Mostly Tomande tomatoes, which is what I had on hand when sowing my spring crop. Great tomatoes, but I'm worried about the deep ribbing across the tops. When our rains start (and they will start... sometime!) those handsome ridges are like bacterial sponges... ah, well, que sera.
The twine line at the top marks six feet. That's quite a lot of growth from March 1, their transplant date.
Large tomatoes like Tomande (and there's Jetsetter, some German heirloom, Big Boy, and some other varieties mixed into my three rows in the back) will produce pretty well until the first week of July, when the bugs get so bad that I give up. (They stop setting new fruit earlier, sometime in June, when the nighttime low start to hover in the low 70s.)
Cherry tomatoes--I have Juliette and some Baker Creek in the front garden--continue to set fruit throughout the summer. They're such rampant growers that they can deal with the diseases and bugs. But even those are done by the end of July.
Let's see... squash is prolific. Green beans are doing well. Peaches, blueberries and plums continue to ripen. I've gotten enough blueberries in the last three days to make a pie. Hmm... cucumbers are doing what cukes do. First peppers of the season should be ready by the end of the week. Been starting sweet potato slips, transferring them out to the patch. Oh, and I planted a long row of yardlong beans today, too. Anna apples look GREAT. Very excited about a nice harvest this year. Persimmons and pomegranates look good. Melons are setting fruit.
Guess that's about it... Busy time in the office now, so finding time to zip out to the garden and do chores is tough.
Oh, finally: Damn irrigation system.
6 comments:
When you move your sweet potato slips to the patch - what prep if any do you do for your soil? I know they don't like too much nitrogen... I'm basically starting with sand this year though. Is it worth it do dig in a bit of manure? And then mulch heavily?
heavy mulch, light hand with the fertilizer... you don't want to encourage too much leaf production. i dunno... sweet potatoes are really easy. they don't need much. even moisture (mulch). time... make sure that you have LOTS of starts--don't rely on just one plant to fill in a large area.
I love looking at the photos of your garden, although I must admit to a little jealousy...my husband and I have been gardening for several years in Seminole county in very sandy soil. What do you do to improve your soil? Every time we plant yellow squash and/or cucumbers, we fight with powdery mildew. Any suggestions?
Paula
i have some problems with something fungal on my slick pik squash--i just cut the infected leaves off. i'm sure that it slows production, but, hey, it's squash. production isn't a problem. my guess is that you've grown squash too late in the season--my real fungal issues don't start until the rainy season. squash need to be IN THE GROUND as vigorous seedlings by march 1 here in central florida. you're a little further south and more inland, maybe you could get them in even earlier.
the squash hybrid pum ae squash (evergreen--i posted an order recently) seems to be completely resistant to the rust/fungus that's troubling my slick pik. it's a bit slower to production, but the squash are just as tasty. i might grow only the pum ae next season.
Thank you for the suggestions. Any ideas on soil improvement? What do you add to yours?
Paula
Hi,
I notice that you also plant cassava and peanuts in your garden. Curious to know if you are from Liberia? Just stombled on this blog today. It is really nice info you have here. I can learn alot from you. Thnanks for the info.
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