2026 Garden Thread

[djlew]

from last week, there has been a good deal of growth since...

View attachment 347719
Front porch garden...this is just some rocks and clay...
from left to right...
front row,
Early Girl tomato, Marglobe x2, Rutgers, Early Girl.
back row, 'Mystery Squash', White Cucumbers x2.........hard to see them down low in the rear, at ground level.


View attachment 347720
Here is the main section, again it's 8x30...
up front, tomatoes again...(extra's in pots)
from l to r.
Marglobe, Yellow Str. Squash, Rutgers, White Cucumbers, Yellow Str. Squash.

Dirt area in middle is fresh Asparagus crowns...

Easier to see from the side.
View attachment 347721
Off to left is the white cucumbers i mentioned...in front of us is an Early Girl tomato, yellow squash, and Black Zucchini to the right. The single Okra plant hides over there.

In the longer shot you saw the Green pole beans in the back, here's a better view of them.
View attachment 347722
Have cages in here now for the beans....White Mountain Half Runners....and they have runners coming in now, just not in these pictures..

And here is the minor garden...more of the same things...
View attachment 347723
Many circular(ish) rows....going from front to rear....

Tomatos, Rutgers and Marglobe x2 each.
Yellow Str. Squash.
Black Zucchini
White Cucumbers
Cantaloupes.....Honey Rock, Iroquois, Hales Best.

And then there's what remains to plant....and now that it's FINALLY RAINING, I can plant these since there out beyond the reach of the water hose, and certainly would have crispy-dustified weeks ago......
View attachment 347724
Jugs have more White Cucumbers, Pablanos(didn't sprout), Roma tomatos(no sprout)...

and the trays are ALL Watermelons..
Petite Yellow, Golden Yellow, Sugar Baby, Stars and Moon, Congo, and Crimson Sweet....

No pics of the Butternut Squash, or Pumpkins...

@djlew This year I AM growing Early Girl tomatos...Started them from seed after last years nonsense...
(last year)I purchased '-Bush- Early Girl' at the hardware store i've used for years, not knowing there were two kinds, bush and normal...
However, the growth was nothing like expectations. (Claim-54 days to harvest)....well...I strongly suspect these were some type of yellow tomato...they never turned red, and certainly not early.
They came all at once, all different sizes, and very late(90+ days)....even then they were yellowy. So last year wasted due to poor labeling by grower...

This year i purchased the Early Girl seed myself, and so far i'm impressed.

All Rutgers and Marglobes are knee high. Each Early Girl is over waist high and has 3-6 Golf ball sized tomatoes that are rapidly increasing.
Marglobes and Rutgers canopy 1 sq. ft. EG has 4 sq. ft easy of canopy.

I'll get some photos of a side by side for your comparison.



the minor garden activity for now....
I started a Potato tower this year, as an experiment.
Still have some hot peppers sprouting, and I'm trying for late bloomer okra to join their older sister.


Planting melons, winter squash, pumpkins and sunflowers now that it's rained. We've had 1/4 inch of rain in 3.5 months.

Looks great! I have to say, after last year, I am so discouraged about tomatoes, I am hoping this year changes my mind again! My nursery had Early Girl again this year but we just stuck with Beefsteak and San Marzano. So far, so good. We are catching up on the rain this week as well, the drought has been brutal!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Looks great DG! I'm glad you were able to get a lot done.

It has been brutally hot here the past few days. We should be topping out at 100F here today. Then the massive temp drop is supposed to come in tomorrow. I've been working hard trying to keep everything hydrated. My blueberries are showing signs of scald. I am going to move them into a raised bed or pots next year I think. More control over soil acidity and can move them into shade.

Everything else seems to be fairing fine. My tomatoes and cucumbers are enjoying the heat from the looks of it. I threw down a layer of my homemade mulch to cool them down hopefully. Nasturtium seeds are also popping up! I also direct sowed some of these "rainbow carrot" seeds I found at the store. They look really cool in photos! We'll see how they do.

Besides the scald on my blueberries, my peaches might be reacting to the heat by throwing out some water sprouts, but I can manage that. Hope everyone else's garden is faring well!

If you opt for a raised bed for your blueberries, @djlew , I'd suggest considering shade cloth for those days where you think they're getting too much sun.

In Texas we built a frame out of two by fours that we called our "blueberry cube." We covered the entire thing with bird netting to protect the fruit, and it had a doorway that we could open and simply walk in. Our blueberries there were potted because the natural "soil" was just limestone and couldn't be amended enough really. I don't know what your natural soil is like, but here in Virginia we've got natural acidity, but I do use Holly Tone and cottonseed meal around acid-loving plants.

My mom has some blueberry bushes in her garden that she used to cover individually using irrigation piping, but after we moved up here, we built her a blueberry box as well so that she could just walk inside to tend the plants without having to fight with netting every year. It makes it much easier.



If you could build some sort of frame around a raised bed, it would be great for bird netting or shade cloth as appropriate.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@burning VC , thanks for all those pictures and garden updates. I love seeing what other people are growing.

I've been seeing the extreme and even exceptional drought status in North Carolina when I check the drought monitor. I'm so glad that you're actually getting some rain. We have been, too, these past few days, and I'm so thankful.

I notice in your pictures that you seem to have some pretty dark soil. Is that what's natural to your area, or is it heavily amended with compost? Our soil here is pretty much red clay with rocks thrown in, so I'm using a lot of compost and cover cropping to get my garden established. The clay has good nutrients and holds moisture, but it's too heavy without serious amending.

I've decided not to grow squash like pumpkins and zucchini this year because I had such bad squash bug pressure last year. I'm hoping that if I avoid those species that my cucumbers and melons won't get hit so hard. I'm trying a cucuzzi/zuchetta gourd instead. We'll see how that goes.

 

[begreen]

If you opt for a raised bed for your blueberries, @djlew , I'd suggest considering shade cloth for those days where you think they're getting too much sun.

If you could build some sort of frame around a raised bed, it would be great for bird netting or shade cloth as appropriate.

I built a simple frame out of 3/4" PVC about 12 yrs. ago. It's still doing its duty. Once all the blossoms are set and green berries are starting to form, I cover this bed with agricultural fabric that acts as a bird block but also knocks down the light by maybe 20%. We used to use bird netting but found it to be a hassle because it's fragile, snags easily, and some birds were getting trapped. A proper enclosure that keeps the netting away from the plants and has a way to completely access the plants would have been a solution, but that would have made access to adjacent beds tight. I have seen a local garden where they have their blueberry house (yes it is big) completely covered in shade block fabric and they get great blueberries. The plants don't seem to mind reduced light.

 

[begreen]

Our garden is progressing in spite of the flip-flopping weather and very sparse rainfall. Everything now is outside except for the greenhouse cucumber. I have the melons under a temporary greenhouse until we warm up more. The peppers and eggplant want more heat, but so far they are tolerating the cooler nights we have been having.

The broccoli loves this weather, so do the slugs, but the peas and the garlic are happy. I'll be harvesting the hardnecks in a couple of weeks. The tomatoes look great so far.

Potatoes, onions, peas, and then raspberries are all thriving. We started harvesting the first strawberries yesterday.