Garden Update - May 5, 2013

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It's May 5th and this is my first garden update for the whole year.  This year is going to be a rebuilding year and my garden will be smaller than previous years.  Moving to a new house and having to get a garden going on top of all my other projects has been a bit overwhelming.

I will try and give the reader's digest version on what I have been doing since January.  I said I wasn't going to start plants from seeds this year because of time.  Well, that went out the window and I started tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants from seed.  I decided to set my beds up in "L" configurations to conserve space.  I filled the six beds with a garden soil mix from a sand and gravel yard.  I didn't take time to amend the soil, I just went with their mix so I hope it works.  After filling the beds, I have been planting for the past three weeks.  I hope to post regular garden updates now that I am off and running.

Here is an overall picture of the new garden, you can see the three "L" shapes I created.  You can the layout of these same beds at my old house here.  I kind of like this new configuration, it saves space and I still have plenty of room to reach into beds.


Bed Number 1 - Nothing but tomatoes here.  I have a total of 12 tomatoes this year which is double the amount I planted last year.  I have the same combination of Better Boys, Best Boys, and Roma tomatoes. I have the bed all covered in plastic and caged up.  This should be a tomato forest in a few month months.


Bed Number 2 - Eight yellow squash plants in the background, and four zucchini in the foreground.  I plan to harvest these hard until the borers get them in a few months and then plant something else in July, corn maybe.


Bed Number 3 - This bed contains peppers, eggplants, and lettuce.  I have planted 4 jalapenos, 3 Hungarian wax peppers, 2 habanero peppers, 2 yellow bell peppers.  They haven't sprouted yet, but I have planted lettuce and romaine as well.  I still have two slots in the top right corner that need to be planted with something.  Ideas anyone?


Close up of tomato plant.  They have started to take off and the stems are getting thick.


Close up of squash plant, something eating the leaves.

Garden Update and Harvests - August 2, 2012

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I just returned from our annual beach vacation to Florida.  There is nothing like being gone for a week from your garden and being so excited to see what has changed since you left.

As expected I had a ton of tomatoes that ripened on the vine.  I harvested 13 pounds of ripe tomatoes to bring my grand total over 100 pounds for the year!  I am super excited about my tomato harvest this year.  The next thing that changed drastically was my purple hull and zipper cream field peas.  The zipper creams have exploded with pods and I can't wait to start harvesting.

Now for the bad news, something decimated my zucchini plants.  I don't know what it was but it completely ate the plants down to nothing.  I don't know if they will bounce back in time, and I may try one more planting for fall harvest.  I heard from my neighbor that we got lots of rain while I was gone, so all in all not a bad week.

Purple Hulls on the left

Zipper creams on the right loaded with pods

Close up of pea flowers before they form into pods.

The zipper creams are sprawling everywhere.

The silver queen corn shot up while I was gone.  

I have neglected this batch so I hope I get a few ears.

Hungarian Wax Pepper plants loaded with peppers.

Jalapeno peppers, Bell peppers, and Hungarian Wax peppers

Huge batch of tomatoes, over 13 pounds.

Garden Harvests - July 25, 2012

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The garden is still holding on despite the record breaking drought and heat.  The zipper cream and purple hull peas are loving it, and I should have some harvests to show for it in a few more weeks.  Everything else is struggling despite my best efforts to keep things watered.  There is only so much time in the evenings and the heat is so draining I don't go out for long. 

I had a big harvest of eggplant this week

The tomatoes are still producing, they have even started to flower again.

More harvests of eggplant, bell peppers, and tomatoes

I harvested my first red jalapeno, I bet it is hot.  Giving this to someone at work.

Speaking of heat, my two potted habaneros are finally producing fruit.

These things just look wicked.  I can't wait to pass these bad boys out.

Garden Harvests - July 12, 2012

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This week the tomatoes are coming in fast and furious and so far I have harvested over 50 pounds.  The eggplants and bell peppers are producing well also.  I am over 200 pounds in harvest totals which I think is pretty good.

The last three days have brought heavy afternoon showers, which is good, and lightning which is bad.  Long story short, lighting struck a pine tree in my neighbors yard, literally 30 feet from where I was sitting and fried some stuff in my house.  I will have to post a picture of the tree, it is pretty cool looking.

The better boy and best boy tomatoes fully ripened and ready. 

Romas and a few better boys, time to make some more sauce.

Nice variety in this basket.

Eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, Hungarian wax peppers, and a jalapeno

Tomato Basket 1

Tomato Basket 2

Tomato Basket 3

Eggplants and bell pepper

Garden Harvests - July 5, 2012

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We finally received some rain in the last few days, and I am so thankful for it.  The tomatoes are coming in fast and furious now, and so are the eggplants.  We have been eating a lot of the tomatoes on sandwiches, especially BLT's.  My wife and I have really taken a liking to tomatoes now, we never ate them until a few weeks ago.  They do taste better than what I remember as a kid.  I am finding it hard to keep up and will probably try making some home made tomato sauce this week.   

Here are some tomatoes fully ripe on the kitchen counter.

A nice batch of tomatoes with an eggplant and bell pepper

Last of the squash here with a few more eggplants and more tomatoes

California Bell Peppers

Garden Harvests - June 27, 2012

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It was a great week of harvests from the garden.  I have finally started harvesting tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants.  It was a nice change of pace from the usual squash harvests.  Speaking of squash, they are hanging by a thread and I will pull the last of the plants this weekend.  I had my second big corn harvest this week too, so my harvest totals shot up pretty good.  I am over 150 pounds for the year and climbing.  

We are still in a severe drought where I live in Georgia with no rain in site.  Many parts of the state have been helped with the tropical storms that have passed through but none of it reached us, praying for rain. 

Squash, Bell Peppers, and Tomatoes

I have been picking my tomatoes at this stage and letting them finish ripening inside.  I am afraid of them getting messed up by animals or bugs.  That green one fell off the plant while picking the others.

 

Eggplant #1 weighed 1.24 pounds

 

Eggplant #2, this one was long and slim.

 

Eggplant #3, this one weighed 1.44 pounds and was beautiful.

The color, shape, and size were picture perfect.

 

Corn harvested this week

Brings the total to 85 pounds for the year

 

 Here are a few ears I plucked during the week and they went 

straight to a pot of boiling water.  The taste was spectacular.

 

Here is the current drought monitor for Georgia.

It is much better overall, but I live in that band of red crossing the state.

Garden Harvests - May 9, 2012

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This week's harvest consisted only of yellow crookneck squash.  I have two plants that are producing now with eight more that I planted a month ago.  My goal is to put away 30 pounds worth in my freezer and let my daughter sell the rest at her vegetable stand. 

This week also brought my first tomatoes and peppers.  The pepper is a habanero and I am pretty surprised that it is already setting fruit.  The tomatoes are small and green, but we should have tomatoes in a few more months.  We got a little rain this week, but we still need much more.     

A nice batch of squash.
These were the first from the plant so they are a little small. 


First tomatoes are on the plants.

First pepper of the season, a habanero.