az_pamperedchef,

we're disappointed that you left us out by not taking pictures LOL ;)

That sounds very yummy. We have some lemon cukes, but no where near harvest time :(

Sounds great, thanks for posting about it! So just sliced up cukes and some salt??? Sounds simple, fresh, cool and delicious!

I finally planted my Armenian cucumbers so hopefully I'll be able to mimic your salad in the not too distant future.

Thanks for the fun post--keep them coming!
Grant

Sounds yummy. My fav cuke recipe is: sliced cukes, fresh squeezed lime juice, cayenne pepper to taste. salt if you like it. Very yummy and low cal.

Gotta agree that there is no comparison to home grown anything. I came home from a week of traveling to foot long zucc's and some fresh tomatoes.

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I've never had lemon cukes, but they sound divine!
My absolute fave is home-grown tomatoes - they put ANY store-bought ones to shame - I'm impressed with all you AZ veggie gardeners :-)

I had my own little "fruits of my garden" moment when I "harvested" the rosemary I planted a couple of weeks ago. It was conveniently completely dry and ready for the spice jar. LOL!

I think I'll stick to cactus and aloes :-)

LOTS of trial and error, at least for me. Gotta get the tomato plants planted out to the garden early, like about Valentine's day and only plant short date-to-maturity species.

I am so envious of all of you. I can't wait till next year when I plan to start growing veggies. It being my first home, I feel like I have my hands full with just my flowers in my front yard right now. But I do eat at least 2 tomatoes every day I love them so much...would be great to not have to pay for them at the grocery store, and if they taste better too...all the better!
I'm also a huge fan of basil...fresh basil to go with my home-made tomato sauce for pasta...that would be awesome!

Should have mentioned we can also grow a fall crop. Start seeds indoors now for planting when the temps come down....Sept/Oct(?), not sure and my planting calendar is not handy.

xica da silva,

Why wait until next year? We can plant/grow/harvest and EAT year round here in the valley.

Great pic and recipe, Mary, thanks for sharing both. LOL @ zzini and your rosemary harvest, too funny. I grow a standard (lolipop) rosemary bush and have been carting it around for years and years. It's just about time for it to get a haircut and for me to get some new fresh rosemary to keep in the kitchen. Great stuff.

Take care all,
Grant

Mangled-
I feel your disappointed! :-) That was my only lemon cucumber close to harvesting. All the others are about the size of pencil erasers!

Zzini-
Lemon cucumbers are great, they are considered "burpless" and don't taste like lemons, but are the shape of lemons and the skin is a pale yellow.

Now, here's a question for everyone. My well established 'mater plants in containers are not looking good at all. The CP & Beefmasters have kinda rust colored, brittle leaves, no flowers anymore and the doggone birds are eating my unripe tomatoes! My Orange Oxheart and Mr. Stripey have yellowing leaves and the leaves look like a little limp. They're receiving h2o. I've h20 sprayed the CP & BF in case of mites. But I don't know what is going on! :-( Any ideas?

az pamperedchef,

How's your potting soil? Are they in FULL sun? Are you bottom watering? How much water? How big are the containers? What color/type?

I moved one mater out back that gets afternoon shade and is doing great. I think I will move the two Mr Stripey to a better locale with some afternoon shade.

Our 2 Mr. Stripey have the leaves curling up. No yellowing, deep, deep green. No fruit, but plenty of flowers and bees. And they are THIRSTY buggers, everyday the pot saucer is bone dry. They're about 2+ feet tall and just as wide.

Mangled-
My potting soil is good, a little moist, not overly. Definitely not in full sun all day. They're on the east side of my house, not against the wall! They receive morning sun and some very early afternoon sun. The pots are about 18", fiberglass, sand colored. I'll take some pics later and post.

Just confused!

Finally the photos of my not healthy looking tomato plants:

Cherokee Purple
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Orange Oxheart
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Mr. Stripey
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az pampered,

Personally I would prune those branches back to the stalk and water with some of my compost tea. But that's me. :)

Is that pot "glazed" on the inside?

Mangled-

Do you think it's "blight" ~ I don't even know what that is, but I keep hearing about it and it's not good.

The pots are not glazed inside so it isn't that the soil is super heating. I have been trimming off the leaves, but then I'll end up with nothing! :-(

Well, according to several Arizona veggie books, it's about time to prune them back and shade them anyway, if you are looking for a later harvest.

The reason I asked about the clay glazing is that now that it's starting to BROIL outside those clay pots leech moisture away from plants and this increases the plants watering requirements to DAILY. Especially tomatoes. We are watering TWICE daily on our mater's. Once in the evening to top off the water tray (bottom watering), and again in the morning to top down water for that days blistering heat, as those aren't shaded until the sun sinks below the neighbors house which is around 6-7 pm. But the one in the back yard (yellow pear) gets shade mid afternoon so it fairs way better.

How much do you prune back? Mine are looking the same way. I've been thinking of taking cuttings or starting new seed. The only ones not doing it is Arkansas traveler and San Mateo resort. The ark traveler took forever to start growing, guess it really likes heat. Had a hard time with SMR and replaced with new seedlings so they are late.

az pamperedchef,

How big are the pots you have them in? They look to be too small for tomatoes, especially an indeterminate variety and in this heat.

It's extremely unlikely that it's blight. There is "early blight" and "late blight" - both are diseases caused by a fungus. We rarely get either here in Phoenix, sometimes when it's humid and rainy....at the beginning of the season but also occasionally around monsoon season. Your plant's look like they're possibly nutrient/root/water stressed.

I would prune off dead leaves but NOTHING more. With our intense sun, it's good to have leaves to shade the fruit so as to avoid sunscald. Hope that helps!