2018 how did your garden grow?

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Skinny rooster
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2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by Skinny rooster » Tue Aug 28, 2018 9:59 am

This year started out bad here, I had light frost until almost July, then it was really hot and dry, then really hot, humid and wet here.
First tomatoes were a huge disappointment, the green house labeled them wrong so I miss my golden boy and ultra pinks. I got some other type that I can't stand. Thankfully I planted an early girl in memory of when mom could garden because that was her favorite. I had a few early but I have had to buy tomatoes. The early girl has a lot of nice big green ones now so I should get some. I also found some cherry tomatoes growing wild so I moved them to the garden and they are starting to turn colour.
Water and honeydew melons are growing like crazy, I have never seen them do this well before, they took over sections of the garden like pumpkins often do. Beans great, lettuce, spinach, onions, beets, potatoes all doing great. Carrots were really slow to come because of the dry weather in the beginning, I lost half even with watering them. The ones left are doing really well, nice long carrots and I forgot to keep the name of them, darn! Red peppers also doing really well. I planted basil for the first time and it's a hedge.. so I trimmed it, I don't know if I am supposed to do that but the older leaves are full of holes from the bugs and look gross.
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labradors
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by labradors » Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:15 pm

My garden was growing gangbusters until:

-The cuke beetles arrived and did-in my cukes. They didn't spread disease at least, but chewed out all the flowers and distorted the new growth which finished them off.

-A fierce storm brought hail which damaged the tomatoes and peppers. It also caused the peppers to rot on the plants! I've never seen anything like it and they were doing so well up to that point.

-The greens took a hit, but removal of the damaged chard and kale leaves has helped them to spring back.

The garlic was great and we've enjoyed some new potatoes. Cilantro was divine! I don't think it's worth growing peas. Two meals were all we had, so not worth the real estate. Had some very young pole beans and then only a couple of meals before they became has-beans :(.

I had a good haul of tomatoes this season and picked a lot at blush stage to finish ripening in the basement to save them from varmints and our own marauding k9's. Mouse traps took care of the mice that found the basement maters.

Eggplants are producing, but I can't keep up. Who wants to cook eggplants in this heat?

We've had a few melons. Halona F1 was excellent. Charentais was a bit milder, but maybe I didn't wait long enough... When I tried waiting longer I picked a ball of mush. At least the chickens enjoyed the seeds though :).
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Jaye
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by Jaye » Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:50 pm

@labradors , you could try fermenting your eggplant if you have an overabundance - fermenting won't heat up your kitchen. Just add a bunch of Italian spices to the brine. Or you could make eggplant kimchi. :-)
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by Happy » Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:01 pm

My peppers did amazing this year. Cucumbers did ok and I’m still eating some but they are getting seedy. Tomato plants did great but yield is down quite a bit. I’m still waiting on the bulk to ripen. Zucchini wasn’t great....beans didn’t last as long even with frequent picking. And peas well the chickens got the measly few that were produced because something ate the seeds as fast as we could sow them lol. And it wasn’t chickens! Anything else was nothing to write home about.
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windwalkingwolf
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by windwalkingwolf » Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:33 pm

I got a really late start...I only started tomato and pepper seeds indoors, and didn't get them out until middle of June. Peppers are just getting to decent size now, cherry tomatoes are finally starting to ripen, and slicing tomatoes are still green green green. Of the stuff I direct seeded, looks like I'm only going to get ONE cabbage. Bush beans are going gangbusters, pole beans JUST starting to flower. Zucchini did what zucchini does, and I have been picking lots of monsters for several weeks. Cucumbers also going gangbusters for several weeks and no slow-down in sight. I can't keep up, anyone want any cucumbers? I have them in all sizes from gherkins to slicers. The few pumpkins I planted are producing well and some have started to turn colour, YAY! I thought I had missed the boat on pumpkins. Of melons I planted Ha'ogen, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon and mousemelon... If we get a couple more weeks of nice weather I should get a couple Ha'ogen and honeydew, but the cantaloupe is WAY behind and watermelon and mousemelon aren't even putting out any female flowers. I also planted luffa. If I'm lucky, I might get a couple very tiny bath scrubbers lol
I got some ground cherry and tomatillo seeds from Nicky's seed swap, and those are doing GREAT. I am a convert! I don't know what varieties they are, but there's loads of little yellow ground cherries, and they are SO good, like fresh pineapple. I may grow a couple dozen plants of those next year and make jam. The tomatillo are enormous, almost the size of tennis balls, and also quite tasty. It's the first time I've grown tomatillo, and I half expected it to taste like an underripe tomato (YUCKKKK), but nope, it has a flavour all its own and is quite delicious. If I ever get some tomatoes, I am going to make salsa.
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by labradors » Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:34 pm

Jaye wrote:
Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:50 pm
@labradors , you could try fermenting your eggplant if you have an overabundance - fermenting won't heat up your kitchen. Just add a bunch of Italian spices to the brine. Or you could make eggplant kimchi. :-)
Great idea! I never thought of that! Thanks :).

I usually dehydrate them and they are great added to soups/stews, but I overdid it last year and still have rather a lot left......
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by Happy » Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:13 pm

@windwalkingwolf I grew tomatillo a couple years ago because I wanted green salsa. The salsa was great. But I’m still pulling tomatillo plants out of the garden lol. Don’t let them go to seed unless you plan on a big patch next year. They’re worse than tomatoes for self seeding!
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Jaye
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by Jaye » Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:19 pm

@windwalkingwolf , tomatillo are really tasty when you mix them with sweet potatoes too. I make a sweet potato & tomatillo soup in the winter when I can find them for a decent price. I never think to grow them until it's too late to plant.
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by labradors » Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:55 pm

Tennis ball sized tomatotillo's? I had no idea! I thought they were quite small. Next year...…..
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windwalkingwolf
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Re: 2018 how did your garden grow?

Post by windwalkingwolf » Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:43 am

Happy wrote:
Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:13 pm
@windwalkingwolf I grew tomatillo a couple years ago because I wanted green salsa. The salsa was great. But I’m still pulling tomatillo plants out of the garden lol. Don’t let them go to seed unless you plan on a big patch next year. They’re worse than tomatoes for self seeding!
That will not be a problem...A farmer neighbour was going to throw out some bale wrap ends, and I took them, lined my garden with the plastic, and cut holes for all my plants! Weed free garden, holds in moisture and heat, and the plastic is tough and UV stable so I can re-use it next year. I've had to poke a couple holes to let pooled rainwater out of low spots, but I don't care. Nothing will self seed mwahahahaha and the "mulch" was freeeeeee! I have a huge garden, almost two acres, all lined with bale wrap mwahahahaha. BUT, I definitely plan to save seed and grow them again!!
Jaye wrote:
Tue Aug 28, 2018 2:19 pm
@windwalkingwolf , tomatillo are really tasty when you mix them with sweet potatoes too. I make a sweet potato & tomatillo soup in the winter when I can find them for a decent price. I never think to grow them until it's too late to plant.
what? Tomatillo and sweet potato? recipe please!! I will save you some tomatillos. I have a bunch, and if frost holds off for a couple of week it will be a boatload, more than I can eat or pickle, EVER.
labradors wrote:
Tue Aug 28, 2018 3:55 pm
Tennis ball sized tomatotillo's? I had no idea! I thought they were quite small. Next year...…..
Oh yeah, I had no idea either, my mother planted tomatillos once and they were no bigger than the size of those ornamental orange chinese lantern things. But mine are about 4-6 ounces, I'll get a picture when I can. I nmever expected them to be so big.
The ground cherries, however, are pretty small. I've got loads, but they're not making it out of the garden, I'm eating them as fast as they ripen. About the size of wild gooseberries. SO good, like if a pineapple, a persimmon, and a tomato, had a really tasty baby. The tomatillos taste like a tomato if raw tomatoes didn't suck. I hate the taste of raw tomatoes, but tomatillos I have found, I can happily eat like apples! But there's so many, and they're so big, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them all!
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