Homegrown Tomatoes... It's a Guessing Game

At least for me it is.

With the fall garden crossing over into the spring garden we started strong this year. After rebuilding the beds with new, good soil, organics in place to use for fertilizing, correct timing in February to plant seeds and seedlings in the ground and most of all ~~ determination to learn some new things and improve the harvest of edibles this season ~~ we were off and running.

The harvest has not been a bad one. I just wouldn't say it's been great. I'm pretty sure I've thrown away almost as many tomatoes as in this basket due to nasty worms eating their way into the flesh.

The choice to abolish the use of pesticides is a true test of fortitude in Florida.

Summer has surely arrived early. The humidity and heat has come upon us like a blanket to smother even the most resolute soul. With it the bugs increase and flourish. The soil temperatures rise and the tomatoes don't like that too much.

Slices of yummy goodness from tomatoes (even though not as pretty as we'd prefer) are what keep us moving steadily onward with our goals. Hand picking worms and not stressing over the losses are our best defense.

The top of the tomato plants are still looking healthy, producing new flowers and amazingly setting new fruit. It's a guessing game when to water and how much to water as each day the forecast is for rain at some point in the day. That doesn't mean we'll see any rain ... there are just chances for rain. Some days it rains and others it misses us all together.

Towards the bottom of the plants things don't look so spry.

And this, my friends, is how it goes. I can't seem to conquer growing tomatoes on lively tomato plants from start to finish. And I can't seem to pinpoint what it is tht needs to be adjusted.

Admittedly, I've been harvesting good tomatoes prior to them fully ripening. Call it scared. Call it impatient. If they are almost ripe and they haven't been eaten by a worm they come off the vine to fully ripen safely on the kitchen sill.

Ah, the ups and downs of edibles. It certainly keeps us on our toes.

With the heat plus a couple of evenings of heavy rains the zucchini plants have succumbed to powdery mildew that is hopeless to control. But in the foreground (above) the 2 straight neck squash plants are still producing really tasty yellow fruit.

It is my hope they will hold out for a bit longer. Fresh goodness that is hard to beat!

The blanket flowers are cheery and don't mind sprawling all over the place to remind me why I mix up blooms and edibles. It's rewarding to have some easy, lasting successes to ease the consternation of the summer veggie season.

The blooming dill offers a bazillion tiny little flowers for the beneficial insects to nectar and rest. I'm sure they are working overtime on the feast of insects that are thriving here.

Pole beans on the trellis in the background have been a hardy lot. Green beans are still feeding us as well as onions.

My best little helper is old enough now to ask if he can pull the carrots and needs little to no instruction any more. He could give the garden tour and tell any one what's what in the garden and why we don't use chemicals on our food.

Overall every minute guessing what to do next or how to do a thing better next time is worth the effort. Hands-on experience works like a charm for me. We'll get this thing figured out eventually. In the meantime, lots of fresh yummy veggies have gone into our tummies. And some have gone into the compost pile. But rest assured, dear reader, we'll keep trying.

More Fresh Eats

Growth in the edible landscape is happening in leaps and bounds with May's generous doses of warm rays and the belated setting sun of spring.

So rapid is the growth, in fact, that many of the pathways created to be 18"- 24" wide have been obstructed by sprawling veggies, herbs, and flowering plants.

Harvesting of eightball zucchini, summer squash, green beans, carrots, onions, peppers, herbs, peas, and tomatoes is steadily increasing.

Heirloom seeds of rattlesnake pole beans were planted this year from pole beans that were dried from last year. That's a first for me. What pureness. Food reproducing food we can trust.

Not as many were planted this year as in the past. They were set to climb a more slender trellis. Sown a little later than the rest of the garden pole beans are just beginning to fruit.

Exciting news as we are beginning to see the bulbs forming on the Red Creole onions tried for the third time. Maybe we'll have some success this time. The Tokyo Long White-Bunching are looking good next to them. Lettuces are being missed greatly as it turned bitter with the warm temps.

Good thing we still have some clear passage between the perennial border and the veggie beds. The cuccumbers were threatening to claim all the space in the center bed. But in the last couple of days have succumbed to some sort of fungus. Sprayed them with GreenCure and hoping they will survive and produce.

Golden Globe Lysimachia as ground cover near the sitting area came back from the frost of winter.

Planting seeds of Gaillardia blanket flower may have been one of those forgetful moments as they really do blanket. But with the edible garden being one of the sunniest spots in my garden it is so tempting to put more flowers there than should be.

Carrots both from heirloom seeds and hybrids supposedly sweeter for the heat look great. But truthfully, I don't think they are as sweet as when harvested in the cooler weather. They sure are pretty growing with their feathery green tops! Some will be left in the ground just for the swallowtail butterflies to find and lay their eggs.

Dill doesn't last long in this region. Each year it is planted and flowers quickly with the rising heat index. I don't mind. It is an added attractor for insects and humans. :-)

A few plants of blueberries, flat leaf parsley, rosemary, and bronze fennel were added as landscaping in the back gardens. It is very fun to see edibles mixed in with everyday perennials.

Oh, those elusive tomatoes! The plants were looking great and this plant still does. Out of 5 plants this one looks the best. They all have tomatoes ripening and several harvested in the past week.

The worms have been awful and surprisingly very few aphids. No pesticide usage means a lot of attention and picking off of insects. This morning I found my very first tobacco hornworm. Wow. That guy was ginormous. I really hope he was alone. A remarkable appetite he had overnight on stems. Not just leaves but stems.

Those cute blue-podded peas are all but finished with only a few remaining on the distressed vines. They just cannot take the heat. One of these days I'm going to get the timing for these correct in the fall garden. And at the same time the weather is going to cooperate! One of these days...

But for this season we are celebrating the successes, making notes, learning more lessons and enjoying the fresh eats we are blessed to cull out of our very own edible garden.

Squash: It's What's for Breakfast... and Lunch and Dinner

Test trials are being run calculating how many hours does it take to grow from small-ish (good but could stay on the vine longer) to medium-ish (just about right) to a-little-too-largeISH (too much middle). Crazy fast growers!

The eightball zucchini planted from seed in February has just overrun a container plant (moved this morning) and its side boundaries running into the edging plants of bulbine. The bulbine will survive (I think) but isn't blooming due to lack of sunshine.

Just when I thought I had finally given the squashes enough room for the first time in three growing seasons... the summer squash has run across the nearest flagstone pathway to impede passage and threaten the carrots. Good thing there are more walkways.

We are not complaining! We are continuing to make notes and learning from these experiences.

Meanwhile ... plenty of fresh edibles are being served up in every imagainable form nourishing the pallette.

Stir fry for breakfast is not unusual following a morning's harvest. Try some cut up veggies with homemade hummus later in the day. So outrageously healthy and yummy.

Zucchini muffins and The Pioneer Woman's Zucchini Cakes (note: not as healthy but oh, so yummy~~fixed these last squash season-highly recommend) are up next...

Vegetable Garden::Full Spring Ahead

During this season of warmth and rapid growth gardening takes on the all consuming pose calling for even more time and energy of passionate gardeners everywhere. Not only in the landscape but especially in the vegetable garden where those annuals increase in size seemingly from each morning to each night.

Chive blooms glistening with heavy droplets of dew are just one among the many delightful discoveries on an early morning walk about.

The first dawning hours being the best time for thorough inspection and the picking off any tiny worms boldly chewing away at the greenery for their breakfast.

The watering regimen follows. It's best done by hand with the garden hose. Irrigation was installed this winter with its own separate timer and assuredly comes in handy on occasion. But it is not preferred over individualized watering for just what is thirsty at the moment.

This February when it was necessary for me to rebuild the 4 outer beds I reconstructed them in a (rectangular) box shape leaving a trench of-sorts in the middle. It occurred to me to create a place to fill with water which allows it to slowly seep into the roots of the four hilled up sides.

My amateur (veggie) gardening status gives me all kinds of lenience for trying different methods. This one is proving to make sense toward preserving the run-off from the hills as well.

When they are dry I don't mind compressing the interior soil by walking in it to inspect the plants or harvest from the inside.

Spring is the time when all living things awaken to the newness and splendor of the season. Signs of vim and vigor are everywhere we turn.

Succession harvesting of the earliest crops are well underway.

While many others are staked, bushing, or twining their way into exuberant growth with each glorious hour.

Snap peas of the blue-podded sort were planted this year for a try at a new variety.

But mostly for the interest of that adorable tiny violet flower that precedes the sweet blue pod with its little peas all huddled inside in a perfect row.

Handfuls of the most tender and tasty green beans are best gathered first thing in the day. But if it can't be helped a late evening culling works just fine for hungry tummies, too.

Already the flowers placed throughout the veggie garden are over-taking their bounds.

Naturally, that is the plan when situating them among the vegetables to draw in nectaring beneficial insects. The aesthetics they add call out to me to linger a bit longer and inspire me to pull another weed or plant another seed.

New crops of romaine lettuce have come in so fast even I'm surprised.

And small wonders! The onions planted from seed are actually looking as if they might grow ... yes, onions. It was decided in February to give one more go at planting them after two previously failed attempts. Never hurts to try again. Fingers still crossed for onions forming.

Flat leaf parsley from the fall garden is sited in between tomato plants towering to a height almost as tall as me. It's being allowed to flower for the small beneficial bugs such as the parasitic wasps who need tiny flowers for nectar. They will use other garden pests and aphids as a nursery for their young. We wouldn't want them to fly away after that for lack of nectar sources that fit their small mouthparts.

There are at least 6 miniscule flying insects on the parsley flowers. So tiny they were not even noticed until the photo was uploaded.

This is my third spring of growing warm season vegetables. Many lessons have been learned and many lessons elude me still.

Maybe just maybe enough room was provided for the enormously sprawling zucchini and summer squashes this time. It's been my repeated mistake to underestimate and forget how very much room each plant requires.

They were placed in the newest planting bed created this season. Tucked underneath the edge of the overhang from the front oak trees it is afternoon-shaded more than the rest of the garden. Which also explains the debris (from the oaks) still falling onto the wide, umbrella-style leaves.

This site gains them a much better air-flow than previous beds in the back of the garden. It seems they are happier and no signs of that pesky powdery mildew so far!

It's nice that peppers grow easily with no fuss involved. These are the successes that keep us trying! Some come easy and others... not so much.

Only five tomato bushes were planted this season and they, too, seem to be the happiest and healthiest of any other season. I wish I could pinpoint the exact reason(s). It must be the complete switch to organics using Tomato Tone and Fish Emulsion. Previous years the plants got so big, so fast and waited for the fruit to catch up. Too much nitrogen likely. I'm taking diligent notes to figure this one out and praying we don't get too much rain, too fast... or too much humidity all at once ... or the night temps don't get unbearable ... or an infestation of aphids and worms I can't keep up with...

Well, you know the drill. Tomato plants can have lots of issues in the blink of an eye without warning.

No matter. We'll not think about that until we have to. We've plenty to smile about and to keep us busy this beautiful month of April.

Happy gardening and happy spring days to each dear reader! Meems