Garden 2024

[KatyCooks]

It being such a lovely day today in my part of north Hampshire that I strolled to the local shop. I was walking past my local surgery... er.. GP... anyway, this was flourishing! Now, I know for a fact that this is planted within the last 4 years, and it is doing very well with virtually no assistance and how gorgeous! I took a picture and (the beauty of modern technology) I found out quickly enough it was a Cistus. Grows well in ropy old soil. Perfect for my front garden! I have ordered a couple.

 

[pepperhead212]

Here is a section of one of those Zluta Kytice Gold tomato plants, that has more flowers and buds than I have ever seen on any other varieties. No set fruits I can see yet, but it should be interesting to see how the plants can support so many fruits! It is termed a "multiflora", and there was also a red and black MF, but the one I got is a gold.
The huge number of flowers and buds on a Zluta Kytice cherry tomato, termed "multiflora". by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[rodentraiser]

Do you harvest the rose hips? I love rose hip tea. Yes, roses actually have a fruit.

Actually, I'm so lazy I didn't even trim the rosebush last/this year. The rose hips from last summer were still on the bush when I could still see the branches this spring. I have no idea if they're still there now.

Now I have another dilemma. I'm growing giant sunflowers and they're supposed to be planted with 2 feet between them. They never seem to grow, so this year I planted extra seeds. Now I have 7 little plants coming up in one container about 18" wide and the plants have maybe 2 inches between them. I should pull some but I have such a problem getting anything to grow, it seems like a sin to pull something that actually sprouted.

I don't know what's going to happen when I have to thin carrots. I'll probably cry.

 

[larry_stewart]

Got a bunch of garlic scapes picked yesterday
Broccoli and Cauliflower will be picked within the next week as needed.
An occasional Wine Cap mushroom here and there.
Pea pods have formed, just waiting for them to plump up
Tomatoes growing quickly, just starting to flower now ( same with peppers and eggplants)
Most everything else seems to be doing well and on schedule

 

[larry_stewart]

Now I have another dilemma. I'm growing giant sunflowers and they're supposed to be planted with 2 feet between them. They never seem to grow, so this year I planted extra seeds. Now I have 7 little plants coming up in one container about 18" wide and the plants have maybe 2 inches between them. I should pull some but I have such a problem getting anything to grow, it seems like a sin to pull something that actually sprouted.

I don't know what's going to happen when I have to thin carrots. I'll probably cry.

I've had pretty good luck transplanting sunflowers while they were still young and small. many times I have sunflowers popping up were I dont want them ( probably from seed dispersement of last years sunflowers). I just dig them up with a trowel and put the where I want them.

 

[Marlingardener]

We are having a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes, and just harvested our first Roma tomato. Most of our garden was washed out (literally) by the torrential rains we have had, but two bell pepper plants and four tomato plants survived. Ah well, next season. . .

 

[blissful]

I reseeded some of the lettuce areas in the lettuce garden that were looking bare.
I checked the garlic and it has 9 leaves and really nice thick stalks (good signs for the harvest). The scapes were about 6 inches long. @larry_stewart we're a week or so behind your garlic growth.
We'll cut the scape in a week or so, and leave at least one grow. The one that grows we'll use it as a sign of maturity for the bulbs, when the scape uncurls, reaches skyward, the flower pointing up. (it was perfect last year)

 

[pepperhead212]

@larry_stewart What did you do to get that gorgeous cauliflower? I remember that you've had trouble with that in the past, like I always have. Different variety, different method, or just lucky weather?

 

[caseydog]

We are having a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes, and just harvested our first Roma tomato. Most of our garden was washed out (literally) by the torrential rains we have had, but two bell pepper plants and four tomato plants survived. Ah well, next season. . .

My sister in Houston (Cypress) is having the same thing happen. Her cherry tomatoes are very productive. But, like you, the heavy rains this season have been hard on her tomato plants. I built her a raised garden, filled with soil that drains well, but the rains this year have been too much for the garden to handle.

CD

 

[blissful]

We put in 2 gooseberry bushes today. Just because. They are a pink-red berry.

 

[larry_stewart]

@larry_stewart What did you do to get that gorgeous cauliflower? I remember that you've had trouble with that in the past, like I always have. Different variety, different method, or just lucky weather?

The last few years I've been pretty consistent with my cauliflower luck.
I grow them in individual large pots ( probably about 4 or 5 gallons). I used to used smaller ones but they dried out too quickly.
I get whatever variety I find art a local nursery in the cells.
The fertilization regiment I've been using is :
- 10 -10 - 10 Initially when planting
- Liquid micro nutrients weekly
- Chilean Nitrate at 4 weeks
- BT as needed to keep the moths/ caterpillars away.

The broccol is similar, but Calcium Nitrate at 3 and 5 weeks , instead of the Chi Ni.

***I think the most beneficial is the BT, especially with the cabbages***

 

[larry_stewart]

Once the head forms on the cauliflower, I also rubber band the internal leaves so it covers the forming head so it doesn't get scorched by the sun

 

[larry_stewart]

As a time reference , I bought the plants in cells ( last a home depot ) on April 13th, Planted 3 days later with a mix of compost, horse crap and potting soil in the large pots. First harvest was today.

I prefer them ( cauliflower, cabbages, broccoli) in pots for 2 main reasons. Their leaves are kinda big so they take up a lot of room in the garden to properly space out. Also, with them in individual pots, I can control their individual fertilization needs without worrying if I'm going to affect an adjacent plant sharing the same soil.

Biggest issue, which I solved with the bigger pots, is they dry out f you dont pay attention to watering, especially as their leaves get huge and the weather gets warm.

 

[caseydog]

Biggest issue, which I solved with the bigger pots, is they dry out f you dont pay attention to watering, especially as their leaves get huge and the weather gets warm.

This is touches on why I don't grow much of my own food. I travel too much, and since I live alone, when I'm gone, there is nobody to tend to my garden. My neighbors collect my mail when I'm gone, but asking them to take care of my plants is asking too much.

Herbs tend to be more forgiving, from my experience. My sprinklers can keep the ground moist enough, even in the hot, dry months of mid summer. If my herbs wilt some, I can have them back to normal in a day or two when I get home.

BTW, here is something else people not from North Texas don't know about. In the hottest, driest time of the year (July through September), If I water one part of my property more than another, the ground under parts of my house will expand, while other parts shrink. I end up with hairline cracks in the sheetrock inside my house as the foundation rises and falls unevenly. If I had a big yard, like I had before, I would just plant my garden far enough from my foundation that it wouldn't matter. But, I can't do that in my current yard.

That happened in a big way last summer, when we had very little rain, and 50-something days over 100F. I haven't had the cracks repaired, yet. I probably won't until I decide to sell the house. If I have it repaired now, it will just happen again. I just ignore the cracks.

CD

 

[rodentraiser]

I've had pretty good luck transplanting sunflowers while they were still young and small. many times I have sunflowers popping up were I dont want them ( probably from seed dispersement of last years sunflowers). I just dig them up with a trowel and put the where I want them.

That's what happened when I had a semi-tame squirrel. She would grab the seeds I put out for the birds and bury them in my flower beds. I had beaucoup sunflowers.

I'll wait and see how big these get before I go all ninja on them. I don't have any other containers to put them in and if I plant them in the yard, the deer will eat them.

I just looked at my Shasta daisies. This is their second summer and I think I'll be getting blooms on them soon. If it ever quits raining.

 

[larry_stewart]

This is touches on why I don't grow much of my own food. I travel too much, and since I live alone, when I'm gone, there is nobody to tend to my garden. My neighbors collect my mail when I'm gone, but asking them to take care of my plants is asking too much.

Being in pots, I can keep them in an area that gets good sun.
The good news is, when I go away for a few days, I can move the pots to a shady area that gets hit with the sprinkler.
The bad news is , I have to move all the pots, which as I get older, is not the easiest job.

The cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower will all be harvested within the next few weeks, so they really aren't affected by this. But the fig trees ( most in pots) and the flower pots will have to be moved. Anything more than 2 days could have irreversible affects.

 

[pepperhead212]

I'm starting to get flowers on two of the varieties of the eggplants now! Usually, it's been the Ichibans that start back in May, but this year it's two others that are beating it.
First of two eggplant flowers opening up - Long Purple, 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Second of the first two eggplant flowers, this on Asian Delight hybrid, 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Several more of the tomatoes have set fruits, and the Zluta Kytice has a few fruits set, and almost all of the flowers on the first clusters have opened, or set fruit. I still can't believe how many flowers there are!
One of the two Zluta Kytice multiflora plants, starting to set fruit on two of the clusters of flowers. 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tomatillos are flowering well, and just starting to set fruit, though that's slower that tomatoes. No cukes yet, but the vines are starting to climb.

 

[larry_stewart]

I'm starting to get flowers on two of the varieties of the eggplants now! Usually, it's been the Ichibans that start back in May, but this year it's two others that are beating it.
First of two eggplant flowers opening up - Long Purple, 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Second of the first two eggplant flowers, this on Asian Delight hybrid, 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Several more of the tomatoes have set fruits, and the Zluta Kytice has a few fruits set, and almost all of the flowers on the first clusters have opened, or set fruit. I still can't believe how many flowers there are!
One of the two Zluta Kytice multiflora plants, starting to set fruit on two of the clusters of flowers. 6-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That's some cluster of flowers!

 

[dragnlaw]

Wow, anxious to see how they develop. Are they high enough that you can prevent them from resting on the ground?

 

[pepperhead212]

Wow, anxious to see how they develop. Are they high enough that you can prevent them from resting on the ground?

Those Zluta tomatoes are in some homemade sub-irrigated planters, made of 4 gal buckets inside 5 gal buckets, and on top of that, they are about 3 ft tall already, and being tied or clipped to a trellis. With the addition of the buckets, those things are about chest high to me, already - some are almost as high as me! (6' 6"). I don't have to lean over to harvest many of those tomatoes, fortunately. And that's why I only grow pole beans.