In The Garden 2023

Well I don't know if I'm early or late but I've got my tomato sets started from seeds. They are growing by leaps and bounds. I just hope they will make it until the 24th of April. My old neighbor was a really big gardener and he'd said that he'd never put his tomato starts out until the 24th of April as that was the latest recorded killing frost.

I plan on putting them out on the porch here in a couple of weeks and then bring them back in to harden them up.

By the way--I planted more than I need just in case.

Attachment 347211

I just picked this gnarly beast of a broc about two hours ago. A hair under a foot across, over 2-1/2 lbs. Wife calls it
BROC-ZILLA.
Attachment 347638
This is the second head, the first one was a couple days ago and was huge, but not as big as this one. Variety is Castle Dome, and I will be planting more of this in the fall. I am very impressed. Compared to the Sun King, this is gargantuan, a veritable Tyrannosaurus of brocs.

Broke ground about a week ago, still early here. Mother's day is usually our safe zone.

Just doing some bush type green beans, and a couple bell pepper plants.

.
.
Yesterday it was freezing rain. It covered the ground in white.
We plant about May 15th here! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by randydance062449

.
.
Yesterday it was freezing rain. It covered the ground in white.
We plant about May 15th here! :)

---

Yeah, here too. And I was on the lake fishin when it hit. :rant:

Well I've come to the conclusion that I was too early with my tomato sets. I have 8 that were decent so I planted 4 in the direct sun.

Attachment 347717

I'll get the cages out tomorrow and have them so I can irrigate them.

Well I've been a bit busy. As I said I put out my tomato sets out but I decided to make an irrigation system this year.

It's not really a drip system but it is a direct watering system.

I used pvc pipe and fittings and everything was primed and glued Except the pipe that feeds the plants. I only press fit it as It'll be easier to store this winter.

Attachment 347745

Attachment 347746

Attachment 347747

I think that this is the last year I'll get out of the wire cages, they aren't look their best.

Our onion sets are just peeking up.
Haven't planted anything else
Chance of snow tonight

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rolodave

Our onion sets are just peeking up.
Haven't planted anything else
Chance of snow tonight

---

Dave did you plant the WI Sweet Onion? Just wondering.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Dave did you plant the WI Sweet Onion? Just wondering.

---

No
They go in next. You ifdid mean WW sweet onion??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rolodave

No
They go in next. You ifdid mean WW sweet onion??

---

hehehe--There is a USDA growing restriction or a Marketing Order on where the onions can be planted. Outside of that growing area they can't be labeled "Genuine Walla Walla Sweets'.

https://www.sweetonions.org/marketing-order.html

So in your case they Would be Minnesota Sweets.

I believe that Tc calls his 'Gorilla Sweets'.

If you look at Burbee's seed catalogue for instance you'll find that they offer 'Walla Walla Sweets-seeds' NOT GENUINE Walla Walla Sweet-seeds.

26 April 2023 video tour of the garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otUTZy_RyJI

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

I just picked this gnarly beast of a broc about two hours ago. A hair under a foot across, over 2-1/2 lbs. Wife calls it
BROC-ZILLA.
Attachment 347638
This is the second head, the first one was a couple days ago and was huge, but not as big as this one. Variety is Castle Dome, and I will be planting more of this in the fall. I am very impressed. Compared to the Sun King, this is gargantuan, a veritable Tyrannosaurus of brocs.

---

I’ve never had any luck with broccoli. They grow and then go right to seed. Must be something in the soil chemistry.

Planting date in Ontario is May 24 to avoid a late frost.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DZEC

I’ve never had any luck with broccoli. They grow and then go right to seed. Must be something in the soil chemistry.

Planting date in Ontario is May 24 to avoid a late frost.

---

Try planting earlier. Broc can tolerate a light frost. BTW, you can eat the leaves and their stems. Cook them like collard greens or bok choy. We start the seeds indoors and transplant at the 50% frost danger date unless the 10 day forecast predicts a freeze. We set backup seedlings just in case the first transplants don't make it, then the backups go in the ground.

Planted 3, 8 foot rows of green bean seed last night. A nice light rain, today.

Attachment 347983
I picked about half the remainder of my tobacco this morning. Above are some nice leaves from the one Monte Calme Yellow that the bugs didn't get. Tape measure in pic, for size. 29" long leaves for the visually unblessed. Also picked Moldova 456, Golden Burley, Yellow Leaf, Big Gem, Piloto Cubano, and CT Broadleaf. The Piloto is a very popular cigar filler. Most of the others I wanted to try, looking for a better wrapper variety that does well in this terroir. Leaning toward the Golden Burley because it matures fast and makes beautiful leaves. The Moldovan was a big experiment. It is a "turkish" or "oriental" variety, often added to cigarette blends or used locally for hookah or pipe, and it cures to a beautiful yellow tan, so I am really looking forward to trying it for a cigar wrapper next year when it is sort of ready. The Yellow Leaf and Big Gem are old school varieties that are no longer popular. Now I know why. Meh. The CT Broadleaf did well for me last year but oddly enough not this year.

I just set the seeds for the second crop of tobacco and peppers of 2023. Check out the cute little label flags, huh? Rainproof.
Attachment 348081
I'm still liking the Jiffy trays and peat pellets, for seed starting. Super easy and effective, consistent results. Good for most veggies, too. But these days before moving the pucks to a cup of dirt or right into the ground, I always remove the "biodegradeable" paper/cloth wrapper.

A few days ago and again today I found myself with more Boxcar Willie tomatoes than we could eat. I cook with RoTel tomatoes and chiles a lot so since I also had a bunch of Jalapenos from the garden, I figured I would can some tomatoes and chiles, DIY style. Three jars before, three more jars today. Starting to get the hang of scalding and chilling the maters for easy peeling. These tomatoes run a bit small so it is a lot of work peeling them. Next year it will be either FloriDade, or Better Boy.
Attachment 348108

Well I'm making progress--

Attachment 348138

And the first two little blooms--

Attachment 348139

Are you pollinating them? They need to be out in the wind or where the blossoms will get disturbed, to pollinate. I use an electric toothbrush on the stem or the back of the bloom, to shake the pollen off the boy part so it falls onto the girl part. Without that, you won't get no maters. Bees can do the job but bees aren't highly attracted to tomato blossoms. They don't give up nectar or pollen easily. The bees buzzing and landing and taking off again can get those little flowers knocked up but doing it by hand is more certain. Electric toothbrush works good, or you can rapidly tap the blossom's stem part. The ones facing down are the best, get them every day after they open fully and get them every day until they start to close back up. You will double your yield if your plants are in a semi sheltered location like next to your house. Try to plant them out where the wind will shake them up a lot and you won't have to hand do them.

You know it didn't take when the base of the blossom and its stem turns yellow. The blooms will soon fall off when that happens. What you are looking for is for the yellow petals to turn brown, close up, and dry up. Then if you knock the dead flower off and look up in there, you should see the embryonic tomato and it will start growing over the next few days and become visible without peering into the private parts of Mrs. Plant. Or Mr. Plant. The flowers contain both sexes, unlike some other plants such as zucchini.

Attachment 348191
Boxcar Willie harvest from the last couple of days. I have to pick them pretty green or the bugs get them. They ripen up ok in the kitchen, especially in a paper bag.

I was cussing the big giant Boxcar Willie plant for throwing golfball size tomatoes but I think it actually is a volunteer from last year's dropped tomatoes. I don't remember planting it in there, and I finally decided that the ones in the other bed are the REAL Boxcar Willies and this is a throwback. Getting tired of peeling and canning tomatoes that are barely bigger than cherry tomatoes so I will be sacrificing that plant even though it throws me up to a couple dozen maters per day. The real BW tomatoes are not so prolific but they throw decent size maters. The spray of spinosad and BT tamed the tomato fruit borer infestation I had going, and now I get about half my tomatoes undamaged, not bad for New Orleans.

Got 9 jars of homemade RoTel tomatoes & Jalapeños canned so far. I don't mind canning big tomatoes but no more golf ball sized Boxcar Willie imposters.

Still waiting for my jalapeño production to kick in. I get about two per day and about 3 okra pods per day so far. Both should improve with more growth and higher temperatures. The various sweet pepper varieties I planted didn't show me much. From now on I stick with hot peppers or chili peppers.

We failed miserably at growing zucchini last year somehow. They say if you can't grow zucchini you can't grow anything, and one plant feeds a family. Well, this year they are starting to show us some action. I have made two meals of zucchini and shrimp, or beef, whatever. Haven't got tired of them.... YET. You know what they say, be careful what you plant, you just might get it. We are still getting broccoli side shoots but after throwing the first side shoot harvest, I go ahead and pull the plants.

I still have some tobacco leaves maturing for harvest, all Ligero, on Piloto Cubano, Monte Calme, and Moldovan 456 plants. The seeds I set, died so I have to start more seeds for the second crop and there won't be a third one this year.

The only way I know how to kill a zucchini is shade.

Beans are coming along nicely. Decided not to do any peppers, so there's two more rows of beans ready to break ground any day now.

Planted all my fish carcasses between each row of beans, so no need for chemical fertilizers. Thanks for the tip...my red friends of long ago. It's all ya need for a great garden. Fish gives you a double dose of nitrogen. First is the maggots crawling everywhere, producing ammonia thru their process of breaking down the rotten flesh, then the rest of the fish feeds it slowly once the maggots get their fill and mature. Plus the birds have a abundant food supply they can feed the youngsters with.

Attachment 348268

Well it's a start---------------------------------:tu

Attachment 348322

Minnesota first and only crop...

I don't know what seed was used but it is either yeloow twist bud or some kind of cavendish....LOL

Tobacco???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Tobacco???

---

yup. Tobacco.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

Minnesota first and only crop...

I don't know what seed was used but it is either yeloow twist bud or some kind of cavendish....LOL

---

I didn't know Cavendish was a seed variety. I thought it was just a process.

Could be YTB, though. A few of the cigar guys on the Fair Trade Tobacco forum grow it and recommend it.

I finished picking my spring crop about three weeks ago. I started seeds last week for a late summer / fall crop but this time only four varieties. Moldovan 456, Piloto Cubano, Monte Calme Yellow, and Golden Burley. I might end up not planting the GB this time around. The Moldovan and Monte Calme turn out some very nice wrapper and binder leaves and the Piloto is a great filler. Golden Burley does make good wrapper and binder and also good for cigarette bakky and cig blends, but meh. We'll see when the time comes.

Well the blossoms are really starting to come on and starting to form tomatoes. Here's just a tiny one--

Attachment 348398

I do wish that there were more bees around, but I 'THINK' that they are close enough to get some good cross pollination. :shrug:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Well the blossoms are really starting to come on and starting to form tomatoes. Here's just a tiny one--

Attachment 348398

I do wish that there were more bees around, but I 'THINK' that they are close enough to get some good cross pollination. :shrug:

---

Want more tomatoes? Don't wait for bees to pollinate them. They do a piss poor job on tomatoes. You can tap the stem of the blossom vigorously and sharply several times, or vibrate it with an electric toothbrush, when the blossom is wide open. This knocks the pollen loose and lets it fall on the girl part of the flower. All the bizzy parts of the tomato blossom are sort of enclosed. Bees can't really get to the pollen like with most other flowers, and there is very little nectar, so they aren't as interested in tomato blossoms as in other flowers. Their buzzy landings and takeoffs can indeed pollinate them, but they have to be interested enough to go after the blooms first.

If you go over your plants daily and tap or vibrate each fully open blossom, your yield will double. Works with jalapeños, too, though the bees are more important to these.

Well it's been about a month since I posted on the progress of my tomatoes. They are going strong, there is quite a difference in the sizes but they are coming along. Some are pretty good sized for Romas---

Attachment 348891

Others look more like Roma size---

Attachment 348892

Some are starting to turn---

Attachment 348893

And there are plenty of blooms still coming on---

Attachment 348894

Anyway, I just thought I'd post about the progress. :tu

My two cherry tom pots are starting to redden up!
Attachment 348895
Attachment 348896
A slow start but they are showing many lil tomatoes bloomin up.

Attachment 349056
I pickled this batch of jalapeños a few days ago when I had more than we could use. Yesterday I did a single quart jar of them, but in rings instead of whole. the pictured batch I cut off the stem end and scooped out the core and seeds. I like to let mine get red but sometimes I will pickle them green.

A quart of nacho slices.
Attachment 349066

I only got one batch of green beans, before Ol chuck ate the rest, then died from ingesting a large dose of sevin dust :boohoo::roflmao

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by outback

I only got one batch of green beans, before Ol chuck ate the rest, then died from ingesting a large dose of sevin dust :boohoo::roflmao

---

Only one of our green bean plants bloomed. Trashed all three.

My apples are dropping early but I think it is from the drought in our area.

My dad was a pretty good gardener, except that he was located about 2 miles out in the country so he was a couple of weeks behind in planting and was a couple of weeks being frozen out.

He and his good friend Herbie would always see who could get various things up and going.

His green beans were doing real well but were far from being pickable. Well we had fresh green beans in the ad and I got a call from dad, he wanted to know how they looked. I told him that they were just like out of the garden. So he sent my mother to Walla Walla from Dayton (35 miles one way) to get some beans. Then she had to drive clear across the county to Herbie's and show him the beans and tell him that they were from dad's garden. And then head for home.

So Herbie drove clear across the county to see these bean plants---Oh how my dad laughed at that! He'd managed to pull on over on Herb.

I sure miss him. Oh! By the way I believe that Herb will turn 100 this year.

Two more quarts of pickled whole seedless jalapeños, green this time.
Attachment 349164

Here is the okra that I have vacuum packed and frozen over the last three weeks or so.
Attachment 349165