Lindsaylew's 2016 Garden

[Lindsaylew82]

Somebody is gonna have to do some canning this weekend!

It rained for a minute or two tonight... I'm not counting that as rain.

[Lindsaylew82]

Mystery Ruffle. Not German Red Strawberry! Dabs armyworms got started on it. Didn't see this till I got it inside! It's slightly underripe! Started raining, so I got all scared they would crack! Picked anything with a slight blush.





I think I'll save seed from the doubles, just to increase the likelihood of doubles!

[applestar]

Wow so big! So definitely not Charlie Chaplin which is smaller.
-- looks like a red to me right now, but be sure to do the epi/skin test. If the gel is green then this would be a "Black"

Are you saying a double is a rare occurrence? I can't remember now.

Is it like these?

Costoluto Genovese
https://www.rareseeds.com/costoluto-genovese-tomato/




Zapotec Pleated Tomato
https://www.seedsofchange.com/quickfacts ... FirstImage




...not as ruffled as these?

Coeur De Boeuf - Tatiana's TOMATOBase
https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Coeur_De_Boeuf




... here's a pink variety (pink = clear epi)


pink wrinkle tomato Pitanga
https://tomaten-bohnen-pfirsich.blogspot ... tanga.html

...and just for fun, here's a yellow variety

Florentine Beauty
https://heritageseedmarket.com/index.php ... ne-beauty/

[Lindsaylew82]

I would say definitely closest to Zapotec, than the rest. The seller doesn't sell that variety though, so I don't think that's it. It's definitely red. Yellow epi. Can't remember the gel color. There are two doubles on the plant, the rest are singles, but still ruffled. Some heavily pleated.

[MichaelC]

Hi Lindsay -

This is my first go-around with green zebra. How do I know when they are ripe?

BTW, it doesn't have a ton of vegetation, but my Stupice is making tons of fruits. The trusses are so long I had to break out the cardboard.

[Lindsaylew82]

They turn bright yellow with green stripes. Mine is toast. I don't think I'll try it again. It's just isn't happy here.

I love stupice! Mine isn't getting overly tall though! Just bushy! The weather is making it fruit weird shapes, which I'm enjoying! I may save some seeds from the odd shaped ones.

Powdery mildew is bad in the cucumber patch. I'm seeing it in the squash and zucchini as well. I think it may be too late. The last 2 times I've attempted to spray, it immediately rains.

Speaking of, we had one HECK of storm blow through last night. It poured for 30 minutes or more. The ground is still damp tonight. No noticeable bad cracks. Monster zucchini though!

I'm really enjoying this garden! It's been an easy year for us, and so far the bounty is plentiful!

[applestar]

You migh want to give JUST milk and yogurt solution a turn. Use rainwater or de-chlorinated water, and let the milk and yogurt mixture culture a bit before thinning with a bit of water, then strain into the sprayer with more water. I like to spray this on wet/damp foliage to give the bacteria a chance to settle in -- morning dew or after rain -- when it's not sunny that the solution would dry up right away.

You can also "cheat" like I do when doing huge areas and use hose end tree and shrub sprayer -- put the milk/yogurt mixture straight in the sprayer and the thing should dilute it -- I don't do this often because the tap water is chlorinated and may diminish effectiveness.

The idea is that bacteria will create their own biofilm to stick onto the foliage. Also, some say it's the milk protein that helps to prevent fungal issues and the protein sticks on as the solution dries. Some also say that spraying thoroughly means the solution drips down into the soil and THAT is beneficial for the root zone or that it feeds the plants (in other words, it doesn't matter if the solution gets washed off)... I don't know any more, but it works for me.

[Lindsaylew82]

About that....

I was reading another topic about probiotics, and was curious about adding that to a sprayer...

Of course you'd be missing out from the protein..

We just don't drink milk, or eat dairy. Both my kids are allergic to milk, so we never have it. I have to buy it special for the garden. But I'll definitely try this.

[Lindsaylew82]

Mystery Ruffles :: Not German Red Strawberry insides:


Some of it was cut away from army worm damage that had begun to mold a little... This one was a little seedier than the last. I saved some from the parts I cut away. They'll be ready for sharing some time next week.

I found this monstrosity it the squash bed this morning! It's the biggest slug I've ever seen! As big as 2 of my fingers!



Took forever to scrub the goo off Big Kid's fingers after this handling... If anyone knows a trick to getting the slime off, please share!

[lakngulf]

Yikes on the slug, but the tomato looks beautiful

[applestar]

Are you KIDDING ME? That thing looks like it crawled out of the ocean! It actually reminds me a bit of abalone.

[Lindsaylew82]

It was so big. And soooooooo gross!

[imafan26]

I try to use chopsticks but when I find them I don't always have gloves on. Rubbing salt on my hands first helps, wipe it off with a dry paper towel, then wash with soap and water.

[Kerathome]

I just read through your entire journal! You've given me much to aspire to, neighbor! So far what little we've grown has been eaten, but learning to can (jar?) Has been on my mind. My Roma's and Marzano plants are doing well enough that I think I can at least put some sauce away.

I showed my husband the pictures of the tomatoes on the counter, and he remarked that your wine glass rack under the cabinet is a sure sign that we would be fast friends, lol. He didn't see any crochet hooks, otherwise he would consider it destiny that I should find someone so close on a gardening forum, ha ha ha.

I think I might start a garden journal around here - I've got lots of progress photos, but I feel like a poser since I didn't grow a thing from seed. I guess I better order seeds so I'm ready for next year

[Lindsaylew82]

He didn't see any crochet hooks

They're under the bed... BAAAHAHAHHA! I suck at it though....

Every single one of us has something to offer. I enjoy very much looking at everyone's progress blogs! You shouldn't think yourself a poser. You may be experiencing something in your garden that no one here has seen. You may also be experiencing something that you have remedied, and that someone else needs help with. NO one here should make you feel as if you were a poser. This is a sharing and gardening site! We are all here to help, even you!

Most of my tomatoes, and all my peppers were purchase plants! and I ain't got one bit of shame in that!

[Lindsaylew82]

Well, I let my plain yogurt milk and water mixture sit for most of the afternoon. Sprayed in on the plants and sundown. was out there until almost too dark to see, and then....... It. Started. Raining! I mean DANG! We had a big fat ZERO chance of rain tonight, but the sky gods know when I'm trying to spray.... UGGGGGGGGGGGH!

Killed several squash bugs tonight on both the cukes and the squashes. The first I've seen in several weeks. The spray must have brought them up. I also saw several egg clusters that I hadn't seen earlier. I'm gonna have to be a little more vigilant in the use of neem.

The heavy storm we had the other night must have done several of the tomato plants in. Pink Caspian wilted. as did the remaining Green Zebra. I was trialing Pink Caspian, and I don't think I will continue it next year, We enjoyed Giant Pink Belgian much more. Pink Caspian gave slightly more fruit, but its dead now, and GPB is still producing.

Some of the more ruffled Not German Red Strawberry began to ripen. I picked them because there is a rogue caterpillar out there sampling all the tomatoes bite by bite. These things are really nice looking!

[Lindsaylew82]

First Apple Melon! It's beautiful! It was down near the bottom of the vine burried in the wheat. It tastes faintly of.....dirt.... An earthy honeydew. The stem end was bitter...likely because of our drought. I like it! I'm happy about it!

[Lindsaylew82]

I watered last night..............alllllllll dang night. Ugh. I'm losing my mind I swear.

[Toxic1979]

Well said... I don't have many that share the same issues that I have in north eastern Canada, but I have learned so much on this forum, and most of the folks are so helpful here. So glad I found the forum when I did! lol

Lindsaylew.... yeah I don't get slugs anywhere near the size of that thing. It almost looks prehistoric to me... like there should have been fossils nearby! I won't even show my wife that pic... she'll quit gardening. lol

[Lindsaylew82]

Haha! That's the only one we've seen larger than a centimeter all year!

We had our family vacation last week! Stayed in Murrell's Inlet, SC. It was near perfect weather the entire time. It never rained. The beach was hot, but the breeze was cool. The water was fairly clear, but full of Jellies. We all had our fair share of stings... We had such a good week together! We all came back looking like 3 bronze goddesses! Resident Man got a sunburn, and came back looking splotchy.
We came back home yesterday. The garden has suffered from the obvious lack of my near constant doting. Tomatoes are nearly all wilted. Some boiled in their skins and they're just hanging on the vine. There are literally thousands of Squashbug eggs on lots of wilted plants. Cucumbers went down. The container garden pretty much dried up. It needs to be cleared away, but I have too many school assignments to take care of it today, it will have to be managed later.

The new garden around our shed looks really nice. I think I may have coyote tomatoes by the end of the week. They need to be staked badly... Maybe I will send out RM with instructions. I think we need new posts, I don't want to spread the garden funk to the newbs.

We have ground cherries! Tasted my first one, and I'm in love!

[KitchenGardener]

Yay! for vacations, but it sure is disappointing how our gardens fare in our absences! Anyway, what is a coyote tomato? Is that a variety or mean something like a volunteer tomato?

[KitchenGardener]

By the way, I love your thread - best descriptions, humor and pics!

[applestar]

Welcome home, Lindsay! And I second that KItchenGardener -- love reading Lindsay's posts

I bet her plant will be bigger, but here's my Coyote -- it's a tomato variety with small (sometimes called "currant" size) "white" -- yellow with clear epi -- fruits. Originally a "wild" tomato from Mexico -- it tends to sprawl and grow tentacles of vines. I'm trussing mine up like a chicken and it still looks like this:






Unique sweet flavor that bursts in your mouth. Tendency to fall off the vine when ripe, splits when I put the ripe fruits in cold bucket of water to wash, NOT a good keeper due to high sugar content -- and I always recommend eating within a couple of days or freeze any that has split or lost skin at stem end right away.

[Lindsaylew82]

THANKS YALL!

Mine are about 2' right now, but they are viney and very leggy, for no apparent reason aside from that just being their habit? Idk, they are crawling all over the asparagus!

I picked 3 bucketfuls of tomatoes out in the garden. They were pretty eaten up, and I found several really large climbing cutworms that I assume are the culprits. I picked 4 zucchini the size of my leg, and about 20 pounds of cucumbers the size of my arms! Zesty Zucchini relish, Dill cucumber relish, and hopefully tomato sauce if I can keep the tomatoes from rotting. I may pop them in the fridge or freezer.

Peppers are really ramping up with the more frequent rains. I made 4 small jars of pickled banana peppers tonight!