July 13, 2010: Tie 'em Up, Rip 'em Out, Fence 'em In!

Tie 'em Up

We had a rip roaring wind gust or two yesterday, and I had raspberry canes and corn stalks down in the garden. I untangled the forest of raspberry canes as well as I could, and tried to partition sections off with rope to keep them from leaning over too far. I also (with the help of Mr. Granny) added a loop of rope around the corn stalks in the first barrel, which took the brunt of the wind. The non-container planted corn stood tall.

Half the raspberry bed got straightened out.


Sad looking corn got tied up.



Rip 'em Out

I ripped out the Contender bush beans this morning. They were still giving me a small harvest, and I could have cut them back by half and they'd have blossomed again, but I wanted the space to plant another variety of bush bean while there is still time. I had harvested over 14 pounds of beans from that 8-foot double row, so I certainly got my money's worth from one packet of seeds. We're getting enough Fortex pole beans for our meals right now, and I have several more varieties of bush beans growing, but I have another packet of an untried variety to play with.

Out with the beans.

Most of the broccoli is also getting ripped out. There just aren't enough side shoots to warrant taking up so much space. The plants got huge this year, the broccoli heads not so much.



Fence 'em In


Technically, we didn't fence 'em in, but we did erect hoop structures over the two lettuce beds, and I installed the lattice so that I could plant and harvest without removing it. It worked fine to shade the lettuce when I just supported it over the tops of the beds, but I had to remove it every time I wanted to cut or plant lettuce, and it was bulky and heavy. By covering only the west end and part of the tops, it allows morning sunlight to reach the plants, yet shades them during the hottest part of the day. Most of the lettuce had grown leggy from too much shade, some had bolted. The Red Sails is really holding its own during the heat. I have several varieties started on the window sill, so I'll be pulling most of these mature plants rather than cutting them back.




Elsewhere in the Garden

I've lost my garden fork. I looked everywhere for it, and asked Mr. Granny if he'd seen it. He said I probably left it in the garden and something grew over it. I hope it's not under here....


The squash, both summer yellow crookneck and winter butternut, have taken over this area of the garden. I can't even get back to the tomatoes without going through the shed and out the back door. I see lots of baby butternuts on the vines!


There are flowers back there....somewhere! Look, Daphne, some of the zinnias escaped being eaten by the bugs!


The Black Cherry tomato has reached the roof. I had to get out a ladder yesterday, to reach the top and tie it to the stake.



I'm really beginning to wonder if this Sungold came from saved seed that reverted to a parent plant. I don't think Sungolds are shaped like these.


Talk about The Little Engine That Could. How about The Little Clear Pink Early That Could! This little gem is only 34 inches tall, and has more than forty full sized tomatoes on it! I hope it tastes as good as it performs.


Before I came in from the garden today, I picked tonight's dinner.


Those sweet and sticky barbecued chicken wings were really good, served with all the freshly picked, pulled and dug fresh veggies. The corn came from the store, but was fresh, sweet and local. I hope I have room for a piece of chocolate zucchini cake. I made two of them, with fudge frosting. I made two loaves of zucchini bread, too. And put a bunch more green beans in the freezer. I love summer's bounty!



30 comments:

  1. Those black cherry sure do grow tall, don't they? Man...that little tomato plant with all the tomatoes on it is really doing it's job!

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  2. Love the hoop with trellising! Brilliant!

    That Little Clear Pink Early is a workhorse. Holy Smokes! Hopefully you will give us a verdict on the taste - because it looks like one I would like to try.

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  3. EG & Kitsap, I'll certainly report the results of a taste test! Looking at the color of them, it shouldn't be much longer. I would love to find a 3' tall, compact tomato plant that pumps out tons of fruit with excellent flavor. It is described as Compact plant loaded with long trusses of perfectly round - smooth - beautiful clear pink tomatoes. The flavor is very good - sweet yet tangy - making this a delightful addition to an early harvest. Heirloom variety of Russian origin.

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  4. Dinner looks lick ya lips delish and your garden is divine~!

    Hugs

    Kimmie

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  5. Granny I can't get over your garden, you are amazing. Please tell me what is the secret for growing such tall tomato plants? I'm in my second year of gardening, the tomatoes are in full sun yet they don't grow not even half as tall as yours...is it because I didn't add compost to the soil? I did try the fish emulsion based on what I saw you do in other posts but so far no luck, they look like dwarf plants...

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  6. I love the picture of the squash vines. They filled in the garden space nicely.

    I'm growing black cherry and clear pink earlies as well. They are just beginning to change color! I was expecting my Red Siberian tomatoes to to be the first ones to ripen but sadly, they are doing NOTHING!

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  7. I love your tomato set up. The lettuce trellis is fabulous too. Yummy dinner!

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  8. I can't get over those tall upright raspberry canes! Ours here resemble 2 ft high round bushes LOL! Oh, to be able to pick without bending over, nice! Love the lettuce shade!

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  9. You are definitely the queen of tomatoes...wow, those black cherry plants are huge. I like the way you shaded your lettuce plants, what a great idea and one that I will keep in mind for the future.

    Too bad about the wind, we had the same nasty gusts. They knocked over some of our fava beans and made a mess of the yard but that was about it, no serious damage.

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  10. YUM!!!! And chocolate zucchini cake to finish it all off?

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  11. Beautiful update. The sungold does not look like a sungold. The fork will show up but probably not before you forgot about it. I hate when i do that but it is usually my husband that does it. Love the lettuce structure and great dinner.

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  12. Thomas, are your Clear Pink Early plants loaded, too? I sure hope they are a good tasting tomato. My Minigold and Gartenperle are not going to be grown again, I may compost them as soon as something else ripens. The flavor of the tomatoes is just not good, and the Minigold has tough skins to boot.

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    Thank you, The Mom. I almost divorced Mr. Granny while building the shade structure for the lettuce.

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    Erin, I'm going to have to cut mine back quite a bit next spring. Or pick from a ladder. Those suckers are at least 10' tall, plus the 1' raised bed!

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    Mr. H, most of the indeterminates have now reached the tops of their 8' stakes. I am going to have to use a ladder to harvest some of the tomatoes!

    No serious damage here, either. Of course, the wind already blew down our only back yard tree in 2008, that's why I have a garden there now.

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    Kelly, and vanilla ice cream to top the chocolate cake. I'm going to have to buy a new wardrobe soon...about two sizes larger ;-)

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    Johanna, I thought Sungolds were a round cherry tomato, but I looked it up on the Cornell website, and it says "3- to 5-foot, Indeterminate vines bear sweet, 1 3/8-inch by 7/8-inch, OVAL TO OBLONG, firm, meaty, clustered, golden-orange fruit with few seeds and free of cracking."

    Mine are definitely oval to oblong, but not 3-5'! It's about 7' right now.

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  13. Anonymous (I almost missed your comment!), it's probably the variety. I have about 3-4 varieties of indeterminates that aren't much taller than my determinates. Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Kellogg's Breakfast, Black Cherry and Sungold are my tall ones. All the rest are around 3'-5' high. I do add composted dairy manure (from a local nursery) to all my beds each spring, about 2-3" deep. The tomatoes grown in the bottomless buckets are quite a bit taller than the ones growing in the ground, but that might be because they have a better support system. I ran out of tomato cages before I could double up (place one upside down on another) on all of them, so some flop over more.

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  14. I'm glad the wind didn't do much damage. Those raspberry canes look very organized now hehe.

    Do the Clear Pink Early's normally stay so compact? If so, that's a variety that's right up my alley...

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  15. Momma_S, yes, it is a compact determinate.

    The raspberries are only half organized. I ran out of clothesline rope.

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  16. Granny, what a great idea for shade! I will remember this, and use it for my beds. Glad Mr. Granny made it to see another day. Dinner looks yummy!
    ~~Lori

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  17. LOL, Lori! If I did away with Mr. Granny every time we fought over a project, he'd have been long gone 48 years ago! It's a given that we'll argue any time a hammer, saw or drill comes out, because "measuring" and "leveling" aren't in Mr. Granny's vocabulary.

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  18. Oh how I love seeing pictures of your garden and your growing vegetables. I really like your lettuce lattice - now say that really fast three times in a row! I also couldn't believe you "lost" your garden fork, but I can believe it after seeing that picture of your squash patch.

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  19. thyme2garden...like your lettuce lattice, like your lettuce lattice , like your lettuce lattice. I'm real good at Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, and Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore, too!

    I found the fork. It was hanging in the shed, right where it was supposed to be, but I'd brought in some long boards and propped them against the wall, which hid the fork!

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  20. Just wanted you to know that your talk about zucchini bread inspired me to find out if I could get rid of...I mean use some of my squash to make bread. I found a recipe and made some tonight. It was pretty good.

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  21. Cheryl, good for you! I have two recipes for zucchini bread on my blog. One I've called the "best", but I really think the other is my favorite. I made it this week, and it's really good. I'm sure it could be made with just about any kind of squash.

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  22. I just did a quick search and couldn't find your recipe for the zucchini bread. Would you provide those for me?

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  23. LOL! At least the fork wasn't eaten by squash monsters! And that lettuce lattice is an excellent idea and looks nice, too! Like everybody else, I'm gonna have to try that little tomato, if it tastes as well as it grows. Will be waiting to find out. Where did you get the seeds? I wonder if Totally Tomatoes has them?

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  24. Cheryl, they are at :

    http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-28-2008-evening.html

    http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-25-2008.html

    I like the second one the best I think. It was so nice and moist this time, but that might be because I spilled the oil into the batter! It calls for three eggs and I only had two, so the extra oil probably did help the texture ;-)

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  25. SB, I got the seeds free from WinterSown Org.

    http://www.wintersown.org/wseo1/YourChoiceTomatoSASE.html

    If they are any good, I'll be saving (and sharing) seeds.

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  26. Granny, if I could stay off the road and away from the long road trips I may be able to stay current with your blog. I am tired of singing ON THE ROAD AGAIN! (smile) And yet I will take another trip (about 3 hours one way) to deliver furniture and boxes to my oldest daughter this weekend. My backside is tired. I think I would rather stay home and look for bugs in my garden!!

    I really like that lattice for shade. If we continue to have temps in the upper 90s and the heat index pushing 110, I will need to do something for my poor plants.

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  27. Debiclegg, I'm a "rather stay at home" type of person myself. I get worse with age!

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  28. Everything looks so fantastic. It's like your plants are all on hormones or something -- they're positively Brobidnagian! Denise's squash patch looks a lot like that.

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