Garden Fall

Fell down the stairs...

After going out in the garden to check on things and harvest whatever was harvestable I took off my garden clothes an shoes and put on my slippers but I didn't put the backs on. I went upstairs to sort my goods into brown bags and the fruit bowl. I gabbed the brown bags I was going to keep for myself and started heading downstairs. I got to the first landing by the sun room door took my first step onto the first basement step and my foot slipped out from under me. Rather than squash my tomatoes I tore up my arm. That's how much I love my "babies" apparently. My right arm is swollen and scratch and my left arm has one scratch and an elbow scrape. We have so many tomatoes I should have let them get squashed but they were the Lemon Boys that everyone including my Mom loves. I'd gathered those for her so I couldn't let them go. 

My harvest of tomatoes, chili peppers, basil, and a cucumber. The 3 lemon boys I wanted to save over my "neck." 

Bowl of our goods collected over the last few days, not the lemons although I so wish. Pretty huh? 

Not the largest but the most painful and swollen of the injuries I sustained. 

Harvesting

The sweet potatoes are finally flowering. They produce beautiful purple flowers that fall off when the potatoes are ready. They open in the morning and close at night. 

Medium cantaloupe hanging on the trellis about 3.5 feet off the ground. The skin is changing slowly, not like the container melons that changed overnight.

Large cantaloupe hanging about one foot off the ground. Skin changing. 

Eggplants of all different shapes and sizes. 

Our first red bell pepper. It has, obviously, yet to turn red but its very exciting to get even one considering that the tomatoes overthrew that box. 

Ready for harvest chili pepper (transferred to PM bed from container). The transfer has done them well we have at least 4 other peppers turning red. 

My full harvest for today; lemon boys, jalapeños, cucumber, tomato-berries, super sweet 100's, and chili pepper.

Summer Virus

Sick...

I have had a pretty serious stomach  virus and head cold for the last few days. It's going around so be careful. I haven't been able to get out into the garden much but yesterday the 4th and one of the better days I went out for a few minutes to check on things and I ended up picking some jalapeño peppers. I gave them to my mom along with a brown paper bag full of large multi colored tomatoes. She's going to make a traditional Honduran  dish called Chimole. It's a cooked tomato salsa-type dish used as a dressing on carne asada and other grilled meats. I can't eat spicy because of my acid reflux but she'll make me a separate batch sans jalapeño. I've never been a big fan which is good because of the condition but I think with my tomatoes and no spice I'll like it, a lot. 

The transferred chilies in PM are finally turning red. The transfer and constant sun has done them well. 

 Yesterday's harvest. We have like 6 or 7 eggplants growing in different stages. This was the only one ready for picking. 

Color change on the chili peppers transferred into the raised bed in Patch.

The number has about doubled since I took this but there are 4 pictured. 

Tomato Woes

Vine Ripened...

So many and no one is eating... Everyone is picking even the ones that aren't ripened fully yet but no one is eating them in a steady enough stream to keep up with harvest. The grocery store charges extra for Vine Ripened Tomatoes and for some reason we're ripening 50% of our crop in a brown bag with a banana. That actually works, which is amazing because fruit that was only slightly red turned bright red, but vine ripened is better, charged for... 

Brown bag 1/3 full of just cherry sized tomatoes. 

Today's harvest, only mine, another 12-15 were picked. 

Small cantaloupe that fell from the container. I cut it open and ate it after smelling its sweet strong aroma. It was sweet and soft and delicious. I couldn't believe I had a ripe edible mini melon. It's pretty cool! 

Weak Spots

Fencing Weak Spots...

When I was out in the garden yesterday I shuffled through the raised bed with melons in it because I wanted to see if we had any signs of watermelon growth and we did. Sadly, they had been bitten into so I decided to find the weak spots in the fence allowing something small in to bite them. I think I found it. It was the start of the fence where I used a insertion poll rather than staples and the wooden polls Mr. S installed. That was the weak spot I found and seems like the only weak spot. When I came out today none of the tomatoes close to the ground had bites taken out of them nor did anything else. Either the animals weren't out last night, not likely because the items on the ground have had bites everyday since ripening started, or the weak spot I chose to reinforce was the "weak spot." I hope by picking the bad melons the plant will put energy into growing new ones and do it soon because watermelons need long hot days and we only have 6 weeks left of summer. 

Harvesting...

I harvested a couple of onions, yellow tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, tomato-berries, and a cantaloupe. The cantaloupe wasn't so much a harvest as a picked from the ground. The larger of the two container cantaloupes finally made its plunge to the ground. I haven't cut it open to see what it looks like yet but my guess is it fell because it was too big and/or as big as it was going to get. I transferred the container melon into the Patch raised bed. Transferred both trellises as well. I forgot to get a picture but ill get one after the rain. Things were wilting and since it was going to rain or was supposed to rain, and did, I didn't want to water or over water. So glad to get some rain, funny how things change. I'm hoping the extra space keeps e container loupe alive. It may not produce but it was so pretty and all of the sudden it wasn't. I'd like to keep it pretty at least for another 6 weeks. 

Today's harvest. B-E-A-utiful!

Melon Baby

Cantaloupe...

The cantaloupes in the raised bed are finally starting to grow in, there are at least 3 of all different sizes. One is flat which is really weird but I'm excited because these should grow to full size. The ones in the container haven't grown for weeks so I picked the smaller of the two so that all the energy went into to growing one. I didn't expect any so getting 2 is amazing and 1 good would would be a miracle considering how small the container is.

Picked container cantaloupe.

Interior of container cantaloupe. 

A second watermelon was hiding under all of the leaves. Pulled it out so that it could get sun. The yellow on the right is where it was touching the ground. 

Tomato Mania

Intense Heat...

It's been advisory hot outside for the last 4 or 5 days. It's been in the high 90's to the low 100's with a lot of humidity which has been amazing for the tomatoes. Tons of them are ripening on all the plants. I collected at least 10 tomatoes and 2 squash today alone. I took the squash to my moms for her to cook them,like she can only do, for me. Mmmm so good! The heat is miserable but the results are amazing! I hope it stays sunny and fairly hot, maybe just maybe, not advisory hot but tomato hot. 

Today's collection! The yellow is a lemon boy. The small ones are tomato-berries.

Cooked squash with onions. 

Doubling Trouble!!!

Growth Galore...

After being in Atlantic City for 5 days I came back to a giant garden. Everything had basically doubled in size. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea.

When I left the green arrow beans were maybe an inch long. Today 40-50 were ready for picking. I picked 21. 

The branches on all 4 of these tomato plants have grown at least 6 inches in every direction. We have about 40 tomatoes in all different shapes and sizes, at all different stages. 

All three of the crookneck plants have grown about 4 inches higher and 3-4 wider. The patty pan (front left) has grown about 2 inches each way. 

The only plant without at least 2 baby squashes to offer is the patty-pan, it has none so far. 

The carrot greens have gotten so thick you can't see any soil. They'll probably be ready for harvest in 10 days.

First radish from my second sowing. This one is twice the size of any of the first sowing but most of them probably won't produce because the roots became long and exposed. I'm not sure why. 

Container cantaloupe in Patch. Almost to the 3rd rung on the trellis. It was barely at the 2nd when I left and only covered the very center now its covering almost the entire trellis in width. 

Tomato-berry plant. This is the plant that wouldn't grow past 4 inches for weeks then shot up 12 and stopped. It's shot up another 3 inches, at least, and out another 4-5. Amazing! 

**More to come in another entry, it won't load properly with too many pics**

Ripen Up

Red, Red, & Red...

It was dark and cloudy out today because of the tropical storm that was coming our way. It seems that it took a detour a little later but either way the sky was dark and not great for gardening. Even so I went out to check on everything to make sure that if the storm did hit hard that all of the stakes and trellises were deeply held and that the containers were on steady ground. When I finally got around to checking on Patch I instantly noticed the brightest most perfect strawberry I had ever seen. It was the perfect strawberry red with a wax shine. It looked like the apples the big companies wax before shipping but of course it wasn't waxed it was just perfect. After taking a look I looked over all of the other strawberry containers. No e of the strawberries,except for the one in the 5G container, were ready for picking but they were a nice shade of pink turning red, a few not all. I ran to grab my phone, clippers, and harvest basket and harvested my first berry. I went to lunch with my Mom shortly after and brought the berry with me to show her but she thought I was giving it to her. I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't so she tried the first PM strawberry. She said it was sweet but probably needed another sunny day of ripening or two not so sunny days, like today. I had planned to wash it, cut it in half, and share the first taste with Mike but I'll do that with the second berry.

Harvested berry.

Pinkish red berries ripening in 5G.

Ripening berry on the Topsy.

Green Arrows...

On my way back in from lunch I went over to look at the green beans because they were a little droopy. I noticed that our first beans are finally coming in. It's amazing. There so cute and small but look just like what the mature beans will look like minus the fuzz. Exciting! I need to tie them off with string because they won't hold, at all, once the beans get any bigger.

Each flower becomes a bean.

Bigger beans on another plant.

Tomato in Patch...

I noticed my first growing in the container in PM today. It's very small but I'm glad to see that the container seems to be sufficient. 

Leafy Greens Galore

Harvesting the Leafy...

I went out this afternoon and checked on everything but didn't water because I knew rain was coming. It was overcast and humid so it was definitely coming. The next 5 days are going to be a game changer. The weather is supposed to be in the low 90's and sunny. All of the crops are warm/hot crops except for the lettuce and spinach. Even the carrots I planted are specifically attune to warm/hot weather so the next 5 days should make everything really blossom, not flower blossom, well maybe some but grow quickly. 

After I checked on everything I noticed that some of the spring mix leaves had bolted, gone to seed, flowered. So I decided to harvest. I harvested 2 full baskets between all four heads and the mix green leaves. Even after the two full baskets I yanked there is still at least 4 more baskets for mixed greens and another unknown high number of lettuce leaves since I'm using the continuous method. 

Basket one.

Basket two. 

After harvesting I went back into Patch and noticed that the cantaloupe container had a new flower and that there was a much larger strawberry than the one I deemed "largest yet" hiding in the 5G bucket. I thinned some carrots and radishes while I was there because I remembered what happened with the last batch of radishes. When I thinned the carrots even though they were orange or large I could tell the small roots were starting to form carrots. It was nice to see that they were "working." 

New! Largest berry.

Thinned carrots. If you zoom in you an see the roots starting to take carrot shape. 

Cantaloupe flower.

Slips...

I forgot to write about how I pulled my slips off of the sweet potato yesterday and stuck them in a glass of water to take root. I did. I did so because the leaves had lost there vibrant green and purple color and turned yellowish but I didn't feel they were tall enough. They haven't started to root yet and I'm not sure that they will but I do hope. 

I took pictures of the changes in the patty-pan and crookneck squashes. They'd grown and lost blossoms. 

Blossom wilted and fruit growing. 

Spray Crazy

Harvest Two...

This morning before I went out with my mom I went out to water, apply compost tea to the veggies/herbs/fruits that needed it, and harvest what needed harvesting. I applied compost tea to the spinach, basil, onions, strawberries, cucumbers and green beans. The onions needed 1 cup per square foot and the cucumbers needed 1 cup per plant. The rest didn't say what was needed so applied a watering; enough liquid to sufficiently water the plant for the day. Then I watered what needed watering and took a good look at the lettuce and radishes in Patch Market. The lettuce had boomed since my last harvest. It had grown in height by about 5 inches and had grown in width by 6 or 8 full sized leaves. I harvested 6 leaves from 1 head by pinching then off, being sure to leave an inch or so at the base, and 5 from the other. Both heads still looked extremely full afterwards. I put all the lettuce in my basket then moved on to the radishes. Three were ready for harvest the rest weren't because half haven't even 'bulbed' yet and the others had small bulbs about a 1/4 of an inch wide. I don't know if the ones that don't have any bulb will ever bulb but either way the ones harvested were beautiful. I harvested the lettuce and radishes to give to my mom. I knew I'd be heading over to pick her up for lunch a few minutes later so it was the perfect time to harvest them for her. I was about to go inside but decided that since the rain that was supposed to come, wasn't, I'd spray with my new organic Captain Jack's spray. I sprayed the remaining radishes, the strawberry containers, the lettuce, and the carrots. Then I went inside to get dressed for lunch. On my way out I grabbed the unwashed veggies still in the basket and took the whole thing with me.

When I got to my Mom's I gave her the harvest. She was excited to receive them, especially the lettuce, because she didn't have any lettuce or radishes for tonight's salad. She took them out of the basket and put the lettuce in a saved produce bag then put that in the fridge. The lettuce filled the entire bag. She cropped the greens off of the radishes and stuck them in the fridge on a shelf, no plate, nothing. Strange for her but it worked. She said she'd be making a salad with the veggies for dinner and she did. She texted me after dinner and said that she made a salad with the lettuce but didn't add the radishes. She just ate a radish plain; " it was good because it was sweet and crisp but not peppery." I don't know if that means it was better than the store ones or that it was worse because it didn't develop the peppery flavor. I 'll have to ask her if the other 2 had a peppery flavor once she eats them. She liked them, either way, and now I'll try them. What I don't like about radishes is the peppery flavor, these ones are really grown by me. 

       Before second harvest.

       Before.

    Harvested lettuce. 

     Harvested radishes. 

After Lunch...

After lunch my Mom and I came back here and I gave her a tour of Potagar Schoultz and Patch Market, she was thoroughly impressed. We didn't garden because she wasn't feeling well and it was the hottest part of the day; too hot to garden. I pulled off a lemon balm leaf, during our tour, for her to smell and she absolutely loved it. I'd never heard of it before my foray into gardening so I was sure she hadn't before either and I was right about her not knowing  of its mosquito repelling qualities, delicious fragrance, and its existence. On our way out I grabbed the 3 beautiful lemon balm seedlings I germinated in a paper cup and gave them to her for the kitchen. She'll replant them this weekend in a nice large pot, as I instructed her to do. I'm positive she'll use the herb as a natural repellent and fragrance in her kitchen once it's ready to harvest.

Back...

When I got back from dropping her off and running a few errands I changed into gardening clothes and went out to spray the weeds/grass in the far right beds in Potagar Schoultz. At first I didn't know how to attach the nozzle to the EcoSmart bottle but I figured it out and started spraying. I was shocked to smell the contents. The liquid was strong and suffocating. It said it was safe for children and pets so I wasn't worried about my health but my throat felt raw after spraying the first bed. I pushed through, anyway, sprayed the second bed and the weeds growing in the sidewalk cracks in Patch Market and in front of the sun room. I went spray crazy actually. I sprayed the sidewalks, all the dandelion, the grass growing up against all the Potagar beds and all the plants growing through the mulch on the ground in Patch. I only stopped because my throat was extremely raw and I couldn't stand the smell any longer. 

I went out to check a few hours later and so far nothing looks like its dying but it said it would take hours and I sprayed around 5:30 so its only been 3.5 hours. Tomorrow I'll mulch what needs mulching, spray what needs re-spraying and thin what needs thinning, if it doesn't thunder storm as predicted. UGH, the saying isn't MAY showers bring JUNE flowers. It's April showers bring May flowers and veggies? 

First Harvest

Spinach Bolting...

I went out this morning to check on everything after the rain. I was scared to head out because of the caterpillars but I put my large rimmed straw hat on so that if anything did fall out of the trees it wasn't directly on me. That gave me the confidence to go out and even head under the tree to Parch but before I did that I checked on the spinach container. One of the plants bolted. What that means is that it, basically, didn't have enough space so it flowered to go to seed. I have two options now concerning that particular plant, 1) I thin it out so that I don't chance the other plants bolting or 2) I leave it let it flower and collect the seeds to plant another rotation. I'm leaning towards thinning because the other plants probably need the space. 

 Spinach plant bolted, flowering. 

Radishes & Lettuce...

I moved into Patch quickly to avoid spending too much time under any given tree. I checked on the radishes first and noticed that my biggest plant had about 2 cm of an inch wide bulb sticking out and so did one other, much shorter, plant. I took a look at the strawberries and then the lettuce and realized that on of the heads of lettuce was starting to curl; making a head. So that means that it needed to be harvested or the outer leaves did. I went inside to check the size of Cherry belle radishes on Smart Gardener and when I saw that the average size bulb was .5 inches I grabbed a basket and headed out with my pink gloves to harvest a couple radishes and lettuce leaves. I pulled the two radishes with the most bulb sticking out and pinch a few lettuce leaves off the exterior of the forming head. I left enough of the plant, about 2 inches, so that those leaves would grow back. 

I took my harvest inside, washed it up, and set it out to dry. We'll be making a salad tonight. I'm not going to give my mom or AFAC 2 radishes and six leaves of lettuce so Mr. S, he likes radishes, said he'd eat them. Leaf veggies should be harvested for same day use. 

Georgia Jet Wilt...

I will be planting the sweet potatoes around dusk if it isn't rainy and windy like it was last night because they are looking really sad. The leaves are drying up and the water doesn't seem to be holding them over. I'm just going to have to suck it up and plant them even if I ant see caterpillars coming my way at that time of day. 

Bulbs poking out after a few days. Took them 2 days to double or triple in size.

Lettuce starting to head. 

My first harvest May 11th, 2013.