G's 2023 Garden Log ft. the Community Garden Life

[Gthegardener]

This year I will be starting from scratch mostly as I have moved and will be focusing mainly on the community garden I run with a potted garden on the side . Always a challenge to start over, but i'm looking forward to trying my hand at some container gardening and expanding my micro tomato selection thanks to Karen Oliver's short and sweet project!

Here is my 2023 tomato list:
Cherry:
Dr. Carolyn's
Post office spoonful
Maglia rosa
Amber keyes
Midnight snack
Brown berry
Chessy's delight F3 cross #2 (pink/orange bicolor globe)

Medium/Beefsteak:
Yellow bosnian
Chessy's Delight F3 cross #3 ("highland hero" yellow and gold striped mini-beef)
Orange strawberry
Polish
Kozula 133
Biskaya rosa
Xanadu green goddess
Rebel starfighter VT16
Kozula 72
Wild Thyme Purple
SGT Peppers
Carolina dusk
Marizol maroon
Queen of the night
Girl Girls weird thing

Paste:
Costoluto genovese
Limbo
Ficarazzi
Canestrino Di Lucca

Dwarfs:
Tennessee suited
orange cream
rosella purple
shadow boxing
pink passion
Mr. snow
Walter's fancy

Micro:
Orange hat
Jochalos
Vilma
Puerto Rican Poboy F2 (red)
Tartufo
Gold Pearl
Ruby Slippers
Emerald City
Yellow Brick Road
Sweet Baby Jade

This week I have started my pepper's (seeds germinating in the instant pot at this moment), herbs, lettuces, greens, flowers, edamame, and micro tomatoes under the lights. I have also put down some serious weed preventative at the community garden and planted snap peas and beans there! More to follow shortly happy gardening!

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[MissS]

You must have a really big plot for a community garden! That is a lot of tomato plants.

[Gthegardener]

You must have a really big plot for a community garden! That is a lot of tomato plants.

It is a really good size! I am growing about 30 peppers and 40 tomato plants there this year, the rest will be at my parents house, thankfully their yard is big but it gets less sun. My micros and dwarf tomatoes will all be grown in 1 and 5 gallon pots respectively in a 4x6 greenhouse at my significant other's house . I'm using a divide and conquer strategy this year and hoping it wont be too much .

[Gthegardener]

Today's update: almost all of the pepper seeds have germinated after 5 days in the instant pot, woohoo! My grow light set up is rapidly approaching max capacity and will be full after next month's tomato/squash/sunflowers are started. The photos below are of my garden space at my new residence, my greenhouse area which will contain my micro and dwarf tomatoes, and the recently sprouted greens doing very well under the lights!

Here is my 2023 Pepper list (yes I may have over done it):
szeged hungarian paprika
Aji Panca
sweet pickle
Saraga giant sweet chocolate pepper
Petit Marseillais
Tangerine Dream
Shepherd
Aji Margariteno
Paradiscum Alaku Sarga Szentes
sugar rush peach
sugar rush red
Naga Smooky Rainbow
buena mulata
aji pineapple
Lucifers Lemons
KS LEMON STARBURST
habanero cappuccino
habanero el remo
aji colorado
Swiss Chocolate cross
Pimenta Morgana Peach Cross
fish pepper
bulgarian carrot
black thai
Aji charapita
turkish cayenne
Thors Hammer red
Thors Hammer peach
rainforest chili
prarie fire
turkish bell
yellow reaper
death spiral
reaper purple peach
hallow's eve

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[Gthegardener]

Well I’m battling some serious poison ivy and oak in my herb/berry/flower garden! I ended up putting down weed barrier and potting the edibles since I will need to frequently spray the poisonous plants coming up left and right.. ugh! In other news, the micros were potted up into their final pots, the peppers are getting quite large, and my tomatoes have sprouted! Less than weeks until my seedling sale. Here’s hoping they are big enough by then!

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[bower]

Looking forward to hear your descriptions and reviews of that wonderful tomato list!

[Gthegardener]

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Well, all the plants are being hardened off! My seedling sale is this weekend and I’ll be planting the community garden on Sunday! My micros are flowering and loving the greenhouse! I planted flowers and am almost done with my small herb/berry/greens/pollinator garden, and I just seeded some moonflowers, peas, and cucumbers to surround my hammock area! It’s all coming together!!

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[MissS]

You sure have a busy weekend. Good luck with the sales and the planting!

[Gthegardener]

Well, the plant sale did well with $1400 in sales (my best yet!)! I can’t believe it’s been almost a month with the plants in the ground! Everything has grown so much, although we’ve had terrible weather for the past 2 weeks with tons and tons of rain and cool temps. The slugs are out of control this year! Here are some updated photos, it’s amazing to see the growth in just a few short weeks!

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[MissS]

That's a great job on your sale! Your gardens are beautiful. Is your community garden at a church site? It must be fun to be peeking out of those windows to see the gardens.

[Josetom]

Absolutely beautiful.. which variety it's that Antho cherry of the picture? Midnight snack?

[Gthegardener]

That's a great job on your sale! Your gardens are beautiful. Is your community garden at a church site? It must be fun to be peeking out of those windows to see the gardens.

Thank you! Yes it is at a church!!

[Gthegardener]

Absolutely beautiful.. which variety it's that Antho cherry of the picture? Midnight snack?

Thank you! That is actually a micro tomato called Tartufo! It had great flavor and was relatively productive! Definitely going to grow it again!

[Gthegardener]

Well, per usual I’m months behind on posts! I finished my masters degree and adopted a meatball of a dog named George.. so that’s my excuse! Here is my photo dump for the summer. It was an incredible year for herbs, flowers, and peppers! Unfortunately my greens, tomatoes, and squash were not so lucky. I’ll be putting my gardens to bed shortly and preparing for next year! Happy fall everyone!

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[Gthegardener]

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[PlainJane]

Congratulations!

[MissS]

That's the best excuse that I have ever heard. Congratulations not only on your garden, your certificate but on your new family member!

[Gthegardener]

Congratulations!

Thank you!!!

[Gthegardener]

That's the best excuse that I have ever heard. Congratulations not only on your garden, your certificate but on your new family member!

Thank you!!

[Gthegardener]

Halloween was a marathon of pulling annual plants, harvesting the last of the parsley and rosemary, pulling the pepper plants, planting garlic/narcissus/tulips/crocuses, attempting some fall cover crop at the community garden, and preparing for a spooky night of watching Hocus Pocus! Here are some pictures of the final pepper harvest, the pitcher of parsley, spooky homestead, and George the sushi!

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