[Herbs4u2]

Don’t lose heart ,honey. You’ve got this! There’s time to put a few things in for Fall. I’m rooting for you!

[Orangeball]

I’m planning a new plot for next year. This year my neighbor allowed me to use half of his garden but told me id have to take the back half…I was fine with that since last year we had split it as well but in the opposite direction. I had a bumper crop last year…more than I could can, give away and consume. Next year it will be on my own property. The ground hasn’t been turned in 30 plus years. I had such a problem with weeds this year and they wouldn’t allow me to use weed barrier…I will next year. I’m 65 and getting out and weeding that much garden without the benefit of weed barrier was disastrous. After the pneumonia there was no catching up and I guess I just gave up on it.

[Herbs4u2]

We have horrid soil. We have had to employ the “pinball method”. This year I think I grew tomato leaves. Live and learn. Will be happy with whatever I get!

[NativeSouthYaYa]

Your black/green cherry tomatoes just aren’t ripe yet. They will be delicious. They are usually prolific and make delicious spaghetti sauce.

You didn’t pick your squash or cucumbers soon enough. Watch for more and pick them when they are just the right size before the cucumbers turn yellow or the squash turns orange. Patience my friend.

Don’t give up.🙂 and unless you are going to the county fair, don’t worry what they look like, but rather what they taste like!

[Orangeball]

I’ll keep an eye on my cherry tomatoes and wait to see what my pumpkins turn out like. I’ve been so busy trying to get my freezer canned up I don’t get out there much. My refrigerator went out last month and I lost $500 worth of meats so I’m refusing to let anything sit in there for long. Got 5 quarts of chicken canned up today. Tomorrow will be hamburger meat. I’ll keep a few things in there but not like I had. I also have a small chest freezer that I need to get canned up as well…seems like everything falls apart at one time for me so I’m starting to worry about the freezer too. Been a rough year… hoping for a better second half…

[Trishaccount]

After 50 years of gardening, I still have failures, and ever year I learn something new!

Like someone else said, don’t worry about the looks so long as they taste good!

It’s looks like the odd shaped ones could be due to incomplete pollination.

You can also put a fall garden in and have a second chance before the season ends! 😉

[Orangeball]

I really think a lot of it was weed control. I wasn’t allowed to use weed barrier (the neighbor likes to run his tiller between rows) . After the pneumonia I was just too weak to get out there and the darned weeds took the opportunity to take over. Then came the flooding rains then scorching heat. My corn is 3′ tall and the leaves are as yellow as squash. I’ve got ears coming on but it’s like baby corn… Frankenstein stuff. Watermelon came up and before it got it’s second set of leaves the rabbits ate it down to the ground. My peas came up beautiful but after the rain they turned yellow and I only got 1/2 cup of shelled peas. I spent months getting my tomatoes ready for the garden…then this….no one said it would be easy but this was a reality check for me.

[cloudy]

Yes the same here. Last year was really bad. This year it was one thing or another. I’m still planting..never give up. I’ll will be buying I live in the high desert. But my friends are doing just fine. I need to fobetter

[BigSD]

I’m with ya –

Second year in a new plot – some successes and some failures. It’s all good because we learn something from both. Weed barrier is huge with a new plot, and so is the drip watering system we use. We also took some soil samples to see about where we were at with nutrients since it had not been tilled in my lifetime. Keep the faith!!

[Orangeball]

I think my main focus for the rest of this summer and into fall will be on the new plot. I want to till it a lot to get it broken up good. Then add some compost along with the grass clippings and leaves in the fall. My apple trees will go out the end of this month (grown from seed) and I’ll be watching them closely. Spring time will bring more tilling then the weed barrier will go down. Im hoping I’ve got the order right on all of this…like I said it’s only my second year and at 65 I don’t feel like I’m going to get too many more chances at it…

• This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by  Orangeball.

[Gizmo]

Good morning

If it were me I would be Solarizing my soil for next year. Hope it’s ok to leave a link to an article about the process.

https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/solarization-occultation

Best wishes gardening is tough learning curve.

[CarolinaCarefree]

Hang in there. We all go through the good and bad. I’m in NC and have also gone through the heat and rain. The tomatoes are having blossom rot and we are adding calcium in hopes of saving them. But the green peppers and banana peppers are doing OK. We have even gotten a handful of potatoes. And this was all planted after a round of gout in my right ankle took me down for almost a month. Our onions and garlic have not done too much. But found out the root vegies do better in the fall/winter time here. This allows the root to grow as opposed to the tops. We have some concord grapes and hoping they will turn and we can get them before the animals do.

Well enough with me, just don’t give up. Find out what you can still grow (even in containers if necessary) and keep going.

[Orangeball]

Yes the garden was bubbling from that rain we got…way too much! The weeds loved it though. I’m going to keep a few of the tomatoes, including the indigo rose and my small pumpkin patch and the rest will get turned under. Any suggestions on what to plant for a fall garden? Not sure if all of NC is zone 7B so I’m not sure if you can help with that. I’ll keep plugging along, but it will only be for an hour or so in the morning before the sun hits it and then an hour in the evening after it goes behind the trees. Wish I had started all this earlier in my life and had gotten accustomed to the workings of it all, but better late than never. If next year’s garden doesn’t work out for me, I’ll try container gardening to alleviate some of the back stress…if I’m even able to do anything by then. Thank you for your encouragement and input.

[CarolinaCarefree]

Not sure on your area as to what to plant

Talk with a local extension office or school that has a garden/farming program. Those can be found online for your area. I was told by a local community College that root vegetables (carrots, turnips, and such)do well in this area over winter. Plant prior to first frost so they can become established with some tops and then when the colder weather comes it will put all its energy into the root. I also know alot of people Around here will grow their ‘greens’ (collards, broccoli, etc ) in the late summer/early fall and some in the early winter. Again talk with the local folks (farmer’s market) and they should be able to let you know better for your area.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by  CarolinaCarefree.

[SilverLining]

I wouldn’t be in a hurry to till up the tomatoes. I’ve found that they grow/produce very slowly from now through September but then they take off again. If the weeds are bothering you, you might try mowing in the rows then putting cardboard down.

Gardening has a lot of success and failures. Just do what you can and don’t fret too much about it.

[Thy-abundance]

Aloha🌋 Hawaii here ………..First above all else….🎉congrats🎊 on your second year of achieving and gaining success with every passing season. Don’t be discouraged fellow productive food grower. Tomatoes are very sensitive to temperature. They hate wet feet. Pollination sensitive also. Low 60 temperatures can cause ridged fruit and cat facing. Ya do know the fruit is still safe to eat if you want to try it. The key to all fruit set production is pollination and temperature. Water is most important after pollination accrues. It is then that water is important and needed to form large fat tomatoes, and cucumbers. Not to much! Not to little! Life is like that, right? 😉 Your cucumber also looks like it could be a pollination fail. Not to worry. Make sure the female flower and the male flower are clear of the large leaves so bees have easy access straight to them. Remove the larger leaves around them to encourage bees to easily fly to and fro.🐝 Free bees do a better job when they are not obstructed and can fly a clear path. Cucumbers are pollinated by insects also. Tomatoes are self pollinating as they have the male and female its and bits as one with the flower. 🤗

Don’t be to hard on yourself. Use that energy to try again. You did well. Hey my first garden I had beautiful tomato plants with lush large green foliage….and that’s all. I never got a flower and saw zero tomatoes till my third year. Not a blue ribbon winner either, but because I finally had one I grew after three years. I ate the whole thing and loved every juicy finger lick’n morsel. 🥰Ha ha ha

I would also encourage you to get books books books and more books for your specific area, pest and environmental pressures and read. Morning noon and night…read. You’ll need to learn fast with all that’s coming. The good thing is it’s possible for you to learn quickly when you have books on hand for references. Get a soil amendment book and learn the important rolls of nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium for root growth foliage growth and flower blooming support. A lot of people say test your soil but I did once maybe 18 years ago and never did again. Learn about watering properly to stay off disease. Also learn to plant according to moon season placement and hight it’s important. Frost dates in your area and follow the weatherman not the one on the tv. You got this and you can be successful as long as you don’t give up or worst not try by planting anything in a pot to 🌱sprout. Ok☺️

Hope this helps God bless you keep you always in His perfect peace and will. Keep pressing toward His prize. You’ll never know if you don’t always try.

Amen

Aloha🌺

[Orangeball]

Yes I really think it was a pollination problem as well as the flooding rains. What really blew me away was my neighbors garden (right beside mine) did wonderfully well. We planted everything at the same time and fertilized at the same time. When mine became overrun with weeds while I was sick theirs was completely weed free. At 65 I can’t spend enough time out there to keep it weed free especially after it got overrun. I’m going to till under most of it (keeping a few of the tomatoes to see what they do) and the small pumpkin patch. I’ll have to do the research to find out what I can put in for a fall garden. The farmers market will provide what I’ve missed out on growing. Thank you for your encouragement and wisdom!

[JeaS]

I can completely relate to getting sick and just not being able to regain a few crops. It doesn’t take long in the summer for the garden to just get completely overrun in a few weeks. I’m curious if you have a plot of pumpkin growing nearby your squash? I once grew either a Connecticut Field or a Sugar Pie too close to my Yellow Straightneck and got tiny orange squashes… they fried up tasty regardless!

There’s still time for fall planting!

One trick for next year… I now always pull my suckers off my cucumbers (just like tomatoes) and any fruits that develop up the first 18″ or so of vine. It’s 4 fold… first, it helps prevent sneaky growers hiding behind lower leaves and going to seed early putting the vines out of production… secondly, I don’t have to bend over to harvest because I grow up a trellis. 😁 3rd… better airflow for the vine and that prevents disease… and 4th… it really sends a message to the plant that all that energy needs to go into root and vine growth in the early stages which helps to make really vigorous and well established healthy vines. Hope it helps and I’m glad you’re feeling better.

[Orangeball]

Everyone, including you have been so encouraging and helpful. I’m feeling much better today, after a peaceful night of rest. Had a bad case of the doldrums yesterday after finding all of the Frankenstein veggies. I’m not giving up completely. I’ll till under the weeds and the leftovers from the supposed veggies and try again. I’ll keep several of the 35 tomato plants including the indigo rose cherry tomatoes because they fascinate me. I’ll have to figure out what I can put in for a fall garden and try not to start it too early. That may have been part of my problem as well. I was so anxious to get something growing I planted nearly a month before mother’s day (rule of thumb around here). Thank you! Oh and my pumpkins are at least 25 to 30 feet from my squash and cucumbers.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by  Orangeball.

[NonaLee]

My Frankenstein tomato

[FaithK]

I’m with you. Next year will be better! That indigo rose is lovely! Right now would also be a good time for taking suckers from your tomato plants and rooting them for a late season harvest on new, fresh plants. If your temps are 90+, that’ll decrease tomato flower production. Replanting the suckers will start new plants that will be ready to bloom as that horrible heat is breaking. Mine haven’t really grown because of drought, so while I still have hope that these will recover, I’m going to replant suckers from the strongest ones. For some fall ideas, if you look up your zip code at almanac.com, it will give you planting dates for things. It starts with spring planting, but there’s a second half for planting for late summer or fall harvests. In my area of zone 6B, it’s given me a lot more hope of things I hadn’t expected. And don’t forget to count backwards from your first spring frost date. Honestly I could plant watermelons right now and if we don’t get an early frost, I should get a late harvest of them. I’m also planting a lot of beans, which I don’t really eat, for nitrogen fixing in the soil.

Basically, don’t get too down about it! You are definitely not alone, and I’m starting to call it my garden depression – it’s too much, it’s not only not good enough, but not really worth a crap right now, and it makes me just want to throw my hands up. But every step, even if it’s little, is a step better for fall or next year.

[Fossilman]

I have been gardening in eastern NC zone 7 for close to 30 years now. My whole garden is about 2 weeks behind normal this year. However it is going quite good at the moment. When I first started I struggled with weeds in the garden. I finally realized that nature does not like bare ground and wants to be growing something. Things started getting better when I started planting over winter cover crops. (Plant what you want or you will get what you don’t want.) I still have weeds in the garden, but I call them my weeds. So every fall I sow mustard, collards, lettuce, carrots, turnups, cowpeas, etc. from my own saved seeds. In addition I have several “weeds” that I allow to grow over the winter. These include purple dead nettle, chickweed and vetch. Between my planted cool weather crops and the “weeds”, my garden is usually completely covered with “cover crop” plants during the winter time. (Strive to have living plants in the soil at all times.) But all of the sowed plants and the “weeds” are cool weather plants and naturally start die to back in the spring when the temperature starts rising. This makes it easy to prepare the garden for the spring planting each spring. So you can have the weeds that nature wants you to have, or you can have weeds the you want to have, but either way you will have weeds.

[Mamaw-Red]

My cherry tomatoes look like that. Mine are “midnight snack”. Just wait for the green part to turn red. They will be red with black

[JerseyGiantChick]

It is a strange year already, late frost no spring and hot summer. Seeding all we can, but running so behind. There is so much one person can do in the spare free time, between alle the work and family homesteading life.

Good luck to you all, we sure can use it right?

[PlantLady]

Don’t lose heart – this is gardening, some years everything goes great, but usually there are flops in at least one area. My squash and zucchini got eaten up by squash bugs and my potato yield was horrible. We learn, we adjust and we keep on going. I’ve gotten some weird looking tomatoes too, but they tasted just fine!