Backyard Gardeners

[devildeac]

So here's my garden, since I am finally starting to harvest a few things. I do everything in containers, which is great for weeding, not so great for maintenance free watering. And, when you are in a literal drought with back to back to back 90+ degree days, it is very high maintenance.
I know our city water is pretty acidic, so I use rain water as much as often. To make that work, I have three rain barrels. Two are fed by gutters, and the third is simply emptied into by one barrel when it is full. I can fill a watering can very easily, and my garden is small enough that it is not too time consuming to soak everything.
When it all runs dry, I have to rely on our hose. Bleah.
Anyway, long story short, I am going to be doing some canning this weekend. I've got lots of cucumbers to pickle, and banana peppers ready to go. There are over 50 green tomatoes staring at me, and I'm looking forward to putting them all in jars. By summer's end, I should have about 3x that yield.
I do have one "patio" cherry tomato plant going, simply because I love to snack on them as I water and feed everything.

Attachment 9425

Attachment 9426

Attachment 9427

Attachment 9428

Attachment 9429

Instead of beer?

Photos look great!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Instead of beer?

Photos look great!

There are some future ABTs in there. (Apparently gravity defying...for which beer is not to blame)

[BigWayne]

that's like the Berlin Wall of Tomatoes...Tear Down That Wall Mr Big Wayne!

Since it won't rain between now and October here, I can plant them pretty tightly together. Back in Georgia, I had to space them out further apart to prevent fungus. There are only 6 tomato plants in this photo. Foreground is a basil plant.

10 feet tall.jpg

This pic shows the support structure style I like to use to get them to grow that tall.
structure.jpg

[left_hook_lacey]

Since it won't rain between now and October here, I can plant them pretty tightly together. Back in Georgia, I had to space them out further apart to prevent fungus. There are only 6 tomato plants in this photo. Foreground is a basil plant.

10 feet tall.jpg

This pic shows the support structure style I like to use to get them to grow that tall.
structure.jpg

I'm having small man syndrome looking at those tomatoes and that basil plant.

[Devilwin]

Early Girl and Cherokee Purple tomatoes, yellow squash, okra, and watermelons are all I am messing with this year. Harvested three Early Girl tomatoes today.

[OldPhiKap]

Early Girl and Cherokee Purple tomatoes, yellow squash, okra, and watermelons are all I am messing with this year. Harvested three Early Girl tomatoes today.

When did you plant them?

[Reilly]

...
Something is eating my sage, not sure what ...

An uncontrollable urge to share not-so-humble opinions?

[Devilwin]

When did you plant them?

Got the three potted plants about a month ago. They had several small tomatoes on them when we purchased the plants.

[OldPhiKap]

Got the three potted plants about a month ago. They had several small tomatoes on them when we purchased the plants.

That ‘sprains it. I have about 50 tomatoes 🍅 on four different plants (different varieties) but all still green. Planted in mid-April.

[jacone21]

I have a couple of nice Better Bush plants going now. I have to wrap the cages in chicken wire to keep the squirrels from stealing the ripe tomatoes. I used shade cloth on them during our unusually early heat wave the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping that shading them in the afternoon helped them continue to set fruit. I planted them the week of Good Friday and I hope to pick some fruit in a couple of weeks. I used to plant lots of other things like squash and peppers, but there's so much inexpensive produce available around here this time of year that it's really not worth the effort and expense to grow them. Other than for the satisfaction, it makes more sense to go around the corner to the farm and get fresh produce practically free.

tomatoes.jpg

[BigWayne]

I have a couple of nice Better Bush plants going now. I have to wrap the cages in chicken wire to keep the squirrels from stealing the ripe tomatoes. I used shade cloth on them during our unusually early heat wave the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping that shading them in the afternoon helped them continue to set fruit. I planted them the week of Good Friday and I hope to pick some fruit in a couple of weeks. I used to plant lots of other things like squash and peppers, but there's so much inexpensive produce available around here this time of year that it's really not worth the effort and expense to grow them. Other than for the satisfaction, it makes more sense to go around the corner to the farm and get fresh produce practically free.

tomatoes.jpg

My dad in NC wraps each really good green tomato in chicken wire to try to defeat the squirrels. He tried stuff similar to what you show, but they would always get in. Neighborhood cats do the job pretty well for me here.

[Bob Green]

The wind is howling and it is pouring down rain at my house right now. I looked out in my backyard and see the wood trellis with green beans growing up it has been blown over. This trellis is several years old so once I am able to get out in the yard I expect to find that the wood legs snapped off at ground level due to being partially rotted already. This is especially disappointing as the green beans were looking good. My wife had already picked beans off twice and they taste as good as they look. Hopefully, I can figure out a way to salvage the trellis and bean plants.

In the good news department, I harvested a zucchini today and ate my first ripe cherry tomato. My Early Girl tomato plant has two tomatoes starting to turn red. I planted it the third week of April.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Hopefully, I can figure out a way to salvage the trellis and bean plants.

Plants are amazingly hardy, I bet you can do it.

When I transplanted my banana peppers early on, they were about a foot tall. One of them, I snapped in half somehow, I was sooo bummed out. But, I figured since I had nothing to lose, I'd splint it. Using some masking tape and three or four toothpicks, I wrapped it up tight at the break.

I ain't kidding, it was nearly to the point of one good pluck would have separated the top from the bottom where the deep cut was.

I just canned a bunch of peppers off that plant, and it is about 4' tall, just like the others that are next to it.

So...Go Bob's Beans! (Bob Green Beans, to be exact.)

[House G]

Same here with the basil. I literally cannot eat it quickly enough, and I use it on everything.

First squash came out overnight, first pepper about a week ago. I've got green tomatoes coming out of the woodwork, it's gonna be a saucy summer.

Speaking of basil, my wife made some fabulous pesto this week with basil from our garden. I believe she used basil, pistachio nuts, olive oil, and garlic:

8E56BF49-E57E-428D-904C-867516FF9F15.jpg

F16D730E-67C6-472D-832B-50BE6A70A020.jpg

[House G]

So far, we have had: Asparagus:
FDD4E421-CAD9-477A-9B14-21DA37F2D4C8.jpg
Onions:
E900BCD3-E97C-4C3E-9E44-4B48033CB60D.jpg
Strike (green) beans:
93189BC2-E09E-4444-A475-8C3C82191C79.jpg
Peaches:
86902860-A4DB-4BC1-8890-964D95A182DD.jpg
Blueberries:
BC970BFD-F52B-46BE-880B-128BC1C02FDA.jpg

[CameronBornAndBred]

So far, we have had:
Peaches:
86902860-A4DB-4BC1-8890-964D95A182DD.jpg

Droooool...

While of course those aren't out of a "garden", fresh off the tree fruit can't be beat! Share pics of your trees.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Droooool...

While of course those aren't out of a "garden", fresh off the tree fruit can't be beat! Share pics of your trees.

PS, to add to that. At the gallery, we have a good number of mulberry trees in our back yard and driveway. Two weeks per year, those things are a blessing and a curse. Curse, because every footstep you take is purple, blessing because they make an incredible cobbler.

[Bob Green]

So far, we have had:
Strike (green) beans:
93189BC2-E09E-4444-A475-8C3C82191C79.jpg

Those are some nice looking green beans.

[House G]

Droooool...

While of course those aren't out of a "garden", fresh off the tree fruit can't be beat! Share pics of your trees.

Peach:
409ED638-3E1D-4A17-BF26-DEAB48D34A9D.jpg
Fig:
FBC3E8D4-09BF-4063-A72B-9F212CF7A3F6.jpg
Lime:
3FC8F2B3-BF40-448A-881A-220C1B4D1583.jpg
Pineapple guava:
95BF07A6-D9A8-4F79-8DC7-7BD7351A69C7.jpg

[CameronBornAndBred]

^^^^Nice!