Brandywine pic and some canned goods to date

Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:57 am

Harvested my largest tomato yet, a 1+ lb. Brandywine (plant given to me by dtlove). Also made some salsa out of Better Boy/Better Bush harvest while the forum was down, got 9 pints out of it.

Half my pickles to date. Still bringing in cukes but they have definitely slowed down (thanks to the cucumber beetle infestation I am fighting, and losing)

Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:56 am

NICE !!! I really like the Brandywine tomato. This year I have some vines that have done OK but nothing like last year. You have been quite productive with the canning.

Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:15 am

The brandywines are definitely great! I picked another 1.5 buckets of tomatoes this morning that I'm going to can tomorrow. My cukes are slowing down too (thank God!). I picked a bucket of them this morning and brought to work for this older lady that wanted to make pickles. We are tired of making pickles, actually I may not grow but a couple of cuke vines next year because I going to bet we still have pickles next year.

I'm going to get out in the garden tomorrow and clean it up. Get rid of corn stalks, dig potatoes and till that area, pull my green beans up and get all the rest of the beans off them.

I'm tired of trying to keep certain things alive with no rain!

Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:37 am

Beautiful!

Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:09 am

Wow you really have been productive!

...and you are way ahead of me too. My tomatoes are not happy this year -- probably the severe drought early on and then the repeated heat waves, so I'm picking more than we can keep up with fresh eating, but not enough to can, and the cucumbers were planted late and are just starting to make little cukes. But I did plant Armenians which are really starting to take off, heatwave and all, so I suspect there'll be plenty of them soon, and the pickle cukes have started making female flowers so they will catch up. I just have to harvest all the dill which are almost on their way out, and save them until the picklers are ready.

So you sound like you are cleaning up the garden. Are you/will you be planting fall crops and overwintering crops now? I have been staring at, tweaking, and updating my planting schedule spreadsheet almost every day as I have been cleaning up the beds, freshening with more compost, and planting for fall for the past two weeks now. I've already finished direct sowing broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage and they are starting to come up, but I'm still growing some transplants that needs to be planted. I sowed one more succession of bush beans and fast maturing southern peas, pole beans and runner beans. I'm even pushing for some fast maturing melons under a heat retaining low tunnel although I'm not sure if they'll make it. In a couple of days (after THIS heatwave is over) I'm sowing fall peas so I have them soaking this morning and will be pre-sprouting them. Fall greens and root vegs will be sown a little later after things cool down more.

It's not easy with water restriction going on (odd numbered days only until 8AM and after 6PM) -- I'm up before dawn on watering day and end up turning off the water before going to bed. :roll:

I want to try overwintering this year so I will be sowing overwintering variety root vegs and then spinach and other freeze hardy greens later in the fall. (...and of course I'll be planting the garlic after the frost kills off the garden

)

Fri Jul 27, 2012 10:21 am

Applestar,

I don't think I am going to try much for a fall crop. Its been a fight as is with this drought (we are now in the "extreme" classification) and I have a baby coming at the end of August. On top of that after pulling the carrots, onions and beans the only things left in my garden are muskemelon, watermelon, cukes and tomatoes. Lots, and lots of vines running rampant all over the garden bed (watermelon said 6-10 ft. vines, HA! Ive got some approaching 20 ft. long).

Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:07 am

Apple, I too probably won't do a fall crop of anything. I had plans of broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce. It's just too much right now with the heat and no rain and the restrictions. I'm pleased to have gotten what I have gotten compared to others I have spoken to around here. So I'm just going to till everything up as I finish with them. Good luck!