First Batch of Tomatoes is Here!

These are the tomatoes that I picked yesterday and today. The breakdown of what there is follows the pics.

These are Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifters

The bunch on top are cherries, the two on the bottom left are Julliettes, and the lonely one on the bottom right is a Porter.

The Mortgage Lifters from the top weighed in at:

• 8.3
• 7.9
• 7.4
• 6.5
• 6.1
• 5.7
• 5.3
• 3.9
• 3.4
• 2.1

The Cherry variants from the second pic weighed in at:

• 3.0 for the Cherries
• 1.7 for the Julliettes
• .8 for the lone Porter

That is 56.6 ounces (about 3.5 pounds) of Mortgage Lifters and 5.5 ounces of Cherry variants.

Not bad so far, and more are ripening every day. I did loose the biggest tomato yet to a caterpillar, but oh well. This is a learning process anyway.

We Have Germination!

This sure makes up for the destroyed tomato! The Lavender Munstead that was seeded last week is germinating! I counted just two small green stalks emerging from the seed just a few minutes ago. I guess I can grow from seed after all! This is awesome!

Attack of the Killer Caterpillars!

Well I have managed to keep the birds out, but now I am fighting a battle with caterpillars! The victim in this case was set to be a really nice Mortgage Lifter. A little brown splotchy caterpillar had burrowed in around the stem and done this damage in just a few hours. Needless to say I was upset.

So, in trying to keep the garden organic as possible, and since I have fruit to harvest in a matter of days, I am going to try the diluted soap trick. Evidently you can fill a water spray bottle with 2 drops of Dawn and spray everything with it. Supposedly, the buggies don't like the soap protecting them which can then be washed off harmlessly once picked.

Next year I think I am going to supplement the garden with some tobacco plants though. That should keep most of the pests away as well.

Here is the horrifying caterpillar damage. Be careful, it isn't pretty.

Letting the seed trays get a little sun

The big one is the lavender I planted the other day. The two smaller ones are garlic chives and butterfly bush that were planted yesterday.

The late plated Mystery Day Dahlias and Caladiums are Coming Up

I planted these way too late in the season, but they are finally coming through. Four of the eight dahlias are breaking through now. The caladiums are doing things a bit faster. Both were planted the same day.

My Mystery Gladiolas are Going to Bloom

My mystery bulbs that were planted in the wrong spot are going to bloom! I can't wait to see what color they are now.

My First Container

So this is my first container that I have done. It is an orange coleus, periwinkle, blue carpet juniper, ambrosinia, and corkscrew. I thought it came out pretty good.

Lavender Munstead Sown

I got my seed in yesterday and against better judgement I wanted to sow something so the lavender was chosen. I also got these nifty CoCo One-Steps seed starting medium. Hopefully in about 2 weeks I should have some lavender seedlings.

First Victim of Bird Attack

A 5.2 oz. Jetstar tomato. The netting will go up today.

The First of the Peppers

First of the Peppers!

This morning I was able to get the first small bunch of peppers in earnest. My sole banana pepper bush did well and I was able to pick five one ounce peppers from it, five serrano peppers weighing in at 3.2 ounces total, and a lone jalapeno pepper also at one ounce.

The serrano bush is doing well and I should have some more from it in another day or two. The banana pepper bush has some other blooms on it, but given the size of these peppers and the smallish stature of the bush, it is easily the smallest in the garden now, that I suspect it to be awhile before I come across many others. The jalapeno bush still has another eight or nine left on it, some which should be ready in a few days. Not bad all told, but I am still disappointed in the size of these "Mammoth Jalapenos." They really just look like regular jalapenos to me.

The Tomatoes are Almost Ready

A pair of Cherry Tomatoes and a small Porter

This morning I was able to pick 3 ripe tomatoes, two cherries and a smallish Porter at 3.2 oz. total. I also picked about 4 Serrano peppers over the weekend. It is a meager start but in another week or so the tomatoes should start ripening in bulk. All of the big tomatoes, the Mortgage Lifters mainly, should start turning soon, and some of those are downright huge. We had a good bit of rain here over the weekend which is why that Porter has split.


On another note, I made a huge seed purchase for flower and vegetables at Park Seed Company over the weekend. Hopefully, it will be in a few days from now and I will show my ideas and plans for the yard and the fall garden.

Hello.

Short Intro

OK. So I am kinda new to this whole gardening thing, but I really enjoy it. So much so that I feel like pestering the rest of the world with my lackluster success and the continued learning curve that is gardening.

What has happened so far? 

The First of the Season

This year I planted only tomatoes and peppers in the vegetable garden. My theory is to get some awesome salsa out of them. This is really my first good year, the previous two years with vegetables was somewhat lackluster due to completely moronic mistakes. But this year I'm doing something right. So I have a whole mess of different types of tomatoes mixed together tightly with about six varieties of peppers. 

So far so good too! I'm attaching some pics of what will be the first fruit harvested in earnest. I've already picked two or three tomatoes, but the bulk of them are about to start turning in about another week or two.

My topsoil here is pretty sandy and has a tendency to solidify on me after a good rain. Because of the sandiness, and my complete inability to grow a tomato over two inches last year, I mixed in a good bit of cotton seed meal about two weeks before planting. That seems to have done the trick. I also sprayed them with some MiracleGro a few weeks after planting. Either way they are doing great as far as I am concerned.

Pics and More after the jump...