re: 2019 Garden Thread

I just transplanted some tomatoes yesterday. Also planted out some broccoli and cauliflower that I bought from the feed store. I have some other that I started inside, but they won't be ready til mid-September or so.

Cabbage, Broc & Cauliflower transplants are available already?

Too hot I think

We shall see. Doing alright so far but a couple broccoli plants are showing some sun damage.

Between a three-month old kid, deer, squirrels, and general laziness, our garden hasn't been so great this year. That said, my peppers, hops, pumpkins, and cantaloupes are doing great.

Habaneros, thai chili, pepperochini, and scotch bonnet have produced more fruit than I know what to do with. The ghost and reapers are just starting to really produce. I foresee lots of hot sauce making in my future.

I didn't expect much from the hops this year because I split the rhizomes early in the spring and moved them. They usually don't do a whole lot the first year. Pleasantly surprised.

Question for you guys that have lime trees. Last year in June, I moved onto my current property. Prior owners had a key lime tree in the back yard that produced a handful of limes last year. It was obvious that it had not been maintained properly nor fertilized before they sold the home to me.

This past fall I did some maintenance pruning and fertilized in early spring. Thanks to that work my tree has about 150 limes now.

How can you tell when they are ready to harvest? I've never dealt with limes before. Right now they are all giving a little bit when I squeeze them. However they are mostly still dark green. I took one off the tree today that showed some lightening up on the color and sliced it open to see what it looked like on inside. It was yellow, like a lemon and tart like one.

Is it still too early to harvest or have I gone the other way and waited too long?

Thank you for the response. I'll keep checking them in the next few weeks. I don't now what the heck I'm going to do with all of these limes. I hope the family really, really likes key lime pie

A satsuma tree is next on my list of things to get for the back yard.

Fowl Guy, I grow Cushaws and , like you said, I use them in place of pumpkin pie. The seeds can be roasted too. Be sure to save some seeds for next year. I have kept seeds for 7 years and they germinated.

I started some Romain lettuce seeds. Keeping them in partial shade for a few weeks before I transplant them. This heat wave needs to take a hike.

I have them on my back patio. It stays shaded until about 3-4 pm. I’m growing Parris Island Cos Romain. It’s supposed to be pretty heat tolerant. LSU Ag planting guide says to start them August 15 for zone 9. I figured it would be September before I transplant them. We'll see how they do. So far nothing has sprouted, but it’s only been 2 days.

ETA: Good news is, the seed packet came with about a billion seeds in it. So, if these fail, I’ll just sow some more.