pepperhead212's 2020 garden

[pepperhead212]

These are the cukes I have to pickle - every time I look out there, it seems like I missed another! This is just 3 days worth, from the same 3 plants, and I've used 5 in some refrigerator pickles, and other ways.
11 Wisconsin 58s, and 3 County Fairs, ready to pickle. 7-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today, by accident I knocked off my largest tomato so far this season - a 15.20 oz. Big Beef. It was green, but has a faint blush, like another I knocked off, so they both should ripen.

[pepperhead212]

It's getting to be tomato season! The cherries are starting to recover, and I got 2 quarts today, of the cherries, tigers, and grapes. And a generous number of Matina, Marian, Big Beef, and Prime Ribs.

Here are those two Big Beef tomatoes I knocked off yesterday, including that one 15.2 oz one - they definitely started ripening in just a day. I knocked a bunch of the grape tomatoes off today while picking, but that didn't bother me as much.
The two Big Beefs I knocked off the plant the day before, each with a slight blush. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here are today's tomatoes:
Harvest on 7-15, about twice that of the day before. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cherries are finally catching up! 2 qts in just one day. 7-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Every day there's more tomatoes and eggplants, plus a few cukes. Soon, the dehydrator will be fired up.
I got my first round bottle gourd, so far. It's a 41 oz gourd, from the white flowered plant - not sure what that orange flowered plant is - maybe one of my other butternuts, in the flat part of the garden? I still haven't seen a female blossom on those, either, with all these fruits on the bottle and tinda gourd plants; no bitter melons yet, but a lot of blossoms. I also got 2 Rosita eggplants, and 5 more Ichibans, but the Ichibans finally stopped flowering, from all the heat, which is typical for them, but none of the others have stopped.
About 2 qts of Sprite grape tomatoes. 7-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

2020-07-18_04-58-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Eggplants, rosita on top, neon on the bottom. 7-18 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

41 oz Round Bottle Gourd, next to two 8 oz Rosita eggplants. 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Also har



Soon, the peppers will be ready. I harvested my first ripe ones today - the superchilis, which are always the first ones, though a little late this season.
First ripe peppers of the season, 7-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[zendog]

I'm curious how effective you feel the surround is for fighting fungal issues? I'm not doubting it works, but wondering exactly how it does and how much it helps. I have surround on hand which I use to keep Plum Curculio off my cherries in the spring, so wondering if it is worth getting out the sprayer. I'm also curious if it might help at all with cucumber beetles. I know the curculios supposedly don't like walking on the sprayed parts of the plant, so that is part of what is supposed to keep them off.

[pepperhead212]

[mention]zendog[/mention] I don't use the Surround as a fungicide, but I also add a tb/gal of potassium bicarbonate to the sprayer, when spraying the surround, which helps against fungal diseases. It also doesn't decompose, or react with the Surround, so the leftover spray can be left until the next use. And like you say, keeping the bugs that spread those diseases off the plants definitely helps! I mentioned on another cucumber thread that this may be helping to keep the cucumber beetles off of mine, compared to years ago, before I used it, so maybe this is helping with the wilt, as well.

[pepperhead212]

I saw my first Thai peppers ripening yesterday, so soon I'll be picking a lot of those!
First Thai Vesuvius turning red! 7-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today, a bunch more tomatoes, 5 more eggplants, plus the first long bottle gourds.
First long gourds picked - 7-21, long one 18 inches, 43 oz, small one 33 oz. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Also saw my first butternut formed today, though, of course, it will be quite a while before harvest!
First butternut squash formed, about 5 inches. 7-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got a lot done today, even though I really didn't want to be out in this humidity. The dewpoint was 75° early today, but later it was down to 69°, so it was still disgusting. I weedwacked, trimmed tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and gourd plants, picked a bunch of tomatoes, and put down black plastic on my garlic row, and another area, to solarize them.

I saw the first bitter melon forming today! I have had more than I could use from just one plant, the first year I grew them, and this year I have 3, but different varieties. I'll have to find some recipes for pickling them.
First Bitter Melon. 7-23 Not sure which variety, as the vines are all woven together. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Marian and Big Beef, all from the two plants of each. 7-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Dewpoint back up to 75°, but fortunately, I'm not going out tonight.

[zendog]

You mentioned an orange-flowered bottle gourd that you weren't sure where it came from. I wonder if it is similar to one of the varieties my neighbor at the community garden is growing. He is from Bangladesh and grows several different kinds of gourds, mostly white-flowered but this one is more of a gold flower. Here are a few pictures of the blooms and one of the gourd.

flower.png

flower_side.png

gourd.png

[pepperhead212]

[mention]zendog[/mention] I grew that gourd you posted a picture of years ago - something labeled "Hairy Melon", probably also called hairy gourd, though they are all hairy, so I don't know why one type is called that. Problem was, it was disease prone, and died after I got one fruit per plant.

Here is a photo I took today of that squash - maybe it's a yuxi - the shape is similar to the ripe ones shown in Baker Creek. I'll see if they can be used immature, like Baker Creek says.
Unknown squash on the trellis - may be the yuxi? First one forming, 7-25 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I knew that I had forgotten to pick my eggplants these last two days!
3 days worth of eggplants. 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

7 Ichibans (2 a little overgrown)
6 Haris
5 Neons
2 Rositas
1 Rosa Bianca (small, but picked because it weighed the branch to the ground)

As usual, my 3 favorites are doing the best! Most of these will be going in the dehydrator.

[GoDawgs]

Looking good, PH! OK, a new recipe for you. Pickled eggplant, a refrigerator type. It's lightly pickled with lots of fresh garlic and olive oil and so good eaten just plain or on bruschetta, not to mention on homemade pizza! We have a jar of it going on in the reefer right now.

I'll post it over in the Recipe section.

[pepperhead212]

Thanks [mention]GoDawgs[/mention]. I'll be needing something like that!

[pepperhead212]

I have a bunch of those determinate types starting to ripen, so I am going to have a lot of tomatoes soon! Actually, I have a lot now.
Here is what I got from two varieties today:
Over 3 quarts of Sprite tomatoes, one day harvest 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Peachy Keen is one of the determinates that doesn't have a second crop, as all of the branches are turning brown after the tomatoes ripen, and there isn't another flower on the plant. So I pulled every tomato off the plant, and pulled the plant - not sure what I'll plant there. All of these will go in the dehydrator, as the flavor was good then - sort of like sunsugar dried.
All of the tomatoes from one Peachy Keen plant, 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also cut some squash blossoms from all those winter squash:
Squash blossoms, from 7 plants - 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And I cut the largest bottle gourd, so far:
Large round bottle gourd - 7-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I cut up all those eggplants (except 4 that I gave away), and put them in the dehydrator - 4 racks packed, along with another packed rack of tomatoes. Here are the packed racks of eggplants and tomatoes from before, showing how much those things shrink!
Dried eggplant and tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[indysun]

Hello PH, what in the world would I do with these? Supposed to be Japanese Himo Peppers.

Pepper4.jpg

[pepperhead212]

[mention]indysun[/mention] I'm not familiar with those peppers - I never grew them because I've seen them described in many ways, from no heat, to medium heat. A friend told me that he grew them one time, said they were not that hot, and a little bitter when green, but he didn't like it that much ripe, either, and it wasn't great dried, either. It is more commonly used fresh unripe, by the Japanese, but I don't cook much Japanese foods.

[indysun]

Thanks PH, I agree with everything you and your friend said. If I don't find a use pretty soon the plants are coming out ):

[pepperhead212]

Yeah, this is why I usually only plant one of new things!

Tomorrow, I will be going out and uncovering my peppers - no pepper maggot flies on the traps this last week. A lot of unripe peppers in there, but I'm not sure of the ripe ones I'll find.

[Shule]

[mention]pepperhead212[/mention]
I thought your squash blossoms were okra at first!

[indysun]

Lesson learned!

[pepperhead212]

Harvested 4 more cukes today, along with a 3 qt bowl of just Cherry Bomb, along with Lucky and Green Tigers. I also uncovered my peppers - the ones prone to pepper maggots, as I saw no PM flies in the sticky yellow traps there. Most of those varieties are harvested ripe, but only two, so far, starting to ripen - the Superthai, and Aji Colorado, which is the only Aji ripened, as well as the most productive. However, the Hanoi Market is the most productive of any, though none ripe yet - typical, as it starts about a week into August, and many are full sized. A good number of jalapeños - already picked once, and still a lot of small ones, as well as flowers.
One of the uncovered Earthboxes, almost all of the peppers the Hanoi Markets. 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Aji molocoton, a couple of those formed so far. 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Uncovered peppers, Aji Colorado on left, Craigs jalapeños, and Super Thai, on bottom. 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And something funny happened earlier - when I was on my front porch, about 2 pm, I saw some okra, that seemed to be getting large, faster than usual. I almost always pick this in the morning, as that is when it's in the shade. I saw a number of larger ones, then I realized that I hadn't picked them today! That is something that has to be picked daily (some varieties twice a day), or it will get fibrous. I'm lucky I have those varieties that will let me slip up occasionally, though I almost always pick them.
Okra, 7-29, Emerald still behind in production. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That reminds me - I have to make something with okra tonight.

And later, 2 more bottle gourds.
Two more bottle gourds, 7-29 by pepperhead212, on Flickr