Winter crop

So far we have had a mild Maryland winter. Had we anticipated this we would have planted more but the Short-N-Sweet carrots have done really well.

Also pictured dill, arugula and catnip.

New squash! No mildew

If you look in my earlier post you'll find my struggles with squash and powdery mildew.

My experiment is working good.
Planted two in a container and put them out in the yard in direct sunlight. They get almost no shade. So far they seem to enjoy it.
Then hurricane Irene and Lee came through and blocked out the sun for ten plus days. According to the news, the northeast has gotten 45 trillion gallons of rain. My point is, we will see how well my squash will fair.

Hurricane Irene and Lee tomatoes

It has rained here for almost 10 days straight due to the 2 passing hurricanes. This much water isn't good for the garden and many things are rotting in the garden. This is all that I was willing to bring in. Most of the rest was rotted and or mush.

Today's Haul

It's a small gathering today. Hurricane Irene has come and gone. The garden was mostly spared.

Today's Haul

Because of the impending hurricane, Hurricane Irene, we went ahead and picked everything that was close to rip. 

We have here heirloom beefsteaks, Jenny, Juliette, fireballs, totem, chocolate cherry tomatoes. 
Peaches, sweet basil, thai basil, cucumber, and jalapeños. 

Today's Haul

that yellow ball next to the three little red tomatoes, that's a peach front row. It small but this is the first year our peach tree has produced anything.

Today's Haul

Front porch figs.

Today's Haul

Today's Haul

Mid Season retry on Squash



Before the onset of Powdery Mildew



I have sad news.  If you recall Powdery Mildew.   I was yet again battling it out with powdery mildew. 



 

Moments before i pulled it up



One new suggestion was to spray the infected plant with a water soluble sulfur.

Well after weeks of spraying it in the mornings with the sulfur solution the plant finally died.  It died before it could even produce its first squash.

On to the new squash...



Picture taken 8/4/11, 8 days after sowing 



I planted some more squash seeds.  This time i planted them in a container that was going to be kept in the direct sun and away from the garden sprinkler. 

So on 7/28 we got a container together and filled it with dirt.  Stuck some seeds in the dirt and didn't check on it for a week.  Came back a week later and this is what i found!  This picture was taken on 8/4/11 and i cant believe how quickly it grew.

taken 8/9/11

 

Checking back on my new hope for squash this year.  Still no sign of powdery mildew.  The only time the leaves get wet now is from the rain or morning dew.  I make sure this plant gets watered from the dirt only.  This is roughly 2 weeks after sowing.  Must be really good dirt.

Today's Haul

Little Prince eggplants

Today's Haul

This is it for the beets, turnips and sweet corn (still have pop corn growing).  This is my third year to grow corn that matures like this. Eventually I will figure out what I'm doing wrong. 

Tomatoes pictured are Beefsteak heirloom, black krim, cherokee purple, totem, and Jenny(the little yellow ones). 

Today's Haul

Praying Mantis

I found this guy on my front porch fig tree this morning. I think he is a rare find.

I have been noticing a rise in stink bugs on this tree lately. So I'm wondering if this praying mantis has shown up because of the stink bugs.

Today's Haul

I'm going to start posting what we pick. It may be a small haul or large haul.  

Also this is my first time posting from my cell phone. So testing. 

Tomato Bottom Rot

Also known as Black bottom, Bottom end rot, and Blossom End Rot.  Im sure there are more but this is what i have heard locally.

This is an example of the very start
of bottom end rot starting on this tomato.

So what is it?

well according to the Texas Aggies: Blossom end rot can affect fruit at all stages of development. The characteristic symptom is a progressive deterioration of the blossom end of the fruit, from a water-soaked appearance to a sunken, black, leathery lesion. While secondary fungal infections may occur, blossom end rot is a physiological disorder caused by calcium deficiency induced by water stress.

I can only speak to what I have encountered and I encounter it every year.  Every year the tomatoes I grow in pots get this.  Unfortunately I'm reactive instead of proactive.  So I wait until they show signs of bottom rot before I treat them.  Kind of as if maybe this will be the year that it doesn't happen.

Every oldtimer i ask tells me its missing calcium.  Just add calcium. So every year when it shows up, I add calcium and it always fixes my issue with bottom rot.  So lets go thought the simple step i do to help my tomato plants that have this.

1. First i take my bottle of Tums or other antacid relief tablets.   These are just about 100% calcium. 
2. I pour as much as i feel im going to need for this application depending on how many plants i plan to treat.
   
   
   
3. Smash it up to a powder.  I allow some chunks.  I think of it as a slow release form of calcium and the powder as a fast acting.
   
   
   
4. Last i just sprinkle it around the base of each tomato plant.  usually they are always the potted ones.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

This is what i have been told and what i practice.  You can continue to let the grow and they are still edible.  Just cut the bottom rot off and the rest of the tomato is fine to eat.  In fact i made salsa the other night and i used 2 tomatoes that had bottom rot.  I just cut it back until it looked like healthy tomato.

Next is to figure out why the leaves are turning yellow and falling off on the bottom of these potted tomato plants.?!?

Front Porch Figs

This is my fig tree that I have had for about 3 years now. During spring and summer it lives on my front porch. During fall and winter it lives in my garage.

So far this year is looking to be the best year, if everything that is on it now will mature. There is roughly 70-100 figs on this little tree.

Interesting enough, when i was taking pictures this morning i noticed that there were all of these stink bugs in the tree. Im not sure what they are doing but my new goal is to eliminate their existence in this tree.
I love figs and they are difficult to come by. That is why i grow them.

In this picture if you can click on it to make it bigger and zoom in on the branch you will see some stink bugs. I have also found an egg or 2 so they may be reproducing right there. I know i have killed young ones on this tree already.