December Garden Update - All Caught Up

Some things still growing, some things not

Up until this point, the posts have been more of a catch up since we started the garden in September and it is now December. So here we are, all caught up! This picture was taken at the very end of December. And you can see that some changes have happened. There are some bare spots and some new pots. The pots contain some side projects that I've been working on, more on that later.

watermelon missing, cucumber on the way out

One of the first things to go was the watermelon. It actually started to grow really well, considering it looked so weak to begin with. It had flowers and tiny little fruits that set. The fruits got to the size of marbles and they would fall off. That should have been my first clue that something was wrong, but having no experience with ever growing watermelon, I just figured that all of the fruit would not make it and just enjoyed watching the vine grow.  I then started seeing some of the leaves curling inwards and turning black, only a couple though so I wasn't very concerned. Again, another clue that something was wrong but I didn't get the hint.  Then almost overnight all of the leaves were turning black and the very tips of the vines were wilting. Uh Oh. Now I realized something was wrong and started to Google it up. So, what was it? Downy Mildew. Characterized by a "cupped hand" appearance which was exactly what the leaves looked like when I first noticed them starting to go black. The plant could not be saved since I waited WAY too long and had to pull the whole thing out. Ouch.

A wayward pea in with the strawberries

The replacements

Once the watermelon vines were pulled out, I planted a row of peas from seed along that same trellis. The peas seem to like the cooler weather. We could not get them to grow very well in the very first garden during the summer months. The few plants that actually did grow more than a foot were shaded by other plants, so we figured it was the heat that kept the rest so small. 

Another big change in the garden is with the cucumbers. After the first big harvest, the vine got some powdery mildew which again, I was not very good at identifying until too late. It got so bad, I had to just start cutting the leaves off willy nilly. There are still some cukes on there and maybe the plant will stay with us long enough for those to mature.  We got a good initial crop out of it so it won't be such a hard loss if it has to go. I don't recall ever seeing these mildew issues in my Dads zone 6a garden, he might get some vine borers every now and then, but not mildew.  This transplanted northern girl had no idea there were even this many types of garden mildew. Lesson learned.

Yet Another Disease?

I picked these leaves from the bottom of the jalapeno plant.  An image search online says it's Gray Leaf Spot. More fungus. Yeah.   The plant as a whole looks good, still putting out new healthy leaves and peppers.  I'm gonna do some watchful waiting on this one. I tried that whole copper spray thing and I'd rather strip the plant bare of leaves before doing that again.

Can It!

What do you do when a bunch of cucumbers and jalapenos ripen at the same time? You pickle everything in sight! This is my very first pickle experience and I love how they look in the jars. I've made cherry and blackberry jam before so I'm not afraid of the canning process. I got the recipe from one of my favorite food/garden blogs and I love how simple it is.  Now I have to wait 4-6 weeks to have a taste. I forgot how hot it gets when canning. Imagine hovering over 3 pots of boiling liquid while it is 80+ degrees outside. Yeah, hot and humid to the extreme.

Drastic Measures

Pickle protection

 My crazy may be showing a little bit. I mean, who puts cucumbers in stockings?  I'll tell ya who....anyone in the south who wants a worm free cucumber, that's who!  You saw in my last post how excited I get when it comes to watching the veggies grow, picking them and eating them. Well, imagine how excited I got watching my cucumbers grow.  From tiny little prickle covered things into large, smooth, shiny cucumbers. Amazing! Then I cut into one, then two, then three......aww man......how did they get in there?   If your from the North like I am, I'm sure your on the edge of your seat wondering what in the heck could possibly be IN the cucumber.  If your from the south, I'm sure your shaking your head at the silly northerner who never heard of a pickleworm.  Nice.  I gotta give it to whomever named these southern pains in the asses because they are spot on names. We previously met the bean leafroller, now we have the pickleworm.  And chalk one up for Mother Nature too if your keeping score cause these things are a super clever bunch or parasites. Ugh. Just what I need, clever parasites.

The best I can piece together is that the pickleworm moth lays some eggs on the cucumber flowers, these turn into tiny worms that drill a tiny hole into a young cucumber and then happily eats and lives in the middle until some unsuspecting beginner gardener stumbles upon it. The moths come at night so you can't swat them away and once the worm is inside no topical remedies work.  So now what? Enter the pantyhose.

funky cucumber with room to grow

so sexy

Ruby trying to figure it out

 I saw online somewhere that a guy was tying socks and stockings onto cucumber sprouts and having some success so I gave it a whirl. I got about 8 cukes that were worm free and 2 that still got worms. Not bad considering every single one had worms in the beginning. Coincidence or do the stockings work?  Next crop I'll be getting some bird netting to drape over the cukes.  I read that it works by keeping the moths from getting to the flowers and laying eggs. A 3/4 inch net is supposed to be large enough to let the bees in to pollinate but keep the pickleworm moths out. We shall see.

worm free cukes and tomatoes

So Proud!

Eureka!

It may not look like much, but I am so proud of this little veggie stash. In our last garden we got about 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes before the poor plants gave up. Now look!  A little bit of this and a little bit of that!  And even more still outside growing. Cool. Just too cool. I look at this picture and just smile, smile, smile. Nothing like Dad's haul but not too shabby.    Officially in this picture are green beans, red  and orange mini bell peppers, jalapenos and a tomato.  The hubby can't get over the color of the tomato, he says it's in HD because it's so red. I suppose in a man's world, that's a great compliment. 

The peppers are an interesting surprise. I bought orange "yummy" peppers from Lowes and it had 3 plants in the one container. I thought, score! Three plants for the price of one!  Turns out none of them are what they were labeled as. Two plants are the yummy size but not coming in orange, they go from green straight to red. The one plant that is actually orange is a different variety of mini bell pepper, not the same shape as a yummy. Still cool though, I'm not complaining! 

Almost Ready

banana peppers

 The veggies have been a delight to watch grow. Ruby and I go out to the garden almost daily and take a look at what's changed. All those pretty flowers have turned into glorious veggies!  We already harvested some of the lettuce. The tomatoes and a few other things are almost ready. It won't be long now.

mixed baby lettuces

Totally different lettuce seed mix

It's so cool to watch them change color.

Just about ready!

jalapeno with leaf miner trail

Garden Update

Grow baby grow! This is a picture of the garden from early December. The marigolds are going crazy and you can see the tomatoes staring to blush. The marigolds were planted to bring in the pollinators and keep out the buggers. Not so good at either one. I've only seen a bee here and there, but things are getting pollinated and the fruit is setting so maybe we just keep missing each other.  I actually read that ants are a primary pollinator in Florida. Add that to the list of things I never heard of. The tomatoes have been having a go 'round with some type of fungus. Small brown spots on the leaves, the leaves then turn yellow. The damage starts on the older leaves at the bottom and works its way up the plant. That's why the tomatoes have naked legs in these pics.   I think it's either septoria leaf spot or gray leaf spot. I thought it might be early blight but there are no concentric rings in the brown spots.  I swear  you need a masters in vegetable science to decipher the difference in some of these fungal diseases. Regardless, a fungus is a fungus and they all  seem to be treated the same way, so no need to nit pick about it, right?

In an organic garden, copper spray is used to control the fungus. So I go out and spray each plant in all directions, all over. I soon find out that copper spray is a rain magnet. You need rain? Go tediously spray copper on the top and bottom of tomato leaves, and BAM, rain within 24 hours. Guess what the directions say? You got it, spray again after it rains. Ahhhhh!  So I gave up on it. I see that the plants are not going to immediately expire, so I figure it's strong enough and no longer needs my help.

First Harvest

 Who knew lettuce was so fun to grow!  It's not something that ever made an appearance in Dad's garden though, I wonder why? Lettuce is usually pretty inexpensive in the market so maybe it wasn't worth growing. I'll to have to ask him sometime. But I find it immensely fascinating! The small sprouts grow pretty quickly.  I think this batch was ready around the middle or end of October.  I was pulling the whole plant out of the ground at harvest time, roots and all. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing. Can you tell I'm new at this? On subsequent batches, I cut the young tender leaves off and left the roots in the soil hoping they would grow more.  I lost track of what had already been cut because I ended up planting more lettuce seeds all around.

 I discovered that you need to pick lettuce very quickly down here or it bolts (you like that lingo, right?) and gets bitter. One day the plant is nice and young then a few days later it's super tall and leggy which is when it's getting bitter. Natures way of forcing us to eat more greens!

mixed lettuce

Passion Flower

 

Zone 6a in October

absolutely incredible colors

So this is what's going on in zone 6a in October.  Very different from 9b huh? My plants are flowering and setting fruit and this garden is just finishing up.

These pics are from my sisters garden.  Did you know that amazing things happen when you let a cabbage do it's thing? Take a look! It's simply beautiful and surprisingly not as delicate as it looks.

some sort of weed, but cool to look at regardless

swiss chard and beet greens

Zone 9b in October

Cherry Tomato Flowers

Tall but leggy tomatoes

Ooooooh!

cucumber flower

bush beans

mini bell peppers called "yummy"

Reach for the sky!

watermelon flowers

sweet peas

Ahhhhhhh!