trees and vegetation under water. Hope it let off soon. Here where I am the rain stopped some time a week earlier. Temp is heating up as Summer is here.
Great pic Lily
I'm in the Hill Country NW of Austin. I live very rural, on 8 acres about 5 miles from the Hwy. it's just amazing how everything has grown wildflowers, weeds...hasn't been like this in years.
Also an amazing influx of bugs....the Mosquitos are terrible....which isn't normal for this area.
you could always send some of that rain up this way. Seems we have hit our typical summer pattern....rain acts as if its heading this way, but just as it makes it to the county line, it either dies out, or literally splits in half leaving an open spot over top of us
stephanietx
my blackberries are not ready yet ... but I think yours always are earlier than mine.
I am curios about the Marmande tomato I planted for the first time this year.
I have 2 plants and they are growing the slowest of all the varieties I have. The are short and not very full. Is it the same for you?
Marmande is a beefsteak, it may simply need more room than others, I havent grown it, but my Momotaro is advancing excruciatingly slow as well.
I would not call Marmande a beefsteak since it's a smaller sized tomato. (There is a Super Marmande that is much larger.) The one I grow has a much shorter DTM than a beefsteak. My Marmandes are about 4' tall and most are setting fruit now. With the weird weather we've had, nothing is on track like in years past.
I might have the wrong Marmande seeds (I got them from Baker Creek).
It is not 4' tall ... and they both look much smaller and thinner than the other tomato plants ... I will keep watching with the hope of a surprise.
I will see if I can get a pic of the whole plant today, but here's a solo shot of one of the tomatoes waiting. It's about full size and won't grow any larger. Just waiting for it to ripen.
I don't remember where I got my seeds for last year's crop, but this year, I'm growing from my own seeds I saved last year.
Found a purple coneflower plant at the local nursery a few days ago, a major treasure for me, LOL! Although the poor thing has been wilting in the hot sun for the past 2 days, wonder if that is transplant stress, and has to have time to adapt to its new settings. It does perk back up in the evenings when the sun finally gets off of it. I am suspect of the transplant stress because i bought some Tickseed flowers too, and they do the same thing. I would get some photos, but my camera batteries died off on me and wont be getting new batteries until friday
This message was edited May 17, 2015 2:38 PM
Transplant shock, can you shade them from direct sun abt a week?
i have a couple big white plastic pots i can put over top of them for the hottest parts of the day, if that would work
Better not enclosed. Like a sheet tentted over or even two buckets with a board across them?
thinking i will go with the sheet idea then
When you buy plants you need to acclimate them before planting out. Most nurseries and garden centers have the plants under a shade cover they are rarely in full sun for the entire day.
boy do i look really goofy now (like that would be news to anyone here, lol!!)
another lesson learned there.
I like to plant my transplants in the evening so they have a little bit of time to acclimate before the heat of the day. Also, I water them daily for about 2 weeks, then they're on the regular water schedule. So far this year, I've not had to do much, if any, supplemental watering.
been having to do some supplemental watering in my garden bed darned near every day. Rain all around us, but its like the clouds say "Nope, none for you!"
Not sure whats going on with the micro climate our little house is located in, but it always seems very rain phobic once the heat of summer kicks in.
I plant out in the evening or on a cloudy days for exactly the reasons Stephanie does.
No you don't look goofy, these are just things I've learned over the years or on DG. Just helpful hints.
stephanietx
my Marmande fruit loos different than yours = mystery solved !
The first picture had my determinate tomatoes.
Marmande are the 2 on the right.
In the second picture you see the other indeterminate tomatoes growing so much.
My harvest: I never had Swiss Chard so big ! probably with all of this rain !
I also found some more artichokes and I harvested thyme and oregano. I will let them fry in a dark place in the house.
Tomatoes:
From left to right:
large red NINEVEH (also on picture #4) - amazing short determinate plant loaded with huge tomatoes
yellow cherry: GOLD NUGGET
red GLACIER
yellow SUNGOLD II (one), BLUEBERRY(one)
red/brown BLACK MAURI - amazing taste
JULIETT
SWEET MILLION
Oh yum! Those look so, so good!
The excess water is apt to make flavors milder for those of you who are seeing giant stuff. They will be juicy tho!
I never grew Swiss chard so large and so good
All Swiss Chard will grow large if left in the garden. Usually it is picked when it is small bc it has better taste and texture. The cooler temps and excess moisture help it to not get tough and bitter....like it can in the summer heat.
My Swiss Chard never gets bitter and I like the larger leaves the best.
I love the larger stalk varieties. I think this was Ford Hook.
As soon as my onions are gone I will direct seed Swiss Chard there.
Happy gardening !