Dawn's Garden 2023

[Dawn]

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Fred's Tie Dye is going crazy with blossoms!

[Dawn]

So many tomatoes!

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They're all doing so well this year!

[PlainJane]

The sweet spot of tomato growing, before anxiety sets in lol.

[GoDawgs]

The sweet spot of tomato growing, before anxiety sets in lol.

It's that moment when you feel so good about it you're tempted to hold your breath lest the garden spirits hear you say that and decide it's time for some some mischief!

[Dawn]

My boysenberries have started ripening, so I finally got to taste them. They taste like raspberries with a hint of blackberry. I thought it would be the other way around. I like them very much and I'm really glad I planted them.

I stuck all my extra dwarf tomatoes in the bed with the boysenberries, I'm just going to let them go wild in there, no staking, etc. So far I see lots of Banana Toes and Saucy Mary. I hope those ones are good because they sure are productive.

[Dawn]

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When I was trying to decide which blackberries to grow, I wanted thornless, absolutely, above all else. I learned of the prime ark series during my research, but the ones I found weren't thornless. I eventually went with Ouachita.

This year, I learned that I missed one, and there really was a thornless primocane fruiting blackberry. I figure in one more year, I'll have all the blackberries I can handle, so I talked myself out of getting them. But then I talked myself back into it . So now I have three very small, but very healthy looking, Prime Ark Freedom blackberry plants. I'm going to plant them in the front yard, along the sidewalk. I expect some will get eaten by passerbys, but most people don't know what real food looks like anymore, or how it grows, so I think they'll be mostly ok. And I hear that this type is an aggressive spreader, so I'll have plenty of plants.

[Dawn]

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This is the bed where the are too many tomatoes, I didn't mean to buy 4 packs, but single plants, I said "oh, well" and planted them all in this 3' x 6' bed anyway. . 4 German Johnson and 4 Supersweet 100. The supersweet 100 are almost to the top. These are 5 ft stakes, so 4' or a little more coming up from the ground. They stakes are tied together at the tops because I figured out years ago that if I wanted to stake tomatoes, they had to be better supported than just one stick holding up each plant (because we have very strong winds, and I don't prune them). With this method, I can use thinner (therefore cheaper) supports, and they're still stronger than any single stake.

Anyway, they look good, they're a little jungley, but the plants are going well.

When they reach the tops, I just let them flop and go back towards the ground, if they reach the ground, they're on their own . I'll be sick of picking cherry tomatoes by then, anyway.

[Dawn]

My pictures always upload blurry, if you click on them, you can see the clear version. I don't know why it does that

[Dawn]

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So close! I have so many this year, mostly on this plant. I have 2 other red raspberry plants that are also fruiting, but this is only their second year, so they're not too big yet. I also have a fall gold that is covered with berries, but they're tiny. I hope they get some size before they start ripening or I'm gonna have a bunch of tiny yellow berries.

[pepperhead212]

Too many tomatoes - what's that?

[Dawn]

No such thing as too many tomatoes, but 8 plants in that bed is certainly pushing its limit.

My Fall Gold raspberry plant has a berry starting to change color, it's pink . I mean, I'm not going to kick it out of my garden or anything, but I was really wanting Fall Gold.

On a good note, my Boyne raspberries are not sour this year, they're actually very good! The unknown raspberries in the side yard are ripening, also, the berries are small and more firm than the Boyne and just a little bit tastier.

[Dawn]

Well, whatever is growing instead of Fall Gold makes some delicious berries, so I'm not even mad anymore . I think it's everbearing, too.

[Dawn]

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First ripe tomato! Sun Sugar. I thought Supersweet 100 would be first. Early girl looks like it's getting ready to ripen, too.

I've been picking my raspberries to make jam. I've never made jam from my own berries (I've made lots of jam from other stuff and store bought berries, but not my own berries), I eat them as fast as I pick them. So I've been picking them and putting them in a freezer bag. I have a bread machine with a jam setting (who knew?). It calls for only 4 cups of fruit and only makes a few little jars, I figured my raspberry bush could handle that. Should have the last ones needed for jam tomorrow. I'll still have berries because the Boyne still has a lot and the not-fall-gold is pretty heavily fruited for it's second year and they're barely ripening.

I also planted my new prime ark freedom blackberries. I tilled up a 2 foot by 12ish foot space in the front yard and spaced them about 3 feet. I put flowers around them because I wanted a ground cover and thought they'd look nice. I just got stuff from the Walmart clearance rack that looked like it would stay short, I don't even know what I put out there . Some are johnny jump ups, I'm hoping they'll spread into the yard. I know some people hate that, but I'd rather have flowers than grass.

[Dawn]

Someone is giving away cherry tree saplings on Facebook, when I inquired, they said, ok, let's meet in a parking lot.

Pretty sure this is how I'm gonna die, following people to random parking lots with the promise of free plants.

Wish me luck .

[Josetom]

Someone is giving away cherry tree saplings on Facebook, when I inquired, they said, ok, let's meet in a parking lot.

Pretty sure this is how I'm gonna die, following people to random parking lots with the promise of free plants.

Wish me luck .

Hahaha Good luck Dawn! Absolutely beautiful garden, I love that you went all in with the Dwarfs today I tried talk to myself to stop buying more varieties to try xD

[Dawn]

I survived . I don't know if the tree will, though. He assured me it was alive, but was left in a hot car, so the leaves are crinkly. I was going to displace my lagging mulberry tree to plant it, but I think I'll wait until I know it'll survive. It's supposed to be a rainier cherry tree, but I don't know if it grew from seed or what. I'm not too worried about the variety, I'm happy to let the birds have the fruit of it's not good.

[Dawn]

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I'm not sure what to make of this. It's a stick with leaves (now dead) stuck in some dirt. It doesn't have roots. I planted it anyway, but I'm not optimistic.

But...

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Look at all these tomatoes! This is Banana Toes, it's a happy little plant.

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And I found more ripening tomatoes! Supersweet 100

[worth1]

I've met people in a parking lot twice to buy old antique pressure canners.

[Dawn]

You might have gotten a better deal than me, @worth1. At least it was on my way home from work and I didn't have to make a special trip.

[Dawn]

Fred's Tie Dye is another "if it tastes good, it's coming back" variety, because look at all those beautiful tomatoes!

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The raspberry jam turned out very good! It didn't set up much, but the flavor is excellent!

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