How does your veggie/fruit garden grow?

[hilltopper]

Just wondering how everyone's Lakes Region vegetable gardens are growing so far this season? About the only thing growing well in my garden is the potatoes, and that's because they're in a potatoe bag (my garden soil has too much clay). Everything else is pretty unimpressive with tomatoes probably being the least impressive. Summer squash, bush beans, and cucumbers are doing better than the tomatoes but not great. We gardeners got seriously spoiled last summer!

[Jonas Pilot]

My garden's doing fine. Best year ever for herbs, tomatoes doing well with fruit on some and plenty of blossoms on all. Same with peppers (jalapeno and cubanelle).

[Winnisquamguy]

The only thing that really isn't doing well in mine is my peppers. I just weeded, tied up my tomatoes, and put some miracle gro on everything.Now we just need some sunshine!!

[SteveA]

Just OK. Thing I've noticed is almost a complete lack of bees. Not good, need them bees!

[Slickcraft]

Potato, pepper (banana and jalapeno) and tomato plants are looking good.:) Cukes and Kentucky Wonder bean plants have a slow start but will be fine. The broccoli sets were off to a great start but suddenly the leaves have been eaten off one by one.:(

[dpg]

How does your veggie/fruit garden grow?

From the ground up. :D

[SteveA]

Finally started to see some "growth" and some bees now that the corn flowers are opening.

Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Basil, Peas, Beats, Herbs and Beans doing well. Tomatoes in the ground and in the hangers are doing OK.. some better than other.

Jalapeños look great, Habaneros are budding but still a little slow.

Eggplant and Cukes are very slow, but this is the first time I tried Eggplant, so maybe that's normal. Cukes were slow last year also.

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[hilltopper]

Been harvesting green beans for a week or so. Picked the first 5 cucumbers a few days ago. Tomatoes have really picked up and we'll be harvesting some (mostly cherries) in the next week. Summer squash are coming but real slow compared to years past.

[Winnisquamguy]

I should be picking beans,cukes, broccoli and lettuce this week. Zuccini and summer squash next week, and tomatoes and peppers a few weeks after that. Lots of flowers on my butternuts,watermelon, cantaloupes and a few on my pumpkins.

[Natt]

Our garden is doing quite well this year. We have eaten zuchinni and summer squash twice, with a ton of them to come by the looks of the flowers. Brandywine tomato plants (5) are green and lush and just forming fruit. Early girls tomatoes are not early this year. The sun gold cherry tomatoes are starting to produce. Onions have been great and are sweet, not hot. I have given them plenty of water in our raised beds. Peppers were slow to start but they always are. I grow hungarian banana and jalepeno peppers and can them. Peas...shell peas great, snap peas not so good. Did not plant green beans until late and they will be ready to pick and freeze in August. But the best has been lettuce, we have had a lot. Read in Mother Earth News that you can wash the heads and put in plastic bags and they should last a few weeks in the crisper, so I am trying that. Picked all the lettuce that was left, as the hot weather will cause them to bolt, and have 8 in the crisper, two gallon bags given away and a huge bag ready to go for us. Salad anyone??? And our grapes are the best in years.

[Belmont Resident]

Thats not a garden its a farm.
Ours is doing well also. Had some tomatoes with lots waiting to turn color.
Cucumbers are coming along, peppers are slow.

[tis]

Mine is very slow. I am discouraged. I have lots of tomatoes, but not ripe yet. My cukes and squash are just barely starting but given all the plants I have, I would think I would have more. Many of the blossoms are just not making fruit. My radishes grew wonderful tops but no radishes. My lettuce was great, still have some coming.

[jerseyonbear]

We have every flower eaten off the vine, no squash this summer. Now they are pulling the green tomatoes off taking a couple nibbles and leaving them.
We have mixed up hotsauce, dish wash liquid and water spraying everything, this has slowed it down some. Any suggestions?

[TOAD]

Rabbits are killing me...about all I got left is tomato plants. Cherry tomatoes I've been getting for about 2 weeks. Big Boys the flowers are wilting on the vine no fruit. Brandywine and Italian Plum tomatoes have plenty of fruit but still green.

Rabbits are getting fat....they shall be swell eating this fall and winter:liplick:! Little bastiches.:fire:

[Nagigator]

We have every flower eaten off the vine, no squash this summer. Now they are pulling the green tomatoes off taking a couple nibbles and leaving them.
We have mixed up hotsauce, dish wash liquid and water spraying everything, this has slowed it down some. Any suggestions?

Manager at the Agway recommended boiling up rubarb leaves and garlic cloves in a big pot of water, strain , use in spray bottle. I used it on my hot peppers that were getting chewed up, and now they have all new leaves! Made the kitchen smell a little funky, probably should have cooked it outside on the grill burner. :)

[martbri7]

My Mom says she lines her garden with Marigold's.....looks like SteveA has them in his pictures.

[Newbiesaukee]

I can only use pots on my deck because of the deer, but tomatoes, long hot and jalapeño peppers, and all my herbs are doing quite well this year.

[tis]

We have every flower eaten off the vine, no squash this summer. Now they are pulling the green tomatoes off taking a couple nibbles and leaving them.
We have mixed up hotsauce, dish wash liquid and water spraying everything, this has slowed it down some. Any suggestions?

I think that is my problem too. My tomatoes we exactly like that. I put cheesecloth around the tomatoes and some on top and that seemed to save the tomatoes. Maybe I should put some around the squash and cucumbers too.

[SteveA]

My Mom says she lines her garden with Marigold's.....looks like SteveA has them in his pictures.

That is Mrs SteveA's idea... (she's the smart one in our house...) :emb:

More on companion plants here:

http://www.pallensmith.com/articles/pest-control-plants

"Marigolds - The marigold is probably the most well known plant for repelling insects. French marigolds repel whiteflies and kill bad nematodes. Mexican marigolds are said to offend a host of destructive insects and wild rabbits as well. If you choose marigolds for your garden they must be scented to work as a repellent. And while this plant drives away many bad bugs, it also attracts spider mites and snails." (quoted from the attached website)

[tis]

I do have marigolds lining my garden too. At the very least they are pretty.

[Belmont Resident]

I hate so say it but we used decon bait to eliminate them. I like chipmunks but when they start getting into the garden they go away by any means.
As for squirrels, we have had them in the house so if I can get a shot at them with the 22 or 410 then they also go away any time of the year. I see absolutely no use for squirrels other then to feed other animals.