Shule's 2025 growlog

[Shule]

We put the black plastic down where the rest of the tomatoes are meant to go. It's all stapled down (no rocks on top, except to mark the old stump of our nectarine tree that produced so well in and around the year 2011; there were still lots of nectarine pits nearby there, too). We didn't till most of it first (we just leveled it off), so I ddn't pre-fertilize it.

We've dedicated a small area for corn (this is basically the last of the garden without black plastic, sans the flower garden areas). I don't trust sweetcorn to sprout direct-seeded in our soil (based on previous experience); so, I plan to sprout it in a tray and transplant it soon after it pops up.

I may have gotten a sunburn. I haven't been able to be outside in the sun enough to get a sunburn much before today, since 2020 or so. So, it's good that I'm able to be outside again. It's possibly due to the MSM that I've been infrequently taking, which seems to reduce my sunlight sensivitiy (possibly by helping to keep my skin and eyes hydrated). Getting my face and eyes wet periodically also helps me to avoid headaches.

[JayneR13]

Indeed, I've noticed a bit of color in my skin! I've spent a fair amount of the past week outside getting things ready for planting and planting. Yes, moisture helps. I use lotion to replace what the sun burns out. I also do my best to stay hydrated while outside; my drink of choice is Power Aid Zero. I drink quite a lot of that over the course of the season! It keeps me hydrated and my electrolytes in balance. And it's sugar-free! Yum!

[Shule]

Well, I didn't transplant last week, but it's good tomato-transplant weather for the next ten days or so. It's a little cool for watermelons, but I wonder if their larger size might help them tolerate a cooler transplant.

I pre-fertilized and watered the soil reserved for about 18 spots tomatoes and all the spots for the peppers. I used half the amount I did for the other side of the garden, since I plan to transplant soon.

No more transplanted tomatoes have died. They've all been turning dark green, except one that might be starting to now. (The shaded ones take longer to green.) One untransplanted tomato died, though (Black from Tula).

I fertilized the watermelons, cantaloupes, and a few tomatoes.

[Shule]

Indeed, I've noticed a bit of color in my skin! I've spent a fair amount of the past week outside getting things ready for planting and planting. Yes, moisture helps. I use lotion to replace what the sun burns out. I also do my best to stay hydrated while outside; my drink of choice is Power Aid Zero. I drink quite a lot of that over the course of the season! It keeps me hydrated and my electrolytes in balance. And it's sugar-free! Yum!

I like Powerade. I haven't had it in a while (years). I've never had Powerade Zero, though.

[JayneR13]

I have to watch my sugar intake. Not to worry! I’m sure the sucralose sweetener is unhealthy in other ways.

[Shule]

I have to watch my sugar intake. Not to worry! I’m sure the sucralose sweetener is unhealthy in other ways.

I've been thinking a lot about homemade cinnamon soda, lately (not apple cinnamon; not anything else cinnamon; just pure cinnamon). I made some once and it was delicious. I don't remember if I put sugar in it, but I really don't think it had any (because I don't use refined white sugar very often), and it still seemed sweet enough (both citric acid and cinnamon have somewhat of a sweetening effect; so, it makes a certain amount of sense). I'll have to try that again and see if it needs sugar. I believe I used a mixture of water, cinnamon, citric acid, and baking soda. For a glass that is quite large, you only need about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. I'm not sure how much citric acid you need offhand, but probably about the amount that is in orange juice.

Just in case you weren't aware, when you mix citric acid and baking soda together in a beverage, it produces a chemical reaction that carbonates the beverage. You can do the same thing with orange juice without adding any citric acid (just baking soda). It works with pretty much anything acidic (even yogurt), but it tastes better with some things than others, and the carbonation lasts longer with some things than others (for instance, it lasts longer with orange juice than with pineapple juice).

If you add too much baking soda, it gets bitter, though; so, don't do that. You don't need a lot. The bubbles will be finer than with store-bought sodas, and I wouldn't particularly recommend storing it (just drink it right away).

Anyway, it could be a really nice and healthy (also inexpensive) sugar-free soda (if it works as I seem to remember it).

[Shule]

Okay, space was more limited than I had anticipated in the areas that I wanted to grow in. I gave away more tomatoes. So, here's what I gave away:

Brandywine Pink (dusky) x 2
Brandywine Pink (2023) x 1
Burpee's Long-keeper x 1
Nebraska Wedding x 1
Cuostralee x 1
A yellow bell pepper x 1

Anyway, we should have plenty of space for what will be left, and more than enough space for the peppers.

[Shule]

I tried some of the mustard. By the leaf shape, I'm guessing it's the Komatsuna Old Tokyo spinach mustard. It tastes really good. It's like spinach, but with a richer flavor (and it didn't make my teeth feel gritty).

[Shule]

I transplanted 19 more tomatoes:

- Black Mountain Pink
- Brandywine Pink RL cross (probably with Galapagos Island, by the leaf shape)
- Cuostralee x 1
- Daniel Burson
- Galapagos Island (larger selection)
- German Lunchbox
- Giant Roo
- Greek Rose
- Kentucky Beefsteak
- Marizol Purple
- Nebraska Wedding x 1
- Northern Lights
- Pierce's Pride
- Ping Fang x 1
- Rebekah Allen
- Rose
- True Black Brandywine x 1
- Wins All PL x 2

[Shule]

Here's what is not transplanted, yet:

All the peppers, watermelons, and cantaloupes.

Tomatoes:
Brandy Boy Cross F3 B #1; earliest BBC; large; pink x 1
Brandywine Pink x 1
Caspian Pink (the plant is tiny, but alive)
Chris's Greek Mama
Emma Pink
Picnic-B
Sweet Ozark Orange
Terhune
Todd County Amish
Whatever tomato is growing in Orange Mini Bell's spot

Here's what never sprouted:
Orange Mini Bell pepper
Ramapo OP tomato

Here's what died:
About six of the Brandywine Pink tomatoes (post-transplant)
Black from Tula tomato (pre-transplant)

[Shule]

I have to watch my sugar intake. Not to worry! I’m sure the sucralose sweetener is unhealthy in other ways.

I've been thinking a lot about homemade cinnamon soda, lately (not apple cinnamon; not anything else cinnamon; just pure cinnamon). I made some once and it was delicious. I don't remember if I put sugar in it, but I really don't think it had any (because I don't use refined white sugar very often), and it still seemed sweet enough (both citric acid and cinnamon have somewhat of a sweetening effect; so, it makes a certain amount of sense). I'll have to try that again and see if it needs sugar. I believe I used a mixture of water, cinnamon, citric acid, and baking soda. For a glass that is quite large, you only need about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. I'm not sure how much citric acid you need offhand, but probably about the amount that is in orange juice.

Just in case you weren't aware, when you mix citric acid and baking soda together in a beverage, it produces a chemical reaction that carbonates the beverage. You can do the same thing with orange juice without adding any citric acid (just baking soda). It works with pretty much anything acidic (even yogurt), but it tastes better with some things than others, and the carbonation lasts longer with some things than others (for instance, it lasts longer with orange juice than with pineapple juice).

If you add too much baking soda, it gets bitter, though; so, don't do that. You don't need a lot. The bubbles will be finer than with store-bought sodas, and I wouldn't particularly recommend storing it (just drink it right away).

Anyway, it could be a really nice and healthy (also inexpensive) sugar-free soda (if it works as I seem to remember it).

I experimented today. It was a failed experiment, but I'm documenting it here so you know what not to do. I used a large glass of water. I added a half a teaspoonful of citric acid. I added the same amount of cinnamon. I added a fourth of a teaspoonful of baking soda. The result was it was way too sour (too much citric acid) and didn't have nearly a strong enough cinnamon taste. Also, I was reminded that cinnamon doesn't mix well with water unless the water is boiling and poured onto it. So, the cinnamon-water would probably need to be prepared, steeped, cooled, and strained in advance. Anyway, it needed way more cinnamon flavor, and much less acid flavor.

[JayneR13]

Thanks for reporting! Now we both know and can try again.

[Shule]

Today, I transplanted all the tomatoes, except those I'm giving away and Caspian Pink:

• Brandy Boy cross earliest (PL selection)
• Emma Pink
• Sweet Ozark Orange
• Terhune
• Todd County Amish


Today, I also transplanted all the peppers, except those I'm giving away:

• Blot x 5
• California Wonder 300 TMR x 5
• large yellow bell pepper x 6 or 7
• Misc. yellow bell peppers x 3 or 4

One of the transplanted Blot peppers I split up into 4 plants. One of the transplanted large yellow bell peppers, I split up into 4 plants. That is why the numbers seem higher than them if you've done the math.

I also transplanted two wonderberry volunteers from another location. These two are getting cages; I prefer harvesting them without cages, but I decided to try it again, only with two of the plants, anyway.


I have not transplanted these, but I'm planning to give them away, except for Caspian Pink, which is too small and delicate to transplant comfortably right now (and not because it's freshly up, because it's not):

• Brandywine Pink 2023 x 1
• Picnic_B x 1
• Unknown x 1
• Caspian Pink x 1
• Blot pepper x 2
• yellow bell pepper x 1

I haven't transplanted any of the cantaloupes or watermelons, yet, but here's what we have:
Honey Rock melons x 9
Watermelons x 7


All of the newly transplanted tomatoes have pre-fertilized soil with the same amount as the first set of tomatoes. All of the peppers have half that amount (although the peppers in the southeast backyard plot should should be able to grow their roots to more heavily pre-fertilized soil in time, which is under some black plastic we put over it.


Hopefully everything survives. There's a chance of too much fertilizer, but I felt like I should do it instead of waiting longer or using less, for some reason.


My sweetcorn seeds arrived. I pre-fertilized their ground, but I haven't planted any, yet.

I put 54-inch cages on all the tomatoes I transplanted today. I previously put cages on all the ones I transplanted before today; I think it was yesterday that I put them on the southwest backyard garden plot (all 54-inch cages). or the day before. Some of them in the southeast backyard garden plot have the shorter orange cages.

[Shule]

So, yesterday, I put the rest of the cages on peppers, since we had extra cages. I don't normally cage peppers. In fact, I think this is my first time. All but about three of the peppers have cages. One advantage of the cages is it prevents the hose from damaging the plants. It also protects them from other humans. It should also protect them from tomatoes, if the tomatoes grow beyond their bounds. (I've actually had great success with peppers covered by tomatoes, though; I think they actually like it, sometimes.)

Recently, I realized that when someone sprays herbicide, I can actually do something about it to protect my plants (if I'm aware that they're spraying). That is, as soon as they're done, I can shower my plants to wash any herbicide drift off. It doesn't hurt the plants nearly so much if it's not on the leaves. I did this a couple days ago or so. No signs or herbicide drift damage (not even a brief stunting). So, I'm happy.

I don't personally use herbicide. I prefer non-chemical weed control. Actually, I kind of like weeds, and so do the grasshoppers. They do a lot for biodiversity if you just let them grow. But if you're growing tomatoes, you probably don't want weeds everywhere, since they can make Verticillium worse (if you deal with that).

All of my recent transplants are alive. They look good (although a creature has been eating part of one of the large yellow bell peppers), and one of the tomatoes [German Lunchbox] shows clear signs of frost/freeze damage on the top of some of the plants in that spot), which is odd, since I wasn't aware of any freezes, and no other plants are affected. We did have some cold wind and rain, though; so, maybe it got a freezing gust. No fertilizer burn on the most recent tomatoes I transplanted, so far, which is an excellent sign.

I haven't planted corn, yet.

The Honeyrock melons have thrips, which have already done some pretty obvious damage to them. So, they're not thrip resistant pre-transplant. Apparently, thrips are willing to travel away from weeds and other plants up to the side of the house and into my containers to get to these melons. Either that, or some dust blew them onto the plants. Well, most of the weeds are actually gone (and there aren't as many wonderberries as last year); so, I guess some of the thrips would be looking for new homes.

Anyway, I hope they'll fare better after the transplant.

Hopefully the next generation will have more thrip resistance (and resistance to whatever diseases thrips spread).

The watermelons look like they might be affected to a lesser degree by the thrips, too.

I saw some very large mites by one of the peppers (normally, you don't just see mites crawling around in the dirt without trying, but these were pretty big; I think I saw two of them). As far as I know, the mites weren't bothering those peppers, fortunately.

I'm really glad Sweet Ozark Orange started growing larger (it was smaller than expected for a while after it sprouted). It was one of the plants by Black from Tula. So was the Cal Ace VF suspect (which is doing very well, now, by the way; it's actually doing better than the known Cal Ace VF, which never had any issues pre-transplant).

The tomatoes I planted in soil where Verticillium had wilted plants before are growing more slowly than I would normally expect, but they seem okay.

I updated my garden map a couple days ago.

[Shule]

On the southeastern plot, there's a tree in our neighbor's yard looming over the fence. It drops cottony white and blue aphids that look kind of like fairies in the spring. They've been on the tomatoes on that side of the garden, but they don't seem to be doing much damage. These aphids normally only last a short time before they disappear altogether, but they didn't show up last year at all, and this year, they've been dropping for a long time (normally it's lasts a few days, but we're going on weeks, now).

They've done more damage to plants in previous years than this year, despite their longer presence.

[Shule]

The mustard is looking great, especially the kind we tasted. I really want to grow that again.

[JayneR13]

Herbicide I don’t use that either! I use a weeding sickle and copper fungicide for things like Septoria. I love my earth worms and wouldn’t hit them with chemicals!

You have aphids, we have Japanese beetles. I did have squash mosaic virus last year, which can be spread by aphids. And some varmint ate my marigolds at the pantry garden! It’s amazing what we see as gardeners that many people never notice, isn’t it?

[Shule]

Three of the large yellow bell peppers that I broke off seem to have dried out too much and were wilting when I just checked. They're still alive, though. I should be sure to water those more. If they die I'll probably transplant wonderberries or mustard there, or else put some pole beans there.

Do tomatoes and beans grow side-by-side well?

[karstopography]

Three of the large yellow bell peppers that I broke off seem to have dried out too much and were wilting when I just checked. They're still alive, though. I should be sure to water those more. If they die I'll probably transplant wonderberries or mustard there, or else put some pole beans there.

Do tomatoes and beans grow side-by-side well?

I’ve grown bush beans under and around my tomatoes with both the beans and tomatoes being productive. The beans end up shading the soil area around the tomatoes which I consider a positive, like a living mulch. Pole beans also work next to tomatoes , but they might be tempted to climb on the tomatoes. Pole beans get so tall I tend to put them on the north side of any bed.

[Shule]

@karstopography
Cool. I was thinking of having the pole beans climb a tomato cage (with tomatoes planted about 3 feet away).