This is the first time, ever, that I have grown watermelon. Wow am I glad I did! This was truly the juiciest, sweetest, reddest watermelon I have ever had. I even started the seeds late about four to six weeks ago in this horrible heat. I purchased these seeds from Park Seed and I wish they were heirloom, but they are a hybrid. They are called "Charleston Jr. Hybrid". The Catalog says, " These small 12-16 lb. melons boast seedless red flesh, uniform light green flesh, and a flavor that combines the sweet and the crisp perfectly. Super high yeilds make this watermelon a favorite!" They are 100 % accurate on all counts, as you can see in this picture! In addition, there have been no pest or disease problems whatsoever. I will put these on my list for next years seed purchase. But I will also try to find a comparable heirloom replacement to grow. I believe it's vital that we promote raising vegetables, not just in the most natural ways possible, but also preserve varieties for our welfare of health and well-being. I am comforted by the thought of growing something, collecting it's seeds, passing them on to others and having generations of vegetables, year after year, that I have cultivated from one seed. No that's what I call sustainable living!
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I grew these adorable "Sweet Yellow Stuffing" peppers from seed. I will grow these again next year. They grew beautifully from being sown directly into the garden. The plants have produced hundreds of these sweet jewels with no disease or insect issues. The biggest challenge is keeping them picked! If you check the "Vegetable Gardening" Page you will see a couple of pictures of them in the garden, and see what I'm talking about! As for stuffing these "Stuffing" peppers, they are very small and feel more of an appetizer than a meal. They were delicious stuffed and we enjoyed just popping them in our mouths. Easily used in salads and for pickling. I purchased the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom(see links). BC gets these seeds from an Amish grower, Esther Smucker. The seed was passed down to her from her Grandmother, who fondly remembers growing these peppers in the 1950's in Lancaster, PA. The catalog boasts that these plants are extremely productive. And oh boy, were they right!! As I am moving through the garden, bed by bed, trying to catch up on things that I have neglected for the past month or so, I am definitely discovering that life does indeed go on without me! Well, the life of a pepper anyways! I planted a few different types of peppers, Bell, Banana and Sweet Yellow Stuffing. My personal experience with peppers have been awesome. I have had no battles with diseases or insects. The only problem I have is that I tend to plant too many plants and they overload me with fruit (always at a time when I don't have the time to deal with them!). This year has been particularly productive for the peppers. I believe it has to do with the horse manure filled beds. Well, this morning was devoted to dealing with the pepper bed, of course, after all the watering, weeding and caring for every other living thing on this property (and bussing Katie to her Drivers Ed classes all this week!) This is a first for me...I actually brought a lawn chair and sat it right next to a banana pepper plant, picked one and a half plants and came up with a full bucket! Only 20 more plants to go!
Now that the daily temperatures are consistently in the 90's, the tomatoes have kicked it into high gear! I've only frozen tomatoes in the past, which has worked very well. But I need to learn how to can, in order to save room in the freezer for other things (like chicken!). My gardening techniques this year have been the most relaxed of past seasons. I only tied up about 4 plants and the rest I have just left "to do their own thing". I have always meticulously staked, caged and pruned suckers in the past. The only thing I have done this year is water them when needed. I have always battled some insect (the lovely horned green worm!) or disease in the past. But, knock on wood, this year everyone looks awesome! The staked plants look better and may be easier on the back to harvest from, but I have noticed no difference in the yields. On the staked plants, inevitibly, I always bend or break a beautiful limb full of flowers or maturing fruit trying to secure it up. The ones on the ground, definitly take up quite a bit of space, and I suppose if we were having a wet season, I would be fighting molds and disease. I also bought those red trays you see in the seed catalogs boasting it helps with watering and promotes more fruit. Haven't noticed any difference in the plants that have them v. have not. (Except for my wallet!) I believe in the future, I will always contiue to stake all small tomato plants, ie; cherry, grape etc., and will continue to stake most of the larger plants, maybe leaving a few to "be free" on the ground, and watch how they do during different weather cycles. I think I will be making tomato, pesto pizza tonight! (I'll post a picture on the Cooking Page!) It's mid June and so many things are starting to fill up our spare refridgerator. Of course, the zucchini's and yellow squashes are an every night dinner event. The banana peppers are exploding and the bell peppers are not far behind. The eggplants have started to form fruit. The beans are a gift that keeps on giving. The tomatoes and cucumbers are ready for an all out asault. I am still lucky enough, even in these 90 degree days, to be harvesting lettuce. I planted this awesome variety called "Heatwave". And man oh man, have they lived up to their name. Will definitely plant these again next year! I covered the blackberry bushes this week to protect those gobbs of berries getting ready to turn black. The birds and those lovely Japenese Beetles love those vines. We will be picking blueberries this weekend. I promised my husband I would wait, because I have a bad habit of "grazing".
The last few years, as I pass by our fig trees, I would stop and pick a few figs, then a few more, and a few more. You get the idea . He actually hasn't even eaten a fig yet! I promised this year would be his year. (But only time will tell. sshhh) The flowers are fabulous. There are zillions of zinnias along with the hydrangeas (which I adore as cut flowers!) I have a ton of basil that I use in with the cut flowers (It smells wonderful!). The sunflowers are 5 ft tall ready to bloom. Can't wait to see them! There were people on main street in our town that had what looked like a huge dirt/manure pile up by the road. Last summer they planted hundreds of sunflowers all over the pile. It was stunning! It just made my day everytime I drove by. That is what motivated me, to at least, plant a few this year. I am amazed at how our zucchini plants are reacting to the heat. I have three different varieties; "Burpee Greyzini" "Burpee Green Tiger Hybrid" and a packet I bought from Lowes that were the typical solid dark green variety (I stupidly threw away the packet). The "Green Tiger" is holding up beautifully. The plants are large and lush with a good yield of lovely striped zucchini's. The other two were doing great until the 90 degree days hit. I got a good yield from them and the plants looked good. But now they are really getting beat down from the sun. I've kept them watered and there is no sign of fungus or bug infestation. All three varieties are in the same bed. My yellow summer squash is suffering the same fate. On a sunny day, which is almost everyday, the plants just fall to pieces. When the sun goes down, they all come to life again, leaving a few casualties with burnt leaves. The packets indicate "Full Sun" and they are titled "Summer Squash!" I will grow the "Green Tigers" again next year and try some heirlooms and maybe start them earlier, if possible, to beat the heat. Left: You can see the incredible differences between the zucchini plants. The background are the "Green Tigers". Below: Yellow Summer Squash "Burpee Saffron". Has done beautifully up to recently, but not now with our hot days. Is this normal? Eureka!Today is the 12th and I was pulling up these two squash plants (on the right in this picture above), and I noticed the base of the stems were mushy. It became obvious that there was definitely something with insects or disease going on. I did a little investigating in one of my plant books, and quickly discovered that the problem was Borer damage. As recommended, I took a knife and dug out the fat white worms and covered the area with soil hoping to save the plant. There is no treatment other than to remove the worm. I went through every plant, and each one had some sort of damage. I can only hope to salvage what plants I have left. Wow, I was so sure it was a heat issue because of the wilting and recovering at night behavior. I won't be fooled again!
I know it's a little late to be harvesting beets in Georgia, but we just picked these beauties! They are two different varieties that I sowed directly into the bed. One is Bull's Blood Red (red leaf) and Detroit Dark Red (green leaf). Both are heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I also planted a row of Golden Beets, but did not have the success I had with these darker varieties. I still have a few more meals worth to pick, this week and next. I will try to reseed them maybe, October, and give the Golden one's another try. |
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