Tomato Woes

Noticing a lack of tomatoes? I've had ONE Orange Wellington so far. It was SO GOOD. I mixed some ranch dressing mix into some cottage cheese, spread that on a piece of whole grain toast, and topped it with the creamy Orange Wellington. I immediately wanted another, but--no more tomatoes are even NEAR ripe. The cherry tomato I found the next day was not enough for another one of my treats.

What's the deal?

The nights have been too hot. You have to have the right mix of temperature and humidity for the pollen to "stick" right. Here we are already very dry, so we need temperatures at night be below about 70 degrees. Where my folks live, it often doesn't get below 85 at night, but their humidity is higher so it balances out. Well, ya know, most of the time.

But we have a break in the hot weather and the robust tomato plants will soon start catching up on production.

NOTE: I was going to take a picture of my beautiful Orange Wellington to share with you, but I was more interested in eating it. I thought maybe I could take a picture of another the next day. :( Here's hoping the next one is not too far away. At least I've been picking plenty of okra to keep me happy. And GEE WHIZ my yellow squash is very productive. It tastes better than the zucchini so I'm happy.

Fighting Morning Glory, Two by Two

These horrible weeds seem to drink the Roundup. Spraying WeedBGone (2-4-D) just makes them mad. But they have no defense against the two together. Mix yourself some WeedBGone and Roundup in a sprayer. Or if that is too much hassle, spray the WeedBGone first, then lightly spray the Roundup. In about a week, the Morning Glory will be dead as a doornail.

This handful I have in the picture was in my ice plant. I gathered all the vines and laid them on a piece of newspaper while I sprayed.

It was nice to hear the dry vines crinkle in my hand today.

Joy.

Of course, this cocktail will kill everything else, too. So if it's in your grass, you'll need to protect the grass nearby while you spray. Gather up all the vines of the morning glory and surround them with a plastic cup that you have cut the bottom off of. If you cut down the side of the cup you can more tightly "cone" the cup around the weed. Spray, then move on to the next weed.

Here I am working on the shamrocks in my iceplant. Oh. How. I. Hate. Them.

It will take a while. Use multiple cups so you can more easily see where you've already sprayed and you won't miss spots.

It is a lot of work, but it will WORK.

Fall Garden is coming.

I'm sorry, I'm a little behind in keeping this schedule updated. You should spray your birch and stone fruit trees RIGHT NOW (July 1) for borers. And keep the spray handy for spraying again on August 1. 

More fun than that: seed some lettuce indoors to transplant in the garden for harvest in the fall. This lettuce will be sweeter and last longer than the spring garden because the temperatures will start to be cooler. At least that is was we *normally* expect, but as we have seen lately, "normal" is a little abnormal.

You may have some spots in your garden getting freed up from crops that are finishing up their peak season. Find some fall crops to stick in there: lettuce, carrots, broccoli (65-80 day varieties), cauliflower, cabbage, radishes, turnips, pole beans. But seriously, those pole beans are a mess. I came in looking like I fought in a war whenever I tried to pick them. I prefer the bush beans.

Give your annual flowers a little sprinkling of fertilizer. In fact, I think I'm going to give the garden a dose, too. 

My youngest is my best gardener so far! She helped me pick all the flowers for the children's garden and the playhouse. She even knows how to gently pull the plant from the package and separate the roots before transplanting. She waters them every day without fail and loves to see new blooms. In fact SHE noticed a spot that didn't get much sun and suggest we plant some impatiens there. I was so proud! 

My raspberries are starting to produce a LOT of berries. I love to pick them fresh and have them on my cereal. Yes, breakfast in the garden is always the best way to start my day!

Beekeeping

Someday I'm going to start a hive of bees. Someday. Until then, I'm just going to check out this workshop at the Orem Library next Tuesday and see if someday will be sooner or later.

Tuesday, May 22, at 7pm. Shaun Heaton, beekeeper featured in this clip will present a beginners guide to beekeeping.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=20436967

See ya there! We gotta keep the bees going. We can't eat without them. Or garden.

Better late than never

Happy Day! So happy those little peppers finally made an appearance! They took a LONG TIME to sprout. I was worried.

Today I need to get the Sun Sugar Tomatoes (left) and the Health Kick (right) in their own pots. Should be putting them in the ground outside (with HotKaps), but... I'll just have to wait a couple more weeks. Lettuce, spinach, and snow peas, are all growing well outside.

How NOT to Prune Roses

So the Forsythia is in bloom. That means it's time to prune your roses.

When we bought our house it came with 18 rose bushes.

I hate pruning roses. So now we have just one rose. And I've tried to dig it up three times. It keeps surviving. So for the moment I have decided to stop fighting it and let it live as a trellis rose. It is not in a place that allows for a bush. And if I were to really dig up more of the root system I'd have to remove some of the sod.

I should have taking a picture before I asked my son to prune it. I'm just trying to teach him to work and I thought since I don't like this rose anyway, it won't matter what he does to it. The rose had gotten out of control and was at least 10 feet high is some parts. I needed the forward reaching shoots cut out and all of it trimmed down to fence height.

FENCE height.

This is what it looks like now.

However, with the wind that blew in this morning, this rose is now actually MORE than fence height. Guess the boy knows more than I thought.

I soiled my plants...

Sorry. Couldn't resist that headline.

A long time ago a friend recommended I sprinkle Black Gold potting soil on my flowerbeds. I should have listened to her. My groundcovers have struggled to spread and take hold in the lousy soil I have. Today I sprinkled a ton of gypsum on the beds, and then covered it over with a sprinkling of Black Gold. The gypsum will loose the hard clay soil, and the Black Gold will help hold in some moisture. I expect some rain this weekend to help it all settle in. We'll see how it goes.

Also, I got some seeds planted in the garden. It's time to get the Spring Garden in--spinach, lettuce, peas, radishes, onions, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots (though carrots will do better in the fall). If you plant broccoli and cauliflower, make sure it is an "early" variety--ready for harvest in 45-55 days. Otherwise, it will be hot weather before it is ready and it will be bitter and bolt to seed.

AND...drum roll... my son has decided to enter the world of gardening. His science teacher challenged some students to grow giant vegetables. So he's going to try his hand at some huge tomatoes and huge beets. He's even keeping a logbook like a good gardener. So proud!

Look what I found!

On a whim, I googled my favorite bell pepper.

http://www.reimerseeds.com/mandarin-sweet-peppers.aspx

JOY! About 60 seconds and $14.75 later, they are being expedited to my house.

They'd better grow!

Tomatoes, Fruit Trees, and Berries, oh my!

Sorry! I'm a little behind! It's time to start germinating your tomato seeds. You can plant them in the garden April 15 with hotcaps. Alternatively, you can start shopping for tomato plants and hoard them until you plant them outdoors. I like to get them early before all the good varieties are gone. Gotta make sure and get my Sun Sugars! HINT: don't be tempted to pay extra for a larger, more mature plant. They won't adjust to transplanting as well. By the time they recover, they'll look about the same size as the smaller ones transplanted at the same time.

Also, fertilize your strawberries and raspberries with a water soluble fertiziler. 
1 part each ammonium sulfate, Miracle Gro Azalea food, and Ironite.

Apply 1 cup per 50 square feet.

Spray fruit trees with dormant oil spray in the early to mid spring before the first signs of budding appears. No other spraying while the trees are in bloom (not to disturb the bees from pollinating). After the blooms fade and fall, spray with Imidan (2 tsp/gallon). Spray every 17 days. And I do mean 17 days and not 18. Mark the calendar and do it no matter what. You’re supposed to spray until 30 days before harvest.

We'll be busy this weekend!

It's time

Time to start flower seeds. They take longer than vegetable seeds. Alyssum? Petunias?

And in about 10 days (third week of February) you can start some broccoli and cauliflower, and onion seeds. These are cold hardy plants and can be planted outside earlier, about the third week of March.

A Gardener's Prayer

Now I lay my garden to sleep.
At least I have some salsa to keep.
But if a store-bought tomato should cross my plate,
Bleh—
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Sad day.

But on a positive note, it's a good time to get ready for next spring by getting some sulfur and fertilizer tilled in to the garden. Give it some compost if you have it. Here's the cocktail that you can give your soil (per 180 square feet):

3 cups 16-16-8 fertilizer
1 cup ironite

Also add sulfur. This lowers the pH of your soil to a more optimal level for your plants. This only applies to our Rocky Mountain soil here in Utah along the Wasatch Front. In other areas the pH is already too low and adding sulfur would be the wrong thing. Optimal level is 6.5. The first year you treat your garden with sulfur you should add 8 cups per 180 square feet. The second year add 4 cups sulfur, and each year after that add just 2 cups. You'll notice a difference.

If you don't add in the sulfur now, you can try adding humic acid in the spring, or loads of Miracid. More in the spring on that. I recommend the sulfur.

Sigh. Bring on the soup.

Your neighbors DO notice your dandelions

If your yard is a breeding ground for every noxious weed this side of the Mississippi, rest assured your neighbor is cursing you while they deal with the effects in their own yard. Don't ask me how I know that.

Now is the time to really kill the dandelions and morning glory.

Here's how. Dandelions are relatively easy but you have to spray them at the right time. Right now they are sending energy into their root systems so they can survive the winter. So fill their leaves with Weed-B-Gone or another spray with 2-4 D in it so what they send to their roots will be TOXIC. He he he.

Morning Glory is wicked stuff. It produces new flowers every day. Each flower produces 4 seeds. The seeds are valid for over 100 years. And they are tough to kill. Give it a cocktail of Weed-B-Gone and Round Up. If you can't mix the two in a sprayer, then give it the Weed-B-Gone first and then the Round Up.

If the morning glory is in your lawn, you have to create a little cone out of plastic (like a cone for dogs when they have surgery). Place the plastic cone around the morning glory, trying to gather up all the leaves and vines so you spray it ALL with the cocktail. Douse it well, then move to the next vine.

NOTE: This will take some time. And you may have to do it again in 7-10 days if there is any green remaining on the vines. Your neighbors will wonder what you are doing. But they will thank you. And it will work.

Something new I'm going to try

As the first frost looms, we gotta say good-bye to fresh produce from the garden. But now that I have a garage, I have something I've been meaning to try. You know you can pick the green tomatoes from your vines and they will still eventually ripen on their own. But they still lack a little compared to a vine ripen tomato. So someone told me to just cut the ENTIRE tomato plant at the base and hang it upside down in your garage. The tomatoes are supposed to draw nutrients from the vines as they ripen. It can't be worse. And your tomato "picking" can continue through the new year!

Lessons Learned

I must say it has not been a banner year for my garden. I used to grab my breakfast and go out to the garden. Now I look at it from the window and think, "I need to go out there."

But there are some interesting observations and lessons learned this year:

1) Do not send your daughter to Lowe's to buy your twine for the tomato plants. Cotton twine does not hold up your tomato plants. I started out tying up these beautiful plants and then the string stretched out. It was a lost cause so now they are just a scrambled mess. I think I have some pretty big tomatoes under there somewhere. Next year: nylon twine.

2) Ever wonder what happens when you plant seeds from a hybrid tomato--You get unpredictable plants.

All of these tomatoes came from three different plants, but the seeds came from the same "Russian" tomato the year before. The correct fruit is the large one that is shaped like a cute apple. I obviously got some cross-pollination the year before. I have a Mandarin Pepper plant that I have no choice but to save seeds from it. I'm nervous what will result. I LOVE that mandarin pepper!

3) I am allergic to okra plants. Every time I pick them I come in itching my hands and arms like I just rolled in poison ivy. But it tastes so good. I've had a lot of okra to pick. And in case you wonder, the best way to prepare it is to slice it up, soak it in a beaten egg for a while so it gets nice and slimy, then dredge in equal parts cornmeal and flour, with plenty of salt and pepper mixed in. Fry in shortenin'--but not fresh shortenin'. It's gotta be used a couple of times to be *just right*. Mmm. Can't be beat.

4) Orange Wellington is a delicious tomato! Every year I carefully plan out where I'm gonna plant what. I fill the entire garden on paper. Then when I go to the garden center I find something I can't resist adding in. So I picked up an "Orange Wellington" tomato because of the scrumptious orange color. I squeezed it into the garden plan and it has done really well! (tied it up on one tall stake). It tastes amazing! It has a tougher skin, but the texture inside is creamy like a perfectly ripe peach, and tastes very sweet, too. I will buy another next year--I've learned my lesson about planting seeds from my favorite tomatoes.

Perfect lunch: toasted onion bagel, spread with cream cheese and topped with a sliced Orange Wellington.

5) Organic material is crucial for a successful garden. I have neglected that task for a couple of seasons. It showed this year in the vigor of my plants. I have TWO neighbors with chickens, so I'll be adding lots of...uh...stuff...to the garden next spring. With the other lessons learned, it should be a great year!

No more spraying the fruit trees, things are getting good

Are you so happy? This is where I tell you NOT to do something. It's so easy. Don't spray your fruit trees anymore because you'll be EATING the fruit soon. The chemicals will naturally break down over the next 30 days so it will be safe to eat that fruit.

We've been working a lot so far. Now is when the harvest really starts to kick into high gear! Tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, melons, peaches, OKRA. That means salsa, bruschetta, pickles, zucchini quesadillas, veggie quiche, veggie pizzas, and of course, fried okra. Oh, and don't forget to get yourself a big slice of beefsteak tomato and smash it into a toasted onion bagel from Costco (or Einstein Bros.) with a slice of cheese melted on.

Oh yes, things get really good from here on out!