Spring/Summer Gardens 2015 Part 3

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1389903/#new

It's the end of May and we've had about 13" of rain since April. I'm learning to garden in the rain and mud. LOL

The beans are coming along nicely.

The peas are still producing and it's the end of May. That's just crazy!! Usually, it's too warm for them by this time and they're long gone from the garden.

This Marmande tomato is finally getting ribs and looking good. We've not had rain since mid-day yesterday. Note that there's still some water drops on the tomato. I had to cut off lots of leaves this morning that had spots and were turning yellow.

My poor okra is struggling to grow (as are the melons). They're hanging in there, though the pill bugs have been feasting on them.

The berries are going like crazy!

here are my cucumber plants that i forgot to post a photo of yesterday, i am seeing a little more growth, but they are still just creeping right along, im thinking i didnt put enough goodies in the soil where i planted the seed in, definitely going to have to add another top layer of compost around them.

Purple Opal basil is taking off.

Borage is finally starting to bud out.

Parsley sprouts are off to a good start and the Summer savory is going nuts with growth.

and now the green bean plants have started blooming!

Lime basil, struggling Momotaro in front of gigantic Prudens Purple, muscadines are growing crazy. Mostly volunteers, parsley, fern leaf basil, rosemary, kohlrabi, tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers are up, but stalled, i did a bunch of thinning, but its hard to do in 3 days of heavy rain which was all I was home for...

My veggies are coming along nicely. :)

first pea harvest of the year, and a laughably small one at that. (seems like radish and lettuce are just about the only good spring time crops around here in VA, summer just comes too quick for everything else!)

So far, my garden has survived the massive rains we've had for the past month. It's just crazy! Cukes, okra, and melons are growing very slowly.

Today's blackberry harvest. I also harvested some peas, but didn't get a pic of them before hubby shelled them.

I also made some blackberry jam. My first attempt at canning!

I canned fresh green beans today...

I put together the camp stove.

I hooked up the propane tank.

I retrieved the All-American Pressure Canner from the attic and used it for the very first time...

Nothing blew up.

Nothing burned down...

"I am woman, hear me roar...I can do anything!!!"

"YES, I can can!"

Those maters are definitely getting a lot bigger.

And my cherry tomatoes are doing great.

My sweet potato plants are off to the races down their hills. (i had to place a light weight rock on one vine to coax it into going the right direction, lol)

and finally getting some real action out of one of my Borage plants

Lily_love,

The hardest part of brand new projects (for me) is getting started. I"m so afraid of messing up, I never get started. But, I'm sooooooooooooo glad I have so many of you cheering me on. You, Jo-Ann, Bubba_MoCity, are among my foremost cheerleaders!

I gotta hold the pom-poms HIGH for the team!!!

This canning project wasn't hard at all, LOL!! I was just being a chicken for so long --- which I absolute detest as a character trait in myself. I'm not scared of most anything or anyone -- it's just getting started on a project I've never done before that causes be so much angst!!!! My fear of starting a project is about wasting $$ if I mess it up. I don't have a bunch of $$ for do-overs, and I feel I have to get it right the first time -- so, I never get started. Duh...

But, I'm getting much better!

NOW. Time to get back on those hanging garage cabinets!!!!

Hugs!

First time seeing borage blooms first hand, and i am really excited, and happy that i gave this plant a try!

Also my dwarf apple tree has made a great comeback from its run in with the deer after i started draping some tulle mesh over top of it each night.

Green Beans!

**Bends neck sideways**

Boy, those look great, LOL! :D

Lots of rain here too ... but the veggie garden is producing great !
Lots of tomatoes, cukes and squash.
The blackberries now are in full production
I have started to harvest onions ... and I will finish by the end of the week
My garlic is not ready yet ....

Probably this year my biggest tomato will be the green Malachite box: http://www.rareseeds.com/malakhitovaya-shkatulka-tomato/ (picture #2 and #5) huuge
Picture #1 Topaz (beautiful and so tasty) http://www.rareseeds.com/topaz-or-huan-u/
Picture #4i s Tycoon ... very large tomato. Here in TX everybody is very excited this Hybrid. The plant is medium size determinate. So far it has only 6-7 fruit but very large ...

I love borage blooms! They're so dainty and pretty.

Congrats on your green beans, Linda! Good job!

I'm with you Linda, if nothing blows up it's a success. Lol

Stephanie, your jam is beautiful. Do you ship?

Ia anybody harvesting GARLIC yet?
Mine doesn't seem ready.

jmc1987,

"Keeps head straight, and tongue in cheek, LOL..."

Thanks for the compliment!

Those Borage plants are beautiful! I have had "blue" flowers on my mind for awhile now, having read there is no true "blue" flower.

I think they lied, LOL! I might need to grow some Borage! How will you use it as a food item?

P.S. I see you've got that tulle working, too!

This message was edited May 29, 2015 11:34 AM

Steph,

Ship me some berries!!! I'll ship you some beets and beans, LOL!

i have been using a leaf or two here and there for sort of a substitute for cucumber in salads, seeing as the flavor is very similar, my main reason for getting it was to draw in pollinators though.

Also there is some blue flax in my patch of wildflower mix that are starting to bud up.

Today I harvested all my onions. They look great !
... and on picture #1 is my kitchen's counter today !!
I will be roasting a lot of tomatoes and onions tonight !
Happy gardening

That's a nice haul, drthor!

What variety is that little yellow and purple tomato near the bottom?

Sorry, Lisa. We don't ship. LOL Linda, right now, I have no berries. They all went into the 8 half pints of jam Mark canned today. Yippee!!

The yellow/purple tomatoes on the very bottom of the picture are BLUE BERRIES tomatoes:
http://www.rareseeds.com/blue-berries-tomato/
I have both yellow/purple and red/purple fruits in two plants. I don't think this variety is stable yet.
This is the first "purple" variety of tomato that I was able to grow successfully.
I tried Indigo Rose, but the fruit never ripened.
Blue Berries tomato plants are beautiful. Deep dark green leaves with a few purple spots.
The tomatoes are gorgeous and the skin is very shiny.
Their taste is good if you like "acid" tomatoes ... i will give them a 7 points score.
The star of my harvests is always GOLD NUGGET (yellow cherries)

as far as "blue" tomatoes go, i have one of these guys down in my garden bed starting to flower finally, so we will see how this one does.

http://www.rareseeds.com/blue-beauty-tomato/

Well, it looks like our rain is coming to an end. Thank goodness! We've had rain 26 of the past 30 days with a total of 16" in my backyard since the middle of April. We're supposed to have a dry streak for the next 5-7 days. Woohoo!! Maybe we can dry out some. However, my beans have developed something. I think this is rust. Can anyone verify this? What's the treatment? I'm thinking cornmeal tea, dry cornmeal under the plants, and drying out.

I harvested my garlic yesterday. I have a few HUGE heads - larger than softball size. But I have a question. When I dug up the garlic I had a lot "bulblets" from underground. These are about as big around as a penny. Are these saved until next year to plant more garlic"

PS: Ignore my pink toes in the picture!!
Jo-Ann

Yes, those are garlic "seeds" and the reason why I have garlic growing in random areas of my garden. LOL I guess we left some behind over the years and they've finally gotten enough water to break through the hard shell and sprout. Those mature in 2 years, but I've never had too much luck with that.

jomoncon
thanks for the info about your garlic.
I guess I shall try to pull one of them too. Normally I start to harvest when the first 4 bottom leaves in the bottom turn yellow ... nothing yet ... maybe it is the rain ...
Too much to do in the garden right now.
We have been eating so many blackberries this year and today I harvested enough to make a large cobbler (yes the blackberries in the pictures are from just today).
The cooked blackberries turned a deep dark pink ...
Picture #3 is 14.5 oz Malachite Box (green) tomato. Probably the largest this year. I normally don't grow large tomatoes and this was a total surprise. I have 2 plants and they are loaded with these huge tomatoes. They are really sweet and no acidity on them.
Enjoy

Finally set! Prudens Purple- off of one I dont have staked yet,

some of the plants in my little patch of wildflower are starting to bloom out. (no idea what this is, really, lol) having a bit of bad luck with getting a photo of the flax blooms because the blooms are there in the morning, and totally gone by the afternoon, and its usually just one little solitary flower open at a time on them so far

also been having some trouble with one of my tomato plants, been noticing lately that its had a slightly weepy / droopy look to it, and i was thinking maybe it had something to do with the heat we have been having, which of course influenced my mind into thinking that it needed watering again, because the droop wasnt improving as the sunlight got off of it. then i notice today that some yellowing is going on. Too much water maybe? The yellow leaves popped off quite easily when i gave them a tug. If it is too much water, then i must leave a note that this one is a bit more sensitive to over watering than the others that i am growing this year. (i HOPE its just over watering, and not any type of wilts!)



This message was edited May 31, 2015 7:16 PM

My "Cocozelle" zucchini is both running like a pumpkin with 10' vines but no blooms AND looks like SVB has already showed up this year. Guess I'll pull it up and go back to good old Black Beauty.

That's two years trying this seed with the same issue, so I have to assume it's another messed up packet of seeds from Baker Creek. One of the reasons I don't buy from them anymore... sloppy seed handling, either theirs or their suppliers.

But everything else is looking great!

I don't understand, but Im thankful, that the SVB has only bothered my summer (bush squash) and never anything vining??? Maybe bc I usually plant pumpkins and winter squash later in the season....but I don't know.

Soil test (and everything else) says nitrogen is fine. I wouldn't think it would cause a bush squash to become a vining squash anyway. I think it's just crossed with something. Last time I tried these seeds (two summers ago), I let it go and never a single flower or fruit. So I don't think it's worth keeping.

Apparently it saved another one of my squash from being a victim, so it's not all bad!

That is strange that it's not flowering.....even if it's the wrong seeds it seems like they should still flower, they have to have fruit to get seeds. Nice that it worked as a trap crop, tho.

Have you notified BC that the seeds are wrong? I have only had trouble one time, I pointed it out and they have never offered the seeds again. Like they told me, they would never know if somebody didn't tell them.

Finally managed to sneak in a photo of the blue flax this morning.

And i finally see a little eggplant growing!

And some good fruit development on the tomato plant i received in a trade that was allegedly called "old kentucky"

seeing some green beans starting to come in

And my cantaloupe vines are starting to spill over the side of its 5+ gallon container.