Veggie garden friends of the Mid-alantic 2

We had peas yesterday, too. Parents came for lunch and we had fresh from the garden peas with our sausage and home fries. Onions from the garden went into the home fries, too. Ric pulled all the pea plants out and we will put something else in there for later in the season. I have a bucket of peas to go in the fridge. We got one small cauliflower head so far, Ric and I thought it had a bit of a bitter taste. We were eating it fresh with some dip, Mom thought it was fine with the dip. I'm going to freeze it I thought maybe if would be OK cooked with some cheese sauce. Pepper and tomato plants are looking really good as are the potatoes. We will have a ton of Raspberries if we get to them before the birds. I did a real job cleaning out the raspberries this year.
Potato plant in flower

Beautiful peas! Glad you all got all the peas I was supposed to get, IF I planted them when supposed to! Planted late and they've barely bloomed and usually croak in this heat.
Potatos look super this year. I think the ample rain really helped certain things, just depended on the timing. My raspberry new stalks are really tall this year and blueberries are HUGE.
I just found a self planted Trombocino behind the garden! Glad hubby only mower-pruned the end of the vine. I better hurry up and fence it. Uh oh, he was mowing last night.......I HOPE he didn't go over that! Wouldn't you think anything with leaves a foot across deserves a "Hey honey, is this.." holler?

Hope to put bush beans where the peas came out, maybe with some icicles on the side. The anticipation on the potatoes has me itching to peek. I have major pruning and tying to do on several tomatoes to do. Some days the neediness of the garden is almost like work! I got some work done on Holly's over flow bed done today. We need that for the plants being held for the gazebo bed that some dummy was supposed to have in last week, precluding injury. I'm also trying to get another bed ready for fall radishes, beets, and turnips. My onions should be ready to go on the chicken yard to dry and be braided early next week. Ric
Due to high temps a few weeks ago, most of my cauliflower and brocolli bolted, in a couple of weeks I'll cut the crowns and see if I can get a second (smaller) growth.

icicles? radishes, maybe? Your garden sounds like it's perking right along! But keep babying that hand, and let it heal!

I've got a first crop of bush beans just starting to bloom... can't wait. Got a few little green tomatoes starting, too.

Sally, I hope your squash plant didn't get mowed down!

Heal well!

I had planted a little packet of beans( of course I can't find it, so I don't know the name) that were purple, but turn green when cooked. Originally, I was going to send them to my DGD in OR., BUT... then I planted them, hoping they would be ready to pick when they visited and sure enough. Hope and I picked them and ate them for dinner. Cool beans!

Babying the hand "HA" Yesterday I found him in the garden with that handy dandy hand mattock that John gave him. Chopping weeds one handed. Then it was off to mowing first on the little riding mower the boys brought over and then (I just was having a fit over this one) the hand mower. Pushing it all over the yard with the one good hand and the palm of his injured hand.

One-handed gardening is one thing, but I am sure the vibration of mowing isn't going to help that other hand heal! Maybe the doc can help you lay down the law... I'm sure he has no idea what's involved if he tells Ric to "resume normal activities as much as possible" or some such. LOL

Hi everyone ^_^

LadyG your tomatoes and greens look great!

Good luck with your brick project Ric :)

We've been busy here too. Harry's putting up a new fence around the garden for us. We are making the garden a bit larger too, which will be nice. We never did get to planting any potatoes.

I planted a row for the hungry of green beans (Oregon Blue Lake) that we plan on donating to our local soup kitchen. They are just starting to climb. A friend of ours just picked her first beans already. Our tomatoes are coming along, Critter's ornamental purple peppers are getting peppers, the basil has been blooming away. I can't keep up with the pinching! And, it is actually beautiful, not humid and cool here... hard to believe this is the weather for July here in south Jersey.

Happy Gardening!

I finally produced a radish! This is Watermelon variety, one big one split open. Supposed to look like a watermelon; well it WAS big LOL Took two months to grow instead of 37 days or something like that on the packet, it is kind of hot but not woody.
Jan I have an article about a purple bush bean but for the life of me cannot remember the variety name at the moment. Mine came from Pinetree seds.
My trombocino is making fruit but so far not developing, but I think the mower pruning was good for stimulating female flowers. I have to get out and water--somebody turned off that faucet that was running for the previous three months

Sally, not sure where I picked up the purple beans. I didn't order them though. They tasted pretty good. The DGD enjoyed picking them and also cutting flowers for a bouquet for my mom.
For some reason I have never developed a taste for radishes.

Oh Jan, radishes are yummy. That is unless you get an old one and it burns the heck out of your mouth. LOL

Jill, I clicked on the link to your cucumber article and saw your recipe for Refrigerator Pickle. Being a person that tried canning many years ago and had a couple of flops, I am now the type that mainly freezes things that I have an abundance of. I have made the pickles though and found them to be really yummy. I have an extra cucumber in the refrigerator now and might pull out the mandolin some time later and give it a try. I love the look of uniformly cut veggies.

It sounds as though everyone's garden is coming right along. John decided yesterday to check on the potatoes that he planted in March. He was very disappointed by the size and the amount of production. He had hoped for larger potatoes, and I had hoped for more potatoes. The few that he did dig up are going to be extra yummy though, I am sure of that.

Here is hoping that everyone has a great weekend.

Ruby

Hi all, Sorry I have been more of a lurker then a poster lately, I get that way sometimes. Everything looks so yummy.

I spotted my first baby zucchini today, time to get ready to bake zucchini cookies.

Just thought I'd mention that T&M seeds is having their 99¢ seed sale, Oregon sugar peas are included in the sale I ordered for myself and for the girls at work that have a garden. They were so good raw with dip that they all want to grow them next spring. The sale ends July 16th I also orders some flower seeds, I just can't help myself.

Wind, I have lots of little green tomatoes can't wait to pick my first one. I think the next time Gardeners Supply has free shipping I'm going to order 2 more container kits, maybe grow eggplant in one.

Sally, that is a nice looking radish. I was late getting mine in so I had bad luck. I really planted them to help space out my parsnip seeds, if a got a radish then I felt it was a bonus.

Ladygardener,
If you want to try again with the radishes, they're a good fall crop.

Things are looking alright in my veggie garden. I've had a devil of a time with squash bugs this year, but I think they're finally under control. Other than that, no real problems. Everything is running a few weeks late still thanks to the cold spring and cool, rainy summer, but that's fine by me at this point. I have lots of green tomatoes, am already picking some of Jill's Wild Cherry toms, getting lots of cukes and zukes. Oh, and the peppers are coming on nicely.

This is todays harvest: Costata Romanesco zukes, Lemon cukes, Chinese Yellow cukes, Poona Kheera cukes

I might try that, I have seeds left, nothing to loose.
I see you have some of those "lemon" cukes, how is the taste and do you think they are worth the space in a small garden, or stick with the traditional cukes.

They taste great, never get bitter, and produce all summer long, well after the green picklers have given up. I definitely prefer them over regular cukes. They really don't take up a ton of room and the vines are super-productive. I have most of my cukes growing on teepees, which helps with the space they take up.

The yellow-brown cukes up there are Chinese Yellow, another one I really recommend. They're also super-productive and the cukes are sweet, very, very crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. As far as taste goes, probably my favorite.

Thanks for the recommendations, I may just have to try them next year.

I think I finally figured out what is ruining my swiss chard. These guys are making little grubs on the bottom of the leaves. They eat the heck out of my amaranth, also my "strawberry spinach"

Here is an update on my very first vegetable garden. It was off to a slow start getting it set up - putting up the deer fence, building the raised beds, filling with soil, mulching paths, and running an underground water line from the well - so I didn't get plants in until mid June. I picked my first cucumbers and hot peppers this week! I spent a few hours this morning staking things up - waited too long for the peppers and they are all growing sideways. I'm also seeing tomatoes, none are red yet though. Starter strawberry plants are beginning to fill in - I'm looking forward to juicy berries next year. Been fun... Terri

I have been wanting to post a few pic of our garden, too.
We haven't quite been keeping up with it, but it is much of an improvement over last years and I have hopes for next years. We have some nice looking peppers and onions Ric picked a few for our breakfast a couple of days ago.

Ric was in the middle of making cages for the tomatoes when he got hurt and we never got around to tying them up. They are sprawling all over but look like plenty of tomatoes are growing. Not sure if I'm even going to try and get them up. The marigolds are adding a very pretty accent.

Looks very nice, Hollly! I hope that Ric is on the mend?

Yes he is doing very well. Hand is healing the tip of the finger is still questionable but so far so good. He was very lucky. He has been down in the garden doing some one handed weeding. We have some catch up to do and he is thinking about possibly doing some seed planting for fall.
His straw grown potatoes are looking pretty good. Not sure how many are in there yet but we moved some straw and saw several nice ones.

I am very jealous of your harvests. I finally have a couple of blossoms on my cherry tomatoes-the ones I started from seed inside in March/April. I also have some zucchini blossoms, bean blossoms, small eggplant plants. So far, the only edible harvest has been leaf lettuce and tiny radishes from my window boxes. I was able to extend the harvest by moving them to the northern patio.

Next year, I will use better lights and bottom heat for my seed starting efforts.

One potato, two potato, ya'all know how it goes! Of the three containers of potatoes I started this one did the least. Only one of the three "hills" grew, the wet weather my have gotten to the others. It matured quicker and the top died back a little early, so... Curious me had to look. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. :-) Ric

The other two containers are deeper and although slowing down are still growing. I'm pretty sure the one I gathered is the Kennabeck, and approx. two pounds of flawless potatoes from one plant. Ric

This message was edited Jul 27, 2009 10:36 AM

A few of the good things about containers is, it's easier on the back , conserves water, I should get multiple years use from my medium (pro mix and wheat straw) and pest control is easy especially with my pest removal crew. Ric The crew>

We really got some heavy weather since last Thursday. Every thing got plenty of water and some of the garden got knocked down which should be easy enough to repair. I'm waiting to see if this last wet has any effect on my loaded tomatoes, hopefully not. I'm looking forward to fresh tomatoes but their ripening will banish the pest crew from the garden till after frost. LOL I'll have to see if we can't find them some tasty bugs in the back flower beds. Ric

This message was edited Jul 27, 2009 10:53 AM

Ric--Your second potato picture (above) looks like a birds nest with some eggs in it...

No new blooms here for the moment. Waiting now for my Cannas to bloom and also the second "flush" on my Brugs--whenever THAT will be! They both already outdid themselves!

I have already picked 5 ripe tomatoes from my "Early Girl" and also a couple hand-fulls of my red cherry ones. Have yet to do something with all my Basils growing like weeds. Need to make Pesto--such a mess to make--but so good!

Holly--take a picture of the Brug I gave you--I would like to see how big it is....
Ric--Did the Hydrangea grow any? Blooms????

Gotta go play some Volleyball --I started last week...it was fun! Sort of re-connecting with my love for it. There's a bunch of men that play at one of the Sr. Centers. They are pretty good! Everyone is in their 60's and 70's. I think there are a couple there over 80 too. I was the only "girl", but sure held my own.
You DO know that I played serious, competitive V-Ball for 20 years and refereed it for almost 15? USVBA games--College matches--High School matches and a lot of league play too. Good money!
Even met my husband through it.....

Gita

I have to say I am not very good at posting things.......but I read a lot. All my herbs are doing great. Strawberries are doing a second round now and just finished off the blueberries. Been eating the first tomatoes this last week....mmmmm...mmmmm....good. Tried cauliflower this year - didn't work. Onions are iffy but the ones that grew are good. Corn is up and I found some itsy bisty melons starting. This year Kohlrabi is working ...yay!

One of these days I'll learn to post pictures...LOL. I need to learn so Grandma can see my 3 year old. If I accomplish that, then I'll post plant pics.

Hi, dria13,
That's a pretty good result overall.I have no luck with onions or cauliflower (cole group) things either.
Cukes and squash all planted in a brand new lasagne type bed are doing great and few squash bugs, but tons of cuke beetles. Haven't dug potatos yet,; planted late so I'm waiting.

dria, look below a new message box for Image...Browse. Hit browse and see if you can navigate your way thru your folders (Open moves you around in folders) to a picture you want. Hightlight it, click Open, and voila. (When you choose Open on the highlighted picture it selects it) This trombocino flower was more than eight inches across. Now so are many of my butternut flowers. But most of the trombocino fruit are not developing. Its off by itself, maybe I need to hand pollinate.

Our first cauliflower of the season was very disappointing had a bitter taste. But yesterday I harvested these 2 and we had one for dinner last night and it was just delicious. I'm having a great time with the veggie garden this year. We aren't producing tons of edibles but have gotten several nice meals and a few bags of veggies in the freezer.
Sally, I didn't grow any viners this year with the squash bugs we had last year. I decided to take a year off. I did have a volunteer pumpkin coming up in the compost and it was looking pretty good for a while and then seemed to get some type of wilt. Couldn't find any bugs on it but something was affecting it. Then I needed compost for the new bed I'm putting in so it got pushed over to the side and I don't know if I will get any of the pumpkins that were growing on it will survive.
dria13, I have kodak easyshare program and if I click on a pic it gives me a menu of things I can do with that pic. I choose "send to" which gives me several options one is desktop(create shortcut). Then when I want to post the pic I know it will be on desktop and it is easy to find. After I post the pic I remove the shortcut.

I think I took a year off of cucurbits last year and it really seems to have helped. cut down on squash bugs.

oooh, maybe that means I can try again next year! I love summer squash & zucchini...

I just used my first zucchini of the season. Made zucchini cookies. 3 more are on their way to being picked.
One small current tomato seems to be turning color, the Early Girls and Plum Dandys are still green. Nights have not been warn enough up here to get the ripening process going.
One of my 3 eggplants have started to set buds. I hope the "summer" stays around long enough to harvest some.
Nice cauliflower Holly, I have not tried growing any, those little green worms seem to be around here every year so I sort of avoid the cabbage family.

I am finding that using silver plastic mulch seems to help with the squash vine borers and the squash bugs. The section of my squash row that I applied this on is lasting much longer than the section without it; most of those have given up to SVBs by now while the others still look pretty good and are continuing to produce. I didn't mean to do that experiment but I ran out of silver mulch before I could cover the whole row.

GHG, could you tell me more about the silver plastic mulch?

I just ordered some more from Territorial Seeds. It's a plastic mulch that I put down on my row with pegs or staples, and then I make holes to plant the seeds and watch to be sure that each seedling is coming up through its opening. I got it for squash plants, but I think I also read that it's good for deterring eggplant pests, and I've had a devil of a time with those this year so I may try silver mulch where I'm going to put my eggplants next year to see if that helps. Supposedly the silver mulch reflects light and disorients the little creeps - I mean insects.

Leslie

I have read that you can use aluminum foil to deter the pests in the same way. The book said to cut a square of foil, slit it to the middle, and then place it at the foot of the zucchini plant stem.

Denise

That might be easier but not quite so thorough. I think I tried that once and it didn't work very well; maybe I didn't use enough. There really is a difference in the squash plants where I've used the silver mulch and those where I didn't. Of course, I ran out of it for the winter squash, so it's not really a controlled experiment. Maybe they're just more susceptible, but not in my experience. I am also using nasturtiums along those rows, and planting radish seeds in with the squash hills.

My bountiful harvest today...1 green bean.