official veggie gardener's thread

[meltdown75]

did my final harvest today too and took down the garden.

~15 jalapenos
~20 sweet banana peppers
dozen green peps
~30 cherry tomatoes

and some almost-ripe green zebra tomatoes, quite a few. i really enjoyed my garden this year. i can never imagine not having one in the future.

Ms Dickinson: those look AMAZING!!

here's a pic of what i picked today. the stuff on the cutting board isn't from today

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/meltdown75/IMG00382-20101017-2103.jpg

also, one last big tomato

 

[DrPizza]

did my final harvest today too and took down the garden.
~30 cherry tomatoes

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/meltdown75/IMG00382-20101017-2103.jpg

You suck at counting! There's a hell of a lot more than 30 cherry tomatoes there.
Just finished dinner - venison with green pepper in a tomato sauce. What an awesome all ingredients "home made" dinner.

 

[TraumaRN]

Well be picking all my green tomatoes tomorrow. Picking my last peppers. My broccoli if it's going to produce will do so in the next week or so. Same with my last batch of radishes. Will post some picture tomorrow...

 

[eldorado99]

I just picked my last serranos and corn for the year.

Next year I'm gonna step up production somewhat.

 

[BoomerD]

It must suck to live in cold country...my tomatoes are still producing like crazy with new blooms all over and my pepper plants are loaded with fruit in various stages of ripening, and still blossoming.

I'll probably get one more month out of the veggies before they start to go dormant...and I'll take them out after Thanksgiving...if we don't have frost before then.

 

[eldorado99]

It must suck to live in cold country...my tomatoes are still producing like crazy with new blooms all over and my pepper plants are loaded with fruit in various stages of ripening, and still blossoming.

I'll probably get one more month out of the veggies before they start to go dormant...and I'll take them out after Thanksgiving...if we don't have frost before then.

I've already had 3 frosts in a row last 3 days. Probably another tonight.

 

[BoomerD]

I've already had 3 frosts in a row last 3 days. Probably another tonight.

Fuck that...It was in the low 50's here last night...and I damned near froze... I actually had to put on long pants. (well, lightweight joggers instead of shorts)

 

[Ms. DICKINSON]

did my final harvest today too and took down the garden.
...
and some almost-ripe green zebra tomatoes, quite a few. i really enjoyed my garden this year. i can never imagine not having one in the future.

Ms Dickinson: those look AMAZING!!

here's a pic of what i picked today. the stuff on the cutting board isn't from today

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/meltdown75/IMG00382-20101017-2103.jpg

also, one last big tomato

Are those zebra tomatoes sour or sweet?
They look like my Thai eggplants. Here's a sample pic.

 

[meltdown75]

Are those zebra tomatoes sour or sweet?
They look like my Thai eggplants. Here's a sample pic.

they're sweet

i actually haven't found much use for them other than cutting them up and putting them in salads, which is fine. they taste kinda weird on a BLT. i also tried them in a BLT wrap

they're going to have to be ripened the quick and dirty way. when they ripen on the plant, the stripes are very yellow instead of white and they become sweeter as they ripen. might use some of them in a chili

i'm definitely going to freeze / preserve the green peppers and sweet banana peppers for use over the winter in salads / sauces.

 

[TraumaRN]

So I picked about 150 green tomatoes today. They are in various sealed paper bags ripening. I also realized that two of my tomatoes were more like trees...seriously I measured the one was over 10 feet tall D:

Anyways, before and after pictures of my garden renovation. First before, notice the grape vine on the fence in the backyard and cement slab the trashcan is sitting on.

Now after, grapevine and cement slab is gone. Changed all the lines on my landscaping bricks. Plus 10 cubic yards of insanely black compost.

 

[meltdown75]

gonna have to wait until i get home to see those, pics is blocked from work

any tips on freezing green peppers / sweet banana peppers / jaleps? i have some that i picked Sunday that i would like to preserve.

 

[troytime]

We've had several frosts already here (far northern illinois), but somehow my tomatoes and peppers are still blossoming

some of the tomatoes got some rot on the bottom, i assume this is from the frost - but the plants are still alive and not ALL of the fruits got the rot.

 

[slag]

It must suck to live in cold country...my tomatoes are still producing like crazy with new blooms all over and my pepper plants are loaded with fruit in various stages of ripening, and still blossoming.

I'll probably get one more month out of the veggies before they start to go dormant...and I'll take them out after Thanksgiving...if we don't have frost before then.

When you guys "take them out" do you just mow them down or cut the vines off or what? Mine are in a raised bed so I'm not sure what to do, other than cut the vines out of the tomato cages and then toss them out behind the house in the tree line.

 

[spidey07]

When you guys "take them out" do you just mow them down or cut the vines off or what? Mine are in a raised bed so I'm not sure what to do, other than cut the vines out of the tomato cages and then toss them out behind the house in the tree line.

I pull the whole plant out and then till in the spring along with other soil amendments. The roots aren't that deep or big.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Did my summer planting today. I intended to grow everything from seed myself but left it oo late. Labour day (three day weekend) specials were on so I bought all of these seedling extremely cheaply.

I'm quite new to this, so if anyone wants to give me growing tips/fertiliser usage tips etc you're more than welcome.

 

[TraumaRN]

Did my summer planting today. I intended to grow everything from seed myself but left it oo late. Labour day (three day weekend) specials were on so I bought all of these seedling extremely cheaply.

I'm quite new to this, so if anyone wants to give me growing tips/fertiliser usage tips etc you're more than welcome.

Not sure how the soil is down in New Zealand but make sure you get a trellis or some kind of wire fencing for that cucumber and fast. It'll take over that entire space if you don't. Get tomato cages around your tomatoes right now as it'll be easier to maintain.

 

[meltdown75]

Did my summer planting today. I intended to grow everything from seed myself but left it oo late. Labour day (three day weekend) specials were on so I bought all of these seedling extremely cheaply.

I'm quite new to this, so if anyone wants to give me growing tips/fertiliser usage tips etc you're more than welcome.

great stuff, i love the MS paint diagram

i'd hang a bit of black weed barrier behind those tomato plants on the fence. tomato plants love to creep through small cracks in fences also it has the added bonus of attracting more sun, since it's black. nice garden

 

[BoomerD]

Well...looks like I'm going to have to go pull the maters today. We're in for some frost tonight and tomorrow, and that will do them in for certain.
IO still have at least 50 tomatoes on the plants, although most are green and have stopped ripening with the cooler weather. There are probably 15 smaller tomatoes that are either ripe enough to use, or in varying stages of turning. Those I'll salvage for sure, maybe some of the immature ones as well.

I still have dozens of serrano peppers, jalapeno peppers, and habanero peppers on the plants. I'll harvest those as well. I've thought about trying to winter the habanero, but I suspect it would be an exercise in futility.

So...for all the gardeners out there...see ya next spring!!

 

[spidey07]

Make fried green tomatoes or just pull them and put them in paper bags. They'll ripen but won't be as yummy of course.

 

[TraumaRN]

I'm pulling the last of my radishes for Thanksgiving and my broccoli is just keeping on, it's got a small head and we'll see what happens over the next week or so. After that it's wait til spring. Slightly depressed.

 

[WannaFly]

Did my summer planting today. I intended to grow everything from seed myself but left it oo late. Labour day (three day weekend) specials were on so I bought all of these seedling extremely cheaply.

I'm quite new to this, so if anyone wants to give me growing tips/fertiliser usage tips etc you're more than welcome.

Mike: Great looking garden! Heres a few tips (I'm not an expert, but thought i'd share)
The bed looks awful wide, maybe 6-7'? You are going to have to step on the soil, which I think is why you are doing raised rows instead of an entire raised bed - but consider putting stones/wood in between the rows to step on to distribute your weight. You don't have much soil in your rows, so depending on the soil that is underneath you'll need to till it every now and then to undo the compression.

Be sure not to let your basil go to seed and dry out, else you'll find 1,000 basil plants in your bed..I found out the hard way. From what i've hard strawberries love black plastic mulch, maybe put some down. Most tomatoes LOVE sun, consider moving them to the opposite side of the box away from the fence - you might run into fungus/mold issues with lack of airflow then the grow larger.


About my garden:
My brussel sprouts are doing great, as are croockneck squash. Watermelon are going great also but I'm not sure i'll get one harvested before the freeze. Have harvested a ton of greenbeans and corn. Lettuce, radishes, spinach and carrots are all coming up nicely.

 

[BoomerD]

I'm pulling the last of my radishes for Thanksgiving and my broccoli is just keeping on, it's got a small head and we'll see what happens over the next week or so. After that it's wait til spring. Slightly depressed.

I got lazy and didn't get in my last crop of radishes...I'm definitely going to miss having fresh peppers available in the garden.

MOST of the peppers available in the grocery store are from Mexico...and I DO NOT buy any produce from Mexico. Chile...on occasion, but never Mexico.

 

[TraumaRN]

I got lazy and didn't get in my last crop of radishes...I'm definitely going to miss having fresh peppers available in the garden.

MOST of the peppers available in the grocery store are from Mexico...and I DO NOT buy any produce from Mexico. Chile...on occasion, but never Mexico.

Yeah I'm with you on avoiding produce from Mexico. Chile, Peru I've had decent results depending on what it is. And Boomer what I did with my Anaheims was cut the tops off, then flatten the pepper, placed in a ziplock bag, sucked the air then in the refrigerator until cold, then finally to the freezer. Reverse the process to use in cooking. Fridge first, then out of the fridge for the final bit of thawing. It's not the best solution but for making chili or soups or enchiladas/tacos/burritos it's decent.

Next year with my massively expanded beds I should be able to grow and do alot more. Especially with the addition of approximately 10-11 cubic yards or 22,000 pounds (!!!!) of topsoil/high quality compost this fall.

In the spring we'll add probably another 3-4 cubic yards(which is another 7 to 8000 pounds) of topsoil/compost mix and then roto-till all that together. Then plant.

 

[BoomerD]

Yeah I'm with you on avoiding produce from Mexico. Chile, Peru I've had decent results depending on what it is. And Boomer what I did with my Anaheims was cut the tops off, then flatten the pepper, placed in a ziplock bag, sucked the air then in the refrigerator until cold, then finally to the freezer. Reverse the process to use in cooking. Fridge first, then out of the fridge for the final bit of thawing. It's not the best solution but for making chili or soups or enchiladas/tacos/burritos it's decent.

Next year with my massively expanded beds I should be able to grow and do alot more. Especially with the addition of approximately 10-11 cubic yards or 22,000 pounds (!!!!) of topsoil/high quality compost this fall.

In the spring we'll add probably another 3-4 cubic yards(which is another 7 to 8000 pounds) of topsoil/compost mix and then roto-till all that together. Then plant.

I have several dozen peppers of all three varieties hanging up and drying...helluva slow process though.
Next year, I'm going to buy a small dehydrator for this.

 

[Mike Gayner]

As in my post above, I'm a complete beginner. Most of what I'm growing has done really well, with some exceptions. I'm definitely loving my new found vege hobby, and I'm getting ready to start sowing autumn/winter crops shortly. Here's my harvest today - I'm picking things every single day which surprises me, but it's been a very good summer.