July's Garden

-
Photo: A plate full of those wonderful tomatoberry tomatoes from the seeds I got from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Unlike most bite-size tomatoes, these have walls and meat inside instead of just juice and seeds.

The cucumbers are still producing and the peppers are loving the hot, dry days. The spaghetti squash is making fruit and vining like mad. The potimarron squash (Baker Creek Seeds) is lagging but looks promising.

We are eating edamame (Botanical Interests) most days with lunch or as an afternoon protein snack. It's the third year I've tried to grow them and the first time we have had a decent harvest due to hungry bunnies. This year a web of fencing has forced them to move to other plants. And, eat they have - the corkscrew vine, the asters, the lower leaves of the eggplant, on and on.

The weeds are relentless and now it's time to start watering again. After you water, lay down a few sheets of newspaper and cover it with mulch to keep the moisture close to the roots.

Take advantage of the cool-ish mornings and enjoy the wonderful things you have participated in creating.

Comments

Erroll said…
The photo of those tomatoberry tomatoes caught my eye. I'm growing tomatoes to make white wine, and if that's success I plan on a red wine next year. For that, I'll need small dark colored tomatoes - a lot like those in your photo, but maybe a little darker. Do you know of any tomatoes like that?
July 25, 2007 at 10:21 AM
Molly Day said…
What about Brandywine tomatoes? It's an heirloom with bright pink meat.
Celebrity is disease resistant and has dark red fruit.
Tomato Bob's website at http://www.tomatobob.com/Red.htm has small photos so you can make your choice by looking at color and size.
Also http://www.heirloomtomatoes.bizland.com/varieties.htm has photos for heirloom choices.
There are 1,000 kinds of tomatoes to choose from out there.
Have fun and let me know which one you choose.
July 25, 2007 at 7:59 PM
Erroll said…
Thank you for pointing me to those web sites. They both list a variety called Black Cherry that might fit the bill. When I searched for more info on it, I found a reference to the Black Russian, which also looks promising. It's a little early yet. I want to see how the white wine turns out first, then I'll think about planting for red next spring. Your photo just got me thinking about it a little early.

Also, I wasn't aware of these "black" varieties, but it looks like they have an enthusiastic following. Maybe I'll grow a few for eating too :)
July 26, 2007 at 9:38 AM
Molly Day said…
We had dinner at the Living Kitchen near Bristow OK (organic farm that serves dinners) and for the salad course they put out 4 kinds of tomatoes.
I had tried to grow the black/red German ones a couple of years ago but they didn't make it.
At this dinner, they had not only the black/red ones but another wonderful one that is the color of kiwi fruit when it is ripe.

What sparked the idea to make wine out of tomatoes anyway?
July 26, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Erroll said…
I love making wine, especially from fruit that I grow. I have a bonsai vineyard of ten grape vines in my backyard, but after years of tending them, I might get enough grapes for one gallon of wine this year.

Tomatoes are a vine fruit that I can grow from seed, harvest, and ferment into wine in one season. There aren't many other fruits like that.

Hmm, I am getting a larger crop of melons than I expected. I wonder how those will ferment ...
July 27, 2007 at 9:41 AM
Molly Day said…
Have you been to Nuyaka Creek Winery south of Tulsa? They make wine out of everything they find growing.
I had a staghorn sumac wine there one time.
Here's a link to their site
http://www.nuyakacreek.com/

The photo of the two guys? That's what it's like there.

Here's the link for the Oklahoma Winery blog, too.
http://www.nuyakacreek.com/blog/blogger.html

Let me know how that tomato wine tastes, please.
July 27, 2007 at 5:53 PM
Erroll said…
I've never been there, but the folks at Nuyaka Creek Winery seem like kindred spirits. I'll keep you posted on the tomato wine.
July 28, 2007 at 9:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moldy Tulip Bulbs

-
Image
Moldy tulip bulbs are a big disappointment when you are hoping to fill a bed or some pots. It is not that unusual for their skins to have a bit of penicillin mold but these are beyond that tad bit stage. Mold penetrating tulip bulb  Mold on emerging tulip bulb growth  So, what to do? The plant references say to throw them out and buy new ones but I already spent $22 for 50 of these white tulip beauties. First, they got a soak in 1% bleach solution in the kitchen sink in the hope that the bleach would stop the mold from continuing to grow without killing the life force in the bulb itself. After a good slosh around, I wiped them off to see how much damage was beneath the blue and black.  This tulip bulb is soft to the touch and there is little chance it will thrive in the soil. This basal root on these have been ruined by mold. The final step I took to try to salvage part of them  was to spray them thoroughly with fungicide.  They are all planted in the
Read more

Propagate Begonia Stem Cuttings in water - Cane-like Angel Wing Begonia

-
Image
Propagating by stem cuttings is just about the easiest way to make more begonias for next summer's garden. During the fall, I regularly trim off 3-node long cuttings and put them into the growing pots where they take root. Now that cold weather has arrived, I root the stem cuttings in a vase of water. It's a great way to produce more pots of Begonias for next summer's garden. Water the plant well the day before. Take a cutting about 4-inches long, with 3 nodes, from a healthy stem. Use a perfectly clean container. Rinse the container with a drop of bleach if you are uncertain about its spotlessness. Remove all but the top leaf or two. There should be no leaves in the water. The cutting should  have a healthy leaf node at the bottom. Don't leave a stub below the node. Place the cutting into the water, and place the container out of the sun. In a couple of weeks, you will see new roots beginning to form. Check the water periodically to make sure it is still f
Read more

Create Nesting Areas for Birds and Wildlife

-
Image
From the website, Choose Natives , this lovely and instructive article helped remind me to continue to increase the amount of habitat and nesting that we provide in our garden. Many, though not all, are native or considered to be native in Oklahoma. So, I did a little research on each recommended plant and provided a link to more information. You'll see the plant name in italics - those are my links for your edification. Here's the post Derek Stoner, Project Coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society, helped restore the 860-acre Middle Run Natural Area by “intensive habitat management”, including planting 12,000 trees and shrubs.  His lecture, ‘ Native Plants for Nesting Birds: Connecting Flora and Fauna’,  given to a group of enthusiasts at the Millersville Native Plant Conference   in Pennsylvania, focused on his observations. Here are Derek’s landscaping recommendations for attracting birds: Plant shrubs in clusters (“habitat circles”) that will create the dense
Read more