the garden thread

I am going to have to make something with them.
So far we have just been eating them and giving some to people at work to try.
I got 2 little plants at the farmers market. In no time they were 2 foot tall and these little fruit all over them. When they are ready they just drop onto the ground. So before evening watering I gather up the new ones.

Jason, a sweet and spicy salsa sounds good to me.

 

Sounds good to me too!
I'll have to add those to the list for next year. I hate tomatoes, but pineapple and cantaloupe?
I'll just have to try these for myself.

 

Has anyone tried dehydrating fruits or vegetables?
I bought a cheap walmart dehydrator and have been experimenting.
Peach slices are turning out great. When dried I can fit 8 peaches in a sandwich bag. I am drying them to a leather consistancy and snack on them through the day at work. I also tried some grape tomatoes (like a mini roma). Flavor gets really concentrated. Too much for just eating but thought it might be good as an ingredient.

 

They're turning! I have no idea what variety these grapes are, but they are super sweet. Maybe Mark will let me borrow his dehydrator.

 

I would love a few grape vines. 1/4 acre would be fine with me.

 

pulled all the black beans off yesterday but the mators and peppes are still going strong
buternut squash getting ripe and the garden is winding down

 

Something is killing my black tomato plants.
One day things will be fine, then the next it will be the only plant that is wilting.
They are being cut off at ground level.
I don't know if this is some sort of root rot, ground squirrels or ????????

It has been selecting the black cherries and now a mini roma. But all the others are fine.
I would be interested in hearing any ideas. Especially if this has happened to you.

On the other side of the coin. I picked a 2 gallon bucket full of cherry tomatoes yesterday. Looks like the yellow brandywines aren't too far off before they will be ready. I am new at eating yellow tomatoes but now that I know how good they taste....I love them. Excellent sandwich tomato. Especially when mixed with green zebras. The green are tart and the yellow are sweet.

 

Hmmm not sure at all what that might be. Maybe dig up the soil around the dead plants and see if anything stands out. Like a grub or worm or something in the soil.

Have you noticed any bugs or discoloration on the leaves?

 

Maybe cutworms eating your tomatoes? I think they're supposed to mainly be a problem in the springtime, but as screwy as the weather has been this year, who knows. Do you see any mottled brown caterpillars in the dirt around the plants that curl up into a "C" when you bother them?

We found a stand at the farmers' market last weekend that has yellow and red brandywines, Pruden's purples, green zebras, and other amazing tomatoes. Huge and beautiful. We're going to finish up some of them tomorrow and go buy some more. They also had "damaged" tomatoes for a huge discount. The only damage I could find was a little catfacing and they were really soft and ripe. Grabbed a bunch of them and put them in the freezer. Much nicer than I've been able to grow!

 

I don't think it is cutworms. The stalks are about 1 inch thick. I talked to the landowner and he thinks it is the ground squirrels. He suggested wire mesh under the beds and along the edges.
Lucretia,
If you have not tried the green zebras I suggest you do. They are a bit less sweet than yellow tomatoes with a slightly tart taste. As I have shared my tomatoes with others it is the green zebras and yellow tomatoes that people go goofy over.

 

It's still blooming!

 

all thats left are some carrots got the lumber today to build 2 more 6x6 foot beds. kelly started staining the beds tonight be we ran out of light and i was ready to be done
got lots of oak leaf compost added to the beds but im going to let it be til, spring and till it all up at that point

 

This is my absolute favorite month of the year for weather. Perfect for gardening. Except for the spiders.



It's spider season and these little monsters are everywhere. A little bigger than an inch across, and bodies about the size of a dried kidney bean. At least it means extra aerobics when you walk through a web and do the "ARRRGGHHHH!!! GET IT OFF ME!" dance.

 

Starting to see some signs of Autumn.








And last but not least--the Saffron is starting to come up!

 

got the 2 extra 6x6 foot beds built. al carrots are now out and frozen for soup. still need to build the beds around the black raz. and mulch everythigng. got a pile of apples to can as sauce or pie filling maybe some more apple butter also. somehow i need to get knives made also
so need to get safron bulbs i think they will do well in the blueberry bed

 

Got three raised beds to build at some point in October so we can get the lawn guys to put gravel all around. Ultimate goal is to install metal framing outside the beds/ gravel paths and install some type of netting/ screening system that we can work under with minimal hassle. another task for next spring will be coming up with a good watering system for those beds, as right now we waste a lot of water and spend way too much time on it.

 

crush and run is nice but im glad i put paver stones down also having a outside hose was nice for watering tho you might be looking at drip systems

 

Probably will be gravel with pavers within. Where we currently have pavers-only grass grows up in between, etc. and it's a pain to keep in control; we'll have metal mow strips installed around the gravel, and it will make it easier to keep the grass (er, weeds...) in check.

Watering the 4 current veg beds has consisted of aiming a sprinkler at each bed and letting it run for 30+ minutes. It's a huge waste of water, as a lot doesn't actually make it into the soil. Looking at setting up soaker hoses in each bed with some sort of a central manifold system so we can water directly at the soil. Our city water company pulled a fast one this past year by going from quarterly bills to monthly, and separating water bills from sanitary sewer bills. It all disguised a substantial net hike in water/ sewer rates that has taken 9 months to get a handle on. Since the sewer rate is directly tied to the water usage, water that gets wasted on the garden still gets billed for sanitary sewer even though it does not go into the sanitary system. So a few hundred $ spend in 2016 laying out a reusable system should pay back pretty well over the next few years.

 

im looking into one or 2 of these for the workshop for wattering plants out ther instead of walking buckets of water 300 feet
http://www.containwatersystems.com/index.php/contain-rainwater-harvesting-wall

 

Those are a bit different then the normal barrel. We want to supply some of our system with a rain collection system as well, probably for the herb garden that is right next to the house. We only have a couple downspouts to work with, and none take much water. The downspouts that would be great to collect from are not feasible. practical.