Gardening 2023

[Eutycus]

I've been putting up T posts to support the tomato cages. I used to try and do it all in one day but a pole or 2 a day is plenty for an old man with a bad back. That's how I'm digging a trench for my new water well. A couple of shovels per day will get the job done. I'm retired and on nobody's schedule but my own.

 

[snakebit]

Lost a lot of plants to a sneaky frost last week, several tomato plants, all my bush beans, 2 ghost chili's and 2 zucchinis. Celery not affected at all, which surprised me. The one roma plant already had a few tiny tomatoes on it. That's why they call it May in PA, may snow, may flood may freeze, may be a drought. Keeps me on my toes though.

 

[Eutycus]

So is anyone eating Tomatoes yet? I've been enjoying cherry tomatoes but the other,bigger ones aren't ready yet. I'm going to have to plant even earlier next year. Here it is June already and things will be heating up. That's usually the end of my garden when it gets too hot.

 

[TDM]

So is anyone eating Tomatoes yet? I've been enjoying cherry tomatoes but the other,bigger ones aren't ready yet. I'm going to have to plant even earlier next year. Here it is June already and things will be heating up. That's usually the end of my garden when it gets too hot.

We ate our first cherry tomatoes last night here at home in Louisiana. Picked 6. Have some Better Boys turning but still a few days away. But I was pleased to have a few bites before June, be it only by one day! The camp tomatoes are probably another week, week and a half away.

 

[Eutycus]

The black cherries may be ready tomorrow, hard to tell since they don't turn red. Kind of like the Cherokee Purples, or the pink Brandywines. But I'm saving seed from "first fruits".

 

[sheriff john]

N.E. Missouri's now overly dry. Planting's done. Late frost got some things, but overall, we just need a bit of rain. So far, garden's about 2 acres with all sorts of stuff waiting to take off. Worst insect problem right now are biting gnats and ticks. Frost got our pears and wild plums. All berries & grapes will be toast without rain, but had sufficient pollination to at least set fruit.

 

[SOLANCO]

Local Amish start tomatoes early in greenhouses made of sheet plastic and plastic pipe frames. Surprised I have not seen any yet. Hungry for them.
Tomato sandwich with Duke's mayo. Tomato with basil and oil and vinegar. Grab a salt shaker and eat a tomato like an apple. I could go on. And on. And on.
Need to double check the garden. Think the wife has finally given up on tomatoes. Every farm lane in the area will have lovely tomatoes on sale soon. Usually cheaper than we can grow them.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I’ve discovered that tomatoes are really good with some Tajin sprinkled on them. Keeps my heart doctor happy due to low salt diet.

 

[Eutycus]

I thought that I may have "jumped the gun" and planted too early, yet here it is June and most of my tomatos haven't ripened yet.That's the thing with Heirlooms, they aren't as fast to mature as hybrids but they sure taste better.This year is pretty much an opposite of last season. I was already pulling up overly mature, spent plants after a week or 2 into June. Oh well, at least we aren't having 100 degree weather like we did last year at this time.

 

[sheriff john]

Planted broom corn near the road this year to give locals something to jabber about. Daughter makes brooms, so we grow it each year. Odd-looking, visitors comment on how poor our corn looked. Then, when we "benched" it (broke over to dry), that was said to be odd as well. Unless we get some rain soon, we'll mostly be looking at dirt clods for a spell.

 

[snakebit]

Can't wait for the first tomato sandwich. We use Hellman's up this way, with salt and a ton of pepper. We got a few radishes this morning. Been using the sprinkler on the garden, going on 3 weeks without rain.

 

[Eutycus]

I got me a mystery on my hands but a good tasting one.I ordinarily make a map or chart of what's planted where. I'm getting small red tomatoes off of what the map states is a Cherokee Purple. I'm guessing the seeds were from a cross pollination of last year's Large Red Cherrys and Cherokee Purple (yes I'm saving some seeds). These tomatoes are the patio size, red and pretty tasty.Thats why I'm guessing something crossed with the Large Red Cherry.The size is just a tad bigger than a cherry. Another possibility is Old German. The Old German and the Cherokee Purple are medium to large fruits aren't they? Is there a way to tell which the "parent" plants could be?

 

[snakebit]

Looking forward to mine being ready. Zucchini is starting to flower, and ife got some cherries popping.

 

[TDM]

I got me a mystery on my hands but a good tasting one.I ordinarily make a map or chart of what's planted where. I'm getting small red tomatoes off of what the map states is a Cherokee Purple. I'm guessing the seeds were from a cross pollination of last year's Large Red Cherrys and Cherokee Purple (yes I'm saving some seeds). These tomatoes are the patio size, red and pretty tasty.Thats why I'm guessing something crossed with the Large Red Cherry.The size is just a tad bigger than a cherry. Another possibility is Old German. The Old German and the Cherokee Purple are medium to large fruits aren't they? Is there a way to tell which the "parent" plants could be?

All my Tomatoes are small here at the camp and not much bigger at home. I have Better Boys and Arkansas Travelers planted here. I don’t know what’s going on with the size, I’ve grown tomatoes my whole life, never seen such small fruit. I did eat my first tomato sandwich today, took 4 to make a decent sandwich. Luckily they are tasty.

 

[sheriff john]

Starting to put up electric fence to protect sweet corn. Raccoons are rampant this year for some reason. In two nights my entire little flock of chickens were killed. Caught the culprit inside the coop - huge ol' boar. Killed eleven hens in one night. Sweet corn doesn't stand a chance without the electric fencer. All masked invaders must die if they're near the garden or coop.

 

[snakebit]

Starting to put up electric fence to protect sweet corn. Raccoons are rampant this year for some reason. In two nights my entire little flock of chickens were killed. Caught the culprit inside the coop - huge ol' boar. Killed eleven hens in one night. Sweet corn doesn't stand a chance without the electric fencer. All masked invaders must die if they're near the garden or coop.

Wow. That's not good. Never knew raccoons killed chicken in numbers like that. Ya, definitely need to do some culling.

 

[TDM]

Raccoons are a pestilence for sure.

 

[Eutycus]

I've used electric fences alot in the past for varmints. Mainly
(but not all) for the neighbors dogs. They somehow get the idea that a freshly tilled garden is their sandbox.I've had many young plants destroyed by them "rolling around" or whatever it is they do. They are not so destructive on older mature plants,but quite harmful on a garden's early stages.

 

[sheriff john]

Raccoons will destroy a sweet corn patch in nothing flat. Usually just a few days before the ears are ripe. We live in a creek bottom surrounded by hundreds of acres of field corn (alternating with soybeans). How they find a small sweet corn patch in the middle, I don't know. Once you find even one or two ears stripped, the war is ON. Not unusual to have several in the sweet corn patch at the same time. Two nights and the whole patch can be ruined. Too bad they're cute.

 

[Eutycus]

I think the garden has just about had it. It turned blistering hot down here. It reached 103 degrees today and I can only guess what the heat index was (111 degrees, I think). I already got the seeds from the Heirloom Tomatos saved and we'll try again next year.