Ready! Set!............

[mosha]

The best green bell pepper I have grown over many years has been Lady Bell (Stokes) and is commonly found at many greenhouse operations.  You might find them at Valley Rainbow in Weedville or elsewhere.  Peppers are very sensitive to weather fluctuations in this area, both hot and sweet.  The hotter the weather the better without going over 90 degrees for any length of time.  For my soil, they seem to need a good bit of amendment ie: fertilizer and woodchip mulch around the base of the plants mainly for cutworms, etc.

[lavender]

I'll look for the Lady Bells. I think I've heard of them but have never tried them. The problem where I plant is the cooler nights. It takes forever for our tomatoes to ripen and lots of stuff with longer growing seasons is very iffy. I just started some Burpee long sweet peppers which are a mix of long peppers with a shorter growing season. I don't usually like the mixes but since this one has the Sweet Bananas in that I usually plant anyway the Corno di Tora (red) are a bonus. I got something called Golden Treasure in with my seed shipment as a free gift. I'm giving those a try although I'm not sure what they are. Should look them up. A green pepper would be nice as my green pepper relish looks weird when made with yellow peppers.

Mary Ann  is cutting way back this year. I think that she is still going to have veggies and bedding plants but she won't have some of the other things. I'm not sure about quantities so get down there early if you want plants.

[Petee]

Be sure to do the soil test.  For $9 you know exactly what to add to your garden soil and there's no errors.

For the amount of money one invests in a garden you don't want to lose your harvest over a few dollars.  Agway does not mark up their soil tests and you can also pick them up at any county cooperative extension office.  Now is a good time to do them as the lab isn't so busy and you have plenty of time to add amendments and let them break down into the soil.

 

You can also plant a spring cover crop and turn it under about a week or two before planting.  It discourages weeds, and feeds and conditions the soil.

 

Mulch is also one of the best ways to ensure a better harvest of about everything.  Practically no weeds, less watering problems, and cleaner fruits so fewer diseases.

 

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20111023_growing-vegetables-with-cover-crop-mulch

 

You can do feeding and mulching at the same time by growing a cover crop in the fall and just letting it lay in the spring, making holes in it to add started plants.

 

Spring cover crops are just lifted and turned upside down for green manure.

 

[lavender]

I've got the leeks, parsley, eggplant and peppers planted. I'll get the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage in this weekend. I order the broccoli and cauliflower seeds every year because I have never found anything better than Snow Crown Hybrid cauliflower and Premium  Crop Hybrid broccoli for this area and mostly local stores don't carry them.  I've had some luck with Packman broccoli and several others. While, I like to plant at least two types of each year for experimental purposes, I've given that up due to excess work and too much broccoli and cauliflower. I can't just plant a few! No brussel sprouts this year. I'm tired of them failing. If anyone knows of a sure thing let me know. I usually do Jade Cross Hybrid but have tried a couple of others. Get lucky about 1 in 5 years.

 

I usually plant a few heads for the purple Graffiti broccoli just for fun. It does well. The seller at the farmer's market says he tried it one year but no one buys it. No one wants to eat it here either but it grows well and looks pretty. This year though I'm going with the Jade Hybrid that is a pretty green. Never had much luck with Cheddar Hybrid the yellow one. The heads never get very big and I keep waiting while they go past their prime.

 

Cabbage for this year is Danish Ball Head.  

[lavender]

So what is the tomato of the year? I've got 6 different kinds; two I'm really excited about. I'm  tired of staking tomatoes so I'm trying to move to determinate varieties. I know I probably won't get the yield of indeterminate ones but do I really need all of those tomatoes?  I'm still planting my Super Marzano as a sauce tomato but I got a new one this year. It's called 'Saucey'. It is a 2-3 oz sauce tomato that ripens over a short period of time. The fruit is kind of small but it grows in clusters so it should be easy to pick. We'll see how it grows here.

 

The other one is a basket tomato called 'Cherry Falls". I'm not much into these tiny tomatoes but this one was so pretty I thought I'd give it a try as a decorative plant. It is indeterminate and has a cascading habit. It should be ripe in 60 days so it will make a nice early tomato for salads. I only got 10 seeds so I'm hoping the germination rate is very high!

[Pheobe]

What kind of tomatoes are best for picking and eating right out of the garden or for salads?  

[Tiramisu]

For Lavender....lol!

 

 

  

[Petee]

What kind of tomatoes are best for picking and eating right out of the garden or for salads?  

It depends on what your taste buds like.  Do you want a juicier tomato or a drier salad type?  Do you want a huge tomato for a lot of servings or just enough for one?  Do you like a sweeter tomato or an acidic one?  Do you have a color preference?  

 

Personally as long as I have a salt shaker in my hand, ANY tomato will do! :-)

 

I'm growing one Salsa tomato that had practically no juice and no seeds, but the taste?  We'll see.  The huge tomatoes like Abe Lincoln or Mortgage Lifter have more juice but the flavor is good to most people.  My personal favorite is Green Zebra (which never gets red) or a Chocolate Cherry tomato.  They both have a very zippy taste.  I like the tang.

[BrendaJ]

I bought some of the Abe lincolns last year from one of the garden clubs, which ever one sets up the sale over by medicine shope and they were excellent, Something I had never heard of before, made a sweet BLT! ANyone know when that sale is this year?

[lavender]

What kind of tomatoes are best for picking and eating right out of the garden or for salads?  

You are going to hear all kinds of things on that one. I think that a lot of people will agree that 'Better Boy' is one of the all time winners. It has certainly gotten enough awards. It is a great producer and a good eating tomato. Personally, I think there isn't a much better tomato than 'Celebrity'. It grows well despite poor conditions and it a good tasting tomato. The grape tomatoes are great for salads if you like a really sweet tomato for salads. 'Aunt Ruby's German Green' is a great tasting heirloom as is 'Sausage'. The only one that I have trouble growing is the grape tomatoes. Don't know why as the cherry type grow well.

 

Back outside, still cleaning up. This is a good time to pot up perennials that have gotten out of control. Lots of those!

[lavender]

Hey, thanks Tiramisu. I haven't seen that one before.

[Petee]

I bought some of the Abe lincolns last year from one of the garden clubs, which ever one sets up the sale over by medicine shope and they were excellent, Something I had never heard of before, made a sweet BLT! ANyone know when that sale is this year?

That would be the BUDS Gardeners, and the sales are the last weekend in May and the first weekend in June.

 

We also grow anything you ask for as long as we can get the seed and there's still time to start them.  www.budsgardeners.com

 

We will have about 20 different types of tomatoes this year, and I will be growing quite a few different peppers too.  We're also trying some annual flowers and we'll have some perennials.  This how our members learn to grow!

[lavender]

Got the tomato seeds in today; 6 kinds for a total of 120 seeds. No, I won't plant  all of the plants I get from them but I'm sure I can find someone who will use them. The problem with saving seed is that there is a temptation to use it next year along with the seeds that were bought for that year and then you have 240 plants to take care of. I resisted putting in the 'Brown Berry' leftover seeds. It was a nice cherry tomato in an unique color but I really want to try new ones this year.

 

'Cherry Falls' is the cascading cherry with the pretty foliage that I'm planting for pots and baskets.

 

'Megabite' is my early tomato at 60 days. I've never found an early tomato that was worth planting so I have great hopes for this one. 'Early Girl' isn't worth garden space.

 

'Celebrity Hybrid' is my main crop eating tomato at 70 days. I've never found a better tomato for my yard. What we don't eat are fine for canning.

 

'Saucy' is my experimental sauce tomato at 75-85 days. They will mostly ripen at the same time and we'll see what they are good for. I could use some dried tomatoes and I'm hoping these will work. The rest will be canned.

 

'Super Marzano' is my old reliable canning tomato at 90 days. Mostly it is a good grower. The tomato is larger in good years and smaller when we have bad weather.

 

Gourmet Heirloom Blend which was a pack of freebies. It is supposedly a mix of yellow, orange, red, pink, green, bicolor and purple tomatoes. All are heirlooms so if I get anything that I like I can save seeds. Probably a waste of space but I like surprises.

 

I promised someone my extra 'Super Marzano' plants if whoever you are remembers let me know. I put in 30 seeds and should have a few extra plants.

 

 

[Guest marbek]

I didn't order any seeds this year. The last 2 years haven't gone well and my family [hubby and 3 girls] does not want to help me garden anymore.

[Petee]

You may want to try one raised bed and the square foot gardening technique.  

 

I bought two synthetic 16 foot planks at Lowes and had them cut off four feet of each one.  The bed ended up being 12' x 4'.  Not too large even for a crippled up old lady like me.  If you soil test ($9 from Agway), plan strategically for plant efficiency, install a soaker hose and mulch for weeds, it will almost take care of itself.

 

I have a book on Square foot gardening if you would like to borrow it.

 

Who knows, if the kids see how much fun it is to grow in an easier fashion, maybe they will get interested.  

[lavender]

I didn't order any seeds this year. The last 2 years haven't gone well and my family [hubby and 3 girls] does not want to help me garden anymore.

We've had some really bad weather the last few summers: too wet, too dry, too cool, rain at the wrong time. All I can say is thank goodness for supermarkets! Me, I diversify so I always get something. If I grow 6 types of tomatoes it increases the odds that one will like the weather. If it is too cool for the peppers, the broccoli will be happy. The beans never fail. I like beans, a lot.

It is also important to keep up the fertility of your soil if you are going to grow veggies in the same spot year after year. Maybe you should try starting a compost heap. I know that is easier said than done if you live in the city but there are all of those leaves that people bag and dump by the side of the road for the city to pick up. They are a good start. City dwellers tend to throw away grass clippings too. The two together make a fine compost.

Don't toss your newspaper. Denny's editorials make a fine mulch for around your plants. It isn't pretty but it works well to keep down weeds and retain moisture. (It also gives you a chance to catch up on your reading.) It is best shredded but you can just use three of four sheets as is.  Buying mulch can get expensive and anything that you just throw away that can be used helps.

The best piece of advice is keep it small so you can actually get done.  I'll never follow that one because I like to experiment but once you find what grows in your location stick to it. If you have fewer failures it is less frustrating and you won't need such a large area to take care of.