# How's this year's garden



## JohnT

Has everybody got this year's garden planted? 

Care to share? 

I do container gardening on my deck. Finally got mine planted last weekend...

8 cucumbers, 
2 potato planters (the large ones) 
3 potted cherry peppers
10 pots of basil 
3 pots of parsley 
2 pots of rosemary 
1 pot of cilantro, 
3 pots of thyme.

For looks, I have 4 flower boxes and two hanging baskets also planted.

I know this must look a little sad....


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## GreginND

This year

170 rhubarb plants put in
3x90 foot rows of onion sets
90 foot row of peas
40 feet of leeks,
90 feet of favor beans
45 feet of red beets, 45 feet of golden beets
14 tomato plants
12 eggplant
Kohlrabi
Green and red cabbage
4 kinds of lettuce
Pink eyed purple hulled peas
Carrots
Spinach
Daikon radish
Red radish
Three kinds of sweet corn
Zucchini and yellow squash
Two kinds of jack o lanterns 
A row of basil
Cilantro
Kale
Chard
Collard greens
Red and white potatoes

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. We have ~2500 sq ft of garden this year.


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## JohnT

Picture or it never happened


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## dcbrown73

tmw;dnp 

The above is like "tl;dr" (too long, didn't read) Except mine stands for "Too much work; did not plant"


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## Larryh86GT

My garden is doing well. It was dry enough that I was able to get it rototilled and the seeds planted on April 21st which gave me a nice head start on things. Planted are snow peas, swiss chard, romaine lettuce, scallions, purple radishes, carrots and just for chuckles I planted some potatoes in the back row next to the house. In the 5 pots in the photo are cherry tomatoes which I transplanted from the garden where I found them when I weeded yesterday. They grew from seed from rotted tomatoes from last year. This photo was taken a week ago and the veggies have grown quite a bit more since then. 
Larry


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## Boatboy24

GreginND said:


> This year
> 
> 170 rhubarb plants put in
> 3x90 foot rows of onion sets
> 90 foot row of peas
> 40 feet of leeks,
> 90 feet of favor beans
> 45 feet of red beets, 45 feet of golden beets
> 14 tomato plants
> 12 eggplant
> Kohlrabi
> Green and red cabbage
> 4 kinds of lettuce
> Pink eyed purple hulled peas
> Carrots
> Spinach
> Daikon radish
> Red radish
> Three kinds of sweet corn
> Zucchini and yellow squash
> Two kinds of jack o lanterns
> A row of basil
> Cilantro
> Kale
> Chard
> Collard greens
> Red and white potatoes
> 
> I'm sure I'm forgetting something. We have ~2500 sq ft of garden this year.



Is that all just for you? I'm assuming you make wine with the Rhubarb, but man, that's a lot of veg!


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## barbiek

@GreginND what does Ruhbarb look like coming out of ground I planted 2 Ruhbarb last year and just broke off a piece of elderberry stem to mark them well this year I have 2 elderberry plants lol can't beleif they started! I have one that could possibly be a Ruhbarb but not sure what they look like and I don't want to disturb the roots by digging around and how long do they usually take to show? I haven't been able to find any results on the web googling again lol and wow you'll be so busy tending to those veges you won't have the time to eat any do what I do I eat straight out of the garden lol I have 4 gardens number 1 a strawberry patch, number2 asparagus, Ruhbarb and horseradish, number 3 your basic vege garden with tomatoes- cherry, beef steak, Roma, big boy and I think early girl, jalapeño peppers, green and red peppers, corn, cucumbers, bush beans, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon number 4 raised garden kale, lettuce, spinach and I forgot I have a small herb garden too! No pictures yet sorry I'll get some soon hopefully before the weeds move in lol


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## Mismost

JohnT...you make a lot of pesto with that basil?

We have tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, yellow and zuccinni squash, mint, thyme, oregino, onions, garlic, eggplants, tulips, daffodills, and a ton of zinnias this year. Lotta sheep manure, lotta rain, lotta growth, pretty garden so far.


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## Rocky

Hi All, very impressive gardens! One question, what do you all do to protect against deer and rabbits? That is my big issue here, although all I have is herbs (mint, basil, rosemary, parsley, oregano). 

In my neighborhood we are restricted in planting gardens. Most people who have them, have only a modest container set up.


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## Arne

Rocky said:


> Hi All, very impressive gardens! One question, what do you all do to protect against deer and rabbits? That is my big issue here, although all I have is herbs (mint, basil, rosemary, parsley, oregano).
> 
> In my neighborhood we are restricted in planting gardens. Most people who have them, have only a modest container set up.



See if your local barbershop will give you some hair.. Sprinkle it around the garden. Should help with both critters. Arne.


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## GreginND

Here are some pictures of the rhubarb patch. I don't have pics yet of the main veggie garden yet but things are just starting to grow. The veggies will be for us and to share. Last year we sold some through our local coop. That won't happen this year but we will likely sell produce at the winery. I think we will have more onions than we know what to do with. Forgot to mention the Asian and slicing cucumbers.


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## Mismost

Arne said:


> See if your local barbershop will give you some hair.. Sprinkle it around the garden. Should help with both critters. Arne.



fence it tall works best....if you live in a neighborhood the deer are used to people and hair from the barbershop will not bother them at all, they know what people smell like...wife is a hair dresser, we tried it, it did not work...hair does work well the compost pile.

we view the deer as our mobile protein plot....we feed them a little bit, they feed us a little bit...paybacks are hell sometimes!


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## barbiek

Thanks GreginND that's exactly what I pictured in my mind don't think mine are gonna come up lol I plant dill around the garden seems to deter everything! That and take my dog a walk in and around my garden. When brushing the dog I save the hair and place some in strawberry patch. It's dog hair that works not human hair lol but nothing will keep those brave little Benny's away from my strawberry patch hey I might plant some more dill never tried it on my strawberry patch! I've had luck with dill and also srateagecally placing cucumbers and squashes on the outsides of the garden. Varment hate the feel of the leaves. Don't know if deer will walk on the leaves or not I just know keeps the coons out


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## TXWineDuo

Here is proof @JohnT and all y'alls gardens look great! 
In Texas we get to start our gardens earlier than y'all do. The tomatoes are 5' tall and producing over 2 lbs of fruit every 3-4 days. We eat what we can and give away the rest.

TXWineDuo


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## Turock

Why plant a garden when you can find a million veggie stands that sell produce for pennies? My mother made us kids slave all summer in our 1/2 acre garden. I vowed to never grow a veggie after that. Way too much work.


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## Mismost

Turock said:


> Why plant a garden when you can find a million veggie stands that sell produce for pennies? My mother made us kids slave all summer in our 1/2 acre garden. I vowed to never grow a veggie after that. Way too much work.



Why make wine, you can find a million stores that sell wine? Because it's the magic involved...you start with a small hard seed and wind up feeding your face. It's battling the elements and cooperating with them at the same time to complete a successful harvest. AND...I know this stuff hasn't sprayed with all kinds of chemicals. Yeah, it is some work, but lugging all that produce into the house is a sense of accomplishment and it's just tastes better too.


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## JohnT

Mismost said:


> JohnT...you make a lot of pesto with that basil?


 
No, but I make up "Flavor Packs" for my tomato sauce. I take a small freezer bag and cram it full of basil (with a little thyme and parsley). I then fill the bag with water, seal it, and then freeze it. 

The results are awesome. The water helps protect the herbs. When I make my sauce, I score the bag with a knife, peal the bag off, and chuck the frozen block of herbs right into the simmering sauce. 

AHHHHH! fresh basil year round!


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## CheerfulHeart

*Another good deer deterrent*

Homemade dried pepper flakes work well around here. Dry some of your hottest peppers until they can be crumbled then mix it with a little feed corn and sprinkle around the garden. The deer eat the corn and don't come back for a while.


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## GreginND

Turock said:


> Why plant a garden when you can find a million veggie stands that sell produce for pennies? My mother made us kids slave all summer in our 1/2 acre garden. I vowed to never grow a veggie after that. Way too much work.



Not all of us are so lucky to find millions of veggie stands around us. And any produce stands I can find don't have pink eyed purple hulled peas, japanese cucumbers, soybeans, thai chilis, etc. etc. etc.


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## GreginND

Here are some pics from the main veggie garden.


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## the_rayway

@GreginND that looks wonderful!! Yours too @JohnT !

This year is a bit wonky, because we have the house up for sale, so I didn't plant as much at home (don't want to give it away!!). I did my plot at the Community garden this year. 4 rows of garlic, 2 rows of onion, 18 tomatoes of various types (all heirloom), 20-ish hot peppers, rainbow beets and carrots, honey nut squash, white pumpkin, melons. In my home garden are the shallots, herbs - oregano, thyme, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, cilantro, lemon cilantro, citronella, sage, basil of all types, rosemary, parsley, green/purple/yellow/roma beans, more honey nuts, and lettuce/kale/swiss chard. Then the potatoes and the large portion of beans get planted at my sister-in-law's place.

I garden wherever I can! We were pretty bummed that the tomatoes my friend started for us all didn't make it. I ended up getting some Green Zebras, black Krimm, German Stripes, Rainbow, and...beefsteaks?


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## JohnT

This year I am doing container potatoes for the first time. Took some old potatoes from the kitchen and planted them in containers with only 4 inches of soil. As the plants grow, I have been adding more and more soil. They are looking very good...


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## Jericurl

We have had hail...what 4? 5? times this year. 

The asparagus was fine, it always is..
The lettuce was beat to pieces so we lost all of it, the cabbage, the spinach, bok choy, etc. Probably had about 10 different varieties planted.

Tomatoes were beat all to heck, so I ripped them out, went down to the feed store and got more and put then in the ground just in time for another hail storm.

So now we are down to just all the herbs and our hot peppers.
Our favorites are cowhorn peppers. This will be our 4th year growing them and they are just superb.


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## knockabout

this year due to the amount of rain we have had I have lost 15 heirloom tomatoes, 6squash 6 zucchini my 3year old artichokes, 1 year old kale.... I am so discouraged...Texas weather sigh!


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## barbiek

@Turock I too grew up slaving in the fields when other kids my age were at the local lake swimming. There's nothing like eating fresh veges while your standing in the middle of your garden lol, seeing and hearing the expressions of your neighbors it's like growing your own grapes and making wine from them. I give most away. It's a pride thing too lol


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## JohnT

+1 on what @Barbiek said.. 

You just can not beat a home grown tomato, pepper, cucumber, or herbs! In NJ, the "Jersey Tomato" is almost a state wide obsession. 

It is kind of neat growing your own stuff (much like making wine at home). There is that same sense of satisfaction when things go right and a real feeling of disappointment when things go bad. I remember my Father was almost in tears when a rabbit destroyed his string bean crop.


Jericurl/knockabout: So sorry to hear about the weather down there! Oh, the heartache!


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## Turock

I don't have to stand out in the sun to make wine. But working in a garden always requires being in the evil sun, which I hate. A garden becomes a JOB, and after many years of doing it as a kid, I just can't see the value in it.


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## Steve_M

Kale anyone?
Planted far too much kale right out of the gate this year. I'm having it lunch and dinner everyday! Giving away as fast as we can. 
Tomatoes are doing great. Have few different varieties of peppers as well. 





Steve


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## JohnT

This is what happens when you have a bored spouse and a plant nursery nearby....


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## Larryh86GT

My first picking this morning. Fresh snow peas for dinner tonight!


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## Billpizzaiolo

Hair works until the next big rain storm. We gave up on that. When we had no neighbors we left a radio in the greenhouse playing music all night. That kept many of the critters from going in the garden next to the greenhouse. The part furthest from the radio we shared with the critters. Now we have a seven foot plastic-coated-metal chicken wire fence above ground and a 3 foot buried down 2 feet all around with the 7' fence. It keeps out everything except the birds and the bugs. So much for having a $$$ saving kitchen garden.


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## RevA

Steve_M said:


> Kale anyone?
> Planted far too much kale right out of the gate this year. I'm having it lunch and dinner everyday! Giving away as fast as we can.
> Tomatoes are doing great. Have few different varieties of peppers as well.
> View attachment 29719
> View attachment 29720
> View attachment 29721
> 
> 
> Steve



Anyone ever made kale wine?


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## TonyR

Not me, but sautéed with onions and garlic is outstanding. The same makes a really good pizza topping.


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## GreginND

The garden is growing well.


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## Larryh86GT

That's not a garden. That's a farm. Looking good....
Larry


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## JohnT

Simply awesome. Agree that definitely qualifies as a farm! 



I feel like a true wimp showing a collection of flower pots on my deck!


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## TXWineDuo

This has been one of our better years, but now comes the Texas heat so the tomatoes lessen and the peppers kick in. Here are a couple of pics from this morning's harvest.
Also a shout out to all y'alls great garden pictures!!!!!

TXWineDuo


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## CheerfulHeart

I am so enjoying all the pictures and descriptions of the gardens! Next year my husband and I plan to plant a garden and also replace the fruit trees we lost to the drought here in central California. We want to wait 1 more year to give the acreage a chance to recover. We are really looking forward to growing peppers and tomatoes again. My husband makes amazing red salsa and sauces!


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## JohnT

Things are growing very nicely. My potatoes seem to be doing very well (we will see just how well in the fall) and are flowering (very pretty)


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## Steve_M

@gregind agreed that's a farm!
Love it!

Steve


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## Steve_M

My tomatoes in particular are just going crazy!
I can't keep up with the tying of them.
Kale is growing way too fast for us to eat it all, and lettuce has gone bitter. 

Steve


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## Steve_M

Here are the pictures I thought uploaded

Steve


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## JohnT

Must be that sideways planting technique...


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## GreginND

Wow, looking great! Last year my kale grew over 6 feet tall. I planted less this year.

Given that I will have a plethora of vegetables this year I'm looking at preservation methods. I think I will be doing a lot of lactofermented veggies. Definitely pickles, but I'm also going to ferment the green beans, cabbage (sauerkraut), cauliflower, beets, and . . . lots of fermented pepper hot sauce.


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## ffemt128

We've picked 6 yellow squash and 2 heads of broccoli so far from our garden along with a ton of herbs. Tomato plants are about 4 1/2 feet tall and are starting to get tomatoes. We have cucumbers on the plant and the Zucchini is starting to flower. Love the fresh veggies.


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## barbiek

I can't upload more than one pic at a time for some reason this is some of my garden


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## barbiek

One of my horse radish


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## barbiek

One of my elderberry
Upside down


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## barbiek

My sad looking raised bed have to plant some more seeds in the bare spots kale, romain, red sails, and spinach.


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## JohnT

Garden is doing great so far. I actually can see my very first cucumber! 
I harvested some basil and made up 3 "flavor packs" for the freezer. Sorry if some of the pics are a little fuzzy.


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## shrewsbury

Pumpkins
Tomatoes
Leeks
Peppers
Beans
Zukes
Celery
Cabbage

Been ok, besides no rain, so I just keep watering. Thank God for the cistern!


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## GreginND

Looking great, everyone!


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## TonyR

Picked my garlic this morning, just finished braiding it, old stiff hands suck. I planted it last Oct. Inchelium Red , and Polish White. Both solfneck. 10 braids of 12 head, plus some small ones.


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## Mismost

The deer are loving it this year...we've been so busy we just try to get out cut squash just throw over fence....birds are getting the best tomatoes and those go over the fence too. We picked about almost a full 5 gallon bucket of peppers, took 'em to church and gave them away....got home and found a paper sack full of peppers someone dropped off on the back porch!

The zinnias are just awesome this year...about 4' tall and covered in blooms. We cut them by the bucket full and just sit them on the porch in town and give them away. People will take them....the leave the squash sitting there!! Amazing what happens with rain in the garden.

Going to try and make tomato preserves sometime...if life ever slows down a little bit.


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## Steve_M

My first tomatoes. 

Steve


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## GreginND

I'm waiting for my first tomatoes. But we sure could use some rain. We've had only about half an inch in the last two months. It's getting dry out there.


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## barbiek

Some of my garden


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## barbiek

Some more lol can't post more than 1 photo at a time
Bush beans


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## barbiek

Can't wait till these get ripe!


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## barbiek

Again can't wait


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## barbiek

And again last one for now


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## JohnT

noticed that the Japanese Beatles discovered my basil. Spent about an hour burning them off with a stick lighter. 

Damn things are annoying...


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## drumlinridgewinery

everyones gardens look great. Here are a few pics from WI taken a few weeks ago. Its a jungle now


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## Larryh86GT

This is today's potato "harvest". About 5 lbs of new white potatoes. In the spring we had a bag that was getting old and the eyes were growing out so just for chuckles I put them in the garden and dug them up today.


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## Steve_M

Picked last last night. 
Steve


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## Johny99

You folks are disgusting So far we have some corn, lots of peppers, two cherry tomatoes and lot of weeds. At least the vineyard looks better than the garden


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## ibglowin

Got maters? One weeks production........ I have a bunch of Jalapeños that look to be ready. I think I see a big ol batch of fresh salsa this week!


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## Johnd

ibglowin said:


> Got maters? One weeks production........ I have a bunch of Jalapeños that look to be ready. I think I see a big ol batch of fresh salsa this week!



We'll be harvesting our second batch of jalapeño peppers this coming weekend. First batch yielded 22 jars of jelly. Dumped over Philly cream cheese and spread on pita chips, it's a huge winner.


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## ceeaton

Planted my garden really late this year. Just getting my first ripe tomatoes. Have had plenty of beans. Starting beans/zucchini/cucumbers that should all be harvested in late September, when all the local produce is disappearing. Funny how the tomato in the pot always seems to do better than the ones in the garden, though I will get an immense harvest when they do come. My Roma plants are really loaded this year, but don't expect those for another two weeks.


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## barbiek

Made some salsa with these just the other day. Got another basket full. The tomatoes are coming daily so I will be canning plain tomatoes the beginning of next week. Forgot to snap a pic of my jalapeño and bell peppers I used in the salsa why do my pics always post up side down?


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## JohnT

For some reason, my cucumbers simply quit on me. The leaves are all curled up and dead. Not sure why, I have been watering on a regular basis.


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## Mismost

garden is pretty much a desert now, just burnt up, burnt out. Except for the zinnias....they are still covered in blooms.
No rain in sight. Fall tomatoes and some greens are residing on the back porch awaiting a little cooler weather before actually hitting the garden....put in too soon, they just burn up...too late and you may get a killing freeze...it's a crap shoot.

Oh, for you folks with a tomato surplus, go here and check out the Tomato Jam that Jerricurl posted. That stuff is amazingly good, simple to make, easy to customize to your tastes.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50021&page=2


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## TonyR

10 pints of dill pickles, my cucumbers are really starting to move, just wish the tomatoes would get in gear


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## TonyR

JohnT said:


> For some reason, my cucumbers simply quit on me. The leaves are all curled up and dead. Not sure why, I have been watering on a regular basis.



Have you or anyone or thing been walking on the vines? That will kill them fast. Cukes are more sensitive to fungus (mildew) than grapes. Or they just reached the end of there life cycle.


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## JohnT

TonyR said:


> Have you or anyone or thing been walking on the vines? That will kill them fast. Cukes are more sensitive to fungus (mildew) than grapes. Or they just reached the end of there life cycle.


 
As far as I know, no-one has stepped on them. I have them in Earth-Box planters and they were doing just fine. I planted them, they shot up for about a month, produced a TON of flowers, then just stopped growing. I noticed that the leaves had holes in them, but there did not seem to be any type of insect that damaged them. The leaves then started browning around the edges and now the vines are mostly dead. The most I managed to get out of them were just a handful of tiny cucumbers. 

OOOOOH THE HEARTACHE!!! 

I wonder if anyone might know what happened so that I might prevent it in future????


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## barbiek

JohnT not only do ya need to water frequently you need to feed them also. And my cucumber roots always grow deep pull a dead one out of the pot chances are the roots got overcrowded hope this helps in some way


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## JohnT

I did switch to an organic fertilizer. Perhaps that is the culprit. 

The cucs are now officially dead. I am now reduced to raiding my friends' gardens for fresh cucumbers.

OH WHAT HEAVY SORROW!!!


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## stickman

Just harvested these tomatoes today. The two varieties I typically grow are Early Girl and San Marzano. I'll convert all of these into puree and can with a little fresh basil.


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## Boatboy24

There is no better sauce than that from San Marzano tomatoes.


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## JohnT

Wow stickman!!! Awesome!


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## JohnT

My friend has just encountered the most vicious and indestructible garden pest, the dreaded "Friend in Need". 

Nothing can compare with the shear devastation caused by this pest. If you have so much as ONE in your garden, you will find that half of your cucumbers and several tomatoes will be completely gone in just a matter of 20 minutes. GONE! Not even a trace left behind. 

LOL, This is how my conversation went when my friend graciously offered to share the spoils of her garden. I could not thank her enough since my cucumber crop was VERY disappointing and I did not have any to can. I came home with a good 2 doz cucumbers and 1/2 doz tomatoes.. 

When I got home, I immediately washed/sliced/canned them. Got my supply of bread and butter pickles for the winter!


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## GreginND

Pleas send some "pests" my way!

This weekend of garden abundance. 

I pulled the onions. 







Dug the potatoes.







Picked, blanched and froze the edamame - a full 5 gal pail full. I put up about 16 quart bags.


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## JohnT

That looks great! looks like you will be eating home grown veggies for a good long while!


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## JohnT

So I finally got around to harvesting my potatoes!

I went with a container method. I nurtured them to the point where the potato plants were vibrant, green, and lush! 

Well, the plants died off about a week ago. Having a moment to spare on Friday, I grabbed a bucked and dug my through the soil, collecting all of the season's bounty. 

My wife still hasn't stopped laughing..


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## TonyR

Was out in the garden and picked some tomatios and peppers so I made some Salsa Verde. Makes really good chicken fajita's with Sams Club rotisserie chicken.


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## TonyR

Picked the last of the tomatoes and peppers this morning. Got 1/2 bushel of roma tomatoes, this had to be the worst year I have ever had with tomatoes. Ran them thru the squeezeO and then boiled adding peppers,onions,garlic, celery,carrots and lots of herbs. When I finished I had 9 qts of thick homemade V8 juice great during the cold winter and not to bad for a Bloody Mary


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## Mismost

JohnT said:


> So I finally got around to harvesting my potatoes!
> 
> I went with a container method. I nurtured them to the point where the potato plants were vibrant, green, and lush!
> 
> Well, the plants died off about a week ago. Having a moment to spare on Friday, I grabbed a bucked and dug my through the soil, collecting all of the season's bounty.
> 
> My wife still hasn't stopped laughing..



John, I just refuse to plant potatoes or onions....I can't see them grow and they are way too cheap to buy...my garden is too small to the waste the space.

This year we had the finest crop of zinnas you ever saw...we are cutting huge batches of blooms for the house and to give away. They don't taste good, but they sure bring a smile to every one who sees them. It's a small thing to give away flowers, but it brings me huge joy to do it.


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## JohnT

Mismost said:


> John, I just refuse to plant potatoes or onions....I can't see them grow and they are way too cheap to buy...my garden is too small to the waste the space.


 
My brother had given me some of his home grown spuds. I cooked them up and had to say that they were fantastic. They were perhaps the best potatoes I ever had. I figured I would give it a try, but something must have gone wrong. Very disappointing!


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## TonyR

I totaly agree, fresh garden spuds can't be beat so much creamer to anything you can get in the store. To grow good ones your soil should have a pH of 5.5. And you need lots of compost in it so the soil is loose. A little side dressing of 10-10-10 early in the growing season helps to.


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## Mismost

out on an East Texas deer lease in a long ago past life we grew sweet potatoes. Used a 55 gallon barrel that we knocked holes in the sides to plant the slips. Filled it up with rotted cow manure and that East Texas sandy dirt and plugged in the slips. I thought it was a real waste of time...but, the deer love the potatoe vines, they were a real attractant.

Those East Texas boys were true backwoods country folks! After they took their deer, they would kick over the barrels and pull out the sweet potatoes to eat with their venison...they could cook too!

Point is, those taters grew real good in a barrel...maybe you just need a bigger pot.


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## JohnT

I got a really big pot. I think my mistake was trying to grow the spuds in potting soil.


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## Gladys

I just started out gardening,but it has been a good year so far.I would recommend getting organic weed killers to get rid of the weed.


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