Anyone doing a garden?

When I lived in Detroit, my neighbor used to pack all sorts of things into his tiny garden, and he made a point of planting those specific flowers around the border of his garden. Told me his mother did that when he was growing up down south. I don't know what his secret sauce was, but he had some incredible yields from that small patch behind his garage.

I had to put up Rabbit Guard™ fencing around my garden the last few years I had it. It is a wire fence with a tighter mesh at the bottom. The little bastids here don't seem to mind any obstacle like flowers, since there are so many around here. Out in the sticks, folks have trouble with deer eating their gardens. I once had a groundhog eat all of my plants down to the ground.

What we put up with for few good summer tomatoes. :D
 
Forget the herbs for slugs. A half a cup of beer and you'll drown all the slugs in your garden!
 
I put the seedlings in the garage last Thursday to protect them from Irma. Pulled them out yesterday and they don't look so good, yellowish. I hope a few days in the sun will save them, but it doesn't look good for Thanksgiving collards and mustards.
 
Well, here's my biggest tomato of the year. Not bad for growing in pots...during a cool year...with no fertilizers...and only 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day! ;) This is a green tomato variety called Aunt Ruby's German Green.

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Thanks for the links guys.

I once had a groundhog get after my garden. He ate most of a whole head of cabbage in one sitting. I hope he got gas SO bad. :biggrin:

Deer will eat the leaves off the sweet potato vines so they look like weird green spines with ribs. They grow back but sheesh. I haven't seen deer for a couple years though. They used to come up through the back yard in early morning. Suburbia but still a green belt where the creeks are and they travel those routes.

Need to post a pic of my fall greens bed. Planted kinda late but they're about an inch high and temps are near 90 this week so no sign of cold weather.
 
One of the remnants of my containerized tomato plantings last year was a tomato plant that has now grown next to the air conditioner, and is just now starting to turn ripe. And I'm already 500+ miles from home. *sigh* I did have a few this morning before I left. They are like the "grape" tomatoes but a bit larger. Dayum, they were sweet! Won't be back until mid October though, so I'm sure many will have fallen off by then.
 
Had a tough time with verticulum wilt this season, zucchini's suffered the most. From what I've read (internet ofc) I have to refrain from planting 3 seasons?? to kill (starve to death) the fungus?? Anyone have any other ideas on this, I can't refrain 3 yrs.
 
rrago, find out what plants are susceptible, either on the web or from experience. Then avoid planting only those, or at least plants in the same family (like peppers and tomatoes) less than three years apart. I don't know how big your garden is or if you have different beds you can rotate to. Also look up other ways to beat it - such as not composting infected plants, for example (not sure if that helps with Vert. or not).

Here's my fall greens bed last week. Time to thin!

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Been an odd year. Tomato plants only grew half normal size and were very late, but we are getting a ton of ripe ones now. Swiss Chard is still going but starting to seed and flower. We put 3 rows of Wax Beans in after the Lettuce and Peas were done and they ore going nuts. Here are a few shots of the weekend harvest.
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Looks delicious!

The greens are growing so fast I can barely keep up thinning them but that's a good thing - piles of salad greens.

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Been an odd year. Tomato plants only grew half normal size and were very late, but we are getting a ton of ripe ones now. Swiss Chard is still going but starting to seed and flower. We put 3 rows of Wax Beans in after the Lettuce and Peas were done and they ore going nuts. Here are a few shots of the weekend harvest.
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It was a bit of an odd year here too, but somewhat in the opposite direction. It was extremely cool and wet here this spring with record high lake levels and flooding all around. The summer came late and was relatively cool with most temps that seemed to average about 25C/77F or so. I grow my tomatoes in pots, and they only get 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day...if it's sunny outside. Yet between the cold damp spring, the cool summer temps, and the fact that I don't have much available sunlight for growing them, I was able to get several one pound tomatoes this year, and the average size was about 3/4 to just under one pound. That's pretty damn good considering the weather we had and the lack of sunlight in the area I have to grow them in. IDK why they did so well considering how cool and overcast it was, but I did a couple of things this year that seemed to really benefit my plants, so I'll be interested to see what I get when we have a more normal summer here. I'm hoping for a return to more consistent summer warmth next year. Along with the things I changed for this year, as well as something else I have in mind for next year, I'd like to see if I can get a 1+ pound average from 4-6 hours of direct sunlight. That would be amazing. Oh, and I also don't use fertilizer either. ;)
 
We've had a pretty dry few weeks here but the first part of the summer had gobs of regularly spaced rain so it has been a great year. We're at about 28.3" for the year which is about what our annual average is. So definitely on track to exceed average. Very dry now but expecting rain Wed-Fri. Being MO where forecasts change often and actual conditions often differ from the most recent forecast, it should probably rain at least one of those days. :D
 
We've had a pretty dry few weeks here but the first part of the summer had gobs of regularly spaced rain so it has been a great year. We're at about 28.3" for the year which is about what our annual average is. So definitely on track to exceed average. Very dry now but expecting rain Wed-Fri. Being MO where forecasts change often and actual conditions often differ from the most recent forecast, it should probably rain at least one of those days. :D

Yeah, parts of Missouri got hammered with rain, and other parts they were quite dry. While the K.C. area was getting record rainfall, my buddy in St. Joe, 40 minutes to the north, only had 2 inches of rain since February up to that point! :confused:
 
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Well, here's the last of my dying tomato plants. They did surprisingly well considering our cold, wet start to spring, and the cool summer we had. Despite only having about 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day in the area I have to grow them, I managed to have a pretty good haul with several tomatoes in the 1 to 1 1/2 pound range, with a couple bigger than that. Overall, I'm pretty happy with what I got this year, and I can't really complain. I have to say, the Ashleigh variety (the first and second pictures) was delicious! Even better than the Mortgage Lifter variety I planted, which is supposed to be amongst the more flavourful tomato varieties you can grow. I think I'll be planting more of those again next year. Anyway, good times, and I get to have fresh October tomatoes this year! Awesome! I already can't wait for next season to come.

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So I ordered this year's tomato seeds the other night. :) This year I am going to get really ambitious and I'll be planting seven heirloom varieties! So I selected Black Krim, Cosmonaut Volkov, Ferris Wheel, Green Zebra, Italian Heirloom, Old Time Red & Yellow and Silvery Fir Tree. For the initiated, you can read about each one below:

Black Krim: A very popular heirloom that originates from the Isle of Krim in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The fruit are medium to large size and the color varies according to the climate, but generally the hotter the climate the darker the fruit. The taste of these tomatoes is intense. Definitely one of the tastiest tomatoes you can grow.

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Cosmonaut Volkov: This is an old Ukrainian heirloom that was renamed in honour of a Russian cosmonaut who died coming back from a space mission. This heirloom tomato is one of the most productive varieties you can grow. It produces all summer long and into the fall, right up until first frost. The medium to large size red fruit have a full, complex, delicious, tangy flavor with a near-perfect acid/sweet balance that many gardeners search for. Produces well even in cool conditions. Highly recommended!

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Ferris Wheel: Introduced by the Salzer Seed Company of LaCrosse, Wisconsin in 1898. Grow it for its history and rarity, but be amazed by its production of beautiful, large, blemish-free, flattened pink beefsteak type fruits, and its fantastic taste. One slice of this tomato will easily cover a piece of bread. Definitely one of the highlights of the season. An extremely rare variety.

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Green Zebra: Gorgeous 2 1/2 to 3 inch fruits with chartreuse and deep lime-green stripes, very attractive. Flesh is bright green and very rich tasting, very sweet and tangy (just too good to describe!). A favorite tomato of many high end chefs.

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Italian Heirloom: To sum it up in one word - Outstanding! The abundance of luscious red 1 lb fruit will amaze you. Italian Heirloom produces heavy yields of beautiful, meaty, slightly ox heart-shaped tomatoes with few seeds. Has an abundance of rich, complex, sweet flavors that are well-balanced with good acidity. Once you taste the first one, you will never settle for less. They are that good. Highly recommended!

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Old Time Red & Yellow: An excellent bicolor variety collected from an elderly lady who said she had been growing it for years. These very productive plants produce huge red and yellow tomatoes with a delicious, sweet, rich and fragrant flavor. Under the right conditions, many tomatoes are 2 lbs and several can reach 3 lbs. Some of the tomatoes are all red and particularly delicious.

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Silvery Fir Tree: This very tough, beautiful plant originates from Russia. One of the most ornamental tomatoes you can grow. The plants are small, growing to around 18-24 inches tall and has a distinctive foliage that is finely dissected, almost like carrot foliage. Produces very good yields of 2-3 inch fruits that are very tangy and delicious. Perfect for containers or small gardens. Produces when most others will not, even in cold, rainy years.

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I would do a garden but I have a black thumb. A few years back I bought a bunch of seeds and starters for tomatoes and peppers. Most expensive tomato I ever bought. You guessed it; I got exactly 1 very nice tomato. A squirrel took a nice chomp out of the other one. Guess I was born tall for a reason...to be not down near the ground planting stuff.
 
Just moved last year. Had to do some clearing in back. Not the amount of sunlight I would like but enough. Did a test garden and it worked out ok. This thread reminds me If I want my super hots to thrive Ive got to start them soon...Bob
10 ft tomatoes...
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