pepperhead212's 2024 garden

[pepperhead212]

I picked a few more blushing larger tomatoes earlier, along with a generous 2 qts of the smaller ones. I went out around 7:15 pm, and there were at least a dozen more blushing! A couple were deep in some, so I could have missed them, but others were right in plain sight! Amazing how fast these things are, when they get going.
A couple cukes, 3 Asian Delights, and 2 Ichiban EPs. Tomatoes: 2 Genuwine, 1 Green Brandy, and 1 Superfantastic. 7-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Smaller tomatoes today, 7-7. Larger one in the middle is the first Atomic Fusion. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I cut open that first Atomic Fusion, to sample it, and that was delicious, like the other green/striped varieties. And that was one with more ripening, when I went out later!
Atomic Fusion, cut up, and sampled. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That first Genuwine that I picked 4 days ago, just starting to ripen, was completely ripened, and I tried it. It was definitely one of the best of the season, and early, considering the type of tomato - about 67 days. It is a cross of Brandywine and Costoluto Genovese, and the flavor lives up to that! When I cut it open, I didn't have to cut out much of the stem, like with some, and there wasn't much of the blossom end I had to cut off, either. It's a meaty tomato, with a small amount of juice, so it had great flavor, for such a small amount, like Pruden's Purple, in that respect. Definitely a keeper, baring any disease problems, or anything like that.
1st Genuwine ripened completely, and cut up to sample. Not real juicy, but delicious flavor. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I cut up all of the eggplants I had - 17 - and got almost 5 full shelves for the dehydrator. I like to fill it, but that's all I had for it. However, I have some vacuum bags of various peppers in the freezer, so I could get some of those out, and dry those. I often do this with the Thai peppers, which dry well, after freezing.
Almost 5 sheets of eggplant cubes for the dehydrator, from 17 eggplants. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First Matrosik eggplant, cut in half. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I ate something today that made me think of that Bronze torch - some quick pickles, that I put a pinch of crispit in, and the skin is actually crunchy, and that's what I get in those tomatoes! Not quite as crunchy, but I don't remember tomatoes like that.

Largest tomato harvest of the season today - about 3 qts of smaller ones, and 7 of the larger ones - the largest one, another of the Superfantastik. And most of those smaller, black ones on top are the Negro Azteka - starting to produce a lot more, and no more with BER. And I went out about 2½ hours later, and there were a bunch more ripening, besides that row that was in the sun, and I just waited to pick.
About 3 quarts of smaller tomatoes, and 7 of the larger ones ripening, 7-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

3 more eggplants, and another bottle gourd, about 2 lbs. A bunch more eggplants on all of them.
A 2 lb bottle gourd, and 3 eggplants, about 8-10 ozs each. 7-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JayneR13]

When the goodies start to flow it quickly becomes an avalanche! Those of us with shorter growing seasons have no time in summer. Weed, pick, process. Rinse and repeat. Yay!

[pepperhead212]

Tomatoes are ripening quickly, and some of them I'm getting the first ones ripening - the Amish Gold Slicer, and Beefmaster hybrid. And those two unstriped green ones in the back are the Green Brandys from the second plant; those from the first plant were striped, so it's not true bred yet. The other striped ones in the center is Atomic Fusion, which is getting a lot of fruits on it, and ripening quickly. And that Zluta Kytice I hadn't picked in just 3 days, and this many were ripe again - almost like it was determinate! It will be interesting to see if those new flowers will be triggered by the picking.

Some of those tomatoes ripen faster than I would have guessed. I see this when I pick every tomato with even a slight blush on it, and and 3 or 4 hours later, when I go back out, it looks like I forgot a couple varieties!
Tomatoes, and one 24 oz bottle gourd, 7-10 Larger varieties starting to ripen faster, and some varieties ripening for the first time. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Zluta Kytice Gold, 7-10. After not picking for just 3 days. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I noticed that one of those Thai Vesuvius (usually the earliest pepper for me, except when I grow Superchili) peppers is ripening today. As you can see, these peppers are almost all the same size, and they ripen about the same time - the reason I call them determinate peppers. The Thai Dragon behind it has some peppers forming - plant larger, but later, so time will tell if I get as many or more peppers, or as many flushes of peppers (usually get 3 with the Vesuvius).
Thai Vesuvius, starting to ripen. 7-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Datil and Red habanero plants are starting to set fruits, about normal time, since the end of the month is when they start ripening.
Datil peppers, just forming. 7-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Red habanero from nursery, just started to set fruit. 7-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And a few things out front, to satisfy the bees, along with the herbs and veggies. They're just getting started.
2 colors of zinnia on one plant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Zinnias,7-10 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

It was disgustingly humid out there today; so much so, that the weeds were still wet at 4 pm, though fortunately, the tomatoes and other plants had dried off, so I could trim and harvest them. I picked another bottle gourd at 8", as the 10" one I used last night was getting sort of spongy in the center - not seedy yet, but I still scooped the center inch or so out, while the first 8" one was firm all the way through. The only cucumber I harvested I knocked off by accident! There are a bunch of eggplants, and a large number of tomatoes again. That Genuwine plant is producing more ripe ones at a time than other larger ones. The Negro Aztka cherry had a lot of ripening ones, but it was the worst affected by the rain (not really that heavy), with a large number of split ones - maybe 30%. A few splits on the Bronze Torch, but that was it. The Sunsugar and Juliet had the most ripe ones, since the last harvest.

A bottle gourd, a cuke, and the larger tomatoes, the largest is a 14.8 oz Mountain Rouge. 7-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr



About 5 qts of the cherry and other small tomatoes. 7-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr



Eggplants, 7-13 - 2 Asian Delights, a weird shaped Matrosik, 3 Ichibans, and 1 Long Purple. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I put 3 trays of halved tomatoes in the dehydrator today - could have gone through that bowl I picked yesterday, as some are ripening quickly, but instead, I used the space in the dehydrator to put 3 more trays of eggplant into, since there are a lot more almost ready to pick out there. I got almost two trays of the gold cherries - Sunsugar and Zluta Kytice Gold, and I only missed one Sunsugar, when I was separating them. Shows how much darker orange they are.
Zluta Kytice Gold, and a few Bronze Torch, ready to go into the dehydrator. only missed one Sunsugar, the darker orange one on the right. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sunsugars, and a few other types, ready to go into the dehydrator. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JayneR13]

While other people are hitting the beaches or whatever, we're in the garden and the kitchen all summer! But that's what I'd rather be doing: growing and processing as much of my food as I can. Is that an Excalibur tray I see?

[pepperhead212]

People think I'm nuts, especially being out there in this heat! But nothing like the homegrown foods!

Yes, that's an Excalibur tray, with a silicone tray over it, which I use for the wet things, like tomatoes.

[pepperhead212]

More tomatoes, and eggplants, and a couple cukes I picked later.
Another 2 qts of tomatoes, plus the larger ones. 7-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

2 Matrosik, 2 Ichiban, and 3 Asian Delight eggplants, 7-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Yesterday, unfortunately, I pulled my Pruden's Purple tomatoes - they hadn't been looking good, and were probably the least productive of any plans this year; same thing that happened to me many years ago, which me not grow them again, despite the good flavor, so that hasn't changed. This time, however, it looked like something chewed through the stalk underground, and they wilted since I last looked at them! Tomatoes on either side are showing no problems. Considering that I won't be missing much, I pulled them, and something else will get planted there. Today I had 3 plants with branches bent down by the wind last night (after that total lack of wind when I was out there!), a large branch of Green Giant broken, with the other two hopefully salvageable, and I tied up some others, since tomorrow another storm may be coming through, after that heat.

[JayneR13]

If they're not producing or worse, looks like something has been attacking them, you're right to pull them! Plant something else there, preferably before whatever spreads to your other plants. And as easy as that concept sounds, it's been the hardest thing for me to practice! My short growing season has helped; if it's not in the pantry by the time the farmer's markets close, I'll have to buy it, and at today's prices who wants that!

Is there any clue what's affecting them, when you pulled?

[pepperhead212]

No idea what killed those plants - it was like I stopped watering them! Nothing like a blight, or slow advancing disease, and nothing on the leaves, or roots. Yesterday I sprayed a solution of Revitalize and Spinosad in the soil, and I'll plant some cucumbers in those spots - I have plenty of tomatoes, and this way I'll get some more cukes in September.

[pepperhead212]

The peppers are finally ripening! This variety has more peppers than leaves, it seems, and once I pick about half of them, I'll get another flush of flowers, for more peppers. I might pick some fully grown green ones, for Thai curry paste.

Thai Vesuvius ripening, 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I found the first Kajari melons and the first fig in my garden. Those snow melon vines are growing like crazy, and I've been pinching off most of the suckers, leaving every 4th or 5th one. No sign of blossoms yet, but these were only planted a few weeks ago.

More varieties of beans are starting to produce, but it's still early for the long beans. Soon, I'll be digging up those onions and shallots, so I turned off the irrigation timer to that bed, to let it dry out some (if weather cooperates).
1st Kajari melons forming! The largest of 3, about 3" so far, 7-18 I might plant some more, to get some later melons. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First fig formed. 7-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I only harvested some eggplant, and a few more of those Thai Vesuvius peppers today. There were more ripe ones, but I have to do something with the ones already harvested! I gave some to a friend, to make room - someone who has never had these tomatoes before, and now I have someone else that wants to grow them!
3 Matrosik eggplants, from 7-18. Still a bunch on each plant, and more blossoms. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Small eggplants from 7-18, 3 Ichibans and 2 Asian Delights. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I didn't even look at the eggplants today, only the tomatoes. These I skipped yesterday, and I could tell!

The larger tomatoes, and those Ron's Carbon Copy on the side, that I had to clean Surround powder from. 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr





Another 2 qts of the smaller tomatoes. 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr



And here's one of the 3 trays of tomatoes, that went into the dehydrator, along with 4 trays of eggplant, a little less eggplant than the first time.

One of the 3 trays of tomatoes for the dehydrator. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Mark_Thompson]

How do you like Green Brandy?

[pepperhead212]

The Green Brandy is good tasting, but it's not very productive. It also seems to be coming down with some sort of fungal disease, while some next to it isn't bothered by it. Don't know if I will end up pulling it as a result - time will tell. But, even though the flavor is good, it's not productive enough for me to grow again, even if it was immune to disease.

Today I harvested 12 more eggplants, along with another bottle gourd, and 2 more cucumbers. It seems that the bottle gourds and cucumbers don't do as well in the intense heat, and the Long Purple eggplant isn't doing as well, and the Asian Delight hybrid gets seedy quickly, though it doesn't get bitter. I'm expecting these 3 Long Purples to be seedy, since they stopped growing a while ago, so I'll see if they got bitter. At any rate, they were the least productive, so I probably won't grow them again. The Ichibans were the best, again, and this time they weren't bothered by the heat, which, normally, is the only bad thing about them! I'm thinking that this is an OP version of it, while the old ones were hybrid, as I got a large number of seeds cheap, on ebay.
A bottle gourd, 2 cukes, and 12 more eggplants! 1 Matrosik, 3 Long Purple, 3 Asian Delight, and 5 Ichiban. 7-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I saw some ripe, orange Hanoi Markets out there yesterday, which is early for those - they usually start about a week into August, then take off non-stop. One of those indeterminate peppers! I didn't pick any, as they are one of the covered ones, and it was too windy to uncover them, or rather, to re-cover them! This, after yesterday, with not a leaf moving in the trees.

Also saw some full sized, but still green, habaneros - about average for those, as I usually get ripe ones at the very end of July, or beginning of August.

And I harvested about the same amount of the Thai Vesuvius starting to ripen. Not a single blossom on that plant, with all those full sized peppers, but this will probably trigger more blossoms. The Thai Dragon plants have a lot of peppers on them, and a bunch of blossoms, as well. Time will tell if that's an indeterminate type.
The first harvest, almost finished ripening, and today's Thai Vesuvius, about the same amount. 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I had my largest harvest of the larger tomatoes today - I didn't even harvest any of the smaller ones, but there are a lot of those ripening, too, of course.

I got 7 tomatoes from those two Superfantastik plants, with one at 14.55 oz. And that "ugliest tomato" from the Beefmaster hybrid is 17.65 oz - the largest, so far this year.
7 Superfantastics, from 2 plants, largest one 14.55 oz. 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Overflowing 8 qt container of the larger tomatoes harvested on 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Most of the tomatoes I harvested on 7-23, plus another bottle gourd. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[PlainJane]

Wonderful haul!

[GoDawgs]

Beautiful stuff! Are you canning all those tomatoes? You'll have bunch of jars to enjoy all winter and through next spring! I know you said you dehydrate eggplant. You must have bags full by now. And lots of people who gladly take the fresh ones off your hands.