I was under the impression, for some reason, that when you plant something called an 'annual' that it should last one season. I'm finding that this is not necessarily the case.
The beefsteak tomatos have been harvesting for the last three weeks or so but the plant has not gone kaput. It's brown, sad and basically dead. I have to get the last of the tomatos off of it tomorrow. The roma's are just beginning to fruit. We'll see how long it lasts.
I thought it was the gopher, but it seems that an opossum has been visiting our yard. Even so, I looked up some information on the web and it seems tomato plants can have problems during hot and humid summers. Best recommendation, have several plantings so there will always be something fruiting.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
The garden is...(trying to be zen about the whole thing)
The squash petered out around two weeks ago. I've been too busy to do anything about it so it just looks like the corn which is basically dead. When I get a chance I'm going to mulch it back into the ground.
The weeds (especially in dry, hard soil which summer sun makes pretty fast) are a pain. The grass is the worst because it doesn't hoe well. Because of the vegetables I don't want to spray so I purchased a propane torch (which is equally subtle) and burned some grass down. There are a lot of 'red flag' days (fire danger) so I'm reluctant to use it too much. Pressurized garden hose close by...weeds burned down pretty well but within a week new green shoots coming up. I haven't decided whether to go back in and blast again or not.
Pole beans were a disaster. Only a few plants grew, the ones that did I wish didn't. Never tried to eat such a tough bean before. Boiled it...chewey...blechhhh...
Can't remember if I posted about the corn. We only got two ears off of it. They were good but the market has good fresh corn during the summer so I probably won't plant next year which means of course I'll plant next year.
Herbs are wack. Don't know if I'm underwatering but they're pretty much all flowering except the sage. Cilantro is just a chore...doesn't produce edible leaves, just flowers and stalks. Weather has been around 90 degrees during the day and full sunlight. My recollection is that they do better in cooler, partial shade.
Lemon bush doesn't look good. Ants all over it. I said I would water more. I may need to water more still. The lemon and lime bushes are just hanging in there. The orange, mandarin and tangelo are doing better oddly enough. Those were the trees I had the most concerns about but they are doing the best. They get more shade (maybe less stressed?).
The beefstake tomatos started harvesting about a week and a half ago. The plant has grown so heavy it tipped the tomato cage from home depot over. I had to tie it back with two pieces of rope to two stakes pounded into the ground. Tomatos are good. Some look a little weird. Not all are large but are edible. Next year need to make a wooden trellis (strong) that will allow for easy picking. Heavy harvest has just started.
The cherry tomato plant is a pain. Lots of tomatos on the lower branches. The higher ones are tipping over the perimeter cage I set up. The cherry tomato plant on the fence is also growing well. Sometimes the tomatos are sweet, other times not so much. Lots of them, though.
The Roma tomatos are still green, no color yet. That plant is starting to tip over it's cage as well. Not sure if I'm going to need to stake it or not.
I'm tired...what else is new...
Forget bell pepper, chili and the spikey cucumber. Not much happened with them at all.
Wisteria in the planters are looking worse than when they were new. Need to water more.
G'night...
The weeds (especially in dry, hard soil which summer sun makes pretty fast) are a pain. The grass is the worst because it doesn't hoe well. Because of the vegetables I don't want to spray so I purchased a propane torch (which is equally subtle) and burned some grass down. There are a lot of 'red flag' days (fire danger) so I'm reluctant to use it too much. Pressurized garden hose close by...weeds burned down pretty well but within a week new green shoots coming up. I haven't decided whether to go back in and blast again or not.
Pole beans were a disaster. Only a few plants grew, the ones that did I wish didn't. Never tried to eat such a tough bean before. Boiled it...chewey...blechhhh...
Can't remember if I posted about the corn. We only got two ears off of it. They were good but the market has good fresh corn during the summer so I probably won't plant next year which means of course I'll plant next year.
Herbs are wack. Don't know if I'm underwatering but they're pretty much all flowering except the sage. Cilantro is just a chore...doesn't produce edible leaves, just flowers and stalks. Weather has been around 90 degrees during the day and full sunlight. My recollection is that they do better in cooler, partial shade.
Lemon bush doesn't look good. Ants all over it. I said I would water more. I may need to water more still. The lemon and lime bushes are just hanging in there. The orange, mandarin and tangelo are doing better oddly enough. Those were the trees I had the most concerns about but they are doing the best. They get more shade (maybe less stressed?).
The beefstake tomatos started harvesting about a week and a half ago. The plant has grown so heavy it tipped the tomato cage from home depot over. I had to tie it back with two pieces of rope to two stakes pounded into the ground. Tomatos are good. Some look a little weird. Not all are large but are edible. Next year need to make a wooden trellis (strong) that will allow for easy picking. Heavy harvest has just started.
The cherry tomato plant is a pain. Lots of tomatos on the lower branches. The higher ones are tipping over the perimeter cage I set up. The cherry tomato plant on the fence is also growing well. Sometimes the tomatos are sweet, other times not so much. Lots of them, though.
The Roma tomatos are still green, no color yet. That plant is starting to tip over it's cage as well. Not sure if I'm going to need to stake it or not.
I'm tired...what else is new...
Forget bell pepper, chili and the spikey cucumber. Not much happened with them at all.
Wisteria in the planters are looking worse than when they were new. Need to water more.
G'night...
Monday, July 2, 2007
Addendum to front yard gopher...
I may have at least scared the gopher in the front yard. I pulled a Bill Murray and went on the offensive with three fumigation bombs. So far, no new mounds.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Not quite like last year...
So far my strategy for trying to feed the gopher to death has not yet worked. Apparently gophers just don't become obeise enough to get stuck in their own tunnels.
At this time last year I was still trying to get the ice plant to grow on the hill but the weeds were giving it a run for its money. The only thing growing was a lone cherry tomato plant that for some reason had survived neglect for a year. This year all sorts of stuff was planted with mixed results.
The squash plants are dying now. It seems some garden vegetables just poop out after awhile. When they get weak powdery mildew sets in and pretty much finishes up the plant. I thought the sugar peas' demise was due to the gopher but it may have just run its course.
Besides the squash (next year thin to two production plants) the beets are winding down. The edemame soy bean plants bit the dust a few weeks ago when the gopher got them. I planted a hundred onion bulbs and my harvest one or two. Between the gopher and not watering enough that section looks pretty sketchy.
We ate two small ears of sweet corn with dinner tonight. Out of a package of seeds, maybe sixteen or eighteen plants came up but after thinning (and the gopher) only three will have edible ears. Something weird is happening with the ants on the hill. First they were all over the artichoke, now they're on the corn. Not sure why. Sometimes bugs like aphid residue. Not sure if this is the case but they don't appear interested in the vegetables themselves.
The herbs are all flowering. I think it's because they're not getting enough water. Plants that undergo stress can go into reproductive phases (as I recall from school).
Around 5 green and 2 purple shiso plants are growing. They were a pain to start. If the gopher eats the purple ones I may just say screw it and fumigate the entire slope for my personal satisfaction.
I have one chili pepper plant and one bell pepper plant. So far, they have produced one chili pepper and one bell pepper. Given the size of the plants, they should be given a medal.
Tomatos are growing like weeds. The cherry tomato plants have a cage around them they are growing over. The roma tomato is outgrowing its cage but not being unweildly. The beefstake tomato has become so heavy it's turning it's cage on it's side. I tried to tie the cage back into an upright position but it kept pulling the stakes out of the ground. The plant is rediculously heavy and getting worse by the day. It may inevitably crush itself under its own weight.
The pole beans are slowly coming along. Out of a package of them, only two are growing well enough to sprout small beans. Two others are still deciding if it's worth the effort.
The second cucumber was harvested today. Forgot about the first one in the fridge so threw it away today. Hopefully tomorrow we'll eat it. Never felt a cucumber with spines before. Along with the cantelope, it doesn't try to grow upright. The cantelope just slithers along the ground. Weird plant.
I pruned the broccolli. The new shoots were getting more and more spindly so we'll see if this hurts or helps.
The flowering cherry plant in the back which was identified by a local nursery as being an ornamental (non-eating) fruit plant has developed edible fruit. It appears to be some sort of plum. Not real sweet, but not surprising since I never fertilized it. The fruit is so heavy now it's bending the branches over. It's this years 'freebie' food from the yard. Last year it was cherry tomatos.
The weather is around 85-90 degrees during the day. It may be too late to plant anything new but I might try some more sugar peas...another disaster in the making.
At this time last year I was still trying to get the ice plant to grow on the hill but the weeds were giving it a run for its money. The only thing growing was a lone cherry tomato plant that for some reason had survived neglect for a year. This year all sorts of stuff was planted with mixed results.
The squash plants are dying now. It seems some garden vegetables just poop out after awhile. When they get weak powdery mildew sets in and pretty much finishes up the plant. I thought the sugar peas' demise was due to the gopher but it may have just run its course.
Besides the squash (next year thin to two production plants) the beets are winding down. The edemame soy bean plants bit the dust a few weeks ago when the gopher got them. I planted a hundred onion bulbs and my harvest one or two. Between the gopher and not watering enough that section looks pretty sketchy.
We ate two small ears of sweet corn with dinner tonight. Out of a package of seeds, maybe sixteen or eighteen plants came up but after thinning (and the gopher) only three will have edible ears. Something weird is happening with the ants on the hill. First they were all over the artichoke, now they're on the corn. Not sure why. Sometimes bugs like aphid residue. Not sure if this is the case but they don't appear interested in the vegetables themselves.
The herbs are all flowering. I think it's because they're not getting enough water. Plants that undergo stress can go into reproductive phases (as I recall from school).
Around 5 green and 2 purple shiso plants are growing. They were a pain to start. If the gopher eats the purple ones I may just say screw it and fumigate the entire slope for my personal satisfaction.
I have one chili pepper plant and one bell pepper plant. So far, they have produced one chili pepper and one bell pepper. Given the size of the plants, they should be given a medal.
Tomatos are growing like weeds. The cherry tomato plants have a cage around them they are growing over. The roma tomato is outgrowing its cage but not being unweildly. The beefstake tomato has become so heavy it's turning it's cage on it's side. I tried to tie the cage back into an upright position but it kept pulling the stakes out of the ground. The plant is rediculously heavy and getting worse by the day. It may inevitably crush itself under its own weight.
The pole beans are slowly coming along. Out of a package of them, only two are growing well enough to sprout small beans. Two others are still deciding if it's worth the effort.
The second cucumber was harvested today. Forgot about the first one in the fridge so threw it away today. Hopefully tomorrow we'll eat it. Never felt a cucumber with spines before. Along with the cantelope, it doesn't try to grow upright. The cantelope just slithers along the ground. Weird plant.
I pruned the broccolli. The new shoots were getting more and more spindly so we'll see if this hurts or helps.
The flowering cherry plant in the back which was identified by a local nursery as being an ornamental (non-eating) fruit plant has developed edible fruit. It appears to be some sort of plum. Not real sweet, but not surprising since I never fertilized it. The fruit is so heavy now it's bending the branches over. It's this years 'freebie' food from the yard. Last year it was cherry tomatos.
The weather is around 85-90 degrees during the day. It may be too late to plant anything new but I might try some more sugar peas...another disaster in the making.
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