My garden is modest this year. A 30' x 50' plot but only 2/3 full at
this point. I have:

16 caged and 10 staked tomato plants. German red, Reif Red, Pineapple,
Fantastic, various Brandywine strains, Anna Russian, Kotlas,
Delicious, Rutgers, Manalucie, Miracle Sweet, Orange Oxheart, Patio.

I grow pole beans on a large tomato cage. 5' dia, 8' tall. Blue Lake
this year. Cascade Giant is preferred, but not available from
Territorial this year. Fortex, Helda, Musica good in the past.

2 - Zucchini plants, also some basil and cilantro in pots.

That's it so far in zone 6. Modest. I used to grow corn, but the corn
available from local mennonites is superb so I no longer feel the need
to grow corn since it is rather labor intensive.

Everything is exploding from the ground so far. Spraying tomatoes with
Daconil--I've had massive blight problems. Amended soil with Espoma
Tomato-Tone, and feeding with Miracle-Gro tomato food. Prefer an
organic liquid, but M-Gro never fails.

Your Garden? Dave

DaveH wrote:

Your Garden? Dave

I'm zone 6 too. The tomatoes are incredible this year. It's a great
growing season. I've already picked (and eaten!) my first tomato which
was a Park's whopper. A second will be picked today. Then I'll have a
lull for a bit before the rest come in. I have Park's Whopper,
Brandywine, Fourth of July, San Marzano, Sun Sugar & Supersweet 100
cherry, German Johnson, and tons more that I've already forgotten.

In years past, I've had terrible luck with cukes but the few plants I
planted this year are growing like gangbusters. I have several that are
almost ready for picking.

My first square of corn is almost ready too -- Seneca Daybreak. Basil
is fantastic and the chiles and peppers are flowering profusely. Some
of the chiles are covered in green fruit.

Eggplant is the only thing not doing that well. It's just not growing.
The past few years I've neglected to add compost/manure to the garden
and it started to run low on nitrogen especially. Over this past
winter, I managed to get some manure where the tomatoes are, which
probably explains their phenomenal growth.

In other areas the plants started to yellow so I added some fast acting
urea from Espoma. That did the trick. For the eggplant tho, I just
added a general purpose veggie fertilizer. Maybe I should add some urea
to the eggplant too.

The weeds appear to be held at bay due to a combo of handweeding, black
plastic, and my hubby's anniversary present to me, a new rototiller
which I've been using to cultivate the uncovered path and any open areas.

For the most part, this is the best garden I've had in years!

Mary

Zone 6b/7 here. Definitely a productive spring. I only have about
150-175 sq ft of garden in ground and containers. Tomatoes, cukes,
squash & zucchini are the best growers so far.

Eggplant- like mary's mine is small and had a lot of yellowing in the
leaves. One eggplant is growing but still small enough to just rot off
if it wans't pollinated properly. I've been using a seaweed fertilizer
to help it out and the plant seems to be responding.

Spaghetti squash- Gi-normous plant. 8 foot tendrils. About 6-8 lbs of
squash ready for picking and no sign of it slowing down.

Crookneck squash- yellowing leaves, kinda brittle. Something happening
to it. I saw both a squash beetle and a squash borer on this plant.
ONly two squash so far.

Canteloupe. Smaller plant than I expected, and flowers
everywhere--nothing else. Not sure if this is normal or not.

Watermelon (sweet ice box) - tiny plants. May be getting over shadowed

Tomatoes-Sweet 100(4 ft tall), Big Beef(4 ft tall), Roma(puny and
weak-something happening with that one). Green Tomatoes on all. I
thought the Sweets would ripen first but I think the beefsteak may
beat it out. My salt shaker is just waiting...

Peppers- Jalapenos, thai dragon, anaheim(green chile), bell wonder.
The bells are not leafing up much. Thai has tons of peppers. Jalapenos
are ready to be eaten--a good two dozen already. However Jalapeno &
thai suffered from something--peppers have been very small.

Horseradish-- did *NOT* know how big this plant gets. My friend had
4foot tall leaves in her garden. I will have to move this for next
year.

Broccoli & Cauliflower-planted a bit late but finishing first heads of
broccoli and started to harvest cauliflower.

Green beans(kentucky blue) & red kidney beans aren't getting as tall
as I expected. I think they aren't getting enough sun. Nearby Tomatoes
and cukes grew faster and taller than expected. A few green beans are
growing.

Cukes-Kirby-5+ pounds so far. Another 2-3 cukes a day. I'm ready to
try my first batch of pickling.

Corn, first planting is growing cobs. Hoping pollination went okay.
One stalk on end is browning. Another has tassels jammed. Another has
aphids. Last year my corn didn't make it this far. Second & third rows
are growing but center of the bed isn't getting enough of
something--stalks are running shorter there.

I'm out of lettuces. SHould have started another planting before. I'm
about to seed some baby bear pumpkins for October.

With the exception of basil, sage & oregano I screwed up my herbs.
Basil bushes are huge and smell wonderful. I managed to only get one
cumin plant to make it to seed. The dill that sprouted in between the
patio cracks from last years' volunteers is better than any I planted.
The others are still diminutive, some browing.

Onions and garlic are okay, but timing was wrong. I will probably
harvest as greens and replant for bulbs to harvest next summer.

Flowers from plants are doing great, and those started from seeed(too
late) are finally beging to take off. My seed starting was a bust this
year. What I did get to grow was during later attempts and I didn't
get the jump on the season I wanted.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener
http://members.aol.com/DigitalVinyl66/Garden2004.html

My garden?

Hmmm. . . .

Let's start with the bad news first.

Tomatoes-- Deer . . . This iz WAR!

I have five tomato plants this year (okay, okay . . . more like 4 1/2
.. . . )
Huskey Cherry Red doing okay so far. Might have had a tomato from
Supersonic if a deer hadn't eaten half and left the rest. (grrr. . .
..) Had a pink beefsteak, the top of the stem got broken off during
transplant and it took FOREVER for it to come back. Then a deer
chopped it off again . . . the second pink which was to "replace" the
first is okay, but still awfully small. The experimental "Bonnie"
plant looks like it's got something wrong with it.

On the bright side. I'm not expecting too much more deer damage. There
is now a fence. It went up in one evening the day before we had to go
on vacation.

Carrots--

Looking awfully crowded next to two pumpkin plants the size of
California that are growing fast.

The plant bulbs that is in the middle of it all are finally flowering.
the "gladiator" looks so pretty! Other wise . . . I guess things are
okay there. ^^

Lima beans and green beans-- This iz still WAR!

First harvest. Not bad. It and the corn now have a fence. This fence
went up the day after we got back from vacation. Guess what those deer
had been up to?

Corn--

We way qualified for the "knee high by the Fourth of July" mark.
Tallest stalk has one tassel. Haven't seen any pests on the corn for a
while now, but I'm still on the watch.

Pumpkin-- Yay for thorny plants which the deer don't bother!

Did it have to explode?? This stuff is turning into a weed at this
rate! Think I'll trim some vines.

Watermelon--

If the Pumpkin doesn't overgrow and kill it, it looks like it might
have a chance. I don't think it's too fond of our clay soil. At least
there's a flower!


Hmm. I think that's everything. ^^ We definitely need more fence!
May have a hard time getting the picture to load during peak hours,
keep trying if you'd really like to see it. ^^
http://img76.photobucket.com/albums/...5_01garden.jpg

DaveH wrote:
Your Garden? Dave

I've got about a 14' by 5' patch. It's my first garden, and we live in a
duplex rental with a small back yard so this was my little patch of land. I
have no idea what zone I'm in...I'm in Northern California.

My garden consists of 2 tomatoe plants with lots of big tomatoes, so far
just green (I don't know what brand or strain or whatever they are).

I also have a cherry tomato plant that is just crazy (how should I contain
it? should I clip it?). It's produced enough for a few evening's salad and
the little 2 y/o to snack on.

I planted two corn stalks, but they've been harvested and eaten (yum). Also
in there are some carrots, which aren't doing so hot because of the clay I
think, a couple of garlics and a batch of garlic chives.

Along the back are some peppers (green chili and jalapeno) and a cilantro.
Also around the perimeter are some green onions and some red onions. I've
got a patch of walla walla onions and a zuchini squash next to it which has
produced quite a few squash which are the bomb for grilling with a little
olive oil and some spices.

And lastly is my eggplant, which is pretty big with lots of flowers but they
don't seem to be producing anything. I bought two and gave one to my
neighbor which has produced 3 eggplants so far. His stalks and branches are
a lot more purple than mine, am I not getting it enough food?

And I'm going to be putting a couple of cantelope plants in where the corn
was once I pull them up. I think I crowded it a bit, but so far so good
except for the carrots and the eggplant.

DJ

--
So conservative it makes your head hurt.

http://thewrite.blogspot.com/
djstipe at msn dot com
sinforfreedom

DaveH wrote:

My garden is modest this year. A 30' x 50' plot but only 2/3 full at
this point. I have:

16 caged and 10 staked tomato plants. German red, Reif Red, Pineapple,
Fantastic, various Brandywine strains, Anna Russian, Kotlas,
Delicious, Rutgers, Manalucie, Miracle Sweet, Orange Oxheart, Patio.

I grow pole beans on a large tomato cage. 5' dia, 8' tall. Blue Lake
this year. Cascade Giant is preferred, but not available from
Territorial this year. Fortex, Helda, Musica good in the past.

2 - Zucchini plants, also some basil and cilantro in pots.

That's it so far in zone 6. Modest. I used to grow corn, but the corn
available from local mennonites is superb so I no longer feel the need
to grow corn since it is rather labor intensive.

Everything is exploding from the ground so far. Spraying tomatoes with
Daconil--I've had massive blight problems. Amended soil with Espoma
Tomato-Tone, and feeding with Miracle-Gro tomato food. Prefer an
organic liquid, but M-Gro never fails.

Your Garden? Dave

Great idea Dave! Your garden sounds wonderful! I am envious of such a
large growing area. I'm on the edge of zone 6a and 6b. Unlike your
lushious 1500 sq. ft garden, mine is a modest 244 sq. ft comprised of
two 4' x 8' raised beds, three 4' x 10' raised beds, and a 6' x 10'
unraised bed. I have a small 6' 8' greenhouse and several planters that
increase my veggie growing capabilities. It is by far my largest garden
project yet! I'm using the square foot method for the raised beds and
rows for the unraised bed. I'm using dowels to stake up many of the
plants but will use trellises for the tomatoes.

I'm growing: 2 variety of peas, beans (pole, yellow wax royal
burgundy), lettuces (bristo mix, mesculin, grand rapids), radishes
(cherry belle, gourmet miz), squash (zucchini, acorn), onions (green,
spanish, red), potatoes, peanuts, carrots, cucumbers (bush, burpee,
straight eights), beets (detroit red), broccoli, brussel sprouts,
peppers (bell boy, jalepeno, hot, habanero), stawberries, cantelope,
watermelon, tomatoes (roma, brandywine, beefsteak, sweeties) and herbs
(thyme, lemon thyme, oregano, chives, sweet basil, red basil, mint,
lemon balm, rosemary).

All the gardens are very lush so I'm pleased. I'm battling overheating
in the greenhouse but think I've got the hang of it. So far we have
enjoyed strawberries, lettuces, herbs and radishes. The squashes are
setting up nicely. The zucchini will be ready to pick likely by the end
of the week if pick at the 8" length. The bush cucumbers are getting
close to the pickling stage and one is already too large for pickling.
The peas have quite a few pods and will be ready for picking soon. One
patch of peas is almost at the end of the dowel so I may have to add
trellises to allow them to continue growing upwards. Four more patches
are not quite that tall yet. One patch of yellow wax beans will be
ready to pick by the weekend.

The garden changes daily! I am really enjoying it. Like you, I had a
little blight on the tomatoes so sprayed them with Bravo. I am
considering using Miracle Grow simply because of the heavy load on the
raised beds. The soil mixture I used is about half compost but I worry
that won't be enough nutrients.

I also have a cherry tomato plant that is just crazy (how should I contain
it? should I clip it?). It's produced enough for a few evening's salad and
the little 2 y/o to snack on.
DJ

What is it with cherry tomato plants? Mine is also the happiest of the
bunch. ^^

Have you broken off some of the suckers? I note that the main vine
gets big when you leave a sucker on there, but it takes those thing a
while to set fruit, so you don't want to leave all of them there. You
can just break them off and compost them but this article recommends
starting new plants, if your growing season is long enough:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/trebor57.html

Not that I'm much of an expert. The best think is how suckers can
regenerate your plant if a deer distroys the top. . . . ^^

DaveH wrote:

My garden is modest this year. A 30' x 50' plot but only 2/3 full at
this point. I have:

My garden is modest. It's a 5x6 foot plot. Two roma tomato plants
falling over, heavy with yellowing fruit. Two other tomato plants, I'm
not sure which variety (either homestead or rutgers), my husband planted
them and didn't note which cup they came from. They're not doing well,
still only about 10" high and I just fertilized them last weekend. I
have a row of red onions getting fat, and a row of onions for 'green
onions' also getting fat. The rest of the garden and surrounding grass
is being taken over by strawberries, I'm getting a second crop off them
this summer.

Next to the plot are 3 mounds: one with cantelope, two fat little baby
melons on the way, lots of blooms waiting to be pollenated. The other
two mounds have different varieties of zuchinni. Mostly I've been
picking them and throwing them in the compost because heavy rains are
causing the young fruit to rot on the vine. I've got two coming on the
"shepards" variety that I think will go on the grill tomorrow for
dinner, though.

On the side yard I have 3 more tomatoes, either Gulf State or Arkansas
Traveller (again, planted without noting what was going where) which are
growing very well. They are starting to put out blooms. I'm
experimenting with tomato varieties this year, to find one which does
well in our late summer heat and drought. Two varieties died after being
planted.

Oh yeah, and on the front step I've got rosemary and basil in pots. So
far they haven't died. (Most years my garden report is a list of what
has died, this has been a good year, but it's only July.)


Dawn
zone 5

I also have a cherry tomato plant that is just crazy (how should I contain
it? should I clip it?). It's produced enough for a few evening's salad and
the little 2 y/o to snack on.
DJ

What is it with cherry tomato plants? Mine is also the happiest of the
bunch. ^^

Have you broken off some of the suckers? I note that the main vine
gets big when you leave a sucker on there, but it takes those thing a
while to set fruit, so you don't want to leave all of them there. You
can just break them off and compost them but this article recommends
starting new plants, if your growing season is long enough:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/trebor57.html

Not that I'm much of an expert. The best think is how suckers can
regenerate your plant if a deer distroys the top. . . . ^^

DaveH wrote:

My garden is modest this year. A 30' x 50' plot but only 2/3 full at
this point. I have:

My garden is modest. It's a 5x6 foot plot. Two roma tomato plants
falling over, heavy with yellowing fruit. Two other tomato plants, I'm
not sure which variety (either homestead or rutgers), my husband planted
them and didn't note which cup they came from. They're not doing well,
still only about 10" high and I just fertilized them last weekend. I
have a row of red onions getting fat, and a row of onions for 'green
onions' also getting fat. The rest of the garden and surrounding grass
is being taken over by strawberries, I'm getting a second crop off them
this summer.

Next to the plot are 3 mounds: one with cantelope, two fat little baby
melons on the way, lots of blooms waiting to be pollenated. The other
two mounds have different varieties of zuchinni. Mostly I've been
picking them and throwing them in the compost because heavy rains are
causing the young fruit to rot on the vine. I've got two coming on the
"shepards" variety that I think will go on the grill tomorrow for
dinner, though.

On the side yard I have 3 more tomatoes, either Gulf State or Arkansas
Traveller (again, planted without noting what was going where) which are
growing very well. They are starting to put out blooms. I'm
experimenting with tomato varieties this year, to find one which does
well in our late summer heat and drought. Two varieties died after being
planted.

Oh yeah, and on the front step I've got rosemary and basil in pots. So
far they haven't died. (Most years my garden report is a list of what
has died, this has been a good year, but it's only July.)


Dawn
zone 5