gardening and the back yard

[sgt_zim]

This is the best spring garden I've ever had.

Just had some fresh yellow squash and onions, about to have tomatoes, cukes, and zucchinis coming out of my ears, the banana and jalapeno peppers I'm already having to give away. The eggplant is loaded up with setting blooms. And my 2 rabbit does just gave birth about a week ago. That's another 30# of meat in the freezer by the end of July.

And the purple hull peas will be ready in about 3 weeks, I think.

 

[HuntingGold]

Too cold to even start here yet. Last year...

 

[CJW]

I lit a fire this morning to warm up the house.

Gardening???

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Too cold to even start here yet. Last year...
View attachment 682694

@HuntingGold
Show off
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bob

 

[sgt_zim]

I lit a fire this morning to warm up the house.

Gardening???

If I get lucky, it'll still be cool enough at night for my tomatoes to keep setting through through to mid-June. But once the nights don't get any cooler than about 75º, new production is over - what's on the vines is it. I have about 60 tomatoes out there right now, from marble size to about 4" in various shades of green. If the weather holds, I should make about another 60 - all on just 4 plants.

 

[mdwest]

We have a few raised beds that are doing well this year (so far)… squash, zucchini, jalapeños, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a few other things…

We also have a blackberry bush and 2 blueberry bushes that are flowering like crazy.. I think they’re both going to produce exceptionally this year.. I’m probably going to have to cut the blackberry back a good bit at the end of the season… it’s already 6’ wide and 4’ tall.. this time next year it will take over the entire yard lol..

 

[sgt_zim]

I just planted 3 fig trees - LSU purple, LSU gold, and Celeste. The Lebanese and Syrians in my Antiochian Orthodox parish are going to enjoy some dried figs in 2 or 3 years.

 

[mdwest]

We have a young fig tree as well.. but we're keeping it indoors for now.. Im not sure it can survive a NTX winter.. once its a little older we might try to plant it in the back yard... USDA says it can live in the DFW area, but that it wont thrive up here without taking winter protections against frost and our week long cold snaps..

Im pretty sure it would do well down further south where you are..

we're just keeping it around because its a really pretty tree.. I don't expect it to ever bear reasonable fruit up here..

 

[thriller]

I have currently going
Oregano
Basil
Rosemary
Dill
Mint
Thyme
Cherry tomatoes
Grape tomatoes
“Heirloom Alabama giant tomatoes” I think these are bs haha
Roma tomatoes
Heatless jalapones
Purple bell peppers
Green bell peppers
Strawberries
Blueberries
Brown satsumas
Ruby red grape fruits
Improved Meyer lemons
Blood oranges
Black figs

Forgot
Thai chilis
Zuchinnis
Poblanos

 

[mdwest]

Heatless jalapones

Whoever created this should burn in hell...

 

[thriller]

Whoever created this should burn in hell...

I grow Thai chilies for myself. My wife loves them to cook with though so I plant the abominations for her

 

[deewayne2003]

Tomatoes - Cherry, Honey Comb, 4th of July & Roma
Peppers- Sweet banana, Jalapeno, cayenne, sweet pepper blend, Tiny Samoa & Scorpion

Herbs - Cilantro, Chives, Sweet Basil, Dill, Parsley, Rosemary & Spearmint

Tell me you're a Yankee without telling me you're a Yankee = Heatless Jalapeno

FYI the heatless Jalapeno was developed for Pace Picante sauce, because even the mild formula was to hot for yankees.

 

[sgt_zim]

I have currently going
Oregano
Basil
Rosemary
Dill
Mint
Thyme
Cherry tomatoes
Grape tomatoes
“Heirloom Alabama giant tomatoes” I think these are bs haha
Roma tomatoes
Heatless jalapones
Purple bell peppers
Green bell peppers
Strawberries
Blueberries
Brown satsumas
Ruby red grape fruits
Improved Meyer lemons
Blood oranges
Black figs

Forgot
Thai chilis
Zuchinnis
Poblanos

Even Houston is just a little too far north for all citrus except satsumas, so I've never bothered to plant any. When I was a kid, we probably had 30 or 40 satsuma trees until the freeze of '81 - Baton Rouge got down into single-digits at night and didn't reach freezing during the day for about 5 or 6 days. Killed them all graveyard dead.

I have most of those herbs, plus a few others. I potted some anise hyssop this weekend, 4 or 5 more varieties of basil - yeah, I like to cook and lean heavily on basil, thyme, and oregano. Also artichokes, tarragon, fenugreek, and fennel. Will have to wait on the fennel until September. I already have sage, Rosemary, and especially marjoram coming out of my ears. Marjoram is in the mint family. I like to cook with it, but it requires heavy pruning if you don't want it to take over a bed.

I planted Creole heirloom tomatoes this year, first time - I've tried Brandywine, they didn't do very well; and German Johnson, which did better. The Creole fruit seem a little slow to ripen, but man there sure are a bunch of them out there.

Also planted some tiger baby and sugar baby watermelons; and a couple cushaws.

 

[deewayne2003]

I planted Creole heirloom tomatoes this year, first time - I've tried Brandywine, they didn't do very well; and German Johnson, which did better. The Creole fruit seem a little slow to ripen, but man there sure are a bunch of them out there.

Try "4th of July" tomatoes - 20% faster ripening than creole and their both heat/direct sun tolerant; and produce fruit of the same size.

Another producer of massive volume, good for your climate would be "Juliet" which is a F1 hybrid and will produce lots of small fruit that resemble miniature Roma tomatoes.... these are what I use for making sundried tomatoes.

 

[sgt_zim]

I like large-ish slicers. There are really few things I like better than ham and tomato on whole wheat with lots of mayo.

Thinking about putting in an extra raised bed or 2 so I can do SxS on German Johnson, creole, and now 4th of July.

About 2 months and it'll be time to start seeds for the Fall garden.