Backyard Gardeners

8b here I think. Cherry and big boys already producing green fruit. Spinach getting late in the season. Romaine and kale are ongoing champs. Celery plentiful, blueberries about ripe. Herbs are fantastic.

Broccolini bolted and thoroughly flummoxes me. Brussels sprouts still a month out but starting to pass the bud stage.
 
I planted 10 tomato plants yesterday: three Cherokee Purple, three Early Girl, three Sweet 100 Cherry, one Sun Gold Cherry.

All my starter plants come from Norfolk County Feed and Seed. They sell three packs for $2.49 much cheaper than the Big Box stores. I also went to a landscaping supply store, Tri-City Materials, and bought a cubic yard of screened topsoil/compost mix because I’m tired of buying by the bag.
 
Day after I planted all of my tomatoes, some varmint came and ate all the leaves and most of the stem on this one.
Had to put cages over them in hopes they toughen up enough the varmint will leave them alone.

varmint.jpg
 
BigWayne said:
Day after I planted all of my tomatoes, some varmint came and ate all the leaves and most of the stem on this one.
Had to put cages over them in hopes they toughen up enough the varmint will leave them alone.

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Not sure who your varmints are, but we always keep around some spray bottles of Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent....we spray our fresh shoots ASAP (e.g. hostas, which they love) so their first bite is a nasty one. Nothing toxic in the stuff, just a rotten egg and pepper solution....otherwise the varmints gnaw on everything.
 
My grandfather loved gardening (born on a farm in south Georgia) but didn't like sharing his crop with critters. He built a roofed enclosure from chicken wire, about 15'x30' and almost 7' high. He also buried another foot underground to keep burrowers out.

Woe to anyone who left the door unlatched!

-jk
 
someone who peruses this board has a big, fenced-in garden with two cats who live inside full time...they have a heated, covered home and tolerate no varmints.
 
budwom said:
someone who peruses this board has a big, fenced-in garden with two cats who live inside full time...they have a heated, covered home and tolerate no varmints.
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I hope that someone has worked hard to move up the hierarchy to where they are not considered to be "varmint."

It can be a tough slog, but it's worth it to gain "tolerated" status. :)
 
Been enjoying our garden for a change.

Skipped potatoes this year and planted peas too late, but still enjoyed them for a few weeks.

Our blueberries (especially a pink variety that fruits early) have been going crazy and our golden raspberries are delicious if we get them before the mold does. Blackberries are maybe a week away from giving us all the blackberries we can eat for June and July. Can't wait!

Tomatoes and squash got in the ground late...so we'll have to see what happens with them.
 
fidel said:
I need a suggestion for using Hungarian peppers. Anybody have a salsa or other recommendation?
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Pickle them. Do just a few in a jar of boiling cider vinegar and have hot vinegar for your beans, peas, etc. Add a pinch of salt!
 
waiting for the first drop off of a Louisville Slugger size zucchini...never sure what I'm supposed to do with those
 
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