My veggie garden

[Wombat]

Lyn yes do that as if you put them in the right spot, they thrive and they're quite easy to look after. Even if you only grow them for the blooms as they're very fragrant. Those little red berries are hard to resist though!

Ron Oh yeah a real fun process indeed! Oh it's made me appreciate where my coffee comes from a great deal I assure you! You can grow them inside successfully or failing that a greenhouse is always an option.

Nancie Plants should be easy to come by hopefully. Quite a few nursery's stocked the plants much to my surprise. It's great to hear your son is taking the self sufficiency path, should be a great learning experience for him. I found the corn popper to be the best option as you can see the beans actually roasting and you're able to move them around so they're roasted evenly. The popper also catches the bean when it cracks as some tend to jump a bit and you can also remove the beans that have cracked therefore helping the uncooked ones to roast. I tried the oven method and after lots of burnt fingers and burnt beans later, settled on the popper

 

[Crabbergirl]

Thanks for the great info and the encouragement to grow coffee. I really didn't think it would grow here but it's worth a try. I am sold on the corn popper. I might have a chance this weekend to see if I can find some plants. But it will be sometime before I can dig a hole that won't be under water.


Yes, my son, Lysle now 30 , is a lot like me only more extreme. By the time her was 4 he told me he was going to be a landscaper and by gosh he is and will be for life. He would rather be in a garden or yard working than any other type of job. He has his own business and he is a green company. He has converted everyone around him to green, and if they aren't ....he is the last one they would tell. LOL! He hopes to drop of the grid by making a wind generator from scraps metal he has collected. He picks up strange stuff and then says ..."this will be the xxx for the xxx that will produce the xxx" it's all Greek to me but I know he knows what he is talking about. He was headed to engineering school but just knew he wouldn't be happy.

 

[Wombat]

Well I didn't think coffee would grow here either until I read in the local paper about folks growing their own in their backyards. Maybe you could just put them into pots until you find a suitable site as they seem to do just fine there, for me anyway.
Your son certainly sounds like a chip off the old block (ignore the old bit if you like lol). It's great to hear of someone who really loves what they are doing for a living. His ideas sound really interesting. hope he goes a long way with them. Landscaping and gardening has always interested me too but I was steered towards Uni and away from plants. Oh well perhaps I'll do more when I finally retire
Winter veggie bed......

 

[RonsGarden]

A greenhouse is out of the question unless I could build a hurricane proof one which would cost way too much for shatter proof glass!
Perhaps one in the sunroom do nicely...
We can purchase plants at our local nurseries for indoor growing!

Garden update:
My toms are almost 2ft tall now with the heat we are getting and are starting to set a few fruit!
Have to start removing the side shoots!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Welcome to my world Ron. I think that is one reason Tim has drug his feet about my greenhouse. He doesn't want to rebuild every year. No way I could afford to storm proof a greenhouse


Garden update
I picked about 6 waterlogged rotten tomatoes yesterday and fed them to the dogs. Yes they love them! yuck! I also picked anything that was partially ripe or that looked like it would split. The plants were looking bad and when I drove past the garden this morning I almost cried. All the tomato plants look dead ,including the 10 new ones I planted last week the kale and cabbage is lying down and all mushy, the beans look like they were set on fire. The luffas,okra, and new squash plants look GREAT!
OK so I get to start over. I still have 4 to 4 1/2 months thankfully.

 

[RonsGarden]

That would heart breaking to see all your hard work turned to mush!
As you say, you have 4 to 4 1/2 months left for your growing season!

 

[curbhopper]

Greeat that everybody's toms are doing well! Great for canning/jarring. Pick a BUNDLE! Curbie

 

[Wombat]

Ron I agree about the greenhouse that's also why I've never put one in, cyclones are always a threat. A few folks are building perspex ones with a bit of success, I'm yet to be convinced though. If anything I'd put up a shadehouse as the sun is so powerful here in the height of Summer it would help the seedlings to establish a little faster. Great to hear your toms are doing so well, nothing like the flavour of a fresh home grown one!
Nancie What an awful sight that must've been! All that work washed away, but at least, as you said, there's quite a few months to get started again with new crops. Hope it all goes really well for you.

 

[Crabbergirl]

John
Your winter garden looks great! Tim just asked me when I could plant Cole crops. About Sept for me.


yes, it is a very sad sight. I though about taking some pictures this weekend but it was just too sad. I am still picking okra and tomatoes. The leaves are all go from the tomato plants so the fruits are scalding the sun. I tried to make shade covers out of plam fonds, most of the fruit is still green. I have picked a lot of green ones and they are getting ripe. I am not supposed to have fried foods ( LOL not alot anyway )
so I guess I will be making more green salsa.

 

[Wombat]

Thanks Nancie pleased you like my little plot! I know exactly how you feel about your veggie garden......been there too unfortunately. I also get ''fried food" too lol I have some old shade cloth that I put over them at the hottest part of the day, looks a bit goofy but it works. I just put a couple of extra stakes around the bed to hold it up. In August I'll be planting some early Spring and Summer seeds to give them a head start before the heat and humidity arrives. Chilli bushes are still bearing heavily will have to make some sauce or jam with them soon.

 

[Crabbergirl]

They look great John! Mine have lost all their leaves. I hope they rebound. I did get enough to make datil vinegar for the kids, and I added some to the okra I pickled.

 

[Wombat]

Thanks Nancie, they usually die down in winter but for some reason they've kept producing. Chillies are pretty tough little fellas hopefully they'll rebound for you.....

 

[RonsGarden]

Talking about pepper, I gotta get mine in the ground soon! They are the small sweet pickling type, around 2 inches wide by 3 inches long, and growing well in pots, but need to plant them so I don't have to water them as much.
I should get some red ones by late summer since they are the small! If not then I'll make pepper relish!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Ron,
I love those peppers.I pickled a bunch of peppers last year and what I didn't I gave a way. People would run and hide if I had a bag in my hand! LOL! I don't think anyone has to worry about getting to much produce from me this year.

I did put up 8 pints of okra Tuesday night and I need to go pick again today. Maybe after work.

 

[RonsGarden]

They look a lot perkier now that they are in the ground!
I know they do not like wet roots and were suffering a bit their pots!
Some already have flower buds....so it wont be long before picking my first one!
I found that the regular bell peppers just don't have enough time to ripen before Fall so opted for the small more prolific variety!

 

[Wombat]

The garlic I planted about a month ago has come up, I put in 6 bulbs and 5 sprouted, pretty good odds! I'm about to harvest some comfrey to add to the compost heap to help speed it up plus I'll make some comfrey "tea" to water the seedlings with. The flat leaf parsley has gone crazy in the cooler weather. The clump it about 2ft 'round and still growing!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Pasley likes it a bit on the cool side and so does cilantro. Your parsley looks great!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Luffas

Here are some pictures of the Luffas. I have them growing on a 10' tall tee-pee type trellis. They seem to really be liking this. It is a pretty plant with nice flowers but it will take over the garden if I don't go out everyday and place the tendrils on the tee-pee.

I will have plenty of seeds this fall if anyone would like some. There are about 100+ seeds per fruit. A lot like cucumbers

 

[RonsGarden]

Cool!
I grew birdhouse gourds years ago in the same area we had the big garden! Those suckers just kept on growing! Got lots of gourds at the end of the season!
Never grew luffas!
I read that you can eat the young ones, before they go stringy inside!

 

[Crabbergirl]

That's what I have heard too. I have actually cut them but have this thing about trying something that no one I personally know has tried. ....If you know what I mean.

They are growing like crazy, one of the few things left after the floods.

Ron
I would like to know what you think about this;
My tomatoes suffered after they stood in water for several days and then the sun burned them up. They are or were about 8' tall and the top 2-3' have turned brown and lost leaves...however.... the bottom 3' are putting on new healthy growth.My question:Would you cut the top 2-3 feet off to encourage the new growth?
My brain says that's the thing to do, especially since it is over 90* daily and they are not setting blossoms. I hope I can keep them going for fall production around Sept.

Thoughts?