Broccoli is just about all gone. Sure tasted goooood cutting it , bringing it into the kitchen, washing it and putting right on the stove to cook.
Jerry
Finally Getting Some Green In The Garden
Taters, squash - butter beans - cukes - cantaloupes just coming up in containers, and maters.
Maters in straw bales, peppers in 1st dirt row, onions & garlic in cinder block bed, beans in 2nd dirt row, and 1" high okra in 3rd dirt row just came up.
Green crop planted late due to late garden prep. Beets, two kinds of turnips, Chinese cabbage, romaine lettuce, radish, and 3 kinds of mustard greens. There may be a couple pickings before it really gets hot in 2 or 3 weeks.
Amish Paste
Arkansas Traveler
BHN-444
Black Krim
BrandySweet Plumb
Brenda Jean Cherry
Chello Yellow/Gold Cherry
Chocolate Cherry
Health Kick
Indian Stripe
J D's Special
Mountain Glory
Opalka
Porter Improved
Roma
Top Gun
Wow! 8b is sure different from 7a! Those are all gorgeous, Texas! You should be really proud of them!
Just beautiful! I see you put in some hybrid toms for insurance. Smart move. Hehe. So far, do you think the Opalka is setting well? I got mine in way late and I'm hoping they like our zone.
The tomato borer worms are alive and well in 8b. I just picked 3 of my nice babies and threw them in a bucket of water to drown the devils.
Opalka is setting fruit well. However it and Indian Stripe seem to be prone to BER so I have added Gypsum to the coir to supplement calcium. As I understand it the coir leaches calcium in a big way. Next year I will mix generous amounts of gypsum to my coir before planting.
Out of 44 tomato plants only four plants, two Indian Stripe and two Opalka, have had occurrences of BER.
Jerry
When did you transplant your tomatoes? I put mine in the ground March 9th, survived two freezes, but don't have nearly the fruit-set that you have.
David
David,
The indeterminate varieties were planted to the 5 gal grow bags during the time 3/8 thru 3/14. The indeterminate varieties were planted in the straw bales on 3/16.
EDITED to read: The DETERMINATE varieties were planted in the straw bales on 3/16.
Last week just before the 4 or 5 straight days of overcast skies, rain, and high humidity the tomatoes were almost solid yellow with blooms at around the 3-4 ft level. Due to the weather I lost many many blooms that did not set fruit......but they are cranking up again. (smile with fingers crossed)
The trick will be to stress the plants just enough at the right time to get good tasting fruit, but not shut down production.
Jerry
This message was edited May 4, 2009 10:32 AM
My tomatoes aren't as far along as yours texas, but they do have lots of tomatoes on them. I just dug a 2 1/2 gallon bag full of new potatoes--had some for supper a couple of nights ago and they sure were good! Got some beautiful heads of cabbage ready to cut too. Haven't gotten time to get lots of my other garden goodies planted yet as we're trying to get hubby ready for a knee replacement on the 20th. Hope to get it all in before we go for that. Your garden sure is gorgeous!
NatureLover1950,
The knee surgery is a good investment cause you sure don't want to lose a good garden helper, that's for sure. Get'r done!
I love just about all the veggies in the Cole family, but I was way too late for any this Spring. Look out for this coming Fall, though. (wink)
I was thinking this morning about starting to dig a few potatoes. I put mine in on Valentine's Day so there should be some down there, huh?
Happy Gardening
Jerry
texasrockgarden - love your photos - thanks for sharing them with us. Looks as though you have a drip irrigation system. I have finally saved enough to buy what I need. I have read articles and seen diagrams of drip irrigation, but I'm no good at math so for the life of me, I don't know how much of all the little gizmos, joiners, and length of hose I need. I plan to redesign my garden after the fall crops have been taken out so I can put in the drip irrigation system - any pointers? Thanks for any help you can give.
HoneybeeNC,
Working with a drip system is easier than it looks. I went to Home Depot and purchased the DIG components. There is a free booklet by DIG Corp. that is very helpful. I got my book at Home Depot. I recommend you get the book and read it until you understand it pretty well. Once you have read the book go "touch and feel" all the different piece described in the book and try to find a sales person with knowledge about drip systems. Ask lots of questions. By now you should be starting to get comfortable with the drip system terminology and ready to set up a one, two or three pot system. From then on it will be a breeze. You'll be flying through it.
I started with a roll of 1/2" plastic mainline, a hose to mainline slip connector, a pressure regulator, a filter, a figure "8" mainline terminator, a roll of 1/4" black plastic drip line, and a few micro sprayers, straight connectors and tees. Oh, and a hole punch to punch the mainline to connect the drip line. I have used the 1/4" black drip line and the 1/4" brown drip line. I prefer the brown because it is softer and easier to work with.
You can do this....the hardest part is getting started.
Jerry
We're definitely ready to "get'r done" texas. Hubby is counting the days now. I love all the cole crops too. I got some in very early for a spring crop but will go a lot heavier on them come fall. Knock on wood, so far I haven't had any problems with insects dining on my crops. Yeah, you should have taters by now. Can't beat those new potatoes, can you? I didn't come close to digging all of mine--saving plenty to have at cookouts.
Spend a moment pouting and jelous with major zone envy. Ok I'm over it. WOW! Seriously good looking plants you have.
zone envy mingled with inspiration. nice work, southerners!
texasrockgarden - I went to DIG Corp's web site and was able to print a copy of their installation instructions. Thanks for all the helpful hints.
http://www.digcorp.com/assets/0000/0020/ST100-AS.pdf