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kayjay
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KayJay's Garden, 2018

My previous garden threads:
2017
2016
2015

Placeholder post. :wink: It's too early to start seeds, but not too early to plan ahead, since March is the busiest month at my work. I won't have a lot of weekend time, and when I do, I'll be tired as heck.

Goals for the season:
- Keep an accurate spreadsheet again of the grocery value of what I grow, plus production per plant and/or variety. This was interesting and eye-opening for me, and really didn't take much time. I have a little digital scale and all I had to do was jot down what I harvested and plug it into the spreadsheet.
- Overwinter some hot peppers. I did it a few years ago and the results were fantastic. I planned on doing it last fall, but I had a brain fart and frost killed them. :roll:

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kayjay
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It's spring, but you wouldn't know it by our weather. It's quite a bit below seasonal temps.

The ground is still frozen. I finally got around to buying a shovel, though. No more getting on my hands and knees with a hand trowel every time I need to dig. I got a proper garbage bin to use as a composter, too. I had been using a large plastic food bucket, but it wasn't nearly big enough.

I started the peppers today: orange mini bell, jalapeno and early calwonder. They've been slow to germinate in this room, which is already the warmest in the house. I'd rather not spend money on a heat mat; I'm sure they're fine just to start sooner.

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Gary350
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How do you determine the true value of the vegetables that you grow? I notice the price of vegetables change in the store according to what season it is. Early spring grocery store vegetables are 2 and 3 times more expensive than July and August.

Watermelons are $7 each in March & April then $2.50 each in July & August.

Corn on the cob $1 per ear in spring then 25¢ each in summer.

Sweet potatoes are sometimes $2 lb then few months later 50¢ lb

Farmers market will have Corn on the cob $4 a dozen & tomatoes $3 per lb until other folks harvest their crops then prices drop by 50% even then farmers market prices are often more expensive than the grocery store.

If I want to value my corn is it $1 per ear of 25¢ per ear?

Are my tomatoes $3 per lb or $1 per lb?

I have been thinking about putting a value on my crops but it seems the only way to be accurate is soon as my corn is harvested I need to check prices several stores & farmers market.

I consider my tomatoes to be almost priceless the flavor is many times better than anything I can buy even at farmers market. Tomatoes are the #1 reason I grow a garden I refuse to eat store bought tomatoes or restaurant tomatoes they have no flavor its like eating watermelon that is not ripe. I will eat grocery store tomatoes in a CAN before I eat tomatoes in the grocery store produce department.

It is hard to put a price on healthy home grown food from the garden.

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That's very true. I try to grow things that are more expensive to buy, otherwise it is almost not worth growing something that is cheap. Onions and carrots are two in this category, although I still like to grow different varieties of carrots.
I agree that home grown tomatoes taste so much better than the bland shop bought ones. Even our eggs seem to be bigger and tastier.

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kayjay
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Gary350 wrote:How do you determine the true value of the vegetables that you grow?
Hi Gary. I keep it pretty simple: I live in the city and have a tiny yard. I also don't drive, so I'm only comparing prices to the grocery stores that are walking distance from me.

I've been frugal for many years; mainly because of underemployment and various other life situations that made it necessary. I religiously scour the grocery circulars when they come out every week. I've practically memorized all of the regular prices at different times of the year. When I do my spreadsheet, it's simply based on the going price at most of the stores at the time I harvest. I have two columns: one for regular produce, and one for organic.

My purpose here is pretty basic: I want to maximize what I get out of my tiny space, and not waste the space on something that isn't worth the effort when it's far less expensive to buy at the store.

Darren, hello and thanks for dropping by. Onions, carrots and potatoes are on my not-worth-it list, though I can see myself interplanting carrots, perhaps. If I had a huge lot, I'd do more, but that's not the case. I wish I had enough space for some laying hens. I miss farm eggs. I used to have a coworker from whom I could buy them, and they were fantastic.

--

Nothing else to report this weekend; it's still too cold here.

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I want to try to grow potatoes with the no-dig method, just to see how it goes. I might use your method and see how cost-effective it is, and do it again if it is.

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kayjay
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My peppers sprouted in record time - about a week.

I started the tomatoes yesterday.

That's it for now. The weather is miserable - still barely above freezing during the day, well below freezing at night, and we were inundated with rain overnight.

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applestar
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Yay! Sounds like you;re off to a good start! :clap:

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kayjay
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Hi Applestar! :)

Update: 18/18 germinations. :cool:

Here are the peppers last weekend:
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...and the peppers and 'maters yesterday, before I thinned them:
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There's kitty cat grass under the light, too. :)

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kayjay
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Life comes at you fast.
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I'll be really curious about the Kashi tomato. It's a mystery tomato.

I work in food service. Last year, Kashi - purveyors of granola bars and cereal - gave our company seed packets to give out to customers. A coworker who knew that I love veggie gardening saved some for me. There were Straight Eight cucumbers, Lacinato kale, and tomatoes that were just labelled "tomato". Haha. :lol: So I'm going to grow some for the heck of it.

I'm kind of excited to see what kind of plant it turns into. I googled around about Kashi giveaway seeds to no avail. I guess I could write to the company or something, but this is almost more fun. ;) So far, it's small - almost as small as the Red Robin dwarfs. It is also not potato leafed. It would be nice if it was a good container variety. We shall see.

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kayjay
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Spring has finally sprung. It was really nice today. I planted peas and spinach outside, and I also up-potted the peppers.
2018-04-22-peps.JPG
The tomatoes were up-potted a few days ago. I couldn't get a very good pic; it's less chaotic than it looks here. ;)
2018-04-22-toms.JPG
The Kashi tomato isn't a dwarf after all - it's catching up to the bigger plants.

The Feurwerks are a little leggy; I'm afraid I'll have to re-pot them. Note for next year - bury the cotyledons when up-potting.

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kayjay
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Hoo boy. The seedlings are getting huge.

Toms:
2018-04-28-toms.JPG
Peppers + Red Robin (dwarf) tomatoes:
2018-04-28-peps-rr.JPG

Boboe
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Regarding the value of your garden, that's a tough one. I've had people ask me how much it produces etc, and I have never quantified it. Like you, I don't see a reason to grow really cheap stuff usually. I've got 400 sqft to work with, and so I generally grow things that are more expensive, or things that I couldn't get in the store. That said, I started growing potatoes from the eyes on store potatoes a few years ago. Potatoes are cheap, but when you eat a fresh potato right next to a store bought one, the store potato tastes like cardboard.

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applestar
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Looking good KayJay. You are at the point where I was a few weeks ago when I was feeling that panic from seeing the seedlings grow bigger every day — I was raising the lights every couple of days and moving the overachievers that wouldn’t fit anymore out to the garage setup where the unheated temperatures slow down their growth — then I was worrying about them because it got too cold outside and it got down to 40’s °F in the garage.... And wondering if it was worth the effort to lug the biggest seedlings outside during warmest part of the day.

Red Robin is considered a “micro dwarf” and only grows to about 12 inches (18 inches including the pot). I had them - and their sister variety Yellow Canary - growing under lights last fall through early winter in plastic tubs that on-line ordered marzipan cookies and coconut macaroons come in ... I think they are about 3 quart size. Sweet tasty fruits. Have you grown them before? I think you will like them.

I recently learned they have a third sibling — Rosy Finch — with pink fruits. I’ve added that one to my wishlist.

This year, I’m growing micro dwarf varieties called Jochalos, Pinocchio Orange, Yellow Canary again, and Birdie Rouge (which as far as I know is not related to those others mentioned above).

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kayjay
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Thanks for dropping by, folks! <3

Boboe, I just might try doing potatoes next time I get some and let them form eyes. The sweet potatoes are driving me nuts. I spent $7 on some organic sweet potatoes and not a damn thing.

Man, time flies. Maybe I feel "behind" because our spring was so cold and lousy.
- I'm already considering the spinach a write-off - it's just germinating, but now it's going to be too hot. I'll just let it go and save the seeds, if when it bolts. I used up the end of what I had.
- Only 2 out of the 8 or so peas have germinated.
- The little hardware store next door has their garden center set up, including tomatoes and peppers. I noticed that they didn't bring them in overnight. It's going to be quite chilly tonight.
- I was scoping out what varieties they had. Not a huge selection; it's just a little mom n' pop kind of store, but I always find it fun to look up new varieties. Later on, toward June maybe, I might drop a dollar or two on something. Space, of course, stops me from doing it now.
- I am proud to declare that my peppers look better than the ones they're selling for 2.99. *breathes on knuckles* My tomatoes, not so much, but they'll bounce back once they're transplanted outside, I'm sure.

These damn good pepper plants:
2018-05-08-peps.JPG
All of them approaching grad day: (ignore the weeds :oops: )
2018-05-08-outside.JPG

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kayjay
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Few quick notes:
- The sweet potato finally decided to put out little nubbins of slips. I was about to give up on it. I guess even the warm room isn't warm enough until this time of year.
- I went grocery shopping at one of the further-away grocery stores and of course just had to pop into the garden center. I take the bus and I already had a heavy bag of groceries. I left with a San Marzano tomato. Haha. This chain seems to have at least one or two heirloom tomatoes each year. In 2014 (I guess it was) it was Brandywine, and I've saved the seeds and grown it every year since. The first plant was great and so are the subsequent ones. I hope I like the San Marzano, too.

I really miss working shorter hours and/or being straight-up laid off this time of year. I'm working full time, I don't get home until the yard is almost in complete shade, and I'm just damn tired.

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kayjay
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Newly acquired seedlings: Tiny Tim tomato, Yellow Pear tomato, Hot Portugal pepper.

I did those HP peppers last year. They were really nice. I planned on overwintering it, but forgot about it and it died. I think I'll save seeds this year just in case. Haha.

I think I want to do more dwarf tomatoes next year. It's a good way to use up space where other veggie plants would just be too big.

It's the holiday weekend here, and I'm off work until Tuesday. Unfortunately, the weather is supposed to be cool, crappy and rainy. It's good enough for the tomatoes to be out, but I don't want to leave the peppers out overnight yet. Maybe next weekend. The night time low temps are going to be 8-12 C / 47-53 F.

I'm trying to pace myself with getting plants out, because of my back. Four tomatoes have been moved in.
2018-05-06a.JPG

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kayjay
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It's going to be a nice sunny day today, 22C/72F. I hope to get the rest of the tomatoes settled in. Peppers are still in their storage tub going in and out. Heh heh, I leave them on the kitchen counter every night and I make a tent out of garbage bags and the one kitchen cupboard, so the cat stays away from them. :twisted:

Here are the peps, big and bad.
2018-05-21 - peps.JPG
Last Tuesday, the sweet potato was just thinking about putting out slips. They were little black knobs. Five days later:
2018-05-21-sp.JPG
I think I managed to do the sweet potato upside-down! :hehe:

The cucumbers germinated. Nothing from the pumpkin or zucchini yet.

(ETA) I got the Tiny Tim, Kashi, Yellow Pear and the other Brandywine planted. I also brought the cucumber seedlings out for the day.

Other little project: I took down our crappy old blinds last fall, and I saved them so I could make markers a la SFG. I did that today. They're more flimsy than I thought. Meh, better than nothing.

Boboe
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I have had a problem with my yellow pear tomatoes the last two years. They'll be doing well, put out a few clusters of tomatoes, and then BAM. They lose vigor and die. It happened to about half of them last year. This year ALL of them died. Something I'm doing, or something in the environment, is not to their liking. My other tomatoes, right there with them, have no trouble. Hopefully your yellow pear tomatoes are hardier than mine.

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kayjay
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Bummer, Boboe. My fingers are crossed, but I won't be too disappointed if they don't do well. I'm not even a big fan of cherry tomatoes! Haha. I just thought they looked cute, and I'm always up for buying a new heirloom variety.

The two zucchini germinated. Pumpkin is still asleep.

They're outside with the peppers right now. It's a beautiful 26C. The peppers stayed out all night, since the low was 13C. One good thing about getting up at 4:00 am for work is that I can check the weather and bring them in if the temp is getting colder than predicted.

...Okay, that's the ONLY good thing about getting up at 4:00 am for work.

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kayjay
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The weather forecast changed - no more nights below 13C, so I installed the peppers. I still have a few tomatoes to do. My back was barking at me last night. I'll do the tomatoes tonight or over the weekend.
2018-05-24.JPG
(Ignore all the damn garlic mustard on the right. I yank out a few plants a day.)

Note for next year: get some flowers for the bumblebees. They're hanging around, but I have nothing for them. They won't have their cucumber flowers for a while still.

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applestar
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Do you have room for blueberries? They were all over the blossoms earlier (a couple of weeks ago?) here. They also love my patch of comfrey. I let them at the flowers, then cut the flowerstalks down before they go to seed (mine are seed-grown and will self-seed). The also take care of the strawberries too.

...I know all about the barking back — I anticipate more of that later today...

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kayjay
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Thanks, Applestar. I tried a blueberry a few years ago and it died. Hrmph. I'd love to find an early spring flower for them. In a few weeks, there will be lots of flowers, but in the meantime...

I got the rest of the tomatoes out today. Now it's just the zukes and cukes under lights/being hardened off. I might put them out tomorrow.

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kayjay
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I prepped the sweet potato tub over the weekend, and tonight I planted out two slips that had decent roots. I have more slips on the go, in case they die. Heh heh.

Not much else to note. A jalapeno, the San Marzano tomato, and one of the mini orange bells are flowering.

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kayjay
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Cukes, zukes and pumpkin are in the ground. I procrastinated this week because I just wasn't feeling well in the evenings. Note to self: book vacation the third week of May next year (and hope the weather is the same.)

That means it's time to disassemble the grow-op - my greenhouse shelf in the kitchen. I set it up in March. My kitchen is so tiny, it's nice to get that space back. Back to the basement it goes.
2018-05-05-growop.JPG
Absent is the aluminum foil around the plants, removed for the pic. It's probably not even that effective at reflecting light, but it keeps the cat away!

The stockpile of 2L pop bottles is for cloches. I cut the labels off, cut the bottoms off, and voila.

I have lots of little tiny peppers. I was worried the flowers would drop because of being transplanted, but they seem pretty happy so far.

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kayjay
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The container toms and peppers are alright.
2018-06-01.JPG
The in-ground tomatoes look pretty good, too, though I didn't take a pic. On the opposite side of the yard from the containers, there are containers with a cherokee purple, a feuerwerk, and a mystery orange. The latter two don't look good. The orange might not be getting enough light, but they looked pretty lousy before I planted them out. Maybe they'll bounce back.

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kayjay
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Wow, it's mid-June already. My garden's doing pretty well. The weather hasn't been bad. We had quite a few chilly nights around 10-14C / 50s F, but I doubt that stressed the plants much.

I took these pics at about 6:00 am. The sun was just starting to peek through the fence.

The containers (most of them)
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The opposite side
2018-06-17-right.JPG
Closer to the middle
2018-06-17-left.JPG
I'm trying an experiment. I have two zucchini plants. One is probably getting better light, because it's already bigger, so this isn't very scientific - but one has a tomato cage around it. I want to see if hustling the leaves upward a bit will help improve the powdery mildew situation. They succumb to it every year. I'll get a good harvest anyway, but it would be nice to slow it down enough to get a few more zukes. We'll see.

There are a few tiny tomatoes appearing, as well as peppers. The peppers on the mini orange bells were fast. I had a few jalapenos, but something came along and ate them. :evil: I'm so mad. It's not like the fruit just fell off and rotted; it's completely gone. I might have to try pouring cayenne pepper all over the soil and leaves.

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applestar
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Looking good! I’m itching to plant some containers myself. I have to mix up the big bale of ProMix with amendments... and I keep finding other things to do....

The Jalapeño fruits... were the fruits the only thing eaten? I assume they were still green? No missing leaves? — then I would suspect hornworms or climbing cutworms.

To find the climbing cutworms, try using s hand rake and scratching around the soil at base of the plant and, if in container, tilt the container up and scratch underneath as well. I’ve found them that way (usually by accident). But I usually catch them as they are thinking about or ARE going back down the plant in the dawn/pre-dawn light when it’s become just light enough to see.

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kayjay
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Thanks Applestar. Nope, no sign of buggoes. I've had a slug problem in previous years, but I've preemptively put bait on the soil.

Not much new this week. I had to tie the Taladega cucumber up to the trellis; it's getting tall. The Straight 8, not so much yet. I tied up the tomatoes, also.

Zucchini is looking pretty good. I need to get on spraying them with H2O2. It's cool, rainy and damp this weekend.

I've got nice little dwarf tomatoes coming in. The Red Robins look much better this year than previous years. I think they're just in a precarious spot - the hanging basket that gets sun all day. It's pretty easy to forget about them and let them dry out. I'm good at that. :hehe:

My DH works across from an event planner, and they often bring leftover flowers to the office, which DH brings home for me. They must have been involved in a plant sale, because we inherited some really nice herbs. They need the planters back on Monday, so I want to find a container for them. I also need to google around and figure out if/when they can/should be brought in for the fall.

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kayjay
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Herbs in the long container between the lettuce.
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L -> R , I believe they're lavender, sage, basil (rear, in the ground), dill (front, in the container), rosemary. There were two different types of basil; the other one is off to the left, in the ground, outside of the pic.

Ho hum. Rainy day.

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kayjay
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Just sitting outside, enjoying an adult beverage after work, admiring the garden, with my little kitty cat out here next to me. Life is good.

We’re in the midst of record-breaking heat right now. Everything’s taken off.
- Tomatoes all look good except for the Brandywine not getting enough light. Even the Mystery Orange - also in a spot with insufficient light - is at least flowering. There are Yellow Pear, Red Robin and Tiny Tim thinking about ripening.
- Zucchini both look good, with the first male flowers this week.
- Taladega cukes have quite a few female flowers, but the Straight 8 is a little slower. That’s okay; how many flippin’ cucumbers do I need at once, anyway? Heh.
- The pumpkin is already becoming a monster.
- I have peas ready, but there were so few of them, I’m just going to save the seeds.
- I have Swiss chard in a container. I thought I had two plants, but one turned out to be a dandelion. LOL. It’s actually big and healthy, and I’m going to pull it today and put it in my salad. :)
- Peppers: the fruits on the CalWonders are pretty small, as are the plants. That’s a bit disappointing. The jalapeños look better, though they’re not too productive. I have one (1) jalapeño looking like it wants to be eaten. Heh. The Hot Portugal is doing well, I suppose... I’m not sure how big the plant normally gets. It’s getting a lot of midday shade. The Mini Orange Bells are the winners so far in the pepper department. I might grab a couple of unripened ones today.

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kayjay
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Small update:
- I'll have a zucchini probably tomorrow or Tuesday! :-()
- I might get a Taladega cucumber this week, too.
- I've noticed some little bugs (not sure what kind) buzzing about the cucumber flowers, but I'm still saddened by the total absence of bumblebees. :(
- I pruned the basil and made some pesto, but I haven't used it yet. It's going in the freezer today.
- I got my first tomato! LOL. One single Tiny Tim.
2018-07-07-tinytim.jpg
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- We had a nice salad yesterday, along with our fish and garlic dill cream sauce.
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kayjay
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Quick update, since I was sitting outside yesterday and bored. :) The weather got hazy and hence decent for pics.

So I did finally see a bumblebee, for two days in a row now. I guess they really want those cucumber flowers. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late for this incompletely-fertilized (I assume?) zucchini.
2018-07-12-zuke.jpg
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It was still delicious. :) I spiralized it, sauteed it in butter, and added some leftover chicken plus some homemade pesto that did up last week when I trimmed the basil. (Hint: if you have a ton of pesto, freeze it in an ice cube tray, then store the cubes in a freezer bag or container. Works great.) This is such a nice quick meal with easy cleanup.

This makes me happy: these Yellow Pear toms have made the biggest cluster I think I've ever had in my limited experience.
2018-07-12-yellowpear.jpg
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The sweet potatoes are miles ahead of where they were the last time I did them. I hope they keep it up, and we have a long summer. (Cameo by Kitty)
2018-07-12-sweetpotato.JPG
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While I blinked (apparently,) the pumpkin turned left instead of right. Oops. Oh well, I guess that's how I'll be tying it to the fence.
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The peppers and toms in containers:
2018-07-12-containers.jpg
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kayjay
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Harvested since the last update:
- a cluster of Yellow Pear tomatoes
- lots of Red Robin and Tiny Tim; they're almost done
- the first Cherokee Purple
- 2 zucchini
- a Talladega cucumber
- 2 ripened mini orange bells + 3 picked green
- 5 jalapenos

I can't wait to make zoodles this week. I can grab some fresh basil from the yard, too.

I'll also use the spiralizer to make an Asian cucumber salad. My DH loved this. It's just spiralized cucumber and carrot, some chopped onion, maybe chopped red bell pepper for colour, and a dressing of soy sauce/sesame oil/sugar or sweetener.

It's that time of year where some of the plants are looking pretty sad. I've had to trim off the bottom leaves on most of the tomatoes, pumpkin and cucumber; and the outer leaves of the zucchini.

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kayjay
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Phew, I'm on vacation this week. I can't wait to clean up the yard. It looks so sloppy right now. That's what working the early shift does to you, I guess.

Monday's haul and Thursday's haul, respectively. Guess we better get eatin'.
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Time to make ABTs again!! :cool:
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kayjay
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Posts: 416
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:14 am
Location: Southern Ontario

Notes:
- The weather's been nice, but we're in another heat wave this weekend.
- I got another zucchini this week.
- There are 2 Straight 8 cukes I'll be able to pick any time. I hope they haven't gone bitter. The plant doesn't look too great.
- I might not get a pumpkin this year. The females flowers died, probably because of coinciding with really hot weather.
- The CalWonder peppers are ripening now. All both of them. :roll:
- There are still new jalapenos and Mini Orange Bells flowering. Those plants have done really well.
- I've harvested two big Hot Portugal peppers.
- The big tomatoes are starting to ripen now.

Feuerwerk:
2018-08-04-feuerwerk.JPG
Others:
2018-08-05-tomatoes.JPG
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2018-08-05-tomatoes2.JPG
2018-08-05-tomatoes2.JPG (36.54 KiB) Viewed 9882 times
I pick them at first blush and ripen them in a paper bag with a banana, because if I let them stay on the vine, the squirrels get them. :evil:

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kayjay
Green Thumb
Posts: 416
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:14 am
Location: Southern Ontario

Good problem to have.
2018-08-07.jpg
2018-08-07.jpg (34.24 KiB) Viewed 9871 times

Yarrow2
Newly Registered
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:10 am

I've really enjoyed reading about your garden, KayJay :D Sometimes a smaller space has the advantage of forcing you to be resourceful. I have an orchard that I'm using for my veg garden and it's probably around a 1/4 acre. When I first set out my plan, I just sat and stared at the space not knowing where to begin! Since planting my first bed, I've changed it all around a couple of times and now I have a better idea of where I'm going :D

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kayjay
Green Thumb
Posts: 416
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:14 am
Location: Southern Ontario

Hello Yarrow, thank you!! Yes, you're correct. A smaller space - be it a garden or your kitchen or whatever - can force you to set limits for yourself and not get overwhelmed. I have a very small kitchen, but I've almost become grateful for that - if I had a huge kitchen, I can see myself filling it with all kinds of gadgets, appliances, and dishes that I DON'T NEED. Not for two working adults and a cat. Likewise with the garden, I'm growing enough for us to eat, some to preserve, and not so much that it ends up rotting on the plant because I can't deal with it.

So, in the last week, I've plucked a few more tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. I made cucumber chips in the dehydrator. I forgot how much I liked them. Today, I made some pico de gallo, about a quart of tomato puree, and I diced peppers for the freezer.

I was disappointed that my pumpkin plant didn't take off before the heat waves and fungal diseases hit. The plant is still alive and sending out male flowers, but the female flowers rotted off before they even opened. I thought I was out of luck... but look what I spotted today:
2018-08-14-pumpkin.jpg
2018-08-14-pumpkin.jpg (44.53 KiB) Viewed 9856 times
I'm so excited! I hope it lives, and we can have a Halloween pumpkin again. I'll be crossing my fingers that it matures before the first frost. A few years ago, I had a mature pumpkin on my kitchen table at this time of year. Weird.

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kayjay
Green Thumb
Posts: 416
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:14 am
Location: Southern Ontario

I finally found some organza gift baggies for bagging blossoms! They're in the seed box for next year.

I made some pico de gallo a couple of days ago, and some basil pesto yesterday. We had it with chicken and zucchini noodles. Delish.

A few more Red Robin tomatoes are ripening. I'm impressed that it's lasted this long.



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