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!

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.