Any gardeners?

[Jersey Girl]

BUMP!

My garden is looking awesome. I am so thrilled. This is the best gardening I have ever done, even when I lived in South Jersey. I think I must have been overwatering back east since I am having so much success out here, lol.

I have a tomato that has been producing very well. Also have romaine and green leaf lettuce that has been providing great greens for salads. My green bell pepper plant is also doing okay. The eggplant died. I added some broccoli about a month ago, and my spinach is starting to come back. My grape vine is also doing well.

Today I planted a red pepper and yellow pepper plant, four cucumbers, an eggplant and four string bean plants. I also have added a small dwarf orange tree this winter/spring.

I am really excited. There is nothing better than going out to your own garden and getting stuff for dinner.

 

[Bert]

BUMP!

My garden is looking awesome. I am so thrilled. This is the best gardening I have ever done, even when I lived in South Jersey. I think I must have been overwatering back east since I am having so much success out here, lol.

I have a tomato that has been producing very well. Also have romaine and green leaf lettuce that has been providing great greens for salads. My green bell pepper plant is also doing okay. The eggplant died. I added some broccoli about a month ago, and my spinach is starting to come back. My grape vine is also doing well.

Today I planted a red pepper and yellow pepper plant, four cucumbers, an eggplant and four string bean plants. I also have added a small dwarf orange tree this winter/spring.

I am really excited. There is nothing better than going out to your own garden and getting stuff for dinner.

So you couldn't grow anything in the Garden State but your tomatoes are flourishing in Arizona?

(this is where I would make a joke about the only things 'growin in Jersey are.....' but I dont wanna get punched)

I'm glad your garden is growing. I still dont understand how you vegetarians can sleep at night when you murdered those poor little eggplant! They were so young....

 

[Jersey Girl]

So you couldn't grow anything in the Garden State but your tomatoes are flourishing in Arizona?

I KNOW!!!! It is very embarrassing. My dad and my uncles and my grandfathers grew the best produce. I just never had that much grow in my yard. I am blaming the soil and the overwatering.

(this is where I would make a joke about the only things 'growin in Jersey are.....' but I dont wanna get punched)

Oh, the fact you alluded to a joke there is enough for a punch in the gut, lol. Watch your back, lol.

I'm glad your garden is growing. I still dont understand how you vegetarians can sleep at night when you murdered those poor little eggplant! They were so young....

I am a monster, what can I say?

 

[D-Dogg]

This year's garden is growing nicely - but the wind killed a squash plant. I've NEVER had that happen before, but it must have caught it just right and snapped it at the base..it is holding on for dear life but prognosis isn't good.

Tomatoes are looking good. I'm really hoping I got the nematodes under control - they are a nightmare if you ever get them. I added a lot of french marigolds interplanted this year to hopefully help even more after the solarization of last season. Lots of flowers mixed in to the garden this year as well.

Pizza sauce from the herbs last night was muy bueno, as always.

 

[Jersey Girl]

BUMP.

As much as I tried to keep things alive, almost everything in my garden has died this summer. I had tomatoes up until about two weeks ago. My watermelon plant is still doing well, and I hope it continues to grow. My one zucchini plant is also still alive. That is about it.

When do you guys do your planting for fall? (FWIW, my garden gets afternoon sun.) I don't want to start too early. I gotta tell ya, it is really difficult to get used to the different planting seasons here in AZ.

 

[AZZenny]

I'm starting cabbage and brussels sprouts, rapini and such indoors this week for transplanting out in mid-Sept. Also trimmed back my tomatoes and am rooting a couple stems (indoors) to transplant out in a couple weeks to try to get a late crop. Two shaded tomato plants are resting for now (they won't set fruit unless the temp drops to the low 80's at night because the pollen literally is destroyed by heat, but if you get up very early and hand-pollinate, they may set a few fruit -- I usually let them rest though, and trim them back slightly and deep feed them so they'll resume flowering in a couple weeks).

Just planted some green beans and yellow wax beans and a couple last types of pole Limas, which like heat and should set mature beans by late October. Will plant carrots, scallions, beets, turnips, potatoes, chard and a fresh round of summer squash over the next 2-3 weeks, then by late August begin planting lettuce, short-season peas, kale, etc.

Meanwhile watermelons, cantaloupes, persian melons, pumpkins, and winter squash are taking off. They need occasional heavy feeding, light midday shade, and mulch the roots to keep them at a steady temperature.

Take the time to really work some compost or peat or coir (which I am getting to really appreciate) deep into the soil before Fall planting.

 

[AZZenny]

Nematodes are a bear, and endemic in hot climates. Very hard to avoid eventually accumulating in the south or southwest -- or ever get rid of. Crop rotation helps -- they supposedly won't touch strawberries, onions and leeks, asparagus, some herbs, and a few types of galliardia and marigolds. Deep solarization, look for resistant varieties, etc. One more battle to wage. Certain organic soil amendments do seem to help, too.

 

[crisper57]

I'd like to bring this thread back to life. I started a hanging garden this summer and added a raised bed this fall. I am thinking of expanding into a true garden bed this year.

I have a question about peppers. I had red/orange gypsy peppers planted next to purple bell peppers. After the first harvest of gypsies in the late summer, a second round came in. They have been perpetually green/yellow until lately when they've developed streaks of purple. I think I cross-pollinated the two plants because the gypsies are larger than normal and the bells are small.

My question is how long I should wait for the color to change on the gypsies. It has been about 6 weeks since they started to turn purple, but seem stuck in limbo now.

(I've uploaded a shot of my peppers for visual reference).

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Linderbee]

I have no clue, but I love your garden!

 

[crisper57]

Thanks! Finally got my first purple bell pepper. (Kinda small)

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[Kel Varnsen]

Thanks! Finally got my first purple bell pepper. (Kinda small)

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It's cute.

Do they taste the same as the green ones?

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[crisper57]

It's cute.

Do they taste the same as the green ones?

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Yep. Pretty much. Maybe a touch sweeter, but not as much as a red one. I generally dislike green versions of peppers and prefer the red/yellow/orange varieties (except for New Mexico Green Chile). The purple pepper is definitely something I will continue to try and grow.

 

[HeavyB3]

I have some Jalapenos, cherry tomatoes and fresno peppers growing in my garden. I put my garden in a terrible spot (failed to think about sun) so I can only use a little bit of it right now. As soon as everything dies, I plan on digging it all out and moving it to a better location. There's just parts of it that never get any sun, especially in the spring and fall. The pepper plants didn't give me a single pepper all spring and summer but are growing out of control now.

 

[crisper57]

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Today's harvest from the garden: 6 red peppers, 4 purple bell peppers, and 2 red potatoes.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Hmm...giant peppers or tiny potatoes?

 

[azmike74]

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Today's harvest from the garden: 6 red peppers, 4 purple bell peppers, and 2 red potatoes.

Not a bad harvest, I will have to try potatoes. I'm harvesting some small jalapenoes (they tend to grow larger when it warms up), occaisional zucchini, and have a lot of green tomatoes right now. Oh and basil and cilantro are doing really well. I tried a cucumber plant, but it's not doing great.

No luck with mexibell peppers, habaneros, carrots, or brussels sprouts.

 

[azmike74]

A rabbit got me. Stripped a cajun bell pepper plant, two habaneros that were very young, and multiple radishes.

I bought some deer and rabbit repellant from Home Depot, I hope that keeps it away. I really liked the few cajun bels that had been produced so far and I was really looking forward to habaneros.

 

[crisper57]

Pretty cool program we have at work that I might just steal to replant some vegetation in my own yard. (The concept, not the plants)

 

[Linderbee]

That's pretty cool--and makes perfect sense!

 

[82CardsGrad]

Pretty cool program we have at work that I might just steal to replant some vegetation in my own yard. (The concept, not the plants)

Awesome!!

 

[Jersey Girl]

So excited to have a real garden for the first time in 10 years! I have tomatoes and peppers growing well. Have some onions going as well. Planted squash, cucumbers and corn from seed, and they are starting to sprout.

Also planted some flowers. Am hoping to use some in the centerpieces for the wedding.

 

[HeavyB3]

I put in a raised garden bed last year, but I failed to think of sunlight. It gets far too much shade in the winter and early spring but does well in the summer. I still have a few tomato plants, a fresno pepper and jalapeno pepper plant alive in it. I was going to put in another one this spring in a better location, but life circumstances prevented it.

I really want to check out a place I heard about called Shamus O'Leary's Tropical Trees in Glendale. Apparently, they have a "native" avocado plant that will grow really well here and produce fruit. They also have a bunch of other types of fruit trees that do well here but you don't find at Lowes or Home Depot.