23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

I thought it was roughly 60 days from flower to ripened fruit. Seems about right. I can only ever track the first flowers to the first fruit, though. Cherry tomatoes are a bit faster, which makes sense since the fruits are smaller.

Great thanks for all of your feedback! I'm not sure what kind of tomatoes they are I am a first year gardener so next year I will definitely look before I plant!

I agree with that Dave, but what about all the other bugs we ill like hornworms, SVB, etc?
How does your let nature take its course idea play out when those bugs are eating our crops?

but what about all the other bugs we ill like hornworms, SVB, etc? How does your let nature take its course idea play out when those bugs are eating our crops?

Crop protection is a totally different issue than killing bugs just because they bug you. Especially if they are not doing any damage to crops.

There are too many folks who would kill ANY caterpillar in their garden just in case it might be a hornworm rather then first make sure it is a hornworm. Kill any spider in case it might be a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse when, like wasps, common garden spiders are one of the best pest controls there is.

If it is a hornworm and it hasn't already been neutralized by wasps then you pick it off and kill it. If you don't know for sure then you watch and wait to see if it does any damage. It might very well be a swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. Either way you don't nuke the garden...just in case.

Same for SVB. If you won't use row covers on the squash then you risk SVB and you have to monitor the plants during the SVB egg laying periods. But that doesn't mean you have to kill any and all moths that fly by the garden on the off chance one might be an SVB mama.

So like I said, you don't kill a bug just because it is a bug. First you make sure it is a bad guy and is actually doing damage. If it isn't then leave it alone and let it do its thing and you often discover it is a big help in the garden.

Dave

If the stalks are skinny and the leaves not very deep green, don't get your hopes high for a good harvest.

In addition to knowing what variety it is, it would help to have a closer view of the corn that way we could tell better if its stressed or deficient in some way.

Yes, the male blooms are mostly in the center of the plant and the females out on the vines.

Thanks for the feedback

Actually, I think the PNW fits as a region predicted to experience disproportionate change. Same with the coastal northeast of north america which was predicted to have wetter and warmer winters and that has pretty clearly happened.

Contrast to, for example, Florida, which being nearer the equator has experienced less climate change.

Of course, it could be that DH and I are now retired and the kids are grown and gone. We now have the time to focus entire days on our garden. Yes, the weather is warmer, but the garden is also getting consistently watered. Whatever the reason, we are getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.

pluck off the flowers and give it some afternoon shade. is that your soil or much?

Also looks wet! Not a fan of that mulch for vegetables. Wood chips tie up nitrogen.

This post was edited by edweather on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 10:16

Do squash and gourds cross ??

Gourd is a very broad term. Many ornamental squash (c. pepo) are sold as gourds. True gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) do not cross with any of the common species of squash. Also often listed as gourds are Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) , Benincasa hispida (wax gourd), Luffa cylindrica, Luffa acutangula (sponge gourds). None of these cross with other species.

Sorry you can't eat that soup! I have been craving that soup for about a month now. Not a common menu item in the south. I want to make my own, but I have no beef for stock. I enjoy chicken soup with fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley. Hubby made a great soup today in our new Vitamixer machine. Asparagus, broccoli and half and half. To die for!

rhizo_1 I see that you are posting from AL.

They do eat more fresh peas there than we do in SC. The milder winters and the gulf climate allow them to grow better there. I lived there for 2 years (in Andalusia) with a job reassignment. That is where my wife found out how good they taste! It's easy to grow them down there.

It is hit and miss here in the Piedmont of SC. We get too many mixed up cold and hot spells. But I can grow lots of cow peas here!

I grew some of the best peanuts while I was down there, they were huge. In fact I probably had the best gardens that I have ever had while I lived there!

I experienced a lot of great food while I was there too. The small town that I worked in, Opp, had a BBQ place that was only open Thursday through Saturday. They had the best BBQ ribs that I have ever ate. You had to make reservations for racks of ribs, they sold out quick!

There was an oyster bar that the guys talked me into visiting with them. I really didn't care for oysters since the only ones that I had ate were canned (oyster stew). The so called "fresh" oysters were at least 3 or 4 days old since we lived so far from the coast.

I became a regular, every Friday after work I would stop in and have a bucket! They had oysters that were caught that morning and steamed. Good stuff!

gjcore: Thanks for sharing a picture of your hail protection. I was watching the hail pummel my garden and they dont fall vertically down. As with rain, it comes sideways as well. So your plants at the front would still receive considerable damage wont they? I thought of just getting a huge piece of sturdy plastic and just put it over the entire tomato bed (doable since i only have about 12 plants). Obviously that means I have go actually go put it on before the storm hits, unlike yours which you leave on all the time. We do get weather warnings and that was how i actually saved 60 -70% of my plants this time.

Zackey: In June when we had the huge hailstorm, my car which wasnt parked in the garage was hit too - its perhaps more than 100 round dents all over. Surprised the windscreens didnt break! Insurance company said they couldnt assess our case till end of August because they were inundated with similar cases in the region!

In my experience here on the high plains of Colorado the most damaging hail falls mostly straight down certainly though there is some sideways action.

My setup certainly isn't perfect but it does afford a good degree of protection. If I'm at home when the next hail comes I could attach tarps, sheets or blankets to my frames. Really having any sort of frame that you could throw something over and secure would help a lot. Just covering with a tarp etc. directly on the plants only provides minimal protection.

All of my veggies are grown in cedar boxes - 9 in all - so I can control just about everything. However, it is growing rampantly among the fruit trees. I've been putting down cardboard in hopes of - at least keeping them under some sort of control. Also have introduced a succulent ground cover - called aptenia - I think, which is used a lot to hold hilly areas to prevent erosion and as a fire retardant on weedy lots. It helps somewhat, but have often wondered about round-up - if just applied locally.

But, I've really done a lot of pulling and digging in the meantime. Nasty stuff! I think the birds bring in the seeds.

bejay

I think it's just one monster bindweed plant all over the world. The roots spread across the ocean floor and will soon crop up on Antarctica, now that the glaciers are melting.

@Amy_of_PNW I love the idea of donating one plot to the local food bank and everyone takes turns taking care of it. I think I will use that as a suggesting. Much better than the way it was done at ours. Always something new to learn :). Thanks for sharing!

A quick update on my experience, for those who might be googling and are unsure about starting a plot...

In general, I don't think this has been a good year for gardening in the midwest. Lots of rain early on! My summer squash are doing well, as are my tomatillos, but other than that everything is quite slow. I've gotten a few cucumbers and peppers, and my corn seems to be doing well.

I think my tomatoes have blight, and I've noticed tons and tons of cucumber beetles. One of our plot neighbors says that in the evenings, the deer come out of the surrounding woods, wait until there aren't any more people left, and then just swarm! They have definitely gotten the best of my broccoli. There are quite a few plots that have been given up on, so there are lots of weeds everywhere.

BUT, even though it's been more difficult than just gardening in containers on my porch, I do think I've learned a lot. I started out trying to do it with minimal fertilizers and insecticides, but learned quickly that it's worth a few bucks to invest in that stuff. I think I'll try to figure out a good mulch to use a bit earlier next year. I might also go for two plots instead of just one (20x20), as I think the rewards might be a bit greater with more plants and more space per plant.

My favorite thing is to walk around and check out everyone else's gardens and see what is working for them! It also helps me not to get too frustrated, as it seems that no one is having a good tomato year.