Garden Update

Despite the heat, my garden isn't completely done for this year.  I will admit that the tomatoes have slowed down (is it possible to slow down from a production of 10 total?).  I haven't had any new fruit on the cherry tomato plant at all for about 4 weeks.  There are 2 almost red ones ready to pick, then that will be the last of them (for now...I'm hoping to carry the plant through the heat and get a fall harvest--if that's even possible.  haven't really researched it beyond my wishful thinking...).  The one on the left is my Heirloom Cherokee Purple.  For the longest time, I had nothing on that one.  Now, I've got a good dozen fruits about the size of an apricot each.  About half of them have brown spots (maybe sun scald), but the rest look great.  There are also a bunch of blooms that look promising.  So I may luck out with some there!  Also, the plants are outgrowing their bamboo trellis.  I have ordered a steel trellis that will hopefully take care of this mess...

My other tomato plant (above in the terra cotta pot) is a hybrid intended for high heat and humid climates (read: Houston).  That one is a complete dud.  Every single bloom has fallen off, it looks sickly, and bugs love it.  Boo.

As you can see, my peppers are stinkin' amazing.  I've never had luck with peppers.  This year, I've got sweet peppers and jalapeños!  Woohoo!

"Feed me your tomatoes or I'll eat your first born child.  I'm that big."

And this disgusting thing, my friends, is a hornworm.  I try to catch them when they are wee little babes (about the length of a penny), but sometimes they just blend in too well, until I find half a branch missing and finally see where they are hiding.  Seriously, they look exactly like leaves.  As you can see, I have removed the entire leaf.  What's that you say?  Couldn't I just remove the worm and allow the plant to keep its branch intact?  Are you out of your mind??  I'm not touching that thing!  That thing is longer than my finger, and it bites.  I remove the whole branch, then send it to a watery grave down the toilet.  I hope you don't have these in your garden.  They are the stuff of nightmares.

Summer Garden

I got a late start on my garden this year.  I decided to keep it simple, and do all container plants this year. No weeding, easier to water, and able to be moved around on the deck so I can pull them into the shade when we have 100 degree heat (which is turning out to be waaaaay more frequently than I would like).

May 19, 2011

Cherokee Purple and Cherry tomatoes in the Growbox, jalepenos in the brown pot, a hybrid tomato plant bred for heat and humidity in the terra cotta pot

June 3, 2011

Added some tomato cages and some basil

June 6, 2011

Going to need some more bamboo for the tomato trellis....

Also, added a red bell pepper plant

So far, this is the best my garden has ever looked.  It makes me nervous, like at any moment it is going to implode.  This morning when I went out to water, I found about 30 aphids on the bamboo trellis.  Of course I went into panic mode and picked them all off.  Then I obsessively went outside every hour to check for more of them.  I am also paranoid about horn worms--last year I found 7 on one plant.  Disgusting.  I still cringe when thinking about them-blech.  

Everything has gotten huge--with the exception of the jalepeno plant.  That one just baffles me.  It is the exact same size as when I planted it, but still green and healthy.  It is even starting to flower.  Do jalepenos stay that small??  I need to do some research...