2022 Garden Plans

This topic has 141 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.

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August 27, 2022 at 7:14 pm #36172
BakerAunt
Participant
We are getting tomatoes but not at the rate that Len, Mike, and Chocomouse are. I still hope to freeze some tomato sauce. Our green beans are producing abundantly, and I am planning to freeze more tomorrow. The honey nut squashes are looking good and numerous. One of the honey nut squash seeds has instead produced what look like butternut squash. One is turning yellow, and there are two more large ones. The bell peppers are doing well, and we have been harvesting them as they turn red.
August 27, 2022 at 10:29 pm #36176
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I have 24 cages of tomatoes, I should be getting a lot more tomatoes than I'm getting, there have been years when I was picking 40-50 tennis ball sized tomatoes a day, but I'll take what I can get and will process tomatoes tomorrow, I should get around 3 quarts of juice.
August 28, 2022 at 7:09 am #36179
chocomouse
Participant
My bean crop is very disappointing, and I'm not sure why. I grow them in a 2' x 4' x 8" deep planter on the deck, and fertilize with 1/4 strength Miracle Grow about every 10 days. I've also watered them, soaking, about every 3-4 days, as we've had only about 1.25" of rain this month. The first, main crop, was excellent, similar to the crop last year. But I didn't get another crop! For 37 years, I've gotten one huge main crop, a 2nd smaller crop, and then a handful of beans every week or so. This time, the plants did not produce any more flowers, so no more beans. We've had about 20 days of 90* temps, but with about 5-7 days of low to mid-80s in between hot days. It's a variety I have often grown, Blue Lake. Since everything else on my deck flourished with the same management, I don't know why I didn't get more beans. I miss having fresh beans for dinner!
August 30, 2022 at 10:17 am #36210
BakerAunt
Participant
A little garden humor:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/comics/half-full-by-maria-scrivan/ss-AA11fead?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=03c9d03639a0af2c1f42abac0a7073ea
September 2, 2022 at 10:04 am #36263
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
The bigger tomatoes are finally starting to ripen, I picked one yesterday that was 13.5 ounces, I think it is an Amish Paste variety. I'll probably do another batch of tomato juice in the next few days, maybe Monday.
September 3, 2022 at 9:22 am #36270
chocomouse
Participant
I just froze 6 quarts of tomato sauce and 4 half-pint containers of tomato-basil soup. I still have a couple of 5 gallon pails worth of ripe tomatoes on the vine, but I think I'll take them to the local food shelf. Between the abundance of berries and tomatoes, I am running low on freezer containers; however, I just found a box of empty large Cool Whip containers that will work. We are done picking blackberries -- too much competition from the yellow jackets and their stings are very painful. I'll pick blueberries once more, maybe a quart, and remove the netting for the birds to feast. Raspberries are just approaching peak picking, and that will continue until we get a good frost, mid to late October most years.
September 4, 2022 at 12:28 pm #36290
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I picked the big Crenshaw melon today, it weighed nearly 8 pounds.

The critters seem to be enjoying the Honey Rock melons more than my wife does, she thinks they taste too much like honeydew, which she's not fond of. Next spring I'll try a more 'cantaloupe-like' melon variety. I've grown Athena before, they can get HUGE. One year we picked a 12 pound Athena.

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September 4, 2022 at 2:52 pm #36297
chocomouse
Participant
Yummy looking melon, Mike!
September 4, 2022 at 6:51 pm #36302
Joan Simpson
Participant
Mike nice looking melon!
The best cantaloupes I've had are the Athenas.
September 4, 2022 at 10:30 pm #36304
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
The Crenshaw melon was a bit of a disappointment, I don't think it was a ripeness issue, I think it just has some flavor notes we didn't care for.

So if I do melons next year, they'll be something other than Honey Rock or Crenshaw.
September 5, 2022 at 11:05 am #36309
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I picked a big bowl of eggplants today, some I'll use for eggplant/zucchini lasagna, the rest will go to two friends.

Did you know that white eggplants can turn yellow?

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September 7, 2022 at 1:52 pm #36356
skeptic7
Participant
My father is ripening tomatoes on an outside window sill, but some had to be thrown away due to squirrels climbing up to eat them. Do any of you have squirrel/chipmunk attacks on your tomatoes?
Mike I am impressed with 25 tomato plants in cages. How do you manage so many cages? Dad tends to stack them messily at the side of the yard. It must be great to have enough to can and juice as well as put in sandwiches.
September 7, 2022 at 2:33 pm #36357
chocomouse
Participant
I've been reading in my VT/NH gardening forums a lot this summer about squirrels and chipmunks eating the tomatoes! The comments are that it's unusual, and probably due the drought -- with no rain, no puddles, and no water in lots of usual areas. The suggested remedy is to put out some shallow pans of water for the critters. We have a drought here, but I've not had a problem.

During the off-season, I stash my tomato cages in the edge of the woods that surround our property.
September 7, 2022 at 2:33 pm #36358
RiversideLen
Participant
Skeptic, if I'm going to ripen tomatoes outside, I leave them on the vine. If I want to pull them off to protect them from insect/critter damage, I take them inside to finish ripening. Once off the vine, I don't think they need additional sunlight.

I've had this happen to me too. That was some years ago but was the first ripening tomato of the year.

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September 8, 2022 at 10:20 am #36369
skeptic7
Participant
I am sorry for your tomatoes but that is a very cute picture. How did you manage to shoot it. I never tried to feed tomatoes to my rabbit when I had one. There is a lot of reports of squirrels eating tomatoes around here and chipmunks too, but we had enough rain. Perhaps they like tomatoes when its hot?
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