Garden 2020

[gravitylover]

I grabbed a few bulbs, locally grown, from a farmers market two weeks ago. I figure that already acclimated to the local climate should lead to better yield than something from who knows where. I'd say go to your local market and see what's available.

Those turnips I planted at the beginning of August that were supposed to be 60-70 days were good to go this morning and they're really nice sized except for one that was half rotted in the ground :shrug: . I'm going to plant more today just because. Gonna plant some radishes too because why not. and with as well as the string beans are doing I'm going to use up the last of the seeds I have, I've been pulling enough to add to dinner twice a week lately which is pretty cool for this late in the season. The tomatoes I started from seed at the beginning of August are two feet tall and starting to flower so cages will go out today, peppers are doing so well I had to stake and tie up branches this morning and my second round of potatoes is doing surprisingly well. Lettuce is a little slow to get going but all the other leafy things like herbs are going nuts but carrots are slow. All in all I'd call it a successful second season so I'm gonna try for more because I can.

[riser4]

I grabbed a few bulbs, locally grown, from a farmers market two weeks ago. I figure that already acclimated to the local climate should lead to better yield than something from who knows where. I'd say go to your local market and see what's available.

Those turnips I planted at the beginning of August that were supposed to be 60-70 days were good to go this morning and they're really nice sized except for one that was half rotted in the ground :shrug: . I'm going to plant more today just because. Gonna plant some radishes too because why not. and with as well as the string beans are doing I'm going to use up the last of the seeds I have, I've been pulling enough to add to dinner twice a week lately which is pretty cool for this late in the season. The tomatoes I started from seed at the beginning of August are two feet tall and starting to flower so cages will go out today, peppers are doing so well I had to stake and tie up branches this morning and my second round of potatoes is doing surprisingly well. Lettuce is a little slow to get going but all the other leafy things like herbs are going nuts but carrots are slow. All in all I'd call it a successful second season so I'm gonna try for more because I can.

Ya, go local for best results.

[Skidog]

A lot of the time, you'll find that store-bought garlic has been chemically treated to prevent sprouting. Obviously, if you were to plunk the bulbs straight into the dirt, they wouldn't grow.

Ideally, you want to use organically grown garlic from farmer markets or local growers.

Don't grow garlic but will say have had quite a few cloves from regular grocery sprout from being left too long. Guess not all is treated?

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[Skidog]

I think a lot of the treated garlic comes from China?

But who knows?

I can't recall what it was but there is some way to tell by looking at the bottom of the clove tells you if it's been treated. Google it.

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[riser4]

So is that why some store bought garlic eventually sprouts and some just rots?

[Skidog]

If you're talking about the lack of root material, it's actually removed in order to inhibit the spread of agricultural pathogens, therefore, it isn't a reliable way to determine if it's been treated.

yeah thats it. Thanks. So it only tells you if its US grown if it has root material. My local groceries stuff always has a bit of root.

[Norseman]

.

[climberevan]

Yesterday's haul. Corn is done, cukes have slowed dramatically, but and peppers are hitting their stride. Eggplants have been slow this year but we have a few that are nearly ripe.

2 nights ago it was 38 deg though. Barely made it, and I hope the hard freeze holds off. With the freeze in mid June we've been playing catch up all season.

[muted]

.

Impressive

[Boissal]

^^^ +1
That's a pro-level spread right there.

Wind event killed 3/6 tomatoes that were on the E side of the patch. They shielded the other but got decimated even under a tarp, 75% of leaves gone, branches snapped, fruits on the ground. The peppers may be done for given the fact that it dipped to 37 or so the following night and covering them did nothing. I'm monitoring the flowers on a few plants and we'll see if they just drop. Cucs and melons did OK, the zucchini could probably sustain a couple hurricanes without blinking, but the squashes did not appreciate my aggressive pruning the day before 36 hours of intense wind and cold temps.

[Thaleia]

Thanks for the garlic advise folks. Locally sourced makes sense, I hadn't considered that.

[skaredshtles]

^^^ +1
That's a pro-level spread right there.

Wind event killed 3/6 tomatoes that were on the E side of the patch. They shielded the other but got decimated even under a tarp, 75% of leaves gone, branches snapped, fruits on the ground. The peppers may be done for given the fact that it dipped to 37 or so the following night and covering them did nothing. I'm monitoring the flowers on a few plants and we'll see if they just drop. Cucs and melons did OK, the zucchini could probably sustain a couple hurricanes without blinking, but the squashes did not appreciate my aggressive pruning the day before 36 hours of intense wind and cold temps.

Bummer.

The cold and snow didn't *appear* to whack anything around here. Had a couple tomato plants fall over, and a few pepper plants - but they all still appear to be alive and the leaves seem healthy. Squash and pumpkins seems unphased as well... weird.

[Thaleia]

^^ I've been lucky - have a few tomato plants that fell over as well but the stems just bent, not snapped so they seem ok so far. Cucumbers have pretty much stopped, and some sections of the vines are dying off. Had been a good season for cucs here.

[Norseman]

picked all this today while wearing a respirator for wildfire smoke.

[jackattack]

Tomatillos,

[tgapp]

Dang Norseman, your tomatoes look beautiful.

You gonna can that shit?

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[Bobby Stainless]

[BCMtnHound]

Caught a raven sampling my plumbs. He took one across the street and enjoyed it. He was alone, then there were 3 more inquiring. So into the basement to ripen the plumbs went. Time to bring the apples in too. Bears have been wandering the neighbourhood too. Keeping the ground clear of fallen fruit hopefully removes some of the attractant.

I like those metal beds. No rot or rust. But between the hound and young-uns, the watering system would be ripped to sheds.

Beautiful haul there Norseman

[Boissal]

picked all this today while wearing a respirator for wildfire smoke.

Beautiful pics!! Those peppers look angry, cayennes?? And what kind of tomatoes are we looking at here? Planning next year's line-up already.

Plants are recovering nicely from the storm here, only 1 confirmed loss so far with fruit still ripening on the vine so we're letting it be. Everything else seems to be back to normal now that temps are in the mid 80s again. Melons are piling up and have the good taste of not all ripening at once. 2 of my jars of pickled spicy peppers failed to seal so I have to eat them fast, turns out it takes quite a bit of time to tone down the caspecin and my first couple attempts at eating 3 thai peppers at once were rather fiery. I figured out that chasing them with really stinky old brie does wonders though. Until the whole concoction has to be expelled the next morning but that's a different issue.

[gravitylover]

The tomatoes I planted late are growing so well but not flowering at all. The weather here really cooled off the last week or so, do they need warmth to start setting fruit or will they even with night temps in the high 40s and daytime in the low to mid 70s? I think the critters are appreciating my peppers a little bit too much. Every day they take the ones that are a week or so into growing so a half dozen a day are disappearing.

I just learned yesterday that bell peppers are perennials. It gets pretty cold here, single digits to zero at least a few times, so how do I preserve them? Just let them die off and they come back? Cut them back and let them sprout from the base next year?

[Norseman]

Dang Norseman, your tomatoes look beautiful.

You gonna can that shit?

Thanks man. Yeah, we did a bunch of canning this weekend, trying to breathe as little as possible. Made spag sauce and salsa, in addition to straight diced.

Tried roasting a few in lieu of blanching, which worked great. Also tried drying some of the Yellow Pear and Black Cherry tomatoes... they are candy.

Beautiful pics!! Those peppers look angry, cayennes?? And what kind of tomatoes are we looking at here? Planning next year's line-up already.

The long peppers are called Corbaci. Also in the stack are Hungarian Hot Wax, Pepperoncini, and Serrano. Got some others that are a little behind, too... Paprika, Chocolate Bell, and Sugar Rush Red.

The yellow tomatoes are Brad's Atomic Grape. They are the sweetest tomatoes I've ever tried and grow well here. Their coloration is insane.

[Norseman]

I just learned yesterday that bell peppers are perennials. It gets pretty cold here, single digits to zero at least a few times, so how do I preserve them? Just let them die off and they come back? Cut them back and let them sprout from the base next year?

Not just Bells but all peppers. They won't come back if they freeze.

Couple years ago I experimented with digging them up and potting for the winter. Brought them to my office to be under the big skylights and they grew just ok. The Paprika was the most robust and actually set fruit (had to hand-pollinate) but the others just sorta languished. They need a lot of sun and heat, not just air temp but warm soil, too. They'd do well in a real greenhouse, I bet.

[BCMtnHound]

The tomatoes I planted late are growing so well but not flowering at all. The weather here really cooled off the last week or so, do they need warmth to start setting fruit or will they even with night temps in the high 40s and daytime in the low to mid 70s? I think the critters are appreciating my peppers a little bit too much. Every day they take the ones that are a week or so into growing so a half dozen a day are disappearing.

I just learned yesterday that bell peppers are perennials. It gets pretty cold here, single digits to zero at least a few times, so how do I preserve them? Just let them die off and they come back? Cut them back and let them sprout from the base next year?

Most flowering is very dependant on photoperiod, with temp and other factors being secondary. I don't have the numbers in my head, but the daylight hours (or more often the dark hours) have to be right to stimulate flowering. Google should be able to help you there. And then either move the plants to a light source or put out a full spectrum light near the plants and try playing with their photoperiod, as the nights get longer (too long now for the plant to want to produce fruit)

[Buster Highmen]

Awesome haul, Norseman. We're just limping along with a few cherry toms maturing, but the basil has been robust and fostered a good pestofest 2020.

[gravitylover]

Well that makes sense. At least I have some great looking plants growing keeping the garden looking gardenish.