annoyedwabbit (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
teapot_rabbit) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
gardening2011-08-04 02:25 pm
teapot_rabbit) wrote in gardening2011-08-04 02:25 pm
Entry tags:
Cucumbers and a Tomato Jungle
Hello fellow gardeners! My last entry I had photos of dirt and weeds.
The two halves of my garden. On the right, yellow manzano peppers, Spanish musica beans, and some tomatoes. On the left, Kentucky wonder beans, yamato sanjaku cucumbers, and more tomatoes.
I may have slightly gone crazy on the tomato front. It's possible. Not likely, though. ;)
I guess I did something right with the tomatoes this year, because even the shortest are about four feet tall, most of them are over five feet now, and a few of the more ambitious vines (sungolds) got up to around seven feet. The soil was amended with composted chicken manure, and when I transplanted the tomato starts, I put a generous amount of Down to Earth brand Bio-Fish in the bottom of each hole. Then I mulched everything. My husband jokes that if I'm not careful, the tomatoes are going to eat me while I'm out watering.
This year I planted three varieties of cucumbers - yamato sanjaku, a long, green Japanese variety; dragon's egg, which is white and egg shaped (big surprise!); and lemon cucumbers, which are yellow and the size of large lemons. They're all planted in the weird eleven-inch wide beds that run along the fence in my yard. I had read about trellising cucumbers and wanted to try it, since growing cucumbers along the ground isn't really feasible in a tiny garden like mine. Good news: it works great! The yamato sanjaku raced up to the top of the six-foot fence, and kept going - up, sideways, down - I should probably get out there and give them some more strings. The dragon's egg and lemon cucumbers aren't quite as tall, but they're also growing happily up their strings.
Look at those beauties! Each one is about fifteen inches long, and they grow fast. The dragon's egg and lemon cucumbers I planted at the same time haven't produced any fruit yet. I'm definitely growing yamato sanjaku cucumbers again.
The cucumber I picked yesterday, with quilting ruler for size reference. They have little spines, but the spines come off easily if you rub them with a dishtowel or something like that.
Even at nineteen inches, the cucumber was still tender, without any tough seeds or anything. So far I haven't noticed any bitterness, and the skin is pretty tender. You could peel them, but I don't bother. They texture isn't quite as crisp as a lemon cucumber - it's a little more meaty, like I would expect from a Japanese variety.
A tiny melon! I'm so excited. It's an ichiba kouji, and right now it's about the size of a lemon. I've never grown melons successfully before, so here's hoping...
The two halves of my garden. On the right, yellow manzano peppers, Spanish musica beans, and some tomatoes. On the left, Kentucky wonder beans, yamato sanjaku cucumbers, and more tomatoes.
I may have slightly gone crazy on the tomato front. It's possible. Not likely, though. ;)
I guess I did something right with the tomatoes this year, because even the shortest are about four feet tall, most of them are over five feet now, and a few of the more ambitious vines (sungolds) got up to around seven feet. The soil was amended with composted chicken manure, and when I transplanted the tomato starts, I put a generous amount of Down to Earth brand Bio-Fish in the bottom of each hole. Then I mulched everything. My husband jokes that if I'm not careful, the tomatoes are going to eat me while I'm out watering.
This year I planted three varieties of cucumbers - yamato sanjaku, a long, green Japanese variety; dragon's egg, which is white and egg shaped (big surprise!); and lemon cucumbers, which are yellow and the size of large lemons. They're all planted in the weird eleven-inch wide beds that run along the fence in my yard. I had read about trellising cucumbers and wanted to try it, since growing cucumbers along the ground isn't really feasible in a tiny garden like mine. Good news: it works great! The yamato sanjaku raced up to the top of the six-foot fence, and kept going - up, sideways, down - I should probably get out there and give them some more strings. The dragon's egg and lemon cucumbers aren't quite as tall, but they're also growing happily up their strings.
Look at those beauties! Each one is about fifteen inches long, and they grow fast. The dragon's egg and lemon cucumbers I planted at the same time haven't produced any fruit yet. I'm definitely growing yamato sanjaku cucumbers again.
The cucumber I picked yesterday, with quilting ruler for size reference. They have little spines, but the spines come off easily if you rub them with a dishtowel or something like that.
Even at nineteen inches, the cucumber was still tender, without any tough seeds or anything. So far I haven't noticed any bitterness, and the skin is pretty tender. You could peel them, but I don't bother. They texture isn't quite as crisp as a lemon cucumber - it's a little more meaty, like I would expect from a Japanese variety.
A tiny melon! I'm so excited. It's an ichiba kouji, and right now it's about the size of a lemon. I've never grown melons successfully before, so here's hoping...
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject