Nice haul!

 Some very nice tomatoes coming in. The first Cherokee Purple was just about ready. In a perfect world I would have let it sit another day or two, but in the chipmunk infested hellscape that I live in, better safe than sorry.

Weighing in at 354g (12.5 oz)

I was shocked by how many Black Cherry tomatoes were ripe. I picked 330g (11.6 oz) of them today.

Black cherry, yum

Picked a few that on my map are labelled A Grappoli D'Invierno, but those are oblong and small, so they are most likely mislabelled. I think they are probably Rutgers.

Rutgers

Also pulled some more actual A Grappoli D'Invierno. A few Roma are close to ready, as are a Beefsteak or two. Some of the prettier green ones:

A Grappoli D'Invierno

Allegedly Hungarian, but can't be.

Roma

Black Cherry on the vine

Gezahntne - neat shape

As usual, there are also some problems. Starting to see a bit more powdery mildew on the zucchini. this is usually not such a problem for me, but usually the vine borers have finished me off by now. I have not been as attentive in pruning dead/yellowing leaves lately, perhaps that contributes to the problem.

Powdery Mildew

Something likes cucumbers. Mice? Chipmunks? I don't think it's one big deer bite.

Cucumber got eaten

New batch of cukes to the rescue! Most came up, if I can get them vining up a trellis or wire or something, I think they will be in better shape than the ones out front.

Herbs are a mixed bag. The Genovese Basil is doing great. The Lettuce Leaf Basil seems to be doing well, but not too many plants. Basil is ok, but some of it looks like it withered, maybe not watering in time, or maybe watering with the hose made them unhappy. It is pretty intense, they probably don't like that. Oregano I have no idea. I think some of the little teensy plants in there are Oregano. But unclear.

Genovese Basil

Lettuce Leaf Basil

I placed a small plastic tray of water down by the stems of the Rampicante, and since then no more rodent damage. Maybe it worked? *shrug* Some actual zucchini coming along, fun shapes.

Zucchino rampicante

Still getting zucchini! Thank you bt! The official tally is 27.7 lbs, but I know for sure I missed weighing some, probably more like 30 lbs.

I Hate Critters

 The critters have been doing bad things. I think the culprits are chipmunks, but not sure. They have gnawed through long zucchino rampicante vines - one about 4' another about 6.5'. Just gnawed them off at the base. total loss of the whole length of the vine.I think they might be looking for water which can be found in the stems. But COME ON. I guess I will put out some water so they don't have to gnaw? Might help. can't hurt. I may also put up some chicken wire barriers to further deter them. Internet says coffee, cayenne, and garlic. I think once the plants are done for the year and pulled out it's time to get some cement and close up the various nooks and crannies that these critters might call home.

Dead

Dead

Here's a baby zucchini that will never come to fruition.

Sad

I saw my tomato ripening.I thought, maybe I should just go ahead and pick it. I thought nah, it's fine. I was wrong. More chipmunk activity I think. They didn't eat much, just enough to piss me off. It weighted in at 526g (1.16lbs). Slightly more pre-chipmunk feasting. Anyway, this was the Hungarian. Not super crazy about the taste, but good.

Hungarian Tomato less chipmunk share

Turning Point?

It has been so hot. Plants need to be watered a couple times a day. The Spoon Tomatoes, the zucchini, the zucchino rampicante, the kale, the strawberries, and the various peppers have all suffered from wilting. Seems like I'm getting less from the zukes and the kale. And the beans. The tomatoes are looking good for sure, and they've only just begun.

So what to do? Well, I've started some new stuff - herbs and a bunch of cucumbers. Next day or two I will plant some more zucchini. The bt seems to have saved most of them, but two really didn't make it. The rampicante is flourishing, though wilty at times. I think it would benefit from some mulch, though the leaves are huuuuuge so they shade the soil pretty well.

Vine Borer seconds before death by brick

The biggest change this weekend is Mal and I filled six 5 gallon pails with soil (from the compost heap, should be good). I planted cukes in them. Beit Alpha seemed to do best in the stone planter out front, despite the heat. I've gotten 4 or 5 cukes from that and like a couple of the other ones. I'm quite hopeful that the cukes will do better with some shade in the back. I also intend to trellis them, maybe some rope over the gutters, maybe something more serious. The setup...

The tomatoes are a bright spot, so lets end on a high note. 

Hungarian coloring up. Soon! Chipmunks stay away!

Cherokee Purple looks gorgeous.

Lotsa flowers!

By my count, 50 on one plant in this frame!

Not Oregano!

 Ok, the little sprout I thought might be oregano in 22 hours turned into what is obviously a morning glory. Which is nice, but not what I'm looking for.

Stuff in the planter

Also apparently looks like some grass growing in there and possibly some oregano. Woot! Pretty shocking how fast the morning glories grow though. Wish my oregano grew like that!

Some Nice Harvest

First, I was thinking about things that went right and things that went horribly wrong this season. So I thought I'd try to come up with the top five things in each case. So here goes.

Top Five Things That Went Right in 2022

1. Pruning Tomatoes - Tomatoes are huge and swimming in tomatoes. 
2. bt for the zucchini - I think half of them would be gone by now if not for the bt.
3. Overwintering Peppers - I harvested tons of  peppers already whereas the ones seeded this year nothing so far.
4. Fertilizing - I think I could do more, and maybe I should go with an organic. But miracle gro has helped a lot I think. I've done it more consistently this year.
5. Constant Watering - It has been so sunny and hot, but I bought a good hose and have kept up with watering. Sometimes twice a day!

Top Five Things That Went Wrong in 2022

1. Not Planting Earlier - This is the biggie. If I had started earlier
2. Cucumbers in Stone Raised Beds - They did not like it.I've gotten a few, but since the first deer hit they have never looked green and healthy.
3. Deer - Not too much I can do about that. They destroyed half the cukes. They have nibbled at beans and tomatoes.
4. Transplanting - I have not kept up with putting plants in better containers as much as I should.Some plants have terrible soil in their containers, and frequent watering and fertilizing only partially makes up for this.
5. Not Clearing Space - I could be growing so much more if I cleared more space. The side strip, the old rock garden, lots of spots could be producing good stuff for me!

Despite the various problems, this has been a phenomenal year, and I'm only just starting to get tomatoes. I've enjoyed keeping track of zucchini production (22.5 pounds so far!).

The Spoon Tomatoes are starting to ripen. Barely enough to taste, but very tomato-y flavor.

Spoon Tomato - full sized!

The A Grappoli D'Inviernos are ripening as well. Here's a cluster. Taste was nothing to write home about, but they seem prolific.

A Grappoli D'Invierno

Is this Oregano? I'm not sure. It is popping up in the planter I planted Oregano in...

Oregano

Dill is up!

Dill

Lettuce Leaf Basil.

Lettuce Leaf Basil

Peppers looking happy.

Cayenne

Genovese Basil. Need to come up with a plan for it because I want Pesto!

Genovese Basil

Next steps:

• I want to plant some cucumbers in the back in pails. Plants seem very lush in the back on the patio. I think there's plenty of sun, but enough shade that it's slightly cooler.
• Figure out a spot for the Basil. thin it out a bit, perhaps in the ground, perhaps in containers. Maybe try a variety of sized to see which works best.
• Repot the peppers.

First Tomato

 Well, I finally got my first tomato. Allegedly Beefsteak, but very small so probably can't be. It was good, but it was no Sungold. Next year I will have to plant some, or maybe Sun Sugar, which are allegedly even better to grow. It very quickly went from the plant to my mouth, so not great picture of it, but I do have this. Notice the other empty stems where one would expect tomatoes to be. I found a small green one on the ground a few days ago. I think my local chipmunk is working overtime harvesting produce!

First tomato

Basil is coming right along. Need to figure out where to put it once it outgrows the planter.

Genovese Basil

Some of the vine borer damage. Today the plants did not look distressed, despite this quite shocking damage to the stems. The bt treatment may have saved them. And just for fun saw my first squash bugs.

Curse you vine borers

The destruction wrought by vine borers makes me sad.

A cucumber growing in the cuke bed. Doesn't look too great, but we'll see if something comes of it.

I just picked beans not there are more to pick.

We Got Beans Baby!

 So I harvested the jalapeños. The biggest plant provided 266g (9.3oz), all of them together made 449g (15.8 oz, almost a pound!).

Jalapeño harvest

Pretty Jalapeño

Couple Cherokee Purples growing to nice size! Can't wait til they're ripe.

Bean harvest was 424g (15 oz).

Pretty beans

Also a big ol' haul of kale.

I also went a little nuts this year in an attempt to save my poor zucchini from vine borers. I purchased some bt (pesticide, but organic) and a large hypodermic needle. I had gone out earlier today and pulled off a few dead/dying/yellowing leaves and discovered some of the buggers. Some notes: 

• They were smaller than I expected. The smallest was like 1 cm long and about as big around as the head of a pin. I think the "surgery" idea for control of these pests would not work that well - one that I found was waaaaaay up the stem, and would have been hard to find something that small. The biggest one I found was maybe 2cm, big around as a small pea.
• I have a LOT of plants for the injection approach. I injected a lot of stems, but I'm sure I did not get them all.
• I whipped up 2 liters of the stuff. I think I went over the recommended amount of bt per 2 liters. When I was done injecting, I poured the extra over outside of the stems.
• Need to repeat weekly.
• I will pile up some dirt over the lower part of the stems. Perhaps new roots form.
• If this saves my zucchini I will be a very happy camper.

Mostly Good News

 First the less than great news. This tomato bed was the second one started. It really is quite a ways behind the first ones. The 2nd and 3rd one in the front both got topped by a giant rat (deer). They still look happy, if a bit runty. I am curious if I'll get much from them.

Front row: A Grappoli D'Invierno, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine. Back row: Cherokee Purple, UNKNOWN!

The strawberries seem happier in their new location and out of the pot, but I'm not seeing a ton of berries. Kale seems to be flourishing, but leaves keep turning brown. I think the rocks get very hot, which neither of these seem to like too much.

Cucumbers are a very weird mix of dying and aggressive growth. The new growth seems pretty healthy. I guess I should prune out the dead/dying leaves. I DO have a large number of flowers.

Zucchini seems very happy here. Harvested 13 lbs already. Does not appear to be slowing down.

BUT seeing the first sign of vine borers. The little brown junk to the right of the strange foam is vine borer sign. If I can overcome my nervousness, I may go bug hunting with an exacto knife, see if I can help this one.

The rampicantes charge to the rescue.

Rampicante close up.

Not certain which pepper this is, likely Big Jim or Anaheim. The pepper is almost as big as the plant. I think this pepper would be happier in a 2 gallon pail. 1 liter of dirt ain't cutting it! I should do an experiment with different sized pots and try and find the sweet spot.

Beans definitely happy. The Black Cherry tomato stuck in the back there seems pretty happy too.

These peppers (type? shrug) got about 10x happier after mulching.

These guys really don't seem to have enough soil. Until a week or so ago, the planter itself was only about half full. And no mulch. Seemed to dry out very quickly, but the plants were still doing pretty well. I filled up the planter with dirt (nothing fancy, just yard dirt). And I mulched with some old leaves and tiny sticks that I cleaned out of the driveway. They seemed happy with this, and I am thinking of hanging some rope from the gutter to use as a crude trellis. 

The basement peppers have been sporadically harvested, but it's getting to be time to do a big harvest. Need to come up with a plan for what to do with them. Might roast on the grill and then freeze. Would be great in soup/omelette/cornbread/whatever throughout the year. Also mulches them with that same leaf/stick litter.

Anaheims baby! The only downside is there are only 5 plants here. I wonder how many peppers I will end up with. I was worried they might be too crowded, but they seem to be doing extremely well. 

The kale in the back is doing so much better than the kale in the stone planter. What's more I think there is almost enough kale to supply my needs in this one patch. Would almost certainly be enough if I had this whole area planted.

The long beans are climbing. I don't know how big they will get.

Tomatoes in the stone beds are doing crazy well. If feel like I should be growing two in each square since they seem VERY crowded, I guess we'll see how they do.

Front: Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry. Back: Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter

Front: Roma, Hungarian. Back: A Grappoli D'Invierno, Beefsteak