SFG Garden - Fayetteville, GA 2015

sanderson wrote:Our local paper had an article on local tomatoes.  Sungold "the sweetest tomato ever."  "Sungold plants certainly are prolific; one 7-foot vine can produce thousands of tomatoes."

True?

7 ft vine? Problaby, but mine was 15 ft. I picked up stressed plants for $1 for a 4 pack. One of them went up the 5 ft trellis, across the top, then onto a lead line to the back of the box. Tomatoes everywhere. Mind you, it was my first year doing SFG and I'd run out of peat & verm so it was grown in straight compost. I saved seeds from the biggest & most prolific plant & the sweetest toms even though they are hybrd. The saved seeds did almost as well in the 2nd year. So I saved seeds from those, and they kind of fizzled out in the 3rd year, which was last year & a bad tom year all around.

Bottom line: buy a plant, save seeds once and use those until they run out.

This year I'm growing from seed that Windmere sent me so I'm not sure about saving seed from those.

CC

You know the old expression, "Be careful what you wish for?"  This is tonight's haul from my "gumball machines."  Included are three jackpot Kumatos (and yes, there is no "e" on the end of a plural kumato... I just looked it up, chuckle).  Really, I jest about the "wish for" stuff, but wow, this is a lot... every two or three days.




The perspective on this bowl doesn't do the quantity justice.  These are Sungolds, Tiger Blush and Supersweet 100's and Kumatos.

Here are my thoughts on these:

Sungold:  You can't go wrong with these.  They are super prolific (as we've all noted) and they are literally the candy of my past, present and definitely future gardens.

Supersweet 100:  Wow, I wanted to love these... but compared to Sungolds... they fall flat.  I can tell that they have a lower acid content, but that's not enough for me.

Tiger Blush:  These vines are surprisingly healthy.  The actual grape tomato is attractive, but the skins are quite thick with moderate sweetness.  They remind me of mini Roma tomatoes.

Kumato:  I love the brown color when they are fully ripened.  They are not very prolific, and this makes me wonder if that's why they are so expensive at Costco.  Cut into slices and kissed with a light sprinkle of salt... and we're in tomato heaven!

Another testimony for Sungold. Guess I must try it.

I love those "abundance" pictures!

Well, the season is pretty much over.  I got these two beauties today:



The pepper is a sweet variety and the tomato is a Mountain Gold.

Yesterday I found this guy perched on the wall in a back yard.  Perhaps he and his friends are responsible for munching on my zinnias? 

Yep, I pulled all tomatoes (except one struggling Juliet) and cucumbers out of my three 3' x 8' beds.  Also cleaned out all of my 2' x 2' beds.  I am getting them ready for English Shell Peas, Broccoli (maybe), lettuce, spinach, leeks, fennel (maybe), carrots, radish, kohlrabi, bok choy  etc, etc.

I did not get any broccoli seeds started so I will have to buy the transplants.  I went by both Lowe's and Home Depot this last weekend to look over their fall plants.  They are only selling the Bonnie Plants of course.  The broccoli was in about 4 inch pots and cost $3.85 per plant.  What a price difference from last year when you could get a 4 pack for the same price.  I am not sure it is worth that price.  I could buy it cheaper at the grocery store (of course who knows what they sprayed it with to get it to the stores).

I tried Pikes and they do not have their fall veggies out yet.  I have not tried Andy's yet and Swints also uses Bonnie.  Let me know if you find them cheaper elsewhere.  Broccoli is the only transplant I will be putting in this year.  I will sow seeds directly in the ground for all the other crops.


PS - I have some volunteer Winterbor Kale sprouting.  I am trying to keep it partially shaded to see if it will survive until cooler weather arrives.

You are in the same mode as I am.  I just went to Swint's earlier today.  I needed some vermiculite to freshen some beds.  They didn't really have ANY plants.  Maybe they were waiting for a shipment to come.  I'd call ahead if you are looking to buy transplants from them.

Windmere wrote:Well, the season is pretty much over.  I got these two beauties today:



The pepper is a sweet variety and the tomato is a Mountain Gold.

Jeez they look enormous!

They really do look beautiful!

Marc Iverson wrote:

Windmere wrote:Well, the season is pretty much over.  I got these two beauties today:



The pepper is a sweet variety and the tomato is a Mountain Gold.

Jeez they look enormous!

They really do look beautiful!

+1

+2!

Thanks y'all.  I think these varieties are "keepers" for next year.  It's nice to end the season with a bang!

Yesterday I was picking some basil leaves from my plants... when I came across this fellow standing guard:



I've never seen one of these spiders before.

Geesh, he sure blends in especially with that leaf design across his back. Pretty.

Yuck, I don't like spiders.  But as CC said, he sure is blended in real nicely,

It's a strange time of year.  Things are in seed starters and waiting for planting in a few days.  Beds are pulled up and ready for a recharge.  Yet, there remain some stragglers that want to valiantly continue to produce.  I've had a health slump, so I've let those stragglers remain for a bit.

This is my Mountain Gold tomato:



This is my sweet pepper:



And this is my last producing eggplant (I'm afraid I killed yours yolos):




As of late, my most herculean accomplishment was to plant a rose for my wife for our wedding anniversary.  In spring, she brought home a bare root "Joseph's Coat" climbing rose.  Well, it was on clearance because it was in poor shape.  I saw what I would be up against and I had her return it.  I could not justify working so hard to prepare a hole for a rose that was so badly compromised.  Oh, but she longed for the colors of that rose 

Well, I found another "Joseph's Coat" from a reputable merchant (Heirloom Roses).  I prepared a hole 32 inches deep and 33 inches in diameter.  It filled with pure MM with just a very small touch of Jungle Growth for drainage at the very bottom.  I had a personal message engraved on a tag.  It's centered in a re-enforced and deeply "planted" tomato cage with a heavy duty trellis anchored to the back of the cage.




I prepared the hole, filled it with MM, and surreptitiously covered it with pine straw so it would be undetected.  The potted rose arrived a week later and was planted within a day (it's a little spindly because it traveled from Oregon to Georgia).  The outer circumference is covered with pine straw.  The excavated red clay has been packed all around the outside edge to create an exterior "wall" that will keep in moisture.

She finally got her "Joseph's Coat."  She loved it! 

If all goes well, blooms will look like this:

Windmere wrote:Yesterday I was picking some basil leaves from my plants... when I came across this fellow standing guard:



I've never seen one of these spiders before.

He's cool, I like spiders, as long as they are where they belong.....predators of the insect world.

Windmere, that is a beautiful rose variety!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Windmere, that is a beautiful rose variety!

I think they are climbing roses so be prepared to build a trellis!  Gorgeous colors.
http://www.rose-gardening-made-easy.com/josephs-coat-rose.html

How pretty!  Bet she will love that!!!

You're very thoughtful, Windmere....!

Hi everyone.  Well, between some rough spots in my health and a faulty computer, I've been sort of MIA lately.  I'm hoping to get back to visiting the forum now.

Since I've been sick, I haven't much to show by way of any gardening.  I do have a few things though.  Garlic, kale, bok choi, and some fennel and onions.

Here's some photos:

I FINALLY GOT FENNEL TO GROW FROM SEED!!  This is Orion fennel.  I only planted two, and I wish so much that I had planted more.



THIS IS 144 GARLIC CLOVES


I have a question for you:  I've not been able to weed between these garlic shoots.  Should I bother?  I only ask because it seems like the low growth might act like a protective mulch... or it could steal nutrients.  What do you think?

KALE, BOK CHOI, SOME STRAWBERRIES AND A SPRINKLING OF ONIONS


The kale was planted from seed that I harvested myself from last year's Russian kale.  I intend to transplant or thin out all those seedlings and put some in my EarthBoxes (which and accommodate two per box 2x1).

Hi, Windmere! Good to hear from you. Love your photos. What kind of weeds? Maybe that will indicate whether you should weed the garlic.

The Winter weeds are bad this year. Little ones that just break off when you try to pull them out. If it were my garlic I would weed them and then put down mulch. But I have no knowledge if this is what you should do.  

Your fennel looks good. Sorry you have been feeling poorly.

Hi Sweetie!  Been wondering where you were.  Glad you're back on your feet!

The garden looks great!  How does that fennel taste?  (Always looking for more ideas...   )

I think I'd just leave the weeds in the garlic patch......

Thanks guys for all the kind words.  Marie, I haven't eaten any of my fennel yet.  The photo I took is actually quite deceptive when it comes to size.  They are still pretty small.  I haven't decided which dish I'm going to prepare with them.  We do like to eat it just raw though.  Our favorite candy is black licorice and the anise flavor of fennel has a tasty flavor that we like.

Yolos, I think I'm going to compromise between you and Marie on the weeding.  I'll take out some of the little weeds and leave some.  I'm not sure what kind of weed they are Sanderson.  They are very low growing (so far). 

Oh, I wanted to show you guys something.  I'm afraid I really have the gardening bug bad.  I might not have been able to do too much gardening outside... but I still found an interesting way to garden inside:



This is my daughter's aquarium (which I maintain).  I know, it's not SFG, but I'm just posting the above for fun.  I've been studying all about aquatic plants...  lighting, fertilizers...  who knew it could be so complicated?  Oh, I can actually justify posting this for SFG...  the water from water changes is rich in fish emulsion that I use to water my SFG 4x4's. 

Hi, Windmere! Glad you are on the mend. Pictures are great! And aquaculture is a really interesting area of study...I used to have an aquarium. Not sure about the garlic...you could weed half and see what the outcome is?