Chuggin' Along

 Ho-LEE-Cow. I have been watching a nice tomato for days now as it slowly ripens. Yesterday I thought, huh. Maybe I should pick it. I did not. This morning I looked and it looked like something had eaten like half of it. I'm not 100% sure who took the first bite, but caught this beastie dining tonight.

Slug :-(

The offender was capture and I executed summary judgement immediately. But one less tomato for me. Seeing a lot of my ripe ones getting eaten. Not sure what the culprit is, but maybe slugs, chipmunks, mice.

Lately my enthusiasm for ripe tomatoes has started to dip a bit. I've had some good ones already. My usual MO is to try to grow a zillion different varieties, which is fun for sure, but I think that's not the way to go, at least for next year. there are a couple big winners that will definitely return in 2023.

1. Black Cherry. So good! And ridiculously prolific. 
2. Sungold. Didn't grow them this year and I miss them.
3. Roma. I had all of one Roma plant and it did great. Didn't seem to suffer pests or disease so far.
4. Cherokee Purple. The best! Not super prolific, but I've had a bunch already.
5. A Grappoli D'Invierno. Super prolific. Not my favor tasting tomato, but easy for saucification.

Ones that will likely not come again next year.

1. Mortgage Lifter. Not prolific at all.
2. Gehznte. Gotten zero. Maybe something taking green ones.
3. Hungarian Heart. None ripe yet, lol.
4. Spoon. Fun, interesting, tasty, but something eats them before I do. Maybe if I can cage it completely somehow.

I got what I suspect will be my last zucchini today. Gotten 43 lbs so far, more would be a waste. Powdery mildew is rampant. Next year maybe I will succession plant so I'm ready to tear out and plant new ones. The Rampicantes are cool, but not as tasty.

Big Pick

 The older boy back from school in faraway lands, so have neglected the garden a bit. Have definitely kept up with watering, otherwise it'd be all shriveled and brown, but I'm much overdue for a pick. I think some tomatoes have gone bad and there are a ton that are at least ready to pick. So today I pick. The haul so far:

• 756g of Jalapeño Peppers
• 264g Anaheim Peppers
• 5g Cayenne (hah, just one nice and red)
• 215g Long Beans (like a foot long!)
• 1682g Roma
• 1240g A Grappoli D'Invierno
• 698g Black Cherry (minus the ones I've snacked on, kept up with these better)
• 248g Beit Cukes
• 483g Brandywine Tomato
• 921g Cherokee Purple Tomato
• 1065g Hungarian Tomato
• 972g Beefsteak Tomato

For a grand total of 1.025kg peppers (2.26lbs) and 7.061kg tomatoes (15.5 lbs). There were another couple pounds that were overripe and squishy. And there are plenty more still on the vines.

A big chunk of the harvest today

Some of the veggies I have not pictured before.

Anaheim Pepper

Hungarian Tomato

Beefsteak Tomato

Brandywine Tomato

Cayenne Pepper

Long Beans

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.