HelpfulGardener.com

After a year off, (we had a new little nugget of joy last April!) we are so happy to be back into gardening! Man did we miss it!!!

Last year's neglect definitely took its toll on our beds. The lack of mulch and daily doting resulted in lots of weeds and crabgrass. Our no till, raised row system had to be cultivated along the tops of the rows, just to break up the thatch... Ridiculous for just one year! We were please to find lots of life in the soil underneath though. Worms hard at work!

We planted out April 16 and 17. Already dealing with some depletion issues from the crabgrass I'm guessing. Brewing compost tea as I type. Wondering about PH and if I should send soil off.... Could be just some stress from transplanting also. I'm certain the tea will do the trick.

Pictures to follow later! My fancy schmancy phone takes them too big!

Tomatoes this year:

Coyote
Black Cherry
Sungold
Red Strawberry
Green Zebra

Black Krim
Black From Tula
Eva Purple Ball
Purple Calabash
Cherokee Purple
Ananas Noir

Stupice
German Giant
Brandywine
German Red Strawberry
Pink Belgian

Yellow Brandywine
Valencia
Amana Orange

White Queen
White Pink Stripe

Our peppers:
Red Marconi
Yellow Marconi
Big Bertha
Jalapeño

Our Other stuff:
Zucchini
Butterstick yellow squash
Straight neck Squash
Butternut squash
White scallop squash
Italian Grey squash

Clemson Spineless okra

Kentucky Wonder pole beans
Contender Bush beans

Apple Melon
Straight 8's
Ashley Cukes
Sugar Baby melon

Red kale
Dino Kale
Beets (several varieties)
Icicle and red globe radishes

Red onions

Pictures to follow!!!

Happy Gardening!

Predatory insects are active!

Nice pic of the wasp Lindsay, and congrats on your baby!

Wow you are so far along -- looking great!

It looks as though you showed a picture of an antho variety tomato plant, but I don't see one on your list? Which one is that dark-colored one?

Our tiny orchard is loaded this year! Peaches nectarines, damson plums and green plums. Last year, a late hard frost left us with nothing! Years before that, the bugs or brown fungus always got the fruit. These trees are 5 years old now, and this is the best fruiting we've had to date.

Over this past week I notice curved bites on the ends of the fruit. Like a dent with a fingernail. Then I saw the culprit. Plum Curculio.

I've never sprayed them with anything in previous years, but I am this year. Last night I sprayed them with Neem oil. I doubt it will be effective. I've also been picking up some of the early fruit drops and throwing them in to a ziploc bag. I'll burn them later in the season.

Did a second tie on the tomatoes! They're growing fast!

It looks as though you showed a picture of an antho variety tomato plant, but I don't see one on your list? Which one is that dark-colored one?

Sooooooooooo! I was actually going to start a new topic about this plant!

I believe it may be a variant. It's a Black Cherry. Or at least that is what it's supposed to be! That's what the label stated. I'm VERY excited to see the fruit. I'm hoping it's not a mislabeled indigo rose... I was not pleased with those!

I assume you're referring to this one?



It definitely didn't look like this when I bought it. At first I thought it may be a phosphorus or potassium deficiency, but it's really blued up since then, and neither one around it is doing the same!

That's the one. Plants with antho foliage genes get darker in strong sunlight as well as in cooler temperatures

It would be exciting if this is an accidentally cross pollinated Black Cherry. I have heard that plants with antho genes produce very fine, copious amounts of pollen, and chance of contamination is increased compared to fields and gardens with only non-antho varieties. Since I grew a lot of different antho varieties last year, all in the Spiral Garden with other varieties, I'm actually hoping for something like that to have happened with some of mine.

I'll keep my fingers crossed! And I'll DEFINITELY save seeds!

The foliage on the upper part of the plant may not exhibit antho, so you may want to mark the plant if there's a chance you might lose track of it. Also, of course, keep an eye out for purple and black dusting or even solid color on the shoulders of the fruits, and if you see that on the fruits, try putting a reflector under the fruit to increase sun exposure (like those chin/neck tanning reflectors ) if you remember, I used small aluminum pans with drainage holes cut in them.

I think that's all new growth at the top. I feel like there's been enough time for the roots to stabilize and the plants are beginning to recover. It's been cloudy for the last 4-5 days. Today has been pretty sunny! I'll mark it for sure with string. It needs to be retied.

I wonder if you could tell sooner if you cover one part of the leaf for a few days...? Is it possible for the plant to carry the antho gene, but have no show on the fruit?

Off the top of my head, there are three antho genes knowledgeable folks talk about. I can't remember if any of them affect both foliage and fruit or if they affect different parts of the plant.

I do know I've grown strongly purple seedlings that only showed antho as dusting on the fruits. I'm trying to remember if strong blue/purple expression in the main leaf veins indicate strong expression on the fruits....

My nectarine tree was getting eaten up by some sort of suckers a couple weeks back. I went out to look after dark, and found a couple somewhat similar wasps patrolling. Whatever the pest was, it's gone now!

Beans are up!

Okra is up!

I have no idea what the junk is going on with the squash.... It's never taken this long for it to sprout. There are four varieties and the seed were purchased the day before planting from a greenhouse that I KNOW buys and distributes fresh seed each year. I scraped some of the soil away from one of the holes, and the seed I saw had sprouted, but none of them have broken ground. Same with Cukes and melons. It's DEFINITELY prime sprout temp. Giving them a few more days, then I'll be forced to grow in cups and transplant. I'm not finding any seed shells like I did with the last garden, so I don't THINK they've been eaten. Idk... Maybe I'll try to pre sprout them prior to sowing.

The Black Cherry's new growth has turned inky blue! It sprouted its first flower truss. Won't be long before we see if the fruit has any antho. I hope it's not Indigo Rose!

I'm growing a whole bunch of wheat this year............... One of the surgeons I work with offered a large round thingy (idk what they're called...) of 2 year old hay. I'm seriously thinking about taking him up on it. This year's wheat straw was heavily seeded. It's likely going to be a problem.

First, YAY Can't wait to see the fruits on the Black Cherry!!

Squash -- one year I was trying to get pre-germinated seeds started extra early in small pots and had to take them outside by day and inside by night. And just one tray didn't sprout. When they were obviously not going to sprout, I investigated and found fly pupae in the potting soil with no seeds, and some with rotten seeds with maggots inside the seed husks. Found out they are called "corn seed fly maggots" and they are out while soil/air temp is still cool.

Wheat -- young wheat grass are great mulch and compost GREENS.

Ha! I guess I could start pulling wheat seedlings by the foot! There's literally thousands. I could tell it was going to be an issue while we were spreading it out.

Is it the same as wheat grass? Like the kind you juice? Cause we could totally start doing that! We've been looking into a new macerating type juicer to replace the one we currently have!

Either way, I need to be more diligent about aging my mulch, it's sort of defeating one of its main purposes.

I think I read somewhere that hard red winter wheat is the best one for indoor growing and juicing -- they grow entire flats or 1/2 flats at a time. Is there any way to find out which the straws are from?

I imagine wheatgrass grown for juicing are juicier and more tender than outside grown, but maybe right after good soaking rain? Or maybe put a box or bucket over a clump you intend to harvest for a couple of days to soften them up a bit.

looky looky! 2 whole weeks later!


Squashes are up! Some Cukes are up! Melons not up...

Had these beauties for supper! Around 20 spears every 4-5 days right now. Big fat spears.


Most of the beans and okra are up. 4 rows of contender beans, 2 rows of CS okra.




Black from Tula looks like it may have been a megaflower. Looks like 3 fused fruits.


Green Sausage


"Black Cherry" new growth isn't as inky, but still definitely showing signs of antho at the tips. First truss blossoming.


First Brandywine. Plant is being bratty true to history for us.


Coyote


Can't remember, will ETA. Green Zebra


Stupice


The orchard.

Enough greens for a little salad tonight! And some red radishes! Pretty little salad mix!


That tiny little harvest lifts the spirits!

Tied tomatoes again tonight, and strung between posts for the tomatoes that are stake-less.

I pissed off a whole bunch of fire ants just for fun. I hate them so much...

A couple more spears of asparagus. Nom nommmmmm!

Beautiful looking salad Lindsay

Roses are in full bloom! So are the early blooming perennials.













This is a new addition! Well, 2 years old. Looks like it's going to be blue!


The striped tomatoes are starting to show their stripes, even though they're very immature!
Green Sausage and Green Tiger.





Got some serious cool weather deformations!
German Red Strawberry


Brandywine being bratty. Finicky little things!



Maybe it's just the potato leaf type. Stupice is giving me a hard time as well.



"Black Cherry" is no longer showing signs of antho. I'm sort of disappointed.

I sowed Turhune, Rebel Yell, Gma Oliver's Chocolate, another Green Sausage, another Coyote, Miss. Rose, and Not Purple Strawberry, today! Very excited to try the New ones! I'm thinking most of these will go into the asparagus patch. It's warm enough for them to be started outdoors. So no lights for these babes!

Also started more marigolds, some ground cherries, (new for us!), chamomile, blanket flowers, snow in summer, all for inter planting in the garden. I also planted an entire flat of nasturtium. There's other stuff in forgetting about!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday!

Great photos!

Your enthusiasm is contagious, Lindsay. Happy Monday, indeed

I don't think there are many things more fun than ordering seeds!

I placed an order with SSE this afternoon for:

Golden Bantam Corn
Rosimo and Mascara Lettuce
(For pots of baby lettuce)
Golden Midget Watermelon

The watermelon we planted out has YET to come up, and upon inspection I can't find any seeds.

I just spoiled a surprise for ME! A Mother's Day gift. (It's 4 Little Miss Figgy dwarf fig trees!!!)(yaaaaaaaAs!)

That would've been a great surprise.

Yesterday was a rough day at work. Never ending. Ever.... Felt pretty crummy this morning. Overly tired. I started feeling a little overwhelmed thinking of all the stuff I had to get done all over the place! Then I curled up with my strep throat baby and vegged until noon. Went to Costco and they were giving out free samples of their 5 hour energy! I NEVER USE THAT STUFF! But I sho did today! I got SO MUCH junk done!!!

I tilled a teeny tiny row at the edge of my garden for some rubbery Klondike Gormet petite purple/purple flesh potatoes that were sprouting impressive shoots. We will SEE!!! Project done!!! We'll sort of....project STARTED!

One of my sweet uncles gifted me with one of those wildflower shake n' pour thingies. (That's not really what it's called...) So, I made a little spot around our mailbox, sprinkled the stuff, and watered it in! Project done...uhhhhh...started!!!


Pulled LOTS of wheat grass today!

Moved some lettuce seedlings that were being overrun by crabgrass and clover to a big pot. I'll TRY to be diligent in watering. I moved it out front where it gets less sun, and less harsh temps. It got super wimpy on my, but recovered when the sun dipped. I think they'll like bold from the transplant shock. Big kid helped, and was none too gentle. Project done? Yeah, prolly done!



Progress Photos:

So... "Black Cherry" plant's leaves are not showing like they were. Anthocyanins definitely stil present in the stems and buds. The leaves are still darker than the rest of the plants, but still very green. I've been doing some reading, and some sources say that soil ph may play a role in the plant showing signs of antho. I wonder if I changed the ph when I added AACT. It would have been their first feeding that I noticed the new growth was greener... Just wondering... He's pics of that. It has NOT set fruit yet! But it's been kind of cold here.





Random progress shots!

Green Zebra:



Coyote. Cutest little tiny tomatoes! I can tell that it'll be prolific.



Stupice is also going to be prolific!



Pink Caspian. Not sure why it's not happy.. Some physiologic leaf roll. It got toasty today, then I watered with cold ground water.



Green Sausage:



Squash. I think Pattypan.



I soaped 4 asparagus Beatles! YAS! Picked and scraped the eggs off of 12 spears! Found 1 huge slug (Where the heck are they!!! #notcomplaining).

Gave 2 kids baths! One of which was vehemently offended by the idea of being clean, the other tolerated the procedure well.

Here it is 11pm and I'm still WAY JACKED UP! 5 hour energy is some serious stuff and I am apparently REALLY sensitive! Hope the hospital stays quiet tonight, but I'm ready in the mean time should I be needed!

Happy Weekend!!!

Looking good Lindsay.

Sorry to hear about your baby -- sending healing thoughts. You made me laugh with the 5-hr energy drink -- never had it myself. How did it taste? I guess I should have gone to Costco today -- I just woke up from a "nap" -- was very disoriented when you mentioned it was 11PM because I was feeling like it was morning.

I think I have to go out and haul my tomato babies back inside -- it's down to 50°F now, probably mid-40's by (actual ) morning. Oh, I left an eggplant out there too. Definitely gotta get that one back inside.

Good night.

You made me laugh with the 5-hr energy drink -- never had it myself. How did it taste? I guess I should have gone to Costco today -

Cloyingly sweet with that fake sugar sweetness. Pretty gross, but it only an ounce! Man said there were actually 2 types, regular, and extra strength. I guess I had the extra strength. That stuff is CRAZY effective!

Our plants have had 2 nights out in the 40's, but they're taking in like champs. Read this about the Pink Caspian:

80 days This popular favorite originated in southern Russia's Caspian Sea region. Incredibly sweet and juicy fruit often reach 1 pound, and occasionally larger. Called by some "The Queen of the Pinks," this one always does well in taste tests, occasionally surpassing Brandywine. Like most Russian types, does best in cooler conditions.

-per Baker Creek's site.

Thinking it will struggle here...

Happy Mother's Day! They "let" me "sleep" in this morning! The work pager has remain obedient from my threats of silence! Hope everyone has a great day!

How long have you been growing asparagus? My mother in law has been at it for four years, but her spears were super wimpy this year. Like spaghetti noodle wimpy. Last year they were much more hearty. She us thinking that something went awry

What were her harvesting practices?

How long have they been planted?

How many times did she cut them?

Has she given them any supplements?

Mulch them?

Did she let them fern out after harvest and leave them like that until they died off at fall?

We've had this patch for a long time. We actually found this patch at the side of the road at a power line post 200 feet from my house. (There's another patch at a vacant house that's being sold to big corporation for a manufacturing site.....I'm gathering information presently to go get it.). It's done beautifully since we transplanted! They honestly need to be divided at the moment... I didn't harvest anything from it for 3 years after I transplanted just to let it rest and have it put all its energy into growing it's crowns. I DO Think that it is a very old patch.

You're supposed to harvest until the spears start to shrivel, but I never do that... We usually get 4 harvests of about 20 spears, and then I let them go to fern. We had heavy seeding last year, and I keep seeing tiny new ferns. I make note to leave them alone for at least 3 years.

Seeds came today!

AND! I GOT SOME POTS TO TRY!!! 5 gallon, square, plastic cheep pots from the dollar store. I filled them with organic potting soil.

They're currently planted with golden midget watermelon, 1 each in 2 pots, petit Gris de renne melon, 1 each in 2 pots, and I sprinkled the tops with mascara lettuce, and rossima lettuces.

1/2 the corn is now soaking!!!

There is SO MUCH to do this weekend!

That'll keep you busy

Mascara is definitely a fun one -- I have some growing from my last remaining seeds
... There are four of them in this bed 'though it was so hard to see them I only got a good picture of one

The big red seaweed lookin one? Bottom center? Looking at that, the name Mascara looks like a much better representation of your plant than the one pictured on the package!



These two were mentioned in the description of being drought and heat tolerant.... BAAAAHAHA they'll be tested when I get lazy! Seriously though....I'm gonna try really hard!

Whilst in the shower, I was contemplating how much available real estate I'm giving to weeds... I really need to start tucking things into the free spaces! I was thinking about shell beans, or soup peas that aren't runners, maybe edamame??? others? Need to research cultivars. Crowder peas grow well here! I've done then before, it's just tedious on the rows.

I was wondering just HOW tolerant collard greens are of the heat... I have some seed already for that!

My mulching methods make seeding directly pretty difficult. I'll have to transplant most of what I grow from smaller cells. Feels a little daunting.

Ground Cherries from !potatoes! Sprouted today! They took their sweet *** time! And they look like teeny tiny tomato sprouts! Cute!

These are causing a fair amount of excited anticipation from this house as a whole! No one knows what to expect! Big Kid is excited about eating something sweet and fruity from the garden!

We're stoked! Thanks for the seeds!

Potato Aphids. Potato aphids. Potato aphids. Prolly smashed and spread at least several hundred of the wee, red bitties tonight.

Tied up tomatoes. They sure are beautiful plants this year!

We saw several large brandywines tonight, and a big fat Orange Amana. The triple fused Black From Tula tomato is growing, and looking beautifully misshapen! Flowers everywhere! Some peppers on the plants as well!

Sounds great! (Not the potato aphids) -- won't be long before you are in harvest mode.

Few more weeks at least, I'm estimating!

Maybe not. One of the stupice and one on the green zebra were looking a little glossy tonight! It really feels too early for that!


OH YEAH! ETA!

Yellow Marconi pepper is actually purple Marconi. And red Marconi is actually Giant Marconi. I don't know how that happened, but it did. Pretty sure I just went for the healthiest looking plants in that section of labels, but the yellow is marked yellow Marconi, and it is definitely black/purple.

MY "Black" Cherry tomatoes have NIPPLES. Black cherry tomatoes do not have nipples. Not any that *I've* ever grown!

I've also noticed that this plant is growing a little more compact than usual. It's a pretty aggressive rambler here and has grown all over the place in years past. It is definitely still showing signs of antho in the stems,very dark in the stems of flowers, and more mildly in the leaves. The plant is overall darker than the rest I have planted out!

I really don't know what I'm growing at this point, but I'm pretty sure it ain't black cherry!