Yeah man, let it thrive! I am constantly surprised by what happens when I let the garden do its own thing.
Hmmmm... one of my squash fruits is rotting... and it turns out that it's probably due to me over-fertilizing the bed. Seems like I have to slow my roll.
I've never been able to get pumpkins to actually bear fruit, and this year I've managed to get one nice looking pumpkin to grow. It's already nice and orange though, not sure if I should leave it or stick it in the basement. I'd probably have more but something keeps eating the blossoms and the repellent gets washed off by the rain a day after I spray it on.
My okra continues to explode, it seems impossible to kill. No wonder so many grow it, it seems bulletproof. It is well over six feet tall. I am frankly not even harvesting it unless I have a person that wants some. I pickled more, fried more, I am about done. The flowers are really pretty, though.
Well, the squash is going full-mutant now. The one cool thing I learned was that the feely-proby tendrils that go out and grab stuff and wrap around it to help hold the vines up are also pretty solid tap-roots. When on the ground, they form a huge spike that goes down into the ground. I was quite surprised when I tried to move the vines a bit. Other than that, everything else is ripening up now... lots of cucumbers, lots of cherry tomatoes, boat-loads of lettuce, and more than a few full-sized heirloom tomatoes. The beefsteaks are just starting to come ripe now, and they are looking huge. Needless to say I'm going through tons of mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic, and fresh basil these days.
Nice haul! Starting to see some minor tomato bug action, so will be spraying tonight (small slugs eating a few bits of the tops of the beefsteaks that are ripe). Otherwise, tons of cherry tomatoes, more cukes than I can eat, and squash is taking over the back yard.
This thread has ben an inspiration, so for the first time in years I'm growing tomatoes (2 plants) and peppers (1 plant) in pots on my deck. I've posted here before about how difficult it is to plant a garden at my house: Shitty draining soil on a north facing slope, literally herds of deer feasting throughout the neighborhood, etc. And the worst aspect is the lack of sunlight. This is basically what my house/yard look like: The only spot that gets any direct sun, if only for a few hours a day, is the deck. So when I do try to grow something, its is in pots on the deck, and at most I wind up with a handful of tomatoes. But not this year. Due in part to the torrential rains that have made this a shitty summer, the plants are going nuts. I'll likely get a couple dozen tomatoes and half dozen peppers - easily my biggest "crop" in the 18 years I've lived here. The first two tomatoes off the vine and a crappy picture of my tomato plants : So thanks, guys.
Cherry tomatoes are producing like crazy... picked up 2 small plants from the local Lowes as an impulse buy, and they grew like motherfuckers...That's the back wall of my shop, which has high ceilings, so the scale may be a bit off... that wooden frame I built is taller than I am. The main garden is going crazy... all the romaine is done, and the squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes are going nuts. The squash had a few initial fruits chewed up by rodents (mice? squirrels?) but since then, nothing's touched them, and there are probably a dozen fruits growing like crazy off of the vines. There's one that is full size and is just starting to change colour that might be ready for picking next week... we'll see. Meanwhile the tomatoes are going nuts... really laying the calcium fertilizer to them and there's so much fruit that my supporting fence is falling down.
I don't think my Kraken Scorpion or my Ghosts will fruit before frost. The sugar rush peach variety (example that's not my picture: https://www.rareseeds.com/assets/1/14/DimRegular/Pepper-Sugar-Rush-Peach-MA-IMG_1406.jpg) has been a winner and really nice level of heat, more than a hab, but on the sweeter side. I also have a few lemon drops that came around while I was on holidays. There are a few habaneros, but I don't think they'll ripen in time either. So I'm thinking of overwintering, but I've noticed the first appearance of my nemesis - aphids. Any suggestions? I've tried most everything available in Canada in the past and nothing really worked. Right now it's pretty much only one plant, but I know it won't be long until they've infested everything I hold dear and make it impossible to bring my favourite peppers into the house over the winter.
I had some last week take out my first ripening tomato, so I left it there to rot and sprayed it with the typical soapy "Bug B Gone" crap from Lowes/Home Depot. It seemed to do the job. Had to hit it 2-3 times a day for a couple of days (mostly because it was raining and being washed away), but overall it's gotten rid of them.
I planted to jalapeno plants, which apparently means I have way too many of them. Does anyone have a good jalapeno hot sauce recipe?
Frebis, I posted this back a few pages, but the candied jalapenos are crazy addictive. I eat them on chips, sandwiches, ANYTHING. I eat them right from the jar. I know it isn't what you asked for, but it turned out to be my favorite use for extra peppers. http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/candied-jalapeno-or-cowboy-candy-453141
One jack o lantern worthy pumpkin on the vine and 2-3 more growing. Makes up for the rain and constant dampness ruining my green beans.
It seems like my cherry tomatoes are dying off for some reason... there are tons of almost over-ripe tomatoes EVERYWHERE, but the leaves/vines are dying off... not sure if it's just that time of year, of it there's something weird going on. Regardless, had a hell of a good haul from them so not disappointed. Cross posted to the cooking thread, but meals like tonight are a major reason for the garden... Tonight's theme was "Use up some of those fucking tomatoes already"