Hi Everyone,

All you guys have beautiful gardens. Elizabeth those are some strange peppers. I call them rooster peppers as they are crowing. Tina, you have your garden planted in the soil. That is impossible where I live. Amber, you have some nice melons. I find it very interesting how everyone builds supports for their growing vegetables. But everyone has some beautiful vegetables. All your photo's gives me idea's for my gardening.

Luther

Luther

I have some pictures for you from the behind the seeds tour at Epcot.

They use this product to sterilize the sand

And some hydrophonics veggies

The tomato in the picture gets change when is old and did have some leaf problems even that they have the ideal conditions to grow and no bugs.

And the flowers are for Dottie, they are colorful ground covers.

Silvia

My melons had the good fortune of forming just where I wanted them. The big watermelon is tied to the metal support beam. That thing is the size of a bowling ball and almost as heavy. I like the trellis system much better than than my "method" last year of letting the vines grow on the lawn. When they hang on the trellis they seem to develop an extra long tendril.

Everyone's gardens look so great. Who says you can't grow stuff in Florida?

Thank you, everyone, for sharing. Beautiful gardens!

Silvia, is that a Brogdon avocado? How old is it? I have planted one last year. Hopefully it will look like yours soon. :)

Thomas

Tina, here is my gherkin vine I started about the same time Nick started his. So far, it is doing fine in mostly dappled shade.

And, a close up of a baby gherkin. Awww, how cute!

But wait! Are those real live baby squash hiding under there? Will there really be a squash or two for the imp house? No way, it must be a tease.

How do you tell when a Green Zebra is ripe?

I planted and grew Mortgage Lifter, not a single tomato has set on it.

So, far the best growing is Hybrid Tropic Boy from Evergreen. Though they are not yet ripe.

The best eating tom so far has been the plant I got from saving seed from a grocery store campari. Healthy, vigorous, and tasty.

The tomatoes in the back raised bed are just now getting enough sun. Or I didn't use enough of the right kind of fertilizer. They are mostly just now blooming. Dang it all.

This is the Orlando Eggplant, they are producing like crazy.

Oh, and you can see the Keira Kale/Portuguese Cabbage in the background left. The stuff just keeps going and going. And it is yummy :)

I planted the rose arbor with Trionfo Violetto Pole Beans. It is a prettier vine that purple podded, but OMG what a dismal germination and production rate. I'll stick to Purple Podded Pole's.

My Black Jungle Limas are not germinating. I think I must be from Venus.

The dwarf bush venoto cowpeas are doing very well. Going to eat one this evening and see how the taste is.

My ornamental edible peppers are indeed lovely, but the sweet sandwich peppers and hubs hot Tabasco peppers? Nada.

The squirrels are convinced the cherry tomatoes and potted toms at TRATEOFD exist solely for their snacking pleasure. They don't even have the decency to eat the whole thing after they nibble on it. Grrr.

Tomorrow's another day, and I've got mountains of greens to go blanch!

~dianne

Amber, here are some pictures for you

Remember you asked me about what is in the red pot? they are gazanias grown from seed

And I also grew this from seed

And these vines are also interesting

When I was in Epcot on Sunday, they had planted this type of kale in the edible/ ornamental garden and there was a big discussion from some tourists some not knowing what it was and some saying is not edible,lol

And no matter how much I use or give away collards and Winterbor kale they keep coming back, oh no!

{{gwi:47930}}

Thomas, my Brogdon avocado is about a little bit more than 3 years old, and is loaded now!

Here is a full view

Dianne, very nice garden! congratulations.

Silvia

Silvia, Epcot has an unlimited supply of resources and personnel to make things beautiful daily. Oh yes, Dottie would love those flowers around my vegetables.

Dottie made 4 loafs of that Zucchini bread today. She also freezes it for later use. Plus gives it away for gifts.

I was a bad boy tonight as she made fresh blueberry cobbler with ice cream for dessert. I couldn't resist that.

Luther

Nice pictures everyone- thanks for sharing.

This evening I made a "harvest soup" for supper. It had lots of veggies from the garden: carrots, banana peppers, tomatoes, green beans, summer squash, zucchini, and kale. Plus, homemade sourdough bread to sop up the broth.

So far, the Burgess buttercup squash is doing well.

Christine

Sivia,

Your garden looks gorgeous as always! And the harvests and dishes are mouth-watering! I had been missing your posts, so I was so glad to see this one. I love the bright orange pumpkin, and those vines are very unusual and very pretty. Do you know what the spiky tall one is?

My garden is looking tired. My zucchini have worn out and my beans are defoliating and slowing down markedly. I don't remember this happening this early in the past. Is it time for them to be finished already? The tomatoes are still producing a lot, but they're more than half way done, and the cherries' foliage looks thin and ugly. The tomatoes have been absolutely wonderful though.

Again, the peppers and eggplant are markedly slowing down. I thought they tolerated heat pretty well, no?

Anyway, I am so impressed with everyones gardens. Real experts here and great photos. Christine, that soup with the bread sounds like the perfect meal to me. Interesting looking squash.

Anna

Luther, I agree with you that Disney has unlimited resources but what they do is bring illusions to life, not caring for instruction about what to do in our home gardens, the intern that I asked the many questions had to even called to find some of the answers, those veggies are heavily feeded! The sand is another illusion, yes, you can grow perfect fruit trees in nematode soil, lol.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the zucchini harvest and will remember later on with the frozen zucchini bread, that is one big important reason that we garden, to enjoy the fruits of our labor. And this year blueberries are better than ever, you can be a bad boy, you deserve it! :)

Hi Christine - Glad to hear that your garden is booming with veggies! and that soup sounds great. Today I sent 2 garbage bags full of kale to cooks that love this veggie. And I still have a lot without any insect damage,I check daily for that since I never spray greens. The green glaze collards are also not touched by bugs, what a relief!

And I am also growing some buttercup squash

Sapodilla has a lot of fruit coming up

The vine cup and saucer is filling out nicely just like I thought, flowers start green, then turn purple

Red kuri squash is very productive and I have been eating it, also I ate one ripe watermelon yesterday

Hi Anna - Thank you. Is good to know that you had a good tomato season, the problem that we all experienced is that it was very cold, then it is very hot, to soon! that takes a toll on the veggies that like us like perfect, temperate weather.:)

The spiky vine is called spanish flag and it is very easy to grow from seeds, I think 99 % of my garden is seed started.

I started these 2 types of cactus, one is red fruit and the other yellow, they grow around the half of the world line, where you can stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern, the climate and soil is like mediterranean and grapes and figs grow there, I hope I get some fruit one day.

And here is some ornamental corn with a sunflower, I got to enjoy fresh corn from my new gardening friend that has corn and artichokes, he was mad at the corn, saying that it was so much work to keep the worms away, lol

Silvia

Hi Everyone,

I have some okra blossoms. So I should get some pods soon. It is so hot out I'm staying in the shade like this kid.

Luther

This is your 1/2 coyote dog with the amazing blue eyes. :) I told my sons and husband about her (him?) and they thought that was the coolest thing! With that reddish coat she almost looks half fox instead.

Hi Luther

That is funny! You still have some little surprises, lol
And you are right it is so hot! I went today to visit my new gardening friend in the neighborhood and he said the same thing, he is actually growing the black jungle butterbeans, peanuts and okra and he said he will let his garden rest and put some plastic on it. He tried to give me tomatoes and okra today and I said thank you but my tomatoes are ripening too. He said he love the zucchini pickles that I gave him. Luther you have to make Dottie make them for you, they are really good.

And today for lunch we had a fresh tomato tart with tomatoes and basil from the garden and a Persian zucchini dish with eggs, they were so delicious!

Hi Tina

Yes that is Buffy and she is very smart, she keeps the kids in place too,lol. She acts like their mother. When she wants to tell me something she even moves her mouth like a person.

Silvia

Silvia, you post those pictures of food and it makes us all hungry. Everything looks so yummy.

What is the recipe for your pickled Zucchini?

Thanks,

Luther

Luther, the dishes were really good, the tart had a very flaky crust and I got to use the tomatoes that are piling up now. Originally I was going to make the persian dish for the party but I made fritters instead and then I forgot them in the fridge, lol.
The zucchini pickles I make with any type or color of zucchini and they are equally good, sometimes I do a combination and other times I keep it only one kind.
Here is the recipe and I hope that Dottie makes them for you, they keep well in the fridge for quite some time, of course we never keep them long we eat them and give them away.

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: zucchini pickles

Silvia, thanks for the zucchini recipe. Dottie will give it a try in the near future.

Took a picture of my newly planted Florida speckle butter beans at noon today. Hope they will make in this summer heat. The black jungle butter beans at the far end already has small beans.

We got a nice rain this afternoon. In my rain gauge it measured an inch and a quarter. That should make things smile.

Here is a picture of the beans and they are drooping from the heat.

Luther

Luther - That is an amazing bean support structure that you made. Having 2 rows gives you so many more beans. The black jungle beans that Sivlia gave me are flowering now. I only planted 5 of the seeds - hope that was enough but after seeing your vines I fear not.

Sivlia - What is your favorite winter squash? I'm planning for next year after seeing the different varieties you are growing. I wished that I planted more vines because I had a little bit more room that I could have used.

Based on the numerous tomato pics posted, tomatoes surely are our prized spring crop. I'm no exception. Also, I have the same problem with overgrown plants as Silvia. This pic is of one grouping of tomato cages, 2 rows with 5 plants in each row. I thought that the collards would be gone by the time the tomatoes start to ripen but I was wrong. I have to crawl in the "tunnel" to harvest the fruits.

Finally, the olives are getting large enough to take a picture and have something to show. They grow slowly.

I loved to see the pretty flower photos too.

Christine

Luther, your beans are coming along nicely and we all love your trellis ideas!

Christine, your tomatoes are looking very good, the olives as well, good for you!

And here they are today's activities.

I made green beans mediterranean style for a party, as a decoration I used pale yellow nasturtium flowers. It had chickpeas and the secret ingredient hot smoked paprika, sprinkle a little bit on top.

And this is my kale lunch with borlotto beans

I am starting the big tomato harvest, I will be making sauces and salsas.
Christine, I don't really have a favorite winter squash, I like them all and I try to grow a different one all the time.

Harvested today watermelon yellow doll, ice box watermelon, blue kuri and red kuri winter squash

{{gwi:47931}}

And more onions to dry

Silvia

Silvia - Delicious looking food and an amazing harvest!!! Now I really wished that I planted more squash plants. I had many more squash plants started but I never got around to planting them. Shame on me.

Today I baked some large tomatoes with parmesan/romano cheese at 250 degrees for about 4 hours. I also marinated the cherry and grape tomatoes for an hour and then put them in the dehydrator this afternoon. I cooked up a several cocozelle with some onions and garlic. Then added eggs straight from the coop, mixed with some milk. I added the slow baked tomatoes to the top of the zucchini/egg mixture. It tasted good and will be even better for breakfast. Siliva, thanks for your inspiration.

Christine

Christine, beautiful dishes and I am sure they are very tasty!

The best thing about winter squash is that it keeps well. I had squash and sweet potatoes for a long time saved in the closet.

My new gardener friend the one with the artichokes, planted the bb beans and they are already up, he said is amazing how healthy they look with all the heat. I bet Luther is going to beat everybody with his bb beans. Mine are not planted yet because I have still pole beans every day coming up. That is also a good crop to eat fresh or save the seeds for eating later as a dry beans.

My tomatoes are ripening fast now, I made salsa yesterday with aji amarillo from the garden, this pepper is hot but also fruity.

And this plant I got 2 years ago at the Leu and I thought it was dead but it came back to life

And I also change the flowers at the entrance of the house, they were just so over grown and I made a pink theme to match using vincas

Silvia

I just opened the watermelon yellow doll, it is one of the best I have ever eaten!

There is nothing like your own sun ripe watermelon!

Silvia

Your watermelon looks great Silvia almost like pineapple. I am so afraid to pick my little watermelon at the wrong time. The tendril next to the melon has dried up, but I don't have the knack of thumping it down yet.

How do you girls expect me to keep my weight down. You show all those good dishes and it makes me want to eat.

Silvia that is a beautiful bowl of yellow watermelon. I could just reach in my monitor and grab a piece.

Christine, I'm glad you like my trellis. Here is a picture of my Black Jungle butter beans. These are the most advanced ones.

My sweet potatoes I set out April 15 are really growing.

Bush Porto Rico.

My tomatoes do not look as good as all yours do. I got mine out real early and they are beyond their peak stage.

My pole beans are still producing more than I can eat. Will save some seed from the over mature ones.

Luther

Amber

One of the veggie garden gurus gave this 7 ways to tell when the watermelon is ripe and I have been using since then, and it always works.

1- "Look" Bulging full look
2- Tendril turns brown- sometimes
3- Bottom yellow or white
4- Feel the melon, bumpy, lumpy- unripe are smooth
5- Thump- bass drum
6- Change color when ripe
7- Smell

I am also enjoying plums, from the cocktail tree that has few varieties, they never make it indoors, lol I am so confused if I have to pick my favorite fruit now.:)

Luther, you are making me jealous of your bb beans, they look so good, I shucked them while I was watching tv, that is the part that takes a long time. And I froze them as shellies in 2 cups plastic bags, they keep very well like that.

When Dottie gets to cook them for you, you have to post a picture. And you are going to have a lot of sweet potatoes! And remember veggies and fruit are naturally low calorie, enjoy the fruits of your garden!

Silvia

Silvia - I hear what you are saying about longevity with the winter squash. Cucumbers, green beans, summer squash and zucchini are great but the vegetables just don't last long without doing something to them shortly after harvest.

I agree with amberroses. The chunked watermelon looks like pineapple. Never saw a yellow watermelon before. Glad to hear that it was great.

Hydrangeas do seem to grow well in a pot. I have a 'shooting star' hydrangea that was given to me a couple of years ago. Like you, each winter it looks like it died but it comes back to bloom. Your neighbors must love living near you just to see your beautiful front yard.

Luther - Well, each of us has something to be envious about. I'm impressed with your limas and sweet potatoes patch. Both are stunning as something beautiful to behold.

Christine

Christine, I open the watermelon because I was going to do a salad with tomatoes and red onions and after I had the first taste, I thought I am not going to ruin the fruit and I am going to eat it just like that. And with the tomatoes I made a fresh salsa instead, :)

And I tried to keep the garden view in the front very simple, I have a lot of lychees on my small tree and the seedless pomegranate has also some fruit.

Remember when we grew the seminole? they lasted a long time and if you get a lot of butterbeans in the future they can be dried or frozen and keep a good eating quality.

Salsa for lunch today with hot peppers and onions from the garden

Silvia

Silvia, what a tasty looking watermelon it looks just like pineapple(my mouth is watering for a bite).. Can you please save me some seeds.. Never heard of a seedless pomegranate before.. When it ripens please post a picture so I can see what the inside looks like..

Luther and Christine great looking gardens, everything looks so healthy..
Maxine

WOW! I am amazed at the pics of everyone's gardens! Gorgeous and prolific!

Lets talk fertilizer. I'm getting tomatoes every day, which I love but not enough to make salsa or dry them. My plants are no where near as big as these pics and I'm getting maybe 10 tomatoes a day from 24 plants. What fertilizer are folks using?

Best,

Elizabeth

Hey Elizabeth! We need to gang up and work on our guys to get them to go pee on the compost pile! And I'm with you, they must have some secret fertilizer ingredient!

~dianne

Maxine

I have one simple rule in the garden for beans, squash winter or summer, cucumbers or melons. If that was the only kind I am growing and they are open pollinated I will save seeds, if I am growing with others of different variety I won't save seeds because they can cross pollinate and I would not know what I get. I save tomato seeds that are open pollinated even that they are growing with other varieties, they usually turn out good for me.

When one of my brothers was here visiting, he has a farm in a tropical weather, I gave him all the fruit seeds that I thought they might do well by him. I only kept 2 seeds of each variety and those were planted. Since this variety yellow doll turn out to be so good I will plant it again and will get the seeds for next coming season, then I can share a few seeds with you.

Elizabeth, probably if I would take a look at your garden I could see what it needs to be done. I have mine in containers as you saw them. My secret is no secret,lol I only use what I have available taking care of the needs of the plant when growing or fruiting. The garage is full of different fertilizers, all kinds, liquids, granular, powder, etc.

The harvest also depends on the variety you planted and when, usually hybrids produce more (not always). I mostly grow for taste and not production, that is the one of the reasons I plant about 45 different varieties. And I like to grow a lot of cherries because they are versatile, they are good for salsa, salads and other recipes and they are always productive.

What is your routine with the tomatoes and how they are planted?

One thing that I would not do is to put compost in containers, in the garden is fine.

Silvia

Silvia,

Could you please share what kind of plums you have? What is a plum cocktail tree and what varieties does it have? Could you please post a picture of the tree and the fruit? I have a couple wonderful peach trees and wouldn't mind adding plum as well.

Thank you,

Thomas

Thomas

I have different varieties in 1 plum tree, they are all low chill and I get them bare root. If you order you have to be on time because they run out of trees fast, I like the service and the trees and also the plums that I am getting and eating them as fast as they ripen!lol.

Different views of the same tree

And the fruit

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: 4 in1 low chill plum

Thank you, Silvia! Beautiful tree. May I ask you how old it is? Did it take long for it to start fruiting?

Thomas

Thomas

I only live in this house a little over 3 years, when I came here we only had grass. All my plantings are young, the avocado was planted first.

Today when I was walking one of my dogs on the trail, I saw the avocado and the plum. The plum is taller but was planted after the avocado. When I got it bare root, I let it grow for about one season in a pot and when it had some roots was planted in the ground.

The first year that was planted bear some fruits, my family won't let me cut the plum or the avocado, lol. Fruit is all the way up, I am going to get a fruit picker like I had in Arizona.

The fruits are so juicy and tasty! there is just no way that you can buy that in the store, even in the farmers market with fruit from California.

Silvia

Great photos and great gardens!

Silvia, that yellow watermelon looks so absolutely yummy! The plums too. I love looking at your gourmet dishes and marveling at them.

Luther, your beans look so healthy. Your set up is so perfect and neat and tidy.

Anna

Hi Anna

Thank you. Cooking is part of the fun of veggie gardening, I am always ready to try new recipes, there are just so many in this world and we can get to sample cuisines from other places, how great is that!

I am so glad that I planted a lot of cherry tomatoes this season because Cheryl likes to take them to work to give away, she said they look so cute in small bags.:)

And I picked some peppers this morning

Silvia

Silvia,
I think you gave me the seeds to these two squash: trailing green marrow and tropico . Can you tell me when to harvest. The tropico is about 14 inches long and 2 inches diameter at the big end and the green marrow is about 5 inches long and 1-2 inches in diameter.
Have been getting good stuff from the garden. Tonight we had fresh tomatoes, corn, black jungle butterbean, and broccoli. Have been getting lots of yellow summer squash and okra. My old eggplant gave up the ghost after about a year, have a number of volunteers about ready to bloom. The worms really turn seeds on to hatch :>)
Put 5 banana plants in this week. Got lots of peaches off my 2 year old tree even after I took lots of little ones off early. My tiny brown turkey fig has lots of fruit, but the larger mission fig just grows but has not produced fruit yet ?? Mango's are almost non-existent after hard dec weather. My friends over by the coast have tons, maybe they will share??
bernie

Hi Bernie

I am glad to know that you are getting some nice harvest from your garden.

I don't remember sending you those squash seeds but any winter squash can be used as a zucchini. I grew the table dainty about a year or two ago and that is what I did.

On the black mission fig, did you try some fertilizer? I used the bat thing that you gave me when you were here on mine, lol. I just had a compliment on the figs recently.

Don't worry about the mangos, we can always go to the mango festival at Fairchild and eat tons of different varieties :)

Here is the table dainty with Brogdon avocado, can not wait till the ones that I have now get ripe about July.

Silvia

Thank you, Silvia, for the plum photos! It looks like plums are not nearly as prolific as peaches. I have a 1 year old Tropic Beauty peach that produced about 8-10 lbs of fruit this year. Maybe it is just hard to see the plums, but there aren't that many on the tree, right? Nevertheless, I plan to get that plum tree when it becomes available again.

Thomas, that is a beautiful and very productive tree! You have more fruit than foliage while I have more foliage and fruit going all the way to the top of the branches, can not even take a pic unless I use a ladder, lol.

I don't expect the plum to be fully in production at least when is 5 years old. I also have a peach, a nectarine, and two mixes of plums and apricots still young in the pots.

And to those that remember my pumpkin? I harvested today and this is how it looks.

It fits in one of the chairs

{{gwi:102350}}

And it weighs 28.4, a lot of recipes are going to come out of this one!

Silvia

Thank you, Silvia. Amazing pumpkin! I hope it tastes as good as it looks :)

A picture of some of the many many plants I have growing. There is no way I can take close-ups of them all because of the numbers of them. They range from flowers, trees, bushes, and veggies and are from seeds, cuttings, pups, etc. (at least 200 to 300 pots on 3 tier shelving)

It takes me 2 hours to hand water every morning. And these are just my screen-house plants.
Lou

Thomas, I will let you know how it tastes, it is also called Cinderella pumpkin and supposed to be very tasty.

Lou, nice plants! you are a very busy gardener, I bet that you sing while watering maybe not when is hot, lol.
I also spend a lot of time hand watering but not as much as you do and when is hot I splash water on me to keep cool.
It is great to know that your garden is doing well, I like those shelves, good idea!

Silvia

This is the last of my tomatoes and the start of my melons. The tomato is Great White and the melon is Rich Sweetness 132. Ironically Rich Sweetness isn't sweet at all although it is very pretty and smells strongly of melon. The Great White is actually a tad sweeter to my taste.

Amber

I made the same mistake growing another asian melon from rare seeds, nobody here like it but it was pretty.

And I am also growing a white tomato, I think it is White Beauty, if it is to sweet for my taste I will make oven dry tomatoes.

And the sapodilla is fruiting a lot! and that one is just to sweet for me!, at least is a nice tree and I keep it in a pot.

Tigger melon and currant tomatoes

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: asian melon

Silvia-Your melon looks a little bigger than mine, but I can imagine they also taste similar. Maybe they will make nice decorations or room fresheners. I have about nine more of those in the works. Why on earth would they call it Rich Sweetness? Maybe they were being cruel.

My white tomato is really good. I was prepared for blandness, but it has a nice flavor of melon mixed with tomato.

Amber, when I want to use bad tasting fruit or fruit that is not perfect looking I do preserves French style, that is I just simmer fruit and sugar or honey, put it in the fridge overnight. Next day I cook it for about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the fruit and put in jars to be used as a topping with pancakes or yogurt. I just made some bland tasting apples from the store like that also some peaches from the u-pick farm that were not the best looking. I also make any bland tasting melon like that. You can add vanilla bean, citrus or any other flavoring that you like.
And the lesson learned at least for me is to try to get a review on a fruit or veggie from people that know what they are talking about, (very few) lol.
I never forget the time that Dr Carolyn from the tomato forum, after posting the picture above, she asked me "did you like the tigger melon"? because she knew it!:)

Silvia

That's a good idea Silvia. I was thinking about doing something with it. It does have a strong melon flavor it's just really odd because it is melon without any sweetness. Maybe it would be good with honey and milk in a smoothie or something.

Amber, how did the Great White grow for you?

~dianne

It grows like an heirloom beefstake tomato that is not especially vigorous but not especially fussy either. I had "issues" with the tomato crop this season, but it Great White did ok. The taste was better than I was told it would be but different than most tomatoes. It is a nice addition to the main crop. I'd grow it again.