Gardeners: how are your gardens doing?

[grunt soldier]

More garlic anyone My whole garage smells so freaking good right now. I'm digging it. Been putting fresh garlic on everything! even made some fresh pesto with my delicious garlic and basil!



Garden is really putting out right now. I'm thinking homemade pasta sauce with in the next day or so!

 

[Ash]

Nice garlic.

And I see some black cherry tomato. I like their unique flavor. (I knew I forgot to start/plant something this year.)

 

[grunt soldier]

Nice garlic.

And I see some black cherry tomato. I like their unique flavor. (I knew I forgot to start/plant something this year.)

Its probably my most prolific cherry producer this year. Next to sun sugar but its not heirloom.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Just curious.

I am new to prepping at home ( not field manuevers), but what are the easiest things to raise that takes the least room? I was told tomatoes are a definite and I could grow them in a coffee can

Thoughs?

Theoretically, anything that will grow in the ground will grow in a container. It's just a matter of whether or not it will do well enough for your trouble. Like others have said, tomatoes probably would need something more like a 5-gallon bucket to do well. One thing I've noticed in container-grown tomatoes that I've had is that I see more blossom end-rot, which is a calcium deficiency that is usually caused by uneven soil moisture, and it makes the ends of the tomatoes black. The smaller the container, the harder it is to manage moisture in a plant as big as a tomato.

My advice to you is to get whatever containers you want to try out, get you some good soil, some seeds, plant starts, or seed potatoes and just dive in. You'll learn soon enough what works best for you. I saw a guy who grew some really nice cantaloupes in hanging baskets that were set on stands on his deck, letting the vines spread out on the deck.

I tell people that the reason I garden is mostly for the relaxation/therapy of the process. The harvest is just a nice bonus. And, so the only way to do it wrong, the way I see it is to stress out about what grows well and what doesn't.

 

[Clay]

OK, we picked our first bunch of green beans tonight. We aren't really ready to can them yet, so Im wondering how long they will keep before we have to do something with them, and in the mean time should we refrigerate them or not? also, Im guessing we should probably leave them whole until we are ready to can??

thanks!
clay

 

[copperhead-1911]

Some of these look quite impressive. I have a buddy who has gotten into more and more of this. He also raises rabbits and chickens for meat shft since you would need protein.

The rabbits would not give you the vitamins. The main thing some people forget is you need meat and veggies. I see lots of preppers just focusing on veggies in some places.

 

[.45 Dave]

We kept it simple this year after the disaster last year where all we got were potatoes. This year we have green beans, potatoes, onions, peppers and tomatoes and all are doing great! We've started canning the beans and have enjoyed fried green tomatoes. Haven't had to water much either or do a lot of weeding.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

OK, we picked our first bunch of green beans tonight. We aren't really ready to can them yet, so Im wondering how long they will keep before we have to do something with them, and in the mean time should we refrigerate them or not? also, Im guessing we should probably leave them whole until we are ready to can??

thanks!
clay

They should be fine for several days not refrigerated, and yes, leave them whole, the ends will turn brown pretty soon after you break them.

 

[grunt soldier]

It's in full swing now. some monstrous tomatoes. some awesome peppers. most are mexibell's and cajun bell peppers. the taste of bells but with the heat of a jalapeño! delicious







this bad boy probably weighs 3lbs or more lol. probably the biggest heirloom tomato I have ever got. it's a mortgage lifter! they are delicious if you haven't had one and I hate tomatoes!

 

[88GT]

My peppers are in full swing, I'm picking from them every other day. Going to make some pepper jelly this weekend time permitting. The eggplants are giving me one about every 4-5 days. But there are tons of flowers on there so I should have a steady supply from here on out. The green beans are finally giving me beans, though they are toothpick size right now. First tomato was picked last night. Second one tonight. A third might be ready in a couple of days, but the vast majority are still several weeks from ripe. Second zuke is growing. Not sure if I can keep the plant alive long enough for more. I've sliced the stem twice now for squash vine borer and if it gets another round, I don't know that I can do much about it. Despite the perrenial SVB problems I have, I've always been able to get several zukes before the plants have to be pulled. This year is ridiculous. The plant is at least 3' x 4' and has only given me 2 fruit. Onions are coming out. Potatoes are coming out. All looking good. I'll be planting a fall crop of lettuce and spinach and probably another zuke or two. Has anybody ever done a fall crop of peas? I know they don't tolerate heat all that well, but this ain't exactly been a hot year. And we'd be going into the cooler weather when it started flowering and producing pods.

OK, we picked our first bunch of green beans tonight. We aren't really ready to can them yet, so Im wondering how long they will keep before we have to do something with them, and in the mean time should we refrigerate them or not? also, Im guessing we should probably leave them whole until we are ready to can??

thanks!
clay

They should be fine for several days not refrigerated, and yes, leave them whole, the ends will turn brown pretty soon after you break them.

Refrigeration will help them last longer; it slows down the ripening/decay process. Keep a barely damp paper towel over them to keep them moist will help too. You'll have to re-wet the towel on a regular basis, but you can keep legumes for a significant amount of time this way.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Refrigeration will help them last longer; it slows down the ripening/decay process. Keep a barely damp paper towel over them to keep them moist will help too. You'll have to re-wet the towel on a regular basis, but you can keep legumes for a significant amount of time this way.

We've never tried keeping them in the fridge, mostly because when we pick, it's normally a bushel or more at a time, so, fitting them in our fridge is not an option. Most of the time we pick one day and break and can the next. I will try the moist towel, though, that's a good idea.

 

[bwframe]

Really, really happy about this nice steady rain we are getting for the first time in a couple weeks.

 

[lonehoosier]

I used 5 gallon buckets for my container garden. I had squash in two of them and zucchini in one. Out of 18 buckets those three plants never really took off. The final died and I pulled them out. So what should I plant in them now.

Here's what I have now. The number before the plant is what bucket it is planted in.

1 June-bearing strawberries
2 romaine lettuce
3 green beans
4 market more cucumber
5 Brussels sprouts
6 yellow belle pepper
7 broccoli
8 cauliflower
9 cauliflower
10 tomato
11-13 grape tomato
14-15 yellow crookneck squash (died)
16 zucchini (died)
17 yellow banana peppers
18 market more cucumber

This picture was taking mid June.

 

[grunt soldier]

My stuff is in full on boom mode. tomato's are so crazy it's not funny. most habenero's I have ever had. same with most other peppers and basil is going insane. I can no longer eat any pesto lol. I dug up 3 potato plants today of red and yukons. very nice hall. I'll be digging the rest this weekend on my days off.




habeneros












peppers turning red







potato's












And now is a question for you guys. have you ever seen a animal eat hot peppers? these are cajun bell peppers. the heat of the Jalapeno but the flavor of bells. I love them but they are hot. I came out to the garden this morning and all the leaves had been eaten off and 2 peppers. then the animal decided to **** on my plant!!! wtf it kinda looks like bunny **** but it's brown! here are some pics. any help would be appreciated as I need to kill this thing!







and the poo!

 

[grunt soldier]

Sauerkraut anyone .

Found these to guys duking it out on the ground. They weren't happy with each other.

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

tomatoes are really coming on. sugar snap peas are doing well, but the kids and i usually grab a handful to eat raw every time we go past the garden, so i don't know if i will ever get any to cook. oh well, they make a great snack.

 

[horsehaulin]

Lost fifteen tomato plants to fungus! No salsa this year, darn it!

 

[bwframe]

Lost fifteen tomato plants to fungus! No salsa this year, darn it!

Bummer! I bet you can ask around for extra tomatoes. Lots of folks will be overrun with them very soon.

 

[bwframe]

amhenry gave me a ghost pepper last year. I dried it and saved the seed. This is the first red one off of that plant:

Here is the rest of the day's bucket:

 

[Clay]

Nice! So what are you going to do with the ghost pepper? Can you eat one whole and post the video?