Summer Gardens 2015 Part 4

Beebonnet is on the coast. It is beautiful there. It doesn't get too hot and it doesn't get too cold. The USDA zones go by how cold it gets not how hot. Much of the West Coast has higher zones then mine but it gets much hotter and much colder here. Much of the San Fransisco Bay area is zone 9 or higher.

jmc can you post pics of the rotting areas on your tomatoes? I've have a hunch...

I just picked my first tomatoes about a week ago. Got a late start...I'm really surprised there are a lot more on the vines and tiny tomato buttons in the spent flowers.

Ok here are the photos 1lisac requested. The first photo, you can see where it is starting up, and the second photo is one that has gone too far and must be blanched and frozen. all of this within just a few days after picking off of the plant.

I'm guessing but I think they may have been stung (bit) by stink bugs and that is how it progresses? The 2 tomatoes that I have picked had stink bug damage and they ripened really fast, in areas, but they got eaten before much damage could be done. Lol

My youngest son eats them like apples.

funny thing is that they look absolutely flawless when i pick them, and then suddenly this, lol.

And yeah i have been known to eat some that same way too ;)

JMC, we've had the same problem and we don't have squash bugs or anything like that. I'm not sure what is causing it.

Not squash bugs....stink bugs (shield bugs). Maybe something to do with the rain? It is kind of strange that all three of us have the same problem.

you must have some bugs stinging the tomatoes. Look at the little pin holes ...

jmc - Your tomatoes you posted pictures of yesterday. Looks like they might have anthracnose fungus?

I went out early this morn to try and beat the heat and just came in shortly after nine all nasty and hot. The temp gauge says 95 already - HOT/HUMID. Guess most of you are experiencing the same thing. My eyes are both bloodshot from being out in the elements. I could finely get in the garden (the wet has been an issue). The okra needed picking and I ended up having to throw quite a bit of it away. I went ahead and cut it off the stalk so the plants would continue to produce. I picked a huge butternut squash. Pulled up some of the cuck plants and trashed. Harvested a few pattypan's,a big bouquet of glads along with some tuberoses. I would have taken a picture, but I think there was some mud on all of it. Not the prettiest of pictures. I worked on the other side of the pond, in some of my flower beds, and pulled out spent rudbeckia's. Probably hauled off 4 big loads of plant trash. At least I accomplished something this morn. Makes for a good day.

Happy gardening, but stay coooool and hydrated.

i have been seeing stink bugs every now and again, i dont care about the smell--i smash them as i see them, lol.

i tell ya what, these watermelons definitely are a test of patience, lol, but they will SO be worth it.

That's why I posted yesterday that the tomatoes appear to have stink bug damage. They sting the tomatoes and those are damaged so they "ripen" faster.

[quote="1lisac"]Beebonnet is on the coast. It is beautiful there. It doesn't get too hot and it doesn't get too cold. The USDA zones go by how cold it gets not how hot. Much of the West Coast has higher zones then mine but it gets much hotter and much colder here. Much of the San Fransisco Bay area is zone 9 or higher.

Today I could grow melons and such. Today it is actually hot here and I have a headache. Just not used to it. We usually have a cool breeze off the ocean and the bay by now (2PM) but we have just a tiny whisper of a breeze out there. I will need to water this evening because my plants have that wilted look from heat and won't take up water until evening. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same. This summer Ore. has been very hot. Inland it is 107 today. Here it is in the 80's. Don't laugh....That is a very hot day for the Ore. coast.

And you'll probably need a jacket in the evening. Lol

I've not seen any bugs in my garden this year, except for the occasional assassin bug and grasshopper. No puncture wounds on my tomatoes either. It's like they are spoiling from the inside out.

I take it the assassin bug is a good one? Worth having around in the garden to maybe keep other insects in check?

I did a search of stink bug damage on tomatoes. It varies greatly. Sometimes it looks like a small discoloration on the outside but rotted on the inside.

The assassin bug prays on other inserts but bc it is a carnivore it also carries diseases that humans can get.

I give up its giving me a headache. Lol

and here is todays harvest, our tomato plants are definitely slowing down, but that will be all the more room that can be made for the autumn crops, went ahead and pulled out one of the determinate vines today because the last of the tomatoes were harvested off of it today.

Jmc-how do you like the Ground Cherries? Now we know why you only needed 1 plant. But I'm not sure if all tomatillos need at least 2 plants to pollinate. I've never tried it.

they are definitely an interesting taste, to say the least, mom tried one and she said "ew, not what i was expecting", kind of threw caught her off guard as she was expecting more of that classic savory tomato type flavor, lol.

If i get enough i hope to make a jar of preserves with them

Thanks for the info on the assassin bug.

Gee - I had to take the weedeater to my garden today - just to get brave enough to get some peppers for the potato salad I made last night. The sweet potato vines are everywhere. They have surely thrived in the wet/hot/humid weather we have experienced. We are lucky here today as the temp is ten degrees cooler than yesterday and the humidity is GRAND. Much more pleasant. I've spent a big part of the morning out in the elements and will be spending a great more of today out in the elements. Had to help DH pull the zero turn mower out of the pond just before lunch. Thank goodness it was the pond and not the creek......................

playing around with DG's frost date finder for my area, it says that the 32F frost risk is at 50% for me by Oct. 16th. So i took that date and done the counting back method for each crop (counting back days til maturity), and i came up with these seed starting dates for each crop:

turnips - august 7
lettuce - august 7
kale - august 14
carrot - august 14
cauliflower - august 21
beets - august 28
radish - september 11

what do you guys think? Any adjustments that i should make?

and i have no idea how that double posted, LOL!

one other thing i am wondering about. Seeing as my smaller garden bed that i plan on growing kale and lettuces in is partial sun / shade, i wonder if i could start those even sooner than the autumn crops that will be in the full sun, since they wont have the beating late summer sun on them as much?

All of those crops are at least somewhat frost tolerant, although lettuce will usually be ruined and have to grow back. You should be able to grow them until it gets much colder than just an occasional frost.

i remember hearing somewhere that the plants will continue to grow until a frost, which of course they will be able to handle, but what i read said that after the frost their growth would slow significantly, if not stop, that they would basically just begin to sit there.

Posts double sometimes when the forums are being cleaned. I grow heat tolerant lettuces, but the lettuces love cool weather- like colLards and spinaches, etc, as long as they aren't just getting established. We Do Not have your typE of cold tho.

Most of the stuff jmc mentioned I would direct seed. Except the cauliflower and Kale. The soil needs to be a certain temp to germinate, if the soil is too warm some stuff won't germinate same as if it's too cold.

lots of basil in todays harvest for drying

been noticing a few leaves dying back on my sweet potato plants, a sign of some definite action going on under the soil. so i brushed away the soil around the base of one of them, and sure enough.... But of course they must still wait until sometime around late september / early october!

This message was edited Jul 31, 2015 2:16 PM

So jmc - Are you growing the white sweet potatoes? I saw white sweet potatoes two years ago in ALA.

growing these, the skin will end up being a light beige / tan color, with the inside being purple

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/170335/

jmc - Your sweet potato vines are beautiful. Is this variety an experiment or have you grown this variety before? I'm assuming the meat of the potato is purple?

I have three varieties in a short row in the garden - Baregard, Georgia Jet and Continel. Either they are going to be all vines, or it will be a bumper crop - will see. I haven't seen the ground pooching up (persay) yet. I'll check them the 3rd week of August to see if I have a crop.

When did y'all plant your sweeties?

This is my first time in the raised bed, and, I'm not exactly sure when they should be ready.

I figured to leave them in until I need the bed again...

Thanks!

many guides im reading say to keep sweet potatoes in the ground as long as possible, but to harvest them out the moment you hear word of any possible frosts. This is my first go at them too, first time growing ANY sweet potato for that matter, so im not getting my hopes up about an absolutely amazing harvest, lol.

I was able to get mine in the ground on may 11th in my zone 7A

Here is what the finished tubers should look like

http://www.jollytomato.com/wp-content/uploads/okinawa-sweet-potatoes.bmp

This message was edited Aug 1, 2015 11:00 AM

This message was edited Aug 1, 2015 11:00 AM

Did you fertilize your sweeties past prepping the bed?

just once or twice while they were still small to give them a jump start, once they started getting a good long vine i stopped applying fertilizers and just let the organic stuff in the soil do the work, so that i wouldnt just get all leafy growth (same rule as with all root crops) :)