Posts Tagged ‘tomatoes’
Lacey’s Garden – Heirloom Tomatoes, Beans and Gourds
Well. It has been sweltering couple of weeks here! No rain to be had in Claremore anyway. We have had thunder storms all around but none that come over us. The garden is still looking good, but it sure has not produced very much. I do not know why…maybe I do. Heirlooms do not produce as prolifically as hybrids; all of my plants are heirlooms. They sure are tasty and I like to think that I am contributing to posterity, but they would not be very helpful in feeding the family. All I can say…thank goodness for the Red White and Blue. We live in a land of plenty and for that I am grateful.
I have picked beans this week. Some finally came up and took off. I thought they had drowned in the flood. I also have a lot of gourds coming on. Those things grow really fast!! The black cherry tomatoes have just taken off…they are about 6 feet tall and bushy all around. I have a couple of other tomatoes that are about 6 ½ feet tall too! The pictures show the garden from the back fence. There is a whole other garden back there!! I will be pulling up some of the vegetables and planting more lettuce and other fall crops like broccoli and cauliflower by the end of August. Happy gardening to you.
Posted in updates | 
Tags: beans, garden, gardening, gourds, heirloom, tomatoes, vegetables | 
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Lacey’s Garden – Tomatoes, Squash, Butterflies and Hummingbirds
Howdy folks. It has been a while. Not too much to report…my garden is growing lush and green. I think some of the tomato plants are as tall as I am! I planted fall tomatoes for the first time ever. So far so good. I tilled up an area of the yard that had been covered by a brush pile. I added compost from my compost pile and manure to the soil so they should be happy there.
I am getting one squash about every four days; though they are starting to produce a little more now. Still no big ripe tomatoes; the black cherry has been giving one or two ripe ones every week. Today there were five ripe ones on it for the first time. Those do not even make it to the table…they are so tasty we eat them immediately! The girls found the watermelons that are coming on; Clara is very excited about them.
We have had some of the most beautiful butterflies visiting- swallowtails of all colors. Whenever I run out there with the camera, they fly off, so no pics yet. I do have a photo of a swallowtail caterpillar that ate up all my dill (which is one of the reasons I planted dill). Hummingbirds have been showing up, too, after the bee balm. Yesterday, one hummingbird flew within 3 feet of my oldest daughter while she stood quietly in delight watching it. It was not afraid of her at all. It was a marvelous thing to see and share with her. And all because of our garden!
I have a few different volunteers coming up and I am going to leave them to see what’s what. One is a pumpkin and the other is either a squash or a cucumber.
I hope all of you are receiving a bounty of goodness from your gardens.
Posted in Lacey's Garden | Tags: garden, gardening, gourds, growing, squash, tomatoes, vegetables, watermelons | 1 Comment »
Lacey’s Garden – Video Tour
Here is the video Lacey mentioned last week that I forgot to post. Be ye warned! The video is about 10 minutes long.
-JP
Posted in Lacey's Garden | Tags: cucumbers, garden, gardening, peas, squash, tomatoes, vegetables, watermelons | No Comments »
Veggie Garden Pictures
These pictures are from our neighbor’s garden – Darrel, Matt and Colby. They grow these vegetables and take them to sell at the local farmer’s markets. If you live in the Fort Smith, AR area, you can get their veggies at the Alma, Van Buren, Fort Smith and Greenwood farmer’s markets.
They stage their corn plantings. These are the first and second. When I took these pics last week, the 3rd hadn’t sprouted yet.
Yellow straight neck and zucchini squash plants.
Tomatoes
Their second and third crops of veggies grown from seeds.
Up next is a report on Charley’s corn, watermelons and purple hull peas.
Posted in garden | Tags: corn, farmer's market, garden, gardening, growing, squash, tomatoes, vegetables | No Comments »
The Kid’s Garden – Tying Tomatoes
Posted in garden, Tips | Tags: garden, gardening, growing, Tips, tomatoes, vegetables, video | No Comments »
The Kids’ Garden – Hoeing and Tying Tomatoes
I’d like to introduce Aaron and Alison. They have a small garden they are growing this summer and selling the produce here at our greenhouses.
The tomatoes suffered through about 6 weeks of rain. They survived but don’t look so good now. A few weeks of sunshine and some TLC and they should perk up.
Here are some more pictures of Darrel, Matt and Colby’s garden:
Here is my pathetic little garden:
Posted in Charley's Veggies Update, garden, Tips | Tags: garden, gardening, growing, hoeing, how to, Tips, tomatoes, vegetables | 5 Comments »
Lacey’s Garden – Lettuce, Strawberries and Tomatoes
Hello to all! How is everybody enjoying the start of summer, the end of school and hopefully, the first bits of your harvest? Lettuce is in full swing right now and strawberries, too. I actually have tomatoes on the vine slowly ripening in the hot summer sun. This is my favorite time of summer-checking each day to see what’s ripening. It is a joy to call the girls over and say, Look, the first strawberry! They are so excited to eat them. I am posting a few pictures of the garden. Things are still looking kind of puny after nearly drowning, but most seem to be pulling out of it. Hope you have time to sit and swing in the hammock and enjoy your garden.
Posted in Lacey's Garden | Tags: chard, garden, gardening, growing, okra, perennials, tomatoes, vegetables | 1 Comment »
Lacey’s Garden – Planting Tomatoes
YEAH!!!! I finally got my tomatoes in the ground! The pictures show the process…the tomato guru who lives down the block from me told me how he plants tomatoes and I did what he said. Dig a deep hole, put a handful of old manure in the bottom and a banana peel, place a layer of dirt over that then put in the plant, removing the bottom 2 or 3 leaves and mound the dirt ¼ the way up the stalk. Finally, cover the mound with another handful of manure. Water them well to set them, and viola, you have a pretty row of tomatoes. It is so nice to finally get them done! Hope it does not hail this weekend!
Posted in Lacey's Garden | Tags: garden, gardening, how to, plant, planting, tomatoes, vegetables | 2 Comments »
Lacey’s Garden – Waiting For The Garden To Dry Out
Still waiting….waiting for everything to dry out before I start planting anything. The garden is still a mud pit from the rain this past weekend, and it is supposed to rain a lot tomorrow. I am waiting also for it to dry out enough to get some more horse manure. I have been told that it is good to place manure in the bottom of the hole you plant tomatoes in. If it ever dries out I will try it and see how good it is. I did pull up all the beautiful pansies in my planters and replant them for summer. It is so hard to pull up the pansies but if I don’t it will be too late to get the planters full and bushy for the summer. I also need to thin the carrots that are finally starting to get bigger. The peas are doing great, but the spinach and broccoli are not going to do anything. I am sad about that. Both were new varieties that I wanted to try. Oh well, that is just how it goes in my garden. Some things do really good one year and then the next year they are a flop. Happy gardening!
Posted in Lacey's Garden | Tags: fertilize, garden, gardening, manure, mud, tomatoes, vegetables | 2 Comments »
Lacey’s Garden – When To Plant Tomatoes
Yeah! Everything survived the snow! Thankfully, the snow melted the next day and the water has drained fairly well. Our backyard turns into a pond with 4 to 6 inches of standing water anytime it rains, so I have been a little worried about everything drowning. But, the garden area seems to be draining much better this year. Everything is looking good and coming up nice and strong. I will start planting tomatoes and herbs as soon as it dries out. Oh yeah, it is supposed to rain tonight too.
It is time to plant tomatoes and such in most places from Oklahoma on south. If you have dry ground, go ahead and start planting. It might still frost one or two more times but just cover them with paper bags or cardboard boxes or hay or straw and they should be fine. Dad always told me that most plants can survive a light freeze (30-35 degrees F) but the frost will always get them. So make sure they are protected from the frost more than insulated from the cold. As always, have fun!!
Posted in Lacey's Garden | Tags: garden, gardening, plant, planting, rain, tomatoes, vegetables | 1 Comment »