Kelli's 2015 Garden Journal

[efisakov]

Congratulations! First tomato of the season.
It will be few more weeks for me, unless Taxi starts yellowing. My cherry tomatoes setting more and more fruit but remaining dark green.
Very nice burger too.

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thanks for the huge vote of confidence, Ginny! For the record, I would definitely purchase Worth's cookbook too!

Thanks, Hydro!

Thanks, Ella...you will be up to your eyeballs in tomatoes in no time, I'm sure!

So many greenies in the garden as well as baby peppers, eggplant, etc...I simply cannot wait.

Yesterday I managed to get my second little Stupice and harvest the last of the blushed butter oak lettuce that did not bolt. I grabbed a few green onions and a bit of tarragon from the herb patch and threw the herbs in with some pulled chicken and the leftover aioli from the burgers last week. It was delish...but I wish there was more tomato

I'm sad to see the last of my lettuce go...does anyone have a suggestion for a more heat resistant variety? I have a partially shaded space near my patio and was thinking about trying to grow some summer lettuce...could be wishful thinking

Cheers!

[BigVanVader]

Paris Island Cos (romaine) is pretty heat resistant. I normally grow it and Black Seeded Simpson since they seem to not mind early spring hot spells. Partial shade, a shade cloth and plenty of water and you could do it. Never hurts to try.

Nice thread Kelli!

[efisakov]

Kelli, go for lettuce in the shade. My has few hours of sun and did not bolt yet. I grow my in the container. Actually this one is from last year self seeding. Containers are easy to move. Earlier in the season sunny spot and later partly shaded.
Good luck.

[Kikaida]

You take great pictures.

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thanks for the suggestions, BigVan!

Ella, your lettuce looks beautiful...great pic!

You're too kind, Kikaida

I'm battling a little grey mold on my tomatoes and mildew on my cucumbers so I think I am going to try the milk spray that everyone has been talking about this season. My twist is I'm going to try and use my milk kefir. If the theory is that the probiotic lactobacillus is the active ingredient then using kefir should be even more beneficial...I will keep you posted. Fingers crossed it works!

Yesterday I came home to 4 little unpollinated grey squash. Since there were no male flowers in sight, I picked them and sauteed them with their flowers and some herbs. I served it with some seared duck breast and crispy potatoes. The hubs was a happy guy!

Cheers!

[efisakov]

Looked great as always, Kelli.

[RobinB]

Hey Kelli,

Maybe you could try some micro greens or cutting lettuce in the shade that only take a few weeks? Or switch over to chard which doesn't care about heat much. I've got seeds for Malabar Spinach which I've never tried, but it climbs and apparently doesn't mind heat.

Johnny's has this one that looks interesting:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-9099-muir.aspx

[raindrops27]

First of all beautiful pictures!! Please keep them coming..

Second, please tell me when did you start your tomatoes, and squash, I so far have one flower on my squash plants, and I am just starting to see baby greenies on some of my tomatoes. Which I started in April. TIA

Melissa

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thanks, Ella!

Robin, I am going to try some Cimarron (supposedly heat resistant) lettuce for cutting as well as some Little Gem which have a fairly quick turnaround time and are also touted as heat resistant. Fingers crossed! I have heard of Malabar spinach before as a heat tolerant alternative. You will have to keep us posted if you grow it. I usually grow Swiss chard or perpetual spinach each year, but I totally forgot to start them this spring. I will have to hunt some down for my fall garden

Raindrops, I started my tomato seeds around the third week of February and direct seeded my squash the first week of May. Many factors effect earliness, but I would definitely look at the DTM for your individual varieties. I grow Stupice specifically to get early fruit.

I did get my first actual "haul" from the garden yesterday. I harvested a few giant fused Lime Green Salad, a few Blush (my favorite!) and another Stupice or two. I also picked the first two fruit from my Ping Tung Long eggplant and some Cinnamon Basil.

The second pic is the sliced Blush and LGS. We ate those with just a touch of salt and they were both delicious! The Blush a little sweeter and fruitier and the LGS a tad spicy in the amazing way that green when ripes tend to be.

I grilled up the Ping Tungs and threw them on some homemade rolls with more sliced tomatoes, the basil and some mozzarella cheese. The eggplant was creamy and delicious. I will definitely be throwing some into a pasta dish in the near future.

Cheers!

[drbobintx]

Kelli, I trialed many lettuce varieties this spring: cimarron, black seeded simpson, red romaine, lolla rossa, merveilles de quatre saisons, freckles, little gem, buttercrunch.

Cimarron was one of my least favorite varieties early, but it was one of the last to bolt and more importantly, was the last to turn bitter...hence, it came out as a winner for me. Little gem also bolted late, but got bitter earlier. Lolla Rossa also lasted late, but it was in the shade so I can't accurately assess its heat tolerance.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thanks for the info, Dr. Bob! I will certainly keep you posted with how they fair in my garden.

[HydroExplorer]

Beautiful color

I was all over the country this year when it was time to plant so I got my stuff in 2 months late and had to go with bonnie plants *gasp* so I don't have any fruit yet. I don't know if it's just me but the bonnie stuff seems to take a lot longer to take off than stuff I grow from seed.

Anyway... it's encouraging to me to see your yields even if they aren't mine

[efisakov]

O, Kelli it looks like you are writing a culinary book with your pictures.
Is your Ping Tung Hybrid or Heirloom? It looks delicious. That home made roll looking good.

[BucksCountyGirl]

Thanks, Hydro! I always find that replacement starts I have purchased are a little slower to get going compared to my homegrown seedlings, but they catch up by around mid-July so I'm sure you will be enjoying some soon!

Thanks, Ella! It is a hybrid from what I have read. Below is a description from FedCo:
Pingtung Long Eggplant (58 days) F-1 hybrid. A long Chinese eggplant named for a town in Taiwan. Great for cooks who prefer to work with uniform slices.


Yesterday we got our first little miniature white cuke. It was as sweet and delicious as last year. I can't wait until we get enough to pickle!

I also did a side by side comparison of the three cherries we are growing this year (I consider Blush more of a saladette).

From bottom to top:

Sungold - sweet and fruity as always, though they do tend to get even more so as the season progresses. 8/10

Ambrosia Rose? - I have two plants of this variety. The first one to ripen is showing a yellow epidermis (vs the clear I would expect on a rose/pink). It is not super sweet but does have a nice "big" tomato flavor. The second plant is showing smaller cherries with a little point on the tip. There are a few turning color so I will report back on those later. 7/10

Black Cherry - sweet with a rich black tomato flavor...there is a reason these are invited back each year! 9/10

Did anyone find a new "favorite" tomato yet this season? I still have 4 new to me varieties waiting to ripen and taste!

Cheers!