Gardening 2022

[KokomoDave]

My kale got wiped out by a rabbit. It left everything else alone.

 

[Percolater]

Root veggies poppin currently. Turnips, radishes and kohlrabi make a nice raw grouping. Figured out the kohlrabi less than hardball size is best otherwise too woody. Less than golf ball size isn’t ripe. So good with light salt.
Orchard and vineyard lookin great! Daily picking blackberry’s early before the birds get them. Secret is to soak in water for a day to get unwanted bugs out before freezing. Grapes and fruit trees still maturing.

 

[bwframe]

I'm making myself do one of these a day. Rather than let this turn into a big job, that I'll find excuses to put off.

I ordered a couple of variations of (Prime Day) Chinese cleavers with these and other veggie cutting in mind. SIL is a chef and practically always has one in his hand in the kitchen. We'll see how they work vs normal 8" chef's knife...

 

[hooky]

I love to ferment green beans and dill, carrots and garlic, tomatoes and basil, and of course kraut. It's so easy and it's so good. Good for you for not letting it accumulate. I wish I was a little more motivated to stay up on it daily instead of waiting to make it a few hours on the weekend.

 

[tim87tr]

I'm making myself do one of these a day. Rather than let this turn into a big job, that I'll find excuses to put off.

I ordered a couple of variations of (Prime Day) Chinese cleavers with these and other veggie cutting in mind. SIL is a chef and practically always has one in his hand in the kitchen. We'll see how they work vs normal 8" chef's knife...

View attachment 211303

I love to ferment green beans and dill, carrots and garlic, tomatoes and basil, and of course kraut. It's so easy and it's so good. Good for you for not letting it accumulate. I wish I was a little more motivated to stay up on it daily instead of waiting to make it a few hours on the weekend.

Going to try canning with the Ninja foodie pressure cooker this year. Just started fermenting a few days ago. Have always liked fermented foods. The farmers market wild blackberries are an idea I got from a charcuterie board at Daredevil Brewery in Speedway a few years ago.

A lot of vegetables are coming out of the garden so will try to stay up on it as mentioned. I bought some bacteria strain starters from cutting edge cultures. Was going to start a thread but saw these posts

Any tips or other favorite fermented foods? Hooky, when you say tomatoes, are you talking ripe? I threw a green one in the big jar. Does the fresh herbs affect the flavor much? I have a lot of basil, lemon thyme, mint, and sage. Added garlic and lemon thyme to the cabbage ferment and some fresh garlic to the cauliflower. Have beets in the small jar.

 

[Bill2905]

I have a potted Bush Champion tomato plant on the patio. It started out well this spring and has a bumper crop of medium to large fruits that are starting to ripen now. The plant has started looking less healthy over the past month with the leaves losing some color. I gave it some Miracle Gro a week ago and the leaves are perking up a little and gaining back some color. However, it has a disease on some of the leaves that is slowly progressing. No other tomato plant on the property has any signs of this. Anyone care to offer an opinion on what this may be?

 

[Jaybird1980]

I have a potted Bush Champion tomato plant on the patio. It started out well this spring and has a bumper crop of medium to large fruits that are starting to ripen now. The plant has started looking less healthy over the past month with the leaves losing some color. I gave it some Miracle Gro a week ago and the leaves are perking up a little and gaining back some color. However, it has a disease on some of the leaves that is slowly progressing. No other tomato plant on the property has any signs of this. Anyone care to offer an opinion on what this may be?

View attachment 211765

Is this planted in a reused pot and soil?

Do the leaves look wilted all the time, or just heat of the day?

Does it have brown streaks up the stalk?

 

[Bill2905]

Is this planted in reused pot and soil?

Do the leaves look wilted all the time, or just heat of the day?

I reused the pot and soil from last year.

The leaves look like this 24/7.

 

[bwframe]

I have a potted Bush Champion tomato plant on the patio. It started out well this spring and has a bumper crop of medium to large fruits that are starting to ripen now. The plant has started looking less healthy over the past month with the leaves losing some color. I gave it some Miracle Gro a week ago and the leaves are perking up a little and gaining back some color. However, it has a disease on some of the leaves that is slowly progressing. No other tomato plant on the property has any signs of this. Anyone care to offer an opinion on what this may be?

View attachment 211765

Blight of some sort. It's everywhere and difficult to avoid.

Try to save it by cutting off all of the affected leaves and treating weekly with Daconil or other fungicide.

You might be pushing it, (read your seed packet, check frost date) but now would be a great time to have your fall tomato plants started. Most tomato varieties are pretty beat by the time they are ready to pick fruit, unless growing conditions are perfect. A second batch of plants for fall harvest only cost your time, and worst case, you have too many healthy tomato plants.

You might check with vegetable gardeners in your vicinity. If any are like me, my compost didn't get hot enough to sterilize all of last years tomato seed in it. I have volunteer tomato plants practically everywhere.


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[Jaybird1980]

I reused the pot and soil from last year.

The leaves look like this 24/7.

I'm assuming it's been watered regularly.

Since it's a reused pot and soil it's a good chance it's fungal rot. If it is there's nothing you can do. Get rid of the soil somewhere not by anything that grows, the fungus is in the soil and destroys the roots ability to take water. Disinfect the pot before using it again.

I never reuse soil with tomatoes in a pot

 

[Bill2905]

Is this planted in a reused pot and soil?

Do the leaves look wilted all the time, or just heat of the day?

Does it have brown streaks up the stalk?

The stalk looks normal with no discoloration. Coincidentally, my wife's roses are suffering from similar brown stuff on the leaves this past month. The pot sits just 3-4 ft away from the rose bed.

 

[Jaybird1980]

The stalk looks normal with no discoloration. Coincidentally, my wife's roses are suffering from similar brown stuff on the leaves this past month. The pot sits just 3-4 ft away from the rose bed.

Do the rose leaves also have holes in them?

If so, check the bottom of the leaves, you will probably find little larvae on there.

 

[Bill2905]

I'm assuming it's been watered regularly.

Since it's a reused pot and soil it's a good chance it's fungal rot. If it is there's nothing you can do. Get rid of the soil somewhere not by anything that grows, the fungus is in the soil and destroys the roots ability to take water. Disinfect the pot before using it again.

I never reuse soil with tomatoes in a pot

Makes sense. Thanks for your insights.

 

[hooky]

Any tips or other favorite fermented foods? Hooky, when you say tomatoes, are you talking ripe? I threw a green one in the big jar. Does the fresh herbs affect the flavor much? I have a lot of basil, lemon thyme, mint, and sage. Added garlic and lemon thyme to the cabbage ferment and some fresh garlic to the cauliflower. Have beets in the small jar.

I ferment cherry tomatoes in quart jars. It doesn't take much basil to affect the taste. 4 or 5 leaves is all you really need. They go quick, so try one on day 2 and 3. They'll be fizzy and still have a little firmness. If they go too long, they're mushy, which I'm not a fan of.

 

[tim87tr]

I ferment cherry tomatoes in quart jars. It doesn't take much basil to affect the taste. 4 or 5 leaves is all you really need. They go quick, so try one on day 2 and 3. They'll be fizzy and still have a little firmness. If they go too long, they're mushy, which I'm not a fan of.

Thanks we have one sun sugar cherry tomato plant that is producing a lot so I will try that and eat them up quick. I'd looked at those pressure release lids and silicone jar caps online. Are they needed? I had to open one jar to add water and thought also fermentation ends at 7 days when I put them in the fridge.

 

[hooky]

Thanks we have one sun sugar cherry tomato plant that is producing a lot so I will try that and eat them up quick. I'd looked at those pressure release lids and silicone jar caps online. Are they needed? I had to open one jar to add water and thought also fermentation ends at 7 days when I put them in the fridge.

Not needed, but nice to have. I used to use regular lids and loose band. It's nice not have to burp jars every day. Some of the hot sauce I do is in the jar for over a month. It was kind of a hassle burping jars every day and hoping you didn't just something bad get into it. Not really an issue with the tomatoes that are done in a few days though.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Second picking of green beans. Still probably half this much again left on the plants for later this week.


Forgot to pick the zucchini a couple days

 

[bwframe]

Thanks we have one sun sugar cherry tomato plant that is producing a lot so I will try that and eat them up quick. I'd looked at those pressure release lids and silicone jar caps online. Are they needed? I had to open one jar to add water and thought also fermentation ends at 7 days when I put them in the fridge.

I like the convenience of the lids and I really like the dual duty pump. The pump really helps to suck all of the bubbles from initial jar loading. Also later, (if I remember to do it,) it pulls up the gas bubbles from fermentation to better avoid overflow of your brine.

Icing on the cake with the pump is that, if you already have a ball jar lid vacuum adaptor, you can hand pump a vacuum into any jar. I often use it as a quick vacuum for dehydrated foods stored in jars.


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[bwframe]

I ferment cherry tomatoes in quart jars. It doesn't take much basil to affect the taste. 4 or 5 leaves is all you really need. They go quick, so try one on day 2 and 3. They'll be fizzy and still have a little firmness. If they go too long, they're mushy, which I'm not a fan of.

Is that a simple as just loading jars with clean cherry tomato's and filling with brine solution? Or do you have to break the skin?



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[Timjoebillybob]

Going to try canning with the Ninja foodie pressure cooker this year.

You may wish to check into that. There are a couple of manufactures who say it's okay to use them for canning, but last I checked the USDA says no. I've got an electric pressure cooker I was thinking about using myself until I checked into it.