Delusions Of Gardening

Dormant

2009-07-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Not much going on in my concrete garden lately.

The hanging tomatoes are heat stressed and not producing much;

a few cherries, a miniature Early Girl now and then.

Most of the containers are grouped together under an improvised shade house.

The Better Boy and Yellow Pear are not doing much,

the Yellow Pear has teeny- tiny flowers on it right now.

I harvested all but two very small eggplants the other day.

Without the burden of the fruit it is now producing some buds.

My latest (and last surviving) lettuce in a tub with a few green onions and a Sweet 100.

The last of the carrots; I'll plant some more in August for a fall crop.

The swiss chard behind it just keeps on producing despite the heat.

The watermelon vine seems to want to support just two melons at a time and no more.

The zucchini and crook neck squash behind it has not started producing yet.

Just a lot of male flowers so far.

These melons - Bush Star on the left and cantaloupe in the center - look good,

lots of little melons coming along.

And then there's the honeydew.

It turned sickly so fast that I suspect the bug guy may have sprayed it.

I'll try to nurse it back to health because there are five or six melons on it,

but I don't have much hope for it.

Renewal

2009-07-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Now that we harvested all the ripe melons, ( I think the final count was 14) the melon vines are producing again. I suppose now that they are not devoting all their resources to the ripening fruit they have the energy to devote to new fruit development.

Baby Bush Star

I'm hoping for lots more of these, they were the tastiest of the bunch.

Baby cantaloupe

These were good too, but I've only found one so far.

So that means, of course, that our least favorite,

the honeydew, is going to put out the most fruit.

The watermelon vine is also flowering again, so I'll keep it around for a while longer. The nurseries around here don't have many vegetables in stock right now to replace it with anyway. Just tomatoes and peppers, maybe some herbs. Everything is so stressed from the heat and wind there is really no point in trying to start anything new. I'll hold out for cooler weather.

A Tragic Loss

2009-07-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Sadly, we have lost this Early Girl to some mysterious tomato blight.

My ability to research what it was is limited due to a nasty virus that has hijacked my access to search search engines. Life without Google is like life in the dark ages.

Hackers and spammers are the lowest form of life and I am all for the death penalty.

Luckily, the other tomatoes do not seem to be affected.

We are getting a steady supply of cherries and 3-4 slicing tomatoes each week.

I've have enough right now to make my first salsa tonight, Yay!

Fourth Of July Watermelon

2009-07-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

We picked one of the Sugar Baby watermelons to have for the 4th.

(For the record, it was the 11th melon in two weeks!)

After spending the night in the fridge, it looks frosty.

It was nice and red inside but not as seedy as I had read it would be.

It tasted sweet, juicy and delicious.

I am not sure if I will grow them again.

It took a lot of space and resources to grow just two watermelons.

But it was fun to experiment.

Goodbye, Hello

2009-07-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

I think I have mentioned my disappointment in the Lemon Cucumbers.

They were thick-skinned and very seedy.

So goodbye Lemon Cucumber.

The roots grew down through the cups on the bottom of the top bucket

and filled the water reservoir on the bottom.

The plant does not drown because there is also air down there

and the water is oxygenated by the flow of fresh water three times a day.

Hello Yellow Pear tomato!

And that's a new Sweet 100 in the corner of the green bucket.

I am having such success with the hanging cherries,

I thought I might as well try a couple more varieties.

Check Out Those Melons!

2009-07-02T10:21:00.001-07:00

The melon feast is in full swing.

In the last 10 days we have harvested 7 melons.

Every time I turn around another one slips the vine.

I love how they do that, you dont have to guess, they tell you when they're ready.

Here we have

a Bush Star (L) and a cantaloupe (R).

Another cantaloupe.

They are in the crisper drawer where they should keep well until we need them.

This honeydew is the tastiest one I have ever eaten.

It was also huge, we've been working on it for two days.

This Bush Star cracked on the bottom,

I was lucky to find before the ants got too far in.

The flavor was excellent, sweet and with less of that musky taste that a cantaloupe has.

Trying To Protect The Tomatoes

2009-06-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

Summer has arrived here in the desert and with it, relentless triple digit temps until October.

When it is so hot during the day and does not cool down even at night, the blossoms have a tough time setting fruit. Local experts recommend shading and spraying the plants down to give them a little relief. Others tell you to cut them back and just keep the vines alive until the weather cools and they can produce again.

In a most likely futile attempt to prolong their production,

we wrapped them with some shade cloth.

The sun still shines through, just not so intensely.

The cherry tomatoes don't seem to suffer blossom drop like the larger ones do and they are partially shaded in the afternoon, so no cover for them.

There are four plants huddled behind this cloth.

When you walk behind and into the shaded area, there is a noticeable difference in the intensity of the sun and heat. So we'll see what happens.

From Famine To Feast

2009-06-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

I think that feast or famine is a universal theme for home vegetable gardeners. You go from waiting and anticipating your first taste of the fruits of your labors to having more than you know what to do with (almost).

I've been hovering over the melons for weeks now looking for signs of ripening and then, suddenly, while making the rounds last Wednesday we found this Cantaloupe split open on the blossom end. I've been trying not to over water the melons as they ripen, but I guess it was still growing too fast in the heat and cracked. It probably weighed about 4 - 4 1/2 pounds. The ants found it before we did and were really digging it.

After so much anticipation, we couldn't wait to taste it.

It was still a little crunchy so, it probably would have benefited from another day or two on the vine, but it still smelled and tasted heavenly.

First thing the next morning I found that this monster honeydew had slipped the vine.

Since we were still working on the cantaloupe,

he sat on the counter looking pretty for a couple days.

Our 14 year old son polished off the last of the cantaloupe Friday night,

so first thing this morning, I cut up the honeydew.

I suppose I am accustomed to grocery store produce because at first it didn't seem to be very sweet to me but after a little while in the fridge the flavor really developed and it was delicious.

My Last Word On Worms

2009-06-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

O.K., so I'm a little obsessed. I promise this is the last time I will subject you to worm photos.

I have learned from the interwebs that my worms are actually Tobacco Hornworms. They are differentiated from the Tomato Hornworm by their red "horn" and their vertical white stripes. Fascinating, I know.

I also learned that the female Tobacco Hornworm moth will lay a single egg on multiple leaves of the same plant. And what do I see first thing this morning?

I found ten or so on my Better Boy.

Oh, and this guy too.

That is the end of the worm pictures.

Even Daisy is bored with them.

Invasion

2009-06-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

Seemingly overnight we have been invaded by hordes of Hornworms.

I hose down the deck everyday, so it is pretty easy to tell when they show up.

Some days I will look until my eyes hurt and not find one.

Other days, I can spot a monster like one from across the yard, then I call the macho bug killer of the household to dispose of the nasty thing (with his bare hands!). I do not touch caterpillars unless they are fuzzy, cute Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.

My Hornworm vision was working today and I found at least ten of the little boogers.

They really are beautiful in their own way, perfectly disguised to do their job without being detected by birds or other predators,

like women with scissors.

The Uneventful Garden

2009-06-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

It's not that I am a lazy or neglectful garden blogger, it's just that container gardening is pretty low maintenance and there just is not much to report right now.

So here is a picture report card of what is going lately.

The Tomato Hornworms have arrived. If you look closely, you can see the disgusting thing in the dead center of this picture. I try to find them and pick them off before they get this big. But the little buggers have perfect camouflage and I miss some.

The hanging tomatoes are hanging in there. The cherries (the two on the right) are doing fine, but the Early Girl is struggling to set fruit in the heat.

The two non-hanging tomatoes(not pictured) seem to be doing well despite the heat and bugs.

The four varieties of melons are developing nicely. I think that Honeydew in the background is going to go on the Father's Day dinner table tonight.

The Bush Star in the foreground has a way to go.

Cantaloupes are looking good.

Sugar Baby Watermelons are coming along nicely. Only two developed fully though, a few others that started to develop became stunted and eventually shriveled up. I have no clue why.

The Dusky Eggplant is loaded with fruit.

We've eaten a few and they are so delicious grilled or roasted in the oven.

A typical harvest.

The Lemon Cucumbers are a disappointment. The skin is thick and they are very seedy. Picking them small helps but not enough to justify keeping them. I am going to pull them out and plant something else in their container.

Beets, baby carrots and some monster zucchinis. That is lettuce and swiss chard greens soaking in the bowl. I sprinkle new lettuce seeds every two weeks or so for a constant supply. It does fine in filtered shade as long it doesn't dry out.

I don't have the huge glut of tomatoes that I used to get but there is enough for fresh tomatoes just about everyday.

One of my favorite ways to serve tomatoes is to slice them, put fresh mozzarella in between the layers and drizzle them with vinaigrette. Add a few greens and it is a perfect salad.

Happy Fathers Day!

Sweet Fruit/Strange Fruit

2009-06-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

One thing I love/hate about container gardening is the lack of maintenance. No weeding or hoeing, not much watering of feeding. I wander around sometimes wishing for something to do while I wait for something to ripen.

I did get to pick a bowl full of tomatoes for this weekend!

And then there was this strange zucchini.

The flower never closed up and the end of the fruit is open with the seeds visible.

A normal flower end compared to the funky one.

My ever-present helpers.

Garden Update

2009-05-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

(Or, How I learned To Stop Worrying And Love Zucchini)

The zucchini glut continues *sigh*, but they are so neutral you can throw them in just about anything. In addition to the usual suspects, I made a zucchini chocolate cake this week - be still my thighs! There have been enough tomatoes to share a few with a tomato starved friend but, I'd like to see some more of the Early Girls ripen.

Everything is growing right along in their self-watering containers.

My garden-helper won't sit still for a picture, but always has a smile.

The melon vines are climbing/running everywhere.

They're lush and pretty with their bright yellow flowers.

Cantaloupe and Honeydew cousins growing side-by-side.

Big melon, little melon.

Two happy cantaloupes.

A long, skinny one.

This baby is way ahead of the others, I fondle it daily looking for signs of ripening.

I like fondling my melons.

Sugar Baby watermelon vine.

Baby Sugar Baby.

I just love the Dusky eggplant plant, so full and robust.

Baby eggplant.

I'm pretty sure the mystery plants in with carrots are brocolli. They seems to be co-existing well.

The lonely zucchini.

The hanging tomatoes want to grow upwards before they get heavy and droop down. I support the thicker parts of the stems with a loop of garden tape so that they don't snap under their own weight. Yes, I learned to do that from experience.

These two monster zucchinis are almost in the pool.

I've resorted to shredding and freezing the excess bounty.

I can only cook and give away so much.

Weekend Harvest

2009-05-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

It was a good garden weekend!

I picked a bunch of lettuce and beet greens for a salad and we had lots of cherry tomatoes to go with them. The beet greens are so delicious with just a little vinaigrette, can't wait to eat the beets.

And-drum roll please-the first big tomatoes!

They were a little cracked from the (now corrected) inconsistent watering, but there was no blossom-end rot.

And they tasted fabulous! You forget how wonderful that fresh off the vine taste is. We made some BLT's ( real, not turkey bacon!) with avocado and some more garden greens. Decadent and delicious.

Baby Melons

2009-05-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

They are just so cute, I had to take a picture.

The vines are loaded with flowers and little baby melons but, these two are the are far ahead of the rest.

The cantaloupe has such a pretty mottled green color and is now as big as softball.

The vines have a wonderful melon-y smell when you are up close.

This honeydew baby is bigger than his cousin-a softball on steriods!

The Daily Zucchini

2009-05-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

It's good thing we like zucchini, I mean REALLY like zucchini but, it is a challenge to use it all up. This week we've had zucchini frittatas, grilled zucchini, and stuffed zucchini. There are still three more good-sized ones in the fridge and lurking under the leaves are four or five more that will need to picked before the weekend is over. I've heard you can add shredded zucchini to brownie batter, hmmm......

Blossom-End Rot

2009-05-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

The scourge of tomato growers everywhere can be especially troublesome in container-grown tomatoes. If the uptake of calcium to the growing tomato is interrupted by dry (or unhealthy) soil the result is blossom-end rot.

When these tomatoes where planted in early March, it was fairly cool and the three times weekly watering was fine. But, when they started getting larger and the temperatures got higher, I allowed the soil to dry out one hot weekend. BIG MISTAKE.

Luckily, the first time I noticed some wilting on the plants I adjusted the watering timer so that they would not dry out, EVER, and the damage was contained to just a few of the developing tomatoes.

I'm not saying that you want your plants to be soaked at all times. You never want your plants to sit in soaking-wet ground for long periods, they will drown and die eventually. What you want is evenly moist soil, and in containers with good drainage, that requires constant attention.

All this water draining out of the bottom of the container will leach nutrients out with it, so be sure to supplement with some kind fertilizer. I use 1/2 strength Miracle Grow twice a week, but there are many other methods, use what works for you.

What We Did This Weekend

2009-05-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

It is starting to get seriously hot here so, it was time to finally finish automating the watering system for the container garden.

First we picked up a couple more tomatoes, another Early Girl (right), because I suspect the first two we bought were mislabled. They are larger than any Early Girls I have grown and don't show any signs of ripening yet. Also a Better Boy (left) for variety.

I made two more Home Depot bucket - self watering containers. They look so tacky, next year they get painted white.

Everywhere we have tapped into the watering system, the line is right under the rocks. Not here though. It was at least eight inches down and under a PVC pipe. With the constant water pressure, the hole we dug filled right up when we poked a hole into the water line, so we had to put the connectors in by feel.

Our resident hole-digging expert, Daisy, checking out our work.

"Let me just adjust this line for you."

Once we passed inspection, we ran the line through the melons and spliced in a couple of bubblers.

The we went down the line splicing in T's and ran a line sraight down into the watering tubes.

This is the Dusky Eggplant looking very sturdy and healthy.

Then some final inspections from supervisor Daisy,

and her partner, Dude.

The final, classy looking, results.

(click pic for bigger view)

Left to right:

Bush Bean "Contender"

(That green tub is also a self waterer.)

Tomato "Better Boy"

Red and golden beets (black pot)

Tomato "Early Girl"

Eggplant "Dusky"

"Baby Finger" carrots (white pot)

"Bush Star" melon

Honeydew and cantaloupe

Lemon cucumber

"Sugar Baby" watermelon

First Harvest

2009-05-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

It is so gratifying to just walk out the door and pick some of the fruits of your labor. Meager as they may be right now.

On May 12th we had our first harvest.

We grilled the zucchini and dressed the red romaine and beet greens with a little vinaigrette. The zucchini flowers were just garnish. Not enough to justify stuffing and frying them.

The first tomatoes! Yay!

The zucchini is producing like crazy! Just one week after we picked the first one we are already tired of grilling it.

I made an eggless tempura batter and fried this batch up. Since we don't do fried food much, it was a real treat.

Seeds Of Frustration

2009-05-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

My attempts at growing from seed have not been very successful. It was just too hot and dry outside to keep them evenly moist. I'll try again with some cool season seeds in the fall.

Clockwise from the white bucket:

Carrots (and mystery plants)

Green Onions

Red Leaf Lettuce

Beets

Mesclun Mix

Watermelon "Sugar Baby"

Lemon Cucumbers

Bush Beans (not shown)

The red leaf lettuce is struggling in the heat but we have enjoyed the little bit we've had.

I've moved it to a semi-shady spot under the tomatoes. It's stopped wilting (and growing).

I sprinkled an entire packet of "Baby Finger" carrot seeds in here and they sprouted along with some mystery seedlings. I thought they might have been radishes and was going to leave them but after a couple weeks it was pretty obvious they weren't so I pinched them all off except for two because I am curious what they will turn out to be.

The lemon cucumbers and watermelons are in self waterers and are doing great. I wish everything were in those things, they are so carefree, just keep the bottom full of water and the soil stays evenly moist. Next year!

So What Else Is Growing?

2009-05-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Honeydew Melon (rear) and Cantaloupe in another storage tub.

This pic was taken April 21.

This is May 2. Spreading out nicely and there are several flowers blooming under the leaves.

I wonder if cross pollination will be a problem? I am I going to get some kind of mutant melons? Honeyloupes? Cantadews? Too late to worry about that now I guess.

Just one week later. They completely fill the bin and are starting to climb whatever is near. The wire shelf in the back of the picture works well to keep them out of the shrubs. I'll put another trellis in front to keep the dogs from trampling on them.

2009-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

A Note About Potting Soil

Most potting soils are very slow to absorb water the first time. This seems to be especially true for this Miracle Grow Moisture Control. The wet soil in the cups on the bottom of my containers just wasn't enough to start the wicking process upwards. Once I gave a good watering from above it worked fine and the soil is staying evenly moist throughout the container.

2009-04-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

How to make Sub-Irrigated-Planters

(A.K.A. homemade Earthboxes)

You'll need two buckets for each planter. I used my old stand-by Home Depot buckets.

Some people would take issue with these buckets not being food-grade, but I don't think that is a problem. Are ceramic pots food-grade? Are plastic plant pots food grade? Nobody would think twice about planting some lettuce or tomatoes in a planter they pick up from Wal-Mart, so I dont think my buckets are wrong for growing in. If you disagree, you can find some food grade buckets at a restaurant supply place. Knock yourself out.

There is only about 4-5 inches of reservoir space (the empty space between the top and bottom bucket) in my buckets, so my wicking cups (don't worry, you'll figure out what those are later) will be small, and in my hot, dry environment, I want maximum water uptake, so I will drill two large holes. I chose the size of my hole saw based on the size of my cups, making sure it was just smaller than the rim of the cup.

Click on pics for larger view.

Drill your large holes.

Drill one small hole for your watering pipe.

Lots of little holes for air circulation.

(I counted 157 holes in one bucket. That might have been overkill.)

Place your watering pipe.

I used old garden hose that was a little smaller than my hole, so I pushed it through a piece of duct tape to prevent excess soil from leaching down into the reservior. Another strip of duct tape will hold it place until it is filled with soil.

Slice four or five vertical slits in your wicking cup.

The cup acts as wick, drawing water from the reservior up to the roots of the plant.

The cups go in the large holes.

Drill drain holes in the other bucket.

This is the bucket you haven't put any holes in yet! Put two or three around the sides.

These should be about 1/4" from the bottom of the top bucket, so that the excess water drains before it reaches the top bucket and there is always air between the top and bottom buckets. Your plants will drown and die if there is not air circulation here.

Put the two buckets together.

Wet some potting soil in a separate pail.

Fill the cups with the wet soil.

Fill with potting soil.

Add a ring of fertilizer around the perimiter.

I used about one 1/2 cup of 5-10-10. I'll supplement with Miracle Grow if needed during the growing season.

Cover with black plastic and secure with string tied around the bucket.

Cut an X in the center for your plant.

Plant your plant in the center.

Keep the reservoir filled with water,

and watch the magic happen!

You can set up an automated systen to make it even more effortless. I will use 1/4" line to tap into the existing drip system that serves the rest of the landscaping.

2009-04-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

Strawberries planted April 4.

I painted this bucket with some spray paint

I found in the garage.

Much better.

There are 6 plants staggered around the side

of the bucket,

and 6 more on the top.

The idea is that the plants will fill out

and make a pretty little

hanging basket.

I need at least one pretty thing in my

Redneck Container Garden.

2009-04-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

Zucchini in a plastic storage tub.

Planted on March 14

I only wanted two but only found a six pack,

I couldn't through them away, sooo...

I threw the other ones in this old bucket

and put it up on the hill

in the spot where a dead palm tree

used to be.

Now that wasted water has a purpose.

We put some tree stumps around the

ugly chlorine bucket.

Still ugly, but creatively ugly.

2009-04-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

My version of Topsy Turvy hanging tomatoes.

I used 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot (lovely, I know).

I put the holes on the sides of the buckets.

Two plants per bucket for Early Girls; three for cherries.

We planted them on March 14 so,

with luck, home grown tomatoes in mid- May!

Holes for drainage.

Hard to see but, we tapped into the existing drip system and ran a line

up the post to the buckets.

We fed the line through holes drilled in the lid.

I just poked some holes in the line but, the water comes out a little too fast.

I need to take the lids off and attach some bubblers to the line to slow it down.