re: The 2021 Garden Thread

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Anybody give me some direction on this?

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I've always waited until they were a foot tall then covered up half. Rinse and repeat.

It has worked well for me in the past.

Sorry this post is so long. Here's a full update:

Finally got a chance to cut the grass and get some updated pictures... Creole tomatoes are doing awesome along with the San Marzanos. Big Beef aren't doing bad in their own rite. Peppers are goners after this last week of rain

Contender beans are about done and Kentucky Wonders are just starting to make.

Zucchini's are going at it, picked the 4th one today, but have some blossom end rot on a few small ones. Winter squash is getting vigorous.

Eggplants are doing really well now that it warmed up. Carrots are looking and tasting good, but need about another month.

Picked about 12 pounds of blackberries so far. Mrs. Boo is making a black berry crisp and hopefully a pie, and I'll be using about 5 pounds to make some wine. All berries going forward will be used for jams.

Tomatoes


Creole


Creole


Big Beef


San Marzano


San Marzano


San Marzano


Peppers


Beans


Sweet Potatoes and Beans


Squash and Beans


Butternut and Acorn Squash


Zucchini


Zucchini


Corn and Carrots


Eggplant


Eggplant


Blackberries


Blackberries

Thanks, gumbo. It appears I have a lot to learn about eggplant!

I'm planning to grill, smoke some for baba ghanoush, fry for eggplant parm, and broil with some miso sauce.

Haven't been using anything, never really have. Did use some regular miracle gro veg food when planted, but just a sprinkling. Going to go get some compost to add around them today, hopefully see some help in a couple weeks.

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Any one else struggling this year with their garden. All my plants look like crap here in Cenla, tomatoes small and viney, peppers just ok, cucs not doing much.

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I felt that way pretty much all of April. But even with all the rain the past couple of weeks mine seems to be doing great. Everything is really taking off. I'm about to be super busy with canning and preserving. Maybe I just got lucky.

The only thing I did different this year was using a lot less nitrogen. I did a lot of reading on disease control and nutrient deficiency. Seems pushing growth with too much nitrogen can often cause other problems. I used fish emulsion weekly at first (5-1-1), and then when everything started flowering and fruiting I switched to Sea Grow flower and bloom (4-26-26) and CAL-MAG+ (2-0-0) weekly. Once I started with the Sea Grow and CAL-MAG+, it seemed like the garden just exploded. Maybe it's the fertilizer, maybe conditions just all of a sudden became favorable for growth, maybe a combination of both. I'm just gonna roll with it.

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Yikes. Hopefully they rebound. I'd wait and see. You never know.

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Absolutely.

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How many blackberry bushes do you have? I only have 3. But I’m thinking I’m going to have to get a lot more. Those prime-arks are delicious.

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You can take a cane that’s close to the ground and throw some compost over it maybe even put a brick on it to keep it in contact with the soil. It will take root by the fall, you can cut it and it will be a new plant so you don’t have to buy anymore. Trust me I’ve done it. You can do the same with hydrangeas, fig trees and I’m sure many different plants.

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You can take a cane that’s close to the ground and throw some compost over it maybe even put a brick on it to keep it in contact with the soil. It will take root by the fall, you can cut it and it will be a new plant so you don’t have to buy anymore. Trust me I’ve done it.

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That’s good stuff. I’ll keep that in mind for if I can ever use that in the future.

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With the jalapenos, you could make jalapeno poppers and freeze them for football season snacks.

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Anytime I have frozen jalapenos they came out very soft when thawed.