This is my first year growing veggies, and I am so thrilled the four (4) seedlings I got from The Home Depot are loaded with fruits. Of course next year I know better that 2-gallon pots are definitely not big enough to contain them. The plants are so heavy with tomatoes they keep tipping over.
The heirloom seedlings from Laurel will grow in much bigger pots.
Happy Gardening!
Well done you cleaver thing, this will be the first year of many more to come now you have seen what you can do in pots, just enjoy these fruits and boast to all your friends next time they complain about the cost of fruit and veg, ha, ha, ha, re the pots falling over, maybe the soil is too dry for the amount of fruit they are setting, but a finger test will tell you for sure, poke your finger into the soil and if it feels dry, give a good water, if damp. then it is fine, finger about in or two into the pot will be about the right way to test. good luck. wish you more good crops next year. WeeNel.
They are beautiful and look so healthy! Yummy...
I am growing some tomatoes for a fall crop.. I have some that are gonna live in the greenhouse this winter.. :)
Great job Annapet!
Congrats on your success! They look lovely.
WeeNel, thank you. I have read and learned from your posts. I agree, the soil gets so dry with the loads of fruit they are setting. I thank my pollinators - - - they are ever present! The few veggies I grow are next to my English Roses.
Joyce, I am really enjoying growing food. I do go home for lunch at least twice a week to get fresh veggies for my meal. But I noticed the aphids love my eggplants as much as I do. I blasted them with water, but they are coming back. It's time for Neem, I think.
Heidi, now I have some tomatoes to go with my basil collection!
Moonglow, a 3 or 4" mulch on the tomatoes will slow the rate of water loss from high heat and low humidity, and your soil will stay moist much longer after each watering.
Frank
Thanks, Frank. I'm eating healthier these days! More veggies from the garden today =).
There is a commercial where a little boy opens his lunch box and says "Jackpot".... That's exactly how I feel when I find a bunch of Okra or green beans ready to pick!
There is nothing like eating a lunch that the plants gave me.. Just divine!
I too am eating much more healthy.. Isn't it fun? !!!
Beautiful bounty there Moonglow!
woo woo! Congrats Moonglow...
Tomatoes looking good..
I picked my first bunch of squash tonight - yippeee...
It is GREAT to reap the benefits of the garden. We are loving it.
this is also my first year gardening veggies and I just picked a couple of my first tomatoes .. lots of green ones in there .. cannot wait! I have a TON of zuchinni .. seems like they are over taking everything.. the leaves on my zuchinni plants are about a foot and a half wide!
check it out..
lynch - CONGRATS! on your garden bounty. What will you do with all that zuchinni?
I am trying to give it away to family members.lol.. :O) Not sure if it is good to freeze?? any suggestions?
Make bread and freeze it!
Instead of making big breads, make little mini loaves and freeze them. Then, when you want a sweet treat, pop them in the oven for a bit, then add some butter, and mmmmmm...... best breakfast ever.
Moonglow; I'm JEALOUS!!!
TXBBQ, you'll be harvesting when my harvest gets depleted! You'll see =).
Hastur, zucchini bread is yummy indeed. However, I will mostly likely avoid baking since I'm cutting down on carbs. Let's see how I hold up...
lynchl, how many zucchini plants do you have? I have one, and I cannot keep up. I have given out some already (office). I made ratatoullie a few days ago.
bT, I'll check out your thread again. I hope you posted some photos.
Joyce, your seeds are finally on their way. I added a few more =).
I have four plants.. four HUGE plants though.. :)
Too cool Annapet.. Thank you!
Here is a link to the canning and freezing forum.. there was a thread about freezing zucchini http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/533967/
I took my zucchini plants out when the stink bugs invaded them.. Now I wish I would have replaced them or just sprayed the bugs! :) I really thought I never wanted to see another zucchini just a few short weeks ago! LOL
thanks, joyce!
with the ehem, ehem "success" my veggie gardening has "achieved: (LOL), i decided to take on another adventure and planted an heirloom tomato (black plum) in an upside-down planter from gardeners. it is so sturdy!
i planted this late yesterday, and it has already curled up for sunshine.
meanwhile, here's Paul Robeson in a self-watering planter form gardeners. on to it's second week. it goes grow FAST in this set-up. i will buy a full-size tomato success kit. this one is the square foot success kind.
Congratulations. My first tomato plant is huge, about 4 /1/2 ft tall with tons of leave, but only a few tomatoes! Planted june 1st from 4 in potted plant, none red yet. Mid July started some from seed & they are about 12" tall with a few flowers. So hot here and with wind in afternoon, it is hard to keep them watered enough. Zucchini did well, but did not learn my lesson about planting too many too close and now the butternut squash threaten to take over the neighborhood - or at least shade the new peppers!
thanks, quiltygirl. my first 4 tomato plants are scattered in a way since placing cages was an afterthought. amazingly abundant with fruits though. it may well be because of their location: right next to a few of my roses. bees are ever present.
wow, you started some from seeds...do you have photos of your seedlings?
No. DD borrowed, then took over our camera and now can't find the charge cord! Also,, have not "purchased" membership at Dave's yet, so don't know if I could submit photos. Would like to take photos of the banana squash before it eats out city. LOL
Everything is from seeds except the 2 'prolific in leaves' tomato plants. In the second small plot that was supposed to be for flowers, when all but the rose in the middle died, I planted vegetable mid July. I planted carrot seeds (3rd try since June) in a circle around the rose, then beets in a circle around that and it looked artistic with shape and shades of green and red. With our hot days and windy afternoons it took a lot of watering to get all the seeds to germinate. But, again with too many seeds too close, root veggies are smaller, but even the leaves are tasty. Neighbor said I need to transplant at least one of the seed-grown tomato plants or they will crowd each other. Hope I get a bumper crop also!!! Had eyes on a potato and when planted I got the cutest tiny 'taters.
i will start more tomatoes from seeds coming my way. i'm so excited. i will save my allowance for a tomato success kit. the square foot success may be too small for tomatoes.
i saw a big squirrel lurking about. i got the tomatoes first! woo-hoo!
they turn really read. so plump and succulent! i brought some at work, and they make healthy snacks.
So, do you pick them before they are really red? I finally have one turning FROM green and it is kinda the orangey-red of your first photo. What is a "tomato success kit"?
I have been reading the Dripworks catalog and want to use "tape" tubing next year and have a timer. While I love my garden, I don't want to be married to watering it 3 times a day, plus it would be more a more resourceful use of the water.
Has anyone out there used a product like this?
hello, quiltygirl. i do have brave moments when i pick tomatoes on the dark orange-red side. there are plenty right now that i really want to let ripen on the vine.
my husband is a darling and installed drip irrigation system with time for my roses. however, with the "success" of my tomatoes in 2-gallon pots, and now one in a square foot success kit, i will be trying the full-size Tomato Success Kit and the EarthBox.
http://www.gardeners.com/Tomato%20Success%20Kits/35-776RS,default,pd.html
http://shop2.mailordercentral.com/EarthBox/prodinfo.asp?number=DB+TRC
Moonglow - now I see why you say you are "saving up". I see the advantages in that they are self watering, but since we could not afford to go farther than the next town this summer, I may as well be watering my babies. Looks like you get more square inches for less $ with the earthbox, but more other "stuff" with the other.
Even though we are on a well, the water is not free due to the electricity it takes to pull the water out, so I figure the fruits/veggies are more expensive than the store. I am sooo waiting for a great tasting tomato. Oddly, husband & 14 yr old daughter don't even care to eat the fruits of my labor, much less want to participate!
yes, quiltygirl - - - the pros and cons of convenience. i have saved in many ways from reusing my planters to investing in edible plants only this time around (i was a bigtime brug and roses addict). i'm trying not to go overboard with my tomatoes, and concentrate on having just a few fruiting plants year-round (that's the tomato dream i have).
with not much planning, looks like i'll have so much tomatoes the next few weeks, and will have to resort to store-bought tomatoes in october. we will see!
you're not alone! hubby does not like veggies, and picks out the herbs! my son loves beans, so there is hope for him.
Here's the latest harvest. I have another big one coming from the four (4) Home Depot tomato seedlings that I planted in July.
It has cooled down quite a bit here, and I do not know how the small fruits will fare. Any updates from your garden?
On the vine this morning. I think I can fill another tray like that today.
Unfortunately, I saw some horn worm poop, but I have only located two worms to offer to the birds.
I did fill another tray. Looks like I have to get busy roasting sauce!
Oh Moonglow! That is what I had images of when I planted this year. I love to eat them like apples. I have picked 2 about the color of the ones in your pix. The first one looked fine when I picked it, them split on the top. What's up with that? The 2nd one was already split and I see some like that on the bush but there just are not many period! So sad. 2 weeks ago our Mexican neighbor brought a bag of deep red Romas to us from the little market they shop at and they were so fantastically yummy with real old fashioned tomato taste. What all are you making with them? I would love to get enough to make tomato pie, but I would be the only one eating it!! LOL
We are warming up early this week - it had cooled down to mid 80's with couple nights down to 56. The shade is moving in with the sun shifting, don't know what the tomatoes, butternuts and cantaloupes I planted in July will do. Butternuts have golf to baseball size squash and nothing on 'lopes. Something has dug near the squash too!
quiltygirl, i had another big harvest from my 4 tomato plants and i cannot help but think, "what if i had grown them in bigger pots?" remember, they are in 2 gallon pots.
the temps dropped last week, and there was one bud drop from paul robeson in that square foot success kit. it is right next to two (2) sweet 100s in 5-7 gallon pots and it's almost as tall. another week and it will be taller.
i made more sauce last night.
here's paul robeson: 4 weeks in the SF success kit and on its 5th! many flowers and more buds emerging though no visible fruit. grows on average 6" per week, and now growing fuller, too. the stems are really chubby!
this was last week's photo.
Boy, do I feel inadequate. Not only are so many "beginners" getting such an abundant harvest, but I found this website http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2008/01/01/whats-new-for-the-new-year-project-1/ (Path to Freedom) where they are growing up to 10,000 pounds of food on only 1/10th of an acre! Of course they have done this for a LONG time.
I don't even see any fruit starting on my cantaloupe vines and only a few squash on what looks like a mile of butternut vines!
quiltygirl, do you notice bees around? squash flowers need to be pollinated from what i read from the thread.
the tomato cracking may be from irregular watering, fast growth, etc.
please email me your address if you would like extra seeds of zucchini and peppers.
take care.
Moonglow, we do have birds, bees, butterflies and small lizards that are zipping around the plants. If I waster in the sun in the AM, lot of bees rize from the flowers. I have learned how to differentiate male and female flowers from these DG forums, but have not tried "manual fertilization". I seem to have a preponderance of male over female flowers. Maybe next season I'll trying helping them along. Besides, it will be something to laugh hardily about when telling non-gardening friends about "getting into the act" of the birds & bees!!!
Yes, I believe that is why I had cracks. It's so hot in summer and I needed to water 3x/day, but plants would still droop before being watered again. New, from seed, plants are smaller - also getting more shade due to change of season. Let's see what happens with them.
Later about seeds, gotta go Thanks
