June Pics

A small tomato harvest. Biggest so far is 13oz. I had hopes for the middle one to be bigger than a pound but it was just a bit shy. Oh well, there's a few others that should reach that size or bigger.

Cherokee Purple box is a beast. It just keeps getting larger. I named it the blob :)

Toms are starting to pop up everywhere...

Big Beef box doing well...

I recommend Beefsteak toms to whoever wants a very productive heirloom variety http://store.tomatofest.com/Beefsteak_Tomato_Seeds_p/tf-0044.htm Although they aren't getting as big as suggested(mine are mainly 6-10oz so far)......the taste is outstanding! Meaty, juicy and with some sweetness. I will be growing 3 times the amount of these guys next year.

Here's a row of heirlooms in containers...

Kellogg's Breakfast...

Big Beef in a container is doing well.

Some younger toms in containers....Box Car Willie, Black Cherry & Thessaloniki.

An in ground experiment to see if my soil is good. It sure seems that way. These were stunted leftovers that I had no room for and now they are very happy :) They've grown a lot these past few weeks, a pleasant surprise especially since they're getting at most 5 hours of sun.

This is a mystery to me. I'm having volunteers pop up out of the ground. I didn't plant them and have no clue as to how this is happening. I didn't grow tomatoes in this area last year and I didn't grow any potato leafed varieties until this year. Baffled....but it's very cool :)

Bush Star Melons getting bigger...

Silver Queen corn doing well in an EB. I've done everything I wasn't supposed to in regards to EB's fertilizer recommendations. I initially used 15-30-15 slow release fert and then occasionally added water soluble fert.

Silver Queen corn....

Here's some Ambrosia corn in containers....

The ears are fattening up. Thinking harvest in a week, maybe two weeks at the most.

I just picked all of my zuke plants(5) clean and now, a few days later, they're full again....

3 zukes in this box

Ray: Beef steak is my favorite tomato, my dad used to grow lots of those in the ground in Ohio, love the way they taste, I'm glad you are growing Silver Queen Corn, it will help me see what it is supposed to look like, so far mine are just stalks and leaves growing straight up no silks or flowers yet. Yum, I like the looks of that melon. You have a wonderful season underway already.
joy

Getting some of my bigger bells to ripen...

Ray: Wow, those are huge!!!
joy

Hey Joy.... I hate calling them Beefsteak Tomatoes because most(myself included) automatically thinks of just any tomato that is large fruited. Big Beef which is my hybrid of choice is considered a beefsteak tomato. So are many other hybrids and heirlooms. It's all very confusing lol Reason why I posted the link. Maybe I should start calling them Red Ponderosa or Crimson Cushion as the description of them says.

Now onto Silver Queen. This is my first year growing them. I was kinda shocked to see the reddish tinted tassels and silk. I've only had experience with white silk. I did a google search to see others SQ corn. Some were exactly like mine while others had white silk. Maybe it has to do with environmental factors ....hell if I know lol Anyways they're happy and healthy. Once your corn starts to get tassels and silk.....keep me updated on their color.

There's about 5 melons that size growing. They're past the "I hope it's pollinated" stage which makes me very happy :)

This message was edited Jun 6, 2009 4:49 PM

Many that size with quite a few bigger. Looking to be another good pepper year.

Oh I almost forgot my new eggplants. They seems to be growing well. Almost doubled in size in a week. Black Beauty and a Millionaire....

You better do something about "the Blob". It is getting big enough to start eating all the other plants. Keep the shotgun loaded just in case!

It's a scary monster that I fear getting close to lol Shotgun is loaded as are a few pistols if it starts to act up and grab me :)

Wow Ray

Loved your pictures! I showed your beast to my hubby and he laughed having just tied ours for the third time to the trellis. I think you've got a Guinness Book there. The biggest tomato plant in the world. Keep us posted.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't follow the directions. I have more zucchini's than recommended in a box (Like I need more). Don't put the covers on and frequently make up supplemental fert. Your corn looks great!

Thanks seray....The beast/The blob is growing as far forward as it is to the sides(Pics don't capture it). I'm tying this monster as much as I can.....it still isn't helping much. lol

Rules are made to broken, or at least experimented with :)

You Betcha! lol

Nice pictures and plants!. The tomatoes I got looked like your middle one. The center where the stem was goes so deep into the tompatoe tho, I couldnt really get many nice slices, I had to just chunk it up. Wasnt ammused.

Great growing Ray! The Silver Queen looks like it is doing very well and I'm glad you used 15-30-15 fertilizer as I also use that for my corn otherwise it is 10-10-10 for all other veggies and plants. Some of the corn with the dark tassles should be ready for picking. Pull one ear and check it. I too am growing SQ but had a very late start but they are reaching for the sky so I may have a crop after all.
My melons are Mickeylee, Amy, Honeymoon, and a couple of others that the names escape me just now. We've had 28 consecutive days of thundersorms but all that happened so far was to split one of my bell pepper stems. By the way, the wire tomato supports in your EB, are they secured to your railing or are they standing on their own? I've never tried that in an EB and would like to know?

gardenglory - I hate when they do that. I usually chop them up and make pico de gallo or salsa with those.

Tplant - You were the one that gave me the idea to use the 15-30-15 for my corn. Thanks again! I couldn't find what you used but I went with this instead and seem to work well http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100664192 I may experiment with it on Tomatoes when I replant later this year.

I'm gonna take a peak at the ears today.

I'm growing Crimson Sweet Watermelon, which is a monster. Spreading about 10 ft. Only has a few tiny melons forming so far. The Ambrosia and Bush Star Melons are coming along pretty good. They're forming a lot of fruit.

Speaking of Thunderstorms, we've had a few roll through. We never have weather like this, not even in the winter. It's very strange.

The cages are tied together and some are then tied to the railing but not all. The others I just tie down to the box itself.

OK! Thanks for the prompt reply. Corn is a real glutton and really enjoys that fertilizer in an EB or container. It is against the recommendations of the EB people as not to exceed 15 in any formulation of fertilizer but I tried 10-10-10 and did not do as near as well with my corn. Here is an old picture of the corn and me when I was 130 lbs heavier three years ago.

Me now..

Ray: I'm getting a purplish on the flowers on my corn also. Does that mean it is pollinated? I've heard a lot of people talking about Brandy wine tomatoes and their great flavor, I have a Brandy Boy growing and was wondering if they are related in some way? Your plants look great, keep up the good work. On my corn, I used the same fertilizer that TPlant used, it can be found at Lowes also.
joy

Tplant - Wow, that's great! Congrats on the weight loss. Growing and eating vegetables I'm sure helped you out a lot. Yup, I followed your direction about how to fertilize corn in a EB. Last year my corn was a bust in containers. They need a decent amount of fertilizer and a lot of water. My corn in the EB drinks up to 2 gallons a day.

Joy - I don't think color has anything to do with pollination. Are the tassels purplish or the silk....or both?

Yup, A Brandy Boy is a hybrid that that was crossed with a Brandywine and something else(not sure of the other parent). It was designed to have the Brandywine taste but with much better production. It's a winner. My 3 favorite hybrid tomatoes are Big Beef, Brandy Boy and Sungold.

Ray: My sun gold are history they were the ones that were in the revolutionary planter that was doing so well and then here came a wind and broke the main stem on it, had to throw it away. Hmmm weight loss due to veggies? I have lost 15 pounds here of late, thought it was due to my daughter's cooking, she loves fried and cajon, which leaves me sitting on the throne. LOL It's delicious though, but, fried catfish, fried hushpuppies, fried okra, and fried green tomatoes all in Louisiana hot sauce type batter is a bit much. LOL
joy

Awesome photos as usual!

I'm really loving the EBs and TSK (Tomato Success Kits). Your Cherokee Purple EB is WOW. When did you plant that? I don't have CP; however, I have Cherokee Chocolate (related, I think). Not quite that big yet, and I recall planting them mid April.

Keep the photos coming!

LOL Joy....think you're the first person in the world to lose weight from eating fried foods. Speaking of fried foods....I'm about to make some fried zucchini. Bummer about your Sungold.

Hey Moon, I planted the CP box on April 8th. So it's been almost 2 months. I'll post a pic when I transplanted them into the EB. It cracks me up seeing the difference. Still amazes me how such little seeds make such monster plants. For me, it's been one of the slower ones to set fruit but now it looks like it's ready, bunch of little maters forming :)

Here's a side view. I couldn't fit it all in LOL It has branches reaching out a few feet further than the pic shows. About to head out and tie it down some more.