Bamboo Tee-Pees

Victor did good. He got 0.5-inch diameter, 7-foot long bamboo poles in yesterday. I picked up 30 for less than $1 each. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to do it, but I'll be tying and caging the plants as they grow. These poles are much much sturdier than what i was using. I put three in each bucket, and tied them at the top. They're very strong, and should hold up the tomatoes very well.

5-Gallon Bucket Summer Tomatoes: Phase 2

I thought for sure that some of the tomato seeds I planted in June would die. Every single one is now a healthy transplant size. I couldn't believe it. I had originally intended to grow 6 plants (two of each variety) in 5 gallon buckets, but with such seed-sprouting success I expanded to 9 buckets.I planted 3 of each variety (Arkansas Traveler, Sweet Chelsea, and Texas Wild) in a five-gallon bucket. To prepare the buckets, I drilled 8 1/2" diameter holes around the base, and covered them from the inside with window screen. Then I filled them up with potting soil. This will hopefully provide more than adequate drainage in the bucket. After planting, I fertilized with fish emulsion, and put several handfulls of mulch on top.


All the books and websites say to make tomato cages out of concrete reinforcing mesh, but it is way too expensive. It would cost ~$25 per cage, and I'm not going to pay it. For the short term, I put the skinny, cheap bamboo stick in the buckets, and tied them at the top to make a bamboo tee-pee. Victor ( Plants for All Seasons ) is ordering some more robust bamboo poles for me to make my own cages. It will take a little more work, but save lots of money.


I put the buckets against the east side of the house where they'll get good morning sun, but will be shaded from the scorching afternoon heat. I put them up on cinder blocks so it would be easy to mow and trim the grass around them.

After all this work, I now have 9 thriving transplants that will hopefully produce tons of tomatoes this fall once the weather cools down enough for them to fruit. I had 30 plants, and only planted 9, leaving me with 21 healthy plants to try to find homes for. I gave a bunch to Nick at church, but I still have 13 or so.

I'm a bad influence on children:

Pickles!

We've had so many cucumbers, I thought it was time to do something with them. I googled a no-cook pickle recipe, snuck off to the store, and got pickling.


I also pickled a small jar of jalepenos and banana peppers. These are all "refridgerator pickled". While they have to be kept in the fridge, they're also ready to eat after 24 hours. I'll let you know how they taste.

On a side note, my summer tomatoes are doing great so far. I'll be transplanting them to their buckets this weekend.

Fruits of Our Labor

The picture doesn't do it justice. I had an excellent home-grown lunch at work today. (Don't look Dr. B)

Our tomatoes have been the envy of all our friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We really didn't have to do anything. I didn't do anything special. I guess fresh picked is just that much better than store-bought.

I've planted more cucumbers, summer/fall tomato seeds, and more green beans (the first ones quit producing). My plan is to try the summer tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets on the side of the house where they won't get scorched. I'm trying 3 different sizes: Arkansas Traveler (big heirloom), Sweet Chelsea (plum-sized cherry), and Texas Wild (small cherry).

Next up: Building trellises for the green beans and cucumbers, and finishing burying the water line to the soaker hoses.

Our Produce

Just thought I'd post some pictures of our veggies. I forgot to take a picture of the green beans before I ate them. I've been getting one raspberry per day, and will have to make salsa so all the tomatoes don't go to waste. I think I'm going to start weighing all the vegetables and fruit we produce, and find out how many pounds of food we can squeeze out of our backyard. Yesterday I put in the soaker hoses, and I'll spend this afternoon after work burying the supply hoses.

Expansion!

Major expansion. Or at least major for us. This past weekend I put in eight 2.5'x8' raised beds in between the fruit trees. I've already transplanted the peppers, and have planted summer squash and black-eyed peas. Everything is going really well. We've had more tomatoes than we could eat (3-4 per day), and 5 huge cucumbers so far. I've only been able to pick ~ a half pound of green beans, but hopefully production will pick up. If you look closely in the picture, you can see that the beans have grown up into the gutters on the porch, and are almost 10 feet tall. All the peppers we've picked so far have been delicious. (and hot!) The bugs got one of our bell peppers, but there are few more still on the way.

Next up: Soaker hose irrigation system

Hydrangeas

The Endless Summer Hydrangeas we planted are really doing great! Three of them at the front of the house have some really pretty flowers. The first and third ones are blue and the second one is pink. The fourth hasn't bloomed, but I think it might need a little more time. Originally I wanted them to all be blue, but the pink one is really pretty. 

I do think it is odd that the plants next to each other aren't putting out the same color blooms. The color should be dependent on the pH of the soil. They are close enough together that I would have assumed they would be the same color...I guess I still have some things to learn about these particular flowers. For now I am just happy they are thriving and blooming.