2016 SFG Adventures in Hampstead, NC

Looking pretty good Ralitaco.  Have you found any way to combat the pickle worms.  I finally just pulled all my squash and cucumbers.  I heard putting panty hose over the veggie would help.  I even bought some cheapies to try it but never got around to trying it.

Banana Peppers:
Photo Credit: My DW


Bell Peppers:
Photo Credit: My DW


Big Beef Tomatoes: Just starting to get a tinge of red!
Photo Credit: My DW


Cucumber:
Photo Credit: My DW


2x8 Bed - Primarily herbs: I have Blue Lake Pole Beans in the Left and Right squares of Row 1 at the top of the bed. Take note of the Pineapple Sage plant (Left side of row 3) in the upper Left portion...it was in the beginning stages of becoming a BUSH!! It was next to the Roma tomato plant on the right side of Row 2 which is why I think it did not do well...too much shade from the Pineapple Sage. Also in the Left side of Row 2 is another White Eggplant which is puny compared to the ones in my other beds. The Parsley that is in the bottom of the photo was doing well until the "Great Catepill-Apocolypse" (Not sure if my DW has a picture of them)
Photo Credit: My DW


Jalapenos: Anyone know what happens to them if they turn red on the plant? Do they get hotter or more mild?
Photo Credit: My DW


Tommy Toe Cherry Tomatoes: Does anyone else get excited when they see that RED amongst all the green?


Personal Watermelon: they never did really well, not even the ones that accidentally  ended up being planted in the ground.

Herb Harvest: (side note: the basket was made by my mother)
Photo Credit: My DW


Tools for DW's 1st attempt at Drying:
Photo Credit: My DW


Basil Leaves:
Photo Credit: My DW


Coriander Seeds:
Photo Credit: My DW


Lemon Thyme:
Photo Credit: My DW


Oregano:
Photo Credit: My DW


Herbs Bagged Up:
Photo Credit: My DW

Mater Sandwich...this one sandwich alone would've been enough motivation for my DW to tend to the garden all season long.

I don't know what happened in the month of July but I didn't take any pictures and apparently neither did my DW...if she did, she didn't post them to FB

My 4x4 Bed: Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Banana Peppers, Sweet Million Cherry tomato in the background falling over on itself and an unknown tomato transplant in the foreground.
Photo Credit: My DW


Bell Peppers:
Photo Credit: My DW


Jalapenos:
Photo Credit: My DW


White Eggplant:
Photo Credit: My DW
Photo Credit: My DW


The Harvest:
Photo Credit: My DW

yolos wrote:Looking pretty good Ralitaco.  Have you found any way to combat the pickle worms.  I finally just pulled all my squash and cucumbers.  I heard putting panty hose over the veggie would help.  I even bought some cheapies to try it but never got around to trying it.

Thank you. All the credit goes to my DW who goes out every day and waters. I think it helps that she has a new flower bed out front that she has to water daily too.

As for the PWFH (Pickle Worms from Hell), I cleared them up for a while by using some Sevin dust. That has lasted about 3 weeks, but those @#$*%#s showed up again and have decimated all but 2 or 3 of my cukes on the vine. I hit the plant again with some Sevin liquid spray so we will see.
I don't know if the hose would help but I may have to go buy a case of knee highs and just put them on every cuke that I see. That would really get my neighbors wondering what I was growing.

Here are some pics of my DW's flower bed/beds. Unfortunately they are not SFG or MM but I thought I'd share anyway:
Before:

You can partially see the shrubs
After pulling out 6 or 8 shrubs:


Railing Pots:


New Flower Bed shortly after adding plants:


Around the Dogwood:


The view walking up:

Here are some pictures of my 2x8 bed that had several tomato plants that I pulled out. Now I have some available squares to plant something else (suggestions welcome)

Cleaned out Bed - Tromboncino, White Eggplant, Celery and Cukes are all that are left in there:


Tromboncino - Doing much better now that the sunlight is reaching it. Hoping it will produce at least 1 but if not I will try again next season:



Celery - It never got any size to it. We have used some but have to harvest about 1/4 of the plant to get enough to do anything with:


White Eggplant:


Cucumber vines:
Running across the top:
I love seeing the cukes hanging down:

Here is my 4x4 bed. It was primarily for my Peppers which did ok. It had 1 or 2 cherry tomato plants and the eggplant too. I tried the watermelon and zucchini but did not have much success.

Lots of empty squares to fill up in this bed too:


Banana Peppers - They have done the best. Although my DW and I have not reached a consensus on when to pick them. Fortunately for me, the plant has gotten really tall and she won't be able to reach the ones up top so I can see how long they will grow:


White Eggplant - They have done really well. I was pleasantly surprised that the seeds were not very bitter, which is good since they have so many. I will definitely plant them again. May try the japanese variety next year too.:







Red Cayenne Pepper - I ate one of these and for some reason was surprised by its heat. It did not produce many peppers but I think it was shaded out by the toms and the eggplant:


Green Bell Peppers - same issue as the Cayenne:


Personal Watermelon - while we got some good growth early on, it only produced a few softball sized melons. I think this goes on the list of "not again for a while":

WOW!

Here is my final TT bed (I know you are all saying "thank heavens" but I am trying to make up for lost time). This one is primarily for the herbs...it's close to the back door and the BBQ. This bed has been quite educational. I am amazed at the specific bugs that are attracted to the specific plants and this bed was very diverse.


Blue Lake Pole Beans - They grew a lot of leaves, but not very many beans. I have yet to harvest enough all at once to provide a side dish for the family. I may try these one more time next season but I will do more than 2 squares:


White Eggplant - here is my little white eggplant. It was overshadowed, literally and figuratively by the Pineapple Sage and Beans. I am hopeful that if we relocate the PS, this plant will take off and produce after the others have stopped:


Greek Oregano and Sage - I think:


Lemon Thyme - post harvesting and cleaning up. The plant had fallen over the edge of the bed and had exposed its roots:


Parsley - This plant was easily 2x as big, but it had been ravaged by the green striped catepillars, one on every stalk:


Pineapple Sage - Lesson learned - research the new plants BEFORE you add them to your SFG...This thing turned into quite a monster but it started out as such a cute little itty-bitty thing with pretty red flowers...then this:
Just for reference purposes, this is what it started out as...it was a 4" pot and had the little red flowers...they are red because this thing grew like it was possessed by demons:
Don't get me wrong,we loved watching it grow. And my DW is trying to decide where to move it.

Forgot to post these last 2 pictures.

The Harvest:



As Porky Pig would say..."That's all folks"

Pineapple Sage,  I have mine in a pot as it is a hardy perennial.  (well, if you water it in the summer!)  Likewise the cat nip.  It can self sow!  The oregano and sage look so healthy.  My oregano died when I put up Agribon-30 for shade.  For what do you use Lemon Thyme?

I also use paper bags for drying.  Just remember to disturb contents to make sure they dry uniformly.  If they are still on the stalks, no problem.

PS Lovely basket your MIL made!

sanderson wrote: For what do you use Lemon Thyme?

I was going to ask the same question. I rescued a small plant that is now doing well, but I haven't used it, yet. I read that it's good on fish and chicken. My problem is that harvesting and drying those tiny leaves is so labor-intensive I keep putting it off.

If I could keep it alive in my yard I would plant it between pavers so when I walk on the path it would smell really good when my feet brushed up against it..
CC

CapeCoddess wrote:If I could keep it alive in my yard I would plant it between pavers so when I walk on the path it would smell really good when my feet brushed up against it..
CC

Delightful

Wow! That garden is impressive!

sanderson wrote:Pineapple Sage,  I have mine in a pot as it is a hardy perennial.

Definitely on the todo list

sanderson wrote:For what do you use Lemon Thyme?

Me personally, I just use it to scent the air as I work in the garden. I believe my DW has used it occasionally with chicken.

sanderson wrote:I also use paper bags for drying.  Just remember to disturb contents to make sure they dry uniformly.  If they are still on the stalks, no problem.

Good tip...fortunately they are still on the stalk.

countrynaturals wrote:My problem is that harvesting and drying those tiny leaves is so labor-intensive I keep putting it off.

We have dried them but haven't tried to put any of them in jars yet so we'll see how that goes. I am thinking about using a funnel

CapeCoddess wrote:If I could keep it alive in my yard I would plant it between pavers so when I walk on the path it would smell really good when my feet brushed up against it..
CC

Since we don't have "Like" buttons, this is the next best thing

AtlantaMarie wrote:Wow!  That garden is impressive!

If you say so. I am not convinced of that but I am impressed with SFG'ing in general.

Here is an update on my tromboncino squash.
After removing several tomato plants, the rascal started getting sun and has really started to grow.



And even start to produce some...ok...one squash

Here are some photos of what I rigged up to dry some herbs in bags. I just ran a string across from the cabinet to the shelves, but my twist was to use a binder clip to clip onto the shelves at various heights to pull the bags out of the way or to reach them...

Clipped to the top shelf for easier access to the bags to tie on or remove


Line is slack and drops below the height of the iron:



Clipped the lower shelf to make the line taut



Notice the line and bags in relation to the iron



Not the best looking setup but not bad to have them out of the way

Congrats on finally getting a female tromboncino squash.  But is there a male around to pollinate it.  Or is it self pollinating.

yolos wrote:Congrats on finally getting a female tromboncino squash.  But is there a male around to pollinate it.  Or is it self pollinating.

There are some other flowers on the vine sans squash so I presume they would be the pollinators

Oh, good. I was about to make a joke about where is a male when you need him. Now i don't have to say that.