Early planting paying off

[save$]

So, I have tomatoes turning red in the cloche. Here is a picture of some greens, (swiss chard) planted in April. They are growing in a raised bed that was covered with garden cloth. I'll be thinning them out next week. Never waste the thinnings! Not too bad for growing in Maine

 

[lukem]

Very nice. I put in some green beans very early this year and picked a quart or so last night. That's definately early for that.

 

[Jags]

I am a bit ashamed to admit it, but I just finished my planting last night. I hope it plays catch-up.

 

[Delta-T]

I planted my elaborate potted garden in APril, and brought the pots in on cold nights. Peppers have been a bit on the lazy side, but everything else seems to be coming along. I realy should post some pics. This is my first time growing cucumbers, which we plan to pickle.

Nice greens save$, not too bad at all for Maine. I half expect you guys to get some snow this week...it is Maine afterall.

 

[Bocefus78]

I have cut almost all my letttuce and picked my first green beans last night. I gambled and put everything in 4 weeks early and its paying off. I'm usually the guy with 100lbs of green tomatoes at the first frost having a fryer party. This year, I won't be

 

[basod]

I picked my first black katula tomato yesterday ~5" across, that was a good mater sandwich for lunch. Probably have 2 handfulls of cherry tomatoes in the past week
I've got summer squash running out the rear and plan on taking some to trade the roadside veggy stand tomorrow.
Oh and I've given away 2 pecks of pickling cukes off 4 plants in the past 10days.
Planted 1st week of april and tomato plants are breaking under the weight of massive clusters, their 6-7' tall right now.

 

[save$]

my plants that I seeded 26 April are really getting ready to yeild some fine tomatoes. These are the ones that had a row of deformed ones grown between them. The deformity was from herbicide when I sprayed that area as a lawn two years ago trying to kill crabcrass.

 

[lukem]

I'm having a good year as well. I picked a 28 oz one yesterday.

 

[save$]

I'm having a good year as well. I picked a 28 oz one yesterday.

I would like to see that monster! I've seen some big ones, but not that big on www.tomatoville.com. That is a fourum much like this one, only discusses mostly tomatoes and some other vegetables.
I hope to have some big tomatoes, but I doubt I'll see anything like yours. If I had that, I would want to enter it at the local fair. We had BLT's for lunch. So good!

 

[Jags]

From last year... (and I don't have little hands).
Just starting to get ripe stuff now, for this year

 

[lukem]

From last year... (and I don't have little hands).
Just starting to get ripe stuff now, for this year

That's about right. I've picked 20 or 30 of those so far this year. Doesn't take many to make a couple quarts of juice.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

From last year... (and I don't have little hands).
Just starting to get ripe stuff now, for this year

No tomatoes ripe here yet- though plenty getting to size. That thing is bonkers.

Garlic is pulled, cherry and habanero peppers are setting, squash is flying out the garden

 

[Wood Duck]

My tomatoes look great but I think I see the beginning of tomato blight on the plants. If past experience is an indication of what to expect this year, I will have tomato plants with no leaves in a few weeks and I'll hvae to ripen tomatoes on the windowsill.

 

[basod]

The heat blight got mine as well. I tried some different varieties than years past:
Mortgage Lifter - first plants to develop spots, didn't produces any really decent tasing fruit - won't be planted again.
Black Tula - produced alot of big fruit, good tasting, but won't hold up to multiple upper 90-100deg days.
Beefstake - Plants died before fruit had time to fully mature - yellow/orange fruit, went in salsas and tomato/chile mix(rotel).
Early Girl - was hesistant with this as I new it from up north, but it has probably yeilded in excess of 10lbs off 1 plant and is still putting off fruit.

Just replanted this week for the fall crop, found some variety called Talladega, being thats the county I live in I figured I'll give them a try as they're a heat tollerant hybrid.
I wasn't able to find any Atkinson plants which in my past experience seem to be the best plants at holding up to the extreme hot/dry spells of the SE.

 

[save$]

Last year I planted Defiant, a blight resistant variety. Not a heavy producer and the taste in more like store bought tomatoes. But, it does hold up until heavy blight wins out. You can spray to keep blight away, but once you start, you need to keep it up every week. From what I understand, the spray isn't harmful when used as directed. I have started using it on my summer squash when the Powdery Mildew started showing up.

 

[Eatonpcat]

That's a nice garden Save$!

 

[save$]

That's a nice garden Save$!

Thanks, we try and try, usually doing Ok, just hate bugs, blight, or early frost!
Had a black tomato today. New, interesting, very good tomato flavor.
We picked snow peas, yellow zucchini, cukes, and tomatoes for dinner.

 

[begreen]

We're having a tough year with flea beetles. Yesterday I saw what must have been hundreds of them on our tomato plants. A mild winter plus our cool early summer with damp soils was perfect for them. Sprayed them with a soapy water and pyrethrum mix. Hope it slows them down, I've never seen anything like this on our tomatoes. If that doesn't work, I'm going to try spinosad next.

 

[save$]

We're having a tough year with flea beetles. Yesterday I saw what must have been hundreds of them on our tomato plants. A mild winter plus our cool early summer with damp soils was perfect for them. Sprayed them with a soapy water and pyrethrum mix. Hope it slows them down, I've never seen anything like this on our tomatoes. If that doesn't work, I'm going to try spinosad next.

I am using the Capt Jack's version in the dust. Haven't put in on much, but did use it for striped cumcumber beatles. Cut their numbers down. Still have lots of bees. I was just out in the garden and am seeing white fly. Time to put on the mask and gloves and get back at it. The problem with letting those bugs hang around is not only what they eat, but with the desease they spread amoung your plants. Another reason to keep the plants well fertilized and watered. The stronger they are, the better fight they put up aginst the invading bugs and desease.

 

[begreen]

I was thinking of trying a sprayable version of spinosad like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/green-...-spray-with-spinosad-367804.html#.UBK_a9DTCa8

Will be fertilizing today also. The plants have been well watered and get good light, but are due for midseason fertilizing. Will do that today as well.

 

[laynes69]

Our garden has been great this year. In spite of drought, and damn near running our well dry watering the garden things are great. So far I've made probably 15-20 quart of pickles, canned about 25 quarts of beans, 8 quarts of hot peppers and pulled 32 large garlic bulbs. We have around 32 cantaloupe in the garden and many bell peppers. It's been a great year, but we had to dust for the cucumber beetles. It's nice to see pics of lush gardens and hear things are doing well. I'm looking forward to drying the Martin house gourds and making houses from those too. Forgot to add, be careful with too much nitrogen on cukes or like plants. Lush growth also allows for tender plants which can cause greater damage from beetles.

 

[begreen]

I just went out and checked. The flea beetle population is way down today. Looks like I am just going to have to stay vigilant.