Tennessee 2019 Garden

[Gary350]

I made 3 jars of pizza sauce today, 2 got canned in pint jars, 1 jar went on home made pizza. Pizza sauce turned out good we need about 15 more jars.

Applestar, I used the spotty tomatoes to make pizza sauce. There might be another spotty tomato in garden soon. It has been so hot humidity makes it feel like 120 degrees. I was at Death Valley 1 summer it did not feel as hot as TN today.

[applestar]

That’s OK. When you get the chance.

Isn’t it great that as long as they have the basic necessary flavors, even sub-par tomatoes still end up tasting good when cooked? I make to-die-for sauce out of really great tasting when fresh tomatoes if I have too many and family can’t keep up — sometimes jut cut up and freeze for cooking something special later — but split and not quite full ripe, watery, and too-mild maters all get cooked down into everyday sauce.

[Gary350]

Every year about 2nd or 3rd week of July when weather is hot an not much rain tomato plants suddenly start dying. I tried a lot of different things in the past nothing worked until now. Dead leaves made it hard to see if there are green or ripe tomatoes hiding in there so I started cutting off all the dead. Then I see yellow dying limbs and leaves so I realize this limb are going to die anyway so why wait cut them too. There are also do nothing limb that once grew tomatoes and once had leaves but now they are 6 ft long limbs with nothing on them so I cut off too. Suddenly plants start doing better, growing new tomatoes and lots of them. Plants have few leaves on the 2 month old section of the plant while all the new growth and nice green leaves are out on the end of every main limb. Then one day I was watching Nature TV show they were is a hot summer climate talking about certain plants die in hot weather because plant moisture loss is more than roots can supply the plant with water even with irrigation moisture loose is more than roots can supply in hot weather. Cut some of the plant off to reduce moisture lose the plant comes back to life and does good. This TV show made me think about my tomato plants, maybe when I cut off all the dying and do nothing limbs plant suddenly starts growing better because roots could now supply enough water for a plant that is no longer too large. Take a look at the pictures, dying yellow limb & leaves cut off, old plant parts that once grew blossoms & tomatoes cut off. Then look at the plant several weeks later almost no leaves but loaded with new tomatoes. Tomato plant is about 8 ft long with new leaves on the top 2 ft that is laying on the ground.

[Gary350]

That’s OK. When you get the chance.

Isn’t it great that as long as they have the basic necessary flavors, even sub-par tomatoes still end up tasting good when cooked? I make to-die-for sauce out of really great tasting when fresh tomatoes if I have too many and family can’t keep up — sometimes jut cut up and freeze for cooking something special later — but split and not quite full ripe, watery, and too-mild maters all get cooked down into everyday sauce.

First 4 photos is a spotty tomato. 3rd picture shows knife blade pointing at what looks like a needle hole poked in the side of the tomato. Both 1/2s of the slice show the needle hole. I did not see this hole in the tomato before I sliced the tomato it is a miracle I sliced exactly through the needle hole so 1/2 the needle hole is on each slice. I sliced another good ripe tomato that is not spotty looking. End slices I threw in the trash both taste good. Both tomatoes are Big Beef. Inside of both tomatoes look good so far. We will eat these for dinner tonight with garden fried potatoes & garden green beans.

[applestar]

See the white corky effect along the outer ring of the cut tomatoes between the skin and the gel cavities. These are what’s left after the stinkbugs suck the juices out, leaving dry patches. I think the overall blotchness in color is coming from overlapping circles around feeding punctures.

This is from 2010, not this year, but they have different photos showing stinkbug damage on tomatoes —
Stinkbug Damage Common in Tomatoes This Year - Weekly Crop Update - Cooperative Extension in Delaware
https://extension.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=2359

The hole you found looks like it had been infected and spoilage is starting.

...here’s more info...
UC IPM: UC Management Guidelines for Stink Bugs on Tomato
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r783300211.html

[Gary350]

Garden soil is so dry top 4" is dust. Push dust away there is moist soil down there. Potato cuttings have been drying for 3 days I have learned potatoes need to be in moist soil not wet soil and should be cover up only 1/2" so they can grow plants that reach the sun quick to get started growing sooner. Potatoes are a 4 month crop it seem to me from my observations 4 months starts after cuttings have rooted and plants have started growing. If I plant cutting in dry dust they will just set there waiting for weather to change it might be Oct before soil is moist enough for them to root & grow it will be cold then. I want plants to grow in this warm weather fast then make potatoes in the cooler Oct & Nov weather. So I did a soil test I made a soil pile 8" tall 3 days later soil moisture has moved up closer to the surface but still 4" below the 8" pile of dry dust. This morning I raked soil flat an level so soil it 2" above the swamp area when we start having rain every day for 6 months. I put all the cutting on the soil surface then covered them with an 8" hill of soil. Soil should become moist where cuttings are in 2 or 3 days then cuttings should start to grow. Plants will be a long time growing through the 8" hill of soil. About 20 years ago I planted a 20 ft row of potato cuttings then covered them with 12" of soil to protect them from winter freeze no plants ever grew but there was 28 lbs of new potatoes when I dug them up in May. So we will see what happens to these potatoes maybe they grow plants by Oct 1. and maybe there will be a crop of potatoes to harvest Dec 15.

[Gary350]

This is what we get from the garden these days. Enough tomatoes to eat. Too many jalapeno peppers. Big Bertha sweet peppers are out producing Marconi peppers 3 to 1 and we like Big Bertha flavor better. More New Mexico peppers. 1 watermelon is getting close to being ripe. Yellow squash has 1 squash almost ready to pick. Okra is loaded with too many okra most are going to seeds. Green beans plants are drying up and dying soon I pull up all the plants save dry beans in a large bag then beat bag against a tree to get bean seeds. Herb plants look weird they are limbs with no leaves I stripped off the herbs to dry. Acorn squash plants have no squash but spaghetti squash has 1 good size squash these plants are giant I never saw squash plants this large.

[SQWIB]

Gary looking good, make some chipotle peppers.

Interesting about the yellowing leaves and transpiration, a lot of times folks just toss around it's blight, late blight, early blight, blight, blight, blight.

Also interesting about the stinkbug comment Applestar made.

[Gary350]

Gary looking good, make some chipotle peppers.

Interesting about the yellowing leaves and transpiration, a lot of times folks just toss around it's blight, late blight, early blight, blight, blight, blight. Also interesting about the stinkbug comment Applestar made.

We like the salsa in the first 1/3 of this video it is very good with chips. Flavor gets better if it sets in the refrigerator several hours before eating it. Most recipes call for a little bit is lime juice but it can be left out or replaced with vinegar. Since limes are $1 each I use vinegar. When I lived in Arizona limes were 10¢ each. Mexican people in AZ showed me how to make good salsa a little different than the video, I am cooking video recipe today to see how it turns out.

I cooked the salsa recipe in video hoping it would have a roasted, tomato, onion, garlic flavor but taste is no different than Arizona recipe plus AZ recipe is easier. Boil a pan of water, drop in 1 medium onion, 5 large whole tomatoes, 5 garlic cloves, 1 chili pepper, put lid on pan, turn off heat, return in 1 hour. One hour later everything is cooked and cooled enough not to burn your fingers. Put, tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, in food processor, add 1 tsp salt, 1 T lime juice or vinegar, cilantro. Blend until the way you like it. I added too much garden cilantro now it needs 1 more tomatoes. I am going to cheat and microwave a tomato. LOL It worked & taste better.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... tion=click

[Gary350]

I planted, acorn squash & spaghetti squash. This morning is the first time I have seen this big green squash hiding in these big leaves. Wife's family grew these when she was a kid so I showed it to wife she said, that's an acorn squash its a bit big but ok we will eat it for dinner if it's not stringy. So I cut the squash from the vine. Wife looked at the other squash and said, that is spaghetti squash it's not ready yet. This is my first time growing these this is a learning experience for me. Garden is so much FUN and good food too.

[Gary350]

Is it yellow and red on the inside, too? If so, could you post a cut cross section photo of this? Vertical cut please.

If it’s red inside the way it should be, do you see white dry spots under the skin? That would indicate stinkbug damage. They infect the fruits with their saliva when they pierce the skin and suck out juices, and cause fruits to spoil faster.

What do the plants look like?

Tomatoes are picked only when they are very red color. 2 days later tiny black spots can be seen & tomato is starting to turn yellow. On the 3rd day black spots are larger. On day 4 black spots become small rotten places that look like moon craters. At this point I can slice off 1/2" thick pieces of the outside & the inside is still good to eat but tomorrow the whole tomato will be rotted, seeds can be saved to plant next year. I wonder if stick bugs carry any type of sickness people can catch?

[SQWIB]

Looks like Bacterial Canker. I see this every now and then and quickly cut off the blemish and freeze or use immediately

[applestar]

No no, we don’t want it to be bacterial canker — anything that starts with “bacterial” is bad news. I think more like anthracnose. And still think stinkbugs because of the white flesh under the skin.

Recognizing Tomato Problems - 2.949 - ExtensionExtension
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-a ... ems-2-949/

Bacterial canker (Figure 8 ) occurs sporadically in Colorado. Symptoms begin with lower leaves turning downward. Dark to light brown streaks may develop on the leaf midribs and eventually extend down the petiole to form a canker on the stem. There may be vascular discoloration. Symptoms on fruit are small, white, scabby, raised lesions, often described as “bird’s eye.” This disease is difficult to distinguish from other tomato diseases and may need laboratory confirmation. If identified, destroy the plants. Do not compost plant material. Do not plant tomatoes, potatoes or eggplant in the same soil for two to three years.

[...]

Stink bugs cause spots and internal damage to tomato fruit by their feeding. Adults are shield-shaped and brown or green, with red, pink or yellow markings. They release an offensive odor when handled. Control weeds around the tomato patch, as these insects overwinter in such areas. Stink bug damage on green fruit appears as dark pinpricks surrounded by a light, discolored area. As fruit ripens, these spots may remain green or turn yellow. The tissue underneath is white and spongy. Cavities may form under the damaged skin

.

Tomato | Diseases and Pests, Description, Uses, Propagation
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/topics/tomato/infos


Anthracnose Colletotrichum coccodes

[image]
Sunken, and circular lesions on the fruit is a characteristic symptom.
[seversl fruit and leaf images]
Anthracnose on tomato fruit
Anthracnose symptoms on tomato leaf

Symptoms
Fruit symptoms are the most common although stem, leaves and roots can also be infected; disease causes characteristic sunken circular lesions on the fruit; the indentations on may have visible concentric brown and yellow rings; lesion centers turn tan in color as they mature and become dotted with small black fungal fruiting bodies (microsclerotia); lesions can grow very large

Cause
Fungus

[...]

Stinkbugs (Various) Various

[stinkbug and damages fruit photos]

Symptoms
Dark colored pinpricks on fruit surrounded by a lighter area that turns yellow or remains light green; stink bugs often carry pathogens in their mouthparts which can cause secondary infections and decay of fruit; adult insect is shield-shaped and brown or green in color; may have pink, red or yellow markings; eggs are drum shaped and laid in clusters on the leaves; larvae resemble the adults but are smaller.

...it’s possible they might carry some typical dirt germs including ones that can give you a tummy ache, but I think it would be rare for them to happen to be carrying around something serious — Personally, IMHO concern at the level of flies and yellow jackets landing on food at a picnic.

[applestar]

I just had a thought — you know how you have to wait about a month after cutting live wood to inoculate the trunk rounds and branches with shiitake and other mushroom spawn? This is because while alive, the tree has a functioning "immune system" with enzymes, etc. that resists “infection” by the fungal hyphae and mycelia. — Once these living immune system substances break down, the logs/trunk rounds can be inoculated with better success.

I wonder if similar mechanism is in play with fruits like tomatoes — once they ripen and reach the blush stage, tomatoes still get water from the plant but sugars and flavors etc. nutrients have been fully loaded into the fruit. After that they just blend and develop in the fruit. I wonder if at the same time, the fruits no longer have full immune system circulating through to resist infection, and once the fruits are picked, they are cut off completely and become more vulnerable?

[SQWIB]

I just had a thought — you know how you have to wait about a month after cutting live wood to inoculate the trunk rounds and branches with shiitake and other mushroom spawn? This is because while alive, the tree has a functioning "immune system" with enzymes, etc. that resists “infection” by the fungal hyphae and mycelia. — Once these living immune system substances break down, the logs/trunk rounds can be inoculated with better success.

I wonder if similar mechanism is in play with fruits like tomatoes — once they ripen and reach the blush stage, tomatoes still get water from the plant but sugars and flavors etc. nutrients have been fully loaded into the fruit. After that they just blend and develop in the fruit. I wonder if at the same time, the fruits no longer have full immune system circulating through to resist infection, and once the fruits are picked, they are cut off completely and become more vulnerable?

My Brain hurts lol.
I'm pretty sure that once a tomato blushes it is not receiving anything from the plant anymore. I could be wrong.

[Gary350]

This morning I am slicing up 4 Big Bertha sweet bell peppers and 1 Marconi sweet bell pepper and saving the seeds. Wife put slices in a 1 gallon bag for freezer they will make good stir fly and many other things this winter. Pepper plants are loaded with green peppers slowly turning red and Oct cooler weather there will be a pepper explosion many times more peppers than we are getting now. Next year I will plant only 4 Big Bertha plants, no other sweet peppers. Lots of potassium & nitrogen really did the trick for growing lots of big peppers. If you feed your plants well they are happy. Maybe I slice up the New Mexico peppers later today or tomorrow after I check garden plants again there could be more.

[Gary350]

Today I harvested tomatoes from my newest tomato plant.

If I have time tomorrow I am going to grind up jalapeno peppers into 1 quart of liquid then pour it on my old lawn mower wait about 1 hour then wash it off with the water hose. I did this 35 years ago it stripped all the paint off of the lawn mower then it looked brand new after I repainted it. I want to see if this still works I used all green jalapeno's last time. 1 pepper is starting to rot what kinds of bacteria can live in a spicy hot pepper.

I pull up Blue Lake bean plants about 30 ft of a 40 ft row. I sat under the shade tree and picked a 5 gallon bucket full of mostly dry beans.

Beans with yellow looking pods are soft as rubber and peal open like a banana. These white beans make good soup. I especially like white bean chicken chili.

There are a few green beans that can be eaten there might be enough for one dinner.

Bean pods need to dry a few more weeks then put into an empty 20 lb cat food bag then beat it against a tree to break up the dry pods to collect the dry beans. Beans that are already dry and hard will be seeds for next years garden.

[Gary350]

Another load of peppers & more tomatoes. We had another stir fly dinner it reduced the population of Big Bertha peppers by 1 whole pepper. More jalapeno peppers & more New Mexico peppers. Time to start cutting New Mexico peppers into strips to dry to make chili powder.

My seeds & herbs have dried time to put in bags or bottles. For now I will pour seeds & herds into empty pizza jars.

[Gary350]

I removed, seeds, vanes, stems, from the 16 New Mexico peppers in this top photo then sliced them into skinny strips. Strips covered 2 pizza pans. I put both pizza pans in my 2002 Honda CRV food dehydrator parked in 95 degree sun all day, it is 130 degrees in there. 6 pm NM pepper strips look like pic 3. I used the coffee grinder to make chili power. I can hardly wait to make a pot of chili to see how it tastes. Chili powder looks good 3 1/2 ounces of chili powder in an empty pizza jar.

[Gary350]

New way to remove beans from green bean pods. Green beans have grown too large to eat, pods are tough & stringy, beans inside pods are large about as large as they will get. I pulled up all the Blue Lake Bush Bean plants in 1 row then removed green beans from plants & put green beans on patio table. I decided to leave green beans if full sun to dry out then a few days later I notice several pods have dried enough to become rubbery and yellow looking. These pods pull open easy like a banana then beans fall out. Not all green beans dry at the same speed so every morning I remove the softest pods and remove the white beans inside. Soon we have a pot of white beans soup. Put white beans in a jar of water few days we have beans sprouts for Chinese stir fly. Beans sprouts are good on salad. Beans sprouts are a good substitute on any sandwich to replace lettuce. Beans sprouts on tacos & taco salad.

[Gary350]

Our first spaghetti squash it finally turned yellow today. We are letting it grow 1 more day to make sure it is ripe. Squash bugs are taking over plants will be lucky if they live a few more days. No help from the birds they won't even come to the bird feeder this time of the year.

[Gary350]

I am testing my new food dehydrator today, upside down fish aquarium on a sheet of styrofoam. I sliced 1 New Mexico pepper this morning and put it in the dehydrator about 9 am, at 5 pm slices look dry. I put another sliced pepper in at 3 pm nothing much happened yet. Tomorrow when sun comes up I remove the dry 1 an leave the other one.

We have 7 watermelons. I should have fertilized the plants with potassium so plants will make more blossoms that makes more melons. I have 3 plants it is hard to eat 30 melons that is why I never fertilized with potassium = wood ash. 7 melons are enough for the season. The biggest melon is starting to look a bit yellow on bottom stem will not pull off so it is not ready yet.

I sprayed blight spray on my tomato plants too late again. I always spray too late and loose several plants. I forgot to add dish soap to make it spray even not spotty. So far so good. I need to spray sooner before plants start to die I could save more plants. We already have pantry full all we need now is 2 tomatoes every day until Christmas day.

[TomatoNut95]

Awesome food dehydrator ideas!! Amazing! I so need to try that; but all I have is sweet peppers. Is there such thing as sweet pepper powder?

[applestar]

I think that would be sweet paprika. Maybe try smoking or roasting then dehydrating for added flavor. Try blending with your mild jalapeño.

Be sure to try growing some of the mild “seasoning” peppers next year. I’m growing/trying Aji Dulce Amarillo this year. I grew Alma Paprika last year.

Oh yeah, also growing Pasilla Bajio considered mild heat.

[Gary350]

Awesome food dehydrator ideas!! Amazing! I so need to try that; but all I have is sweet peppers. Is there such thing as sweet pepper powder?

Sweet pepper powder is called, Paprika. Home made paprika has very good flavor in food & good red color too. If your chili powder is too spicy hot mix it with paprika to reduce spicy hotness. You can also make homemade green paprika & green chili powder.

[Gary350]

I think that would be sweet paprika. Maybe try smoking or roasting then dehydrating for added flavor. Try blending with your mild jalapeño.

Be sure to try growing some of the mild “seasoning” peppers next year. I’m growing/trying Aji Dulce Amarillo this year. I grew Alma Paprika last year.

Oh yeah, also growing Pasilla Bajio considered mild heat.

My New Mexico peppers are making a good mild spicy chili powder. I am just now starting to make paprika with Big Bertha sweet peppers & Marconi sweet peppers. When eating Marconi vs Big Bertha the Marconi has a stronger flavor but we can not tell any different flavor with paprika.

Last year I made paprika but had no mild chili peppers it only took a tiny amount of red color jalapeno pepper mixed with paprika to make a good mild chili powder.

[Gary350]

Corn stalks are a nightmare to get rid of. They have been laying in hot sun for a month and still not dry enough to burn. I wish I had a chopper machine to make small pieces that will till into the soil. I am smoking my tomato plants it might be good to cure blight & get rid of stink bugs.

[TomatoNut95]

Oh, ok: paprika! How dumb can I be?


I actually pulled the Jalapenos. Plants were never that productive, not to mention very big. I think they were stunted by my Beefsteak plant when it was there. Can you dry green peppers, or do they need to be ripe/red?

[applestar]

I haven’t actually tried it, but I have an idea — try dipping the green jalapeño strips or slices in lime juice seasoned with just a tiny amount of sea salt (or pickling salt — no chemicals) then dehydrating. I think that dried then powdered green jalapeño powder would taste awesome.

[Gary350]

Oh, ok: paprika! How dumb can I be? I actually pulled the Jalapenos. Plants were never that productive, not to mention very big. I think they were stunted by my Beefsteak plant when it was there. Can you dry green peppers, or do they need to be ripe/red?

Yes you can dry green color strips of jalapenos & green sweet peppers too. Front seat of my car makes a good dehydrator it works very well parked in the hot sun it gets 130 degrees inside. I put pepper strips in the car about 9 am they are crispy dry at 5 pm. We had a lot of clouds today and it still worked. My coffee grinder makes a fine powder. My son wants me to make him red color jalapeno powder to refill the bottler that he bought.

My home made blight medicine is working good plants are coming back to life & ripe tomatoes are not rotten, not spotty except for the blue color blight spray. I picked 9 good tomatoes. We had a 3 minute rain about 6 pm, tomorrow morning I need to blight spray again.

[TomatoNut95]

No jalapenos, I pulled the plants. I had only one pepper and I just used it in pasta. However I've got bell plants left that are still producing. I normally just slice them and freeze them. I used to have a small fish tank, but I sold it and now I wish I hadn't. And I'd rather not have my vehicle out in the sun like that, I doubt that's good for it. I need to go in Goodwill and see if I can find something usable.

[Gary350]

More peppers. 4 Marconi sweet peppers, 8 New Mexico peppers, several jalapeno peppers. I learned seeds inside the New Mexico peppers are about 10 times hotter than the pepper.

[Gary350]

Today I picked out 1 1/2 gallons of tiny potatoes from our potato pile to plant just to see what happens. These tiny potatoes are small and good in stew but we still have lots more potatoes to eat. I washed them in a 5 gallon bucket of water 2 times. The potatoes I planted a few weeks ago are doing nothing covered up with dry dust. No way to know when we will get enough rain to make potatoes grow could be November. I raked soil flat, poured potatoes in the row, covered them up, no fertilizer. Picture #4 you can see a pile of saved seeds germinated now I know for sure seeds are good to use next year. Tomato seeds are germinating too. I should have saved corn seed too like I did last year but we might plant a different corn next year. I ear of corn left to dry on the stalk for a month is 500 seeds. Winter potatoes are always good it never gets cold enough to freeze them out it only kills the tops and there is still a good crop of potatoes. I never planted this many potatoes so close together before we will see what happens.

[TomatoNut95]

@Gary, you said you crush the dried pepper slices into powder by your coffee maker. Would you show me how to do so? I don't own a coffee maker 'cause I can't stand coffee. I'd have to buy one I guess.

[Gary350]

@Gary, you said you crush the dried pepper slices into powder by your coffee maker. Would you show me how to do so? I don't own a coffee maker 'cause I can't stand coffee. I'd have to buy one I guess.

I cut peppers into long thin strips, put them on large pizza pan in front seat of your vehicle parked in the sun for 8 hours in 130 degree heat. Peppers will be dry & crispy as potato chips. Put dry peppers in kitchen blender or coffee GRINDER. Grind peppers about 1 minute into a fine powder.

[TomatoNut95]

Grinder, not maker. My bad.
I so want to try it, if my peppers will ripen before they sunscald.

[Gary350]

Grinder, not maker. My bad.
I so want to try it, if my peppers will ripen before they sunscald.

I made more chili powder today. I picked 8 New Mexico peppers yesterday, today I cut them into strips to dehydrate. About 5 pm pieces were dry. I broke up the strips into smaller pieces by hand then put them in the small food processor. This little food processor does not run fast enough to make powder. I have an old kitchen blender in the storage shed that will make powder but I am not going out there for such a small amount of chili powder. The little food processor made smaller pieces that were spooned into this little high speed electric coffee grinder. It is interesting to notice the finer the powder gets the more red color it gets. Now I have 1/2 jar of chili powder.

[TomatoNut95]

Awesome! So how long will your powder keep in storage?

[Gary350]

Awesome! So how long will your powder keep in storage?

We try to use all the chili power up every year usually that is not hard to do if we don't have much. So far I have 3/4 of a cup and more peppers on the plants and more to come. Oct cool weather will be a pepper explosion no way to know how much chili powder I can make this year maybe 1 or 2 lbs. About 20 years ago I made 2 lbs of chili powder the kids were still living at home we cooked lots of Mexican & Chili we used up about 1 lb chili powder by summer then the rest by Christmas. I am sure all herbs & spices slowly loose there flavor. I still have about 3 tablespoons of a 1 quart jar of hotter chili powder that is 8 years old flavor is less than it use to be but it is still good to cook with.

[Gary350]

Tomato harvest is getting better blight spray seems to be working. Lots of peppers. I let beans go to seed, white beans will be good in soup. Corn has been gone a month we ate some from the freezer today with German sausage on the BBQ grill, fried potatoes, sliced tomatoes. Corn sure is good much better than grocery store corn. I was thinking about planting less corn next year but after eating this good corn today I think we will have a big corn crop next year. Peppers are, big Bertha, Marconi, new Mexico, jalapeno. I have about 40 more jalapeno not in the picture. I picked 1 marconi a bit early we decided we want some green pepper in the freezer.