For me, gardening is mostly about flower. A sense of obligation and a desire for fresh tomatoes motivate me to plant a few every year. Harvesting just a few is typical. Some years, I don’t harvest a single fruit.
Lessons learned last year led me to switch things up a little. Overcrowding is much less of an issue. Removing some suckers helped. Individual plants have fewer stalks which makes for larger tomatoes too.
In addition to a row of six plants, two are in pots and two are mixed in with flowers. There are tons of green tomatoes. I’ve harvested three so far–all from the potted plants.
For the first time in ages, I planted cucumbers. Three plants have already produced more than a dozen cukes with many more on the way. Unlike tomatoes, my appetite for cucumbers is limited. I’ve given away more than half and even made refrigerator pickles–twice.
Vine borers caused me to throw in the towel on yellow squash years ago. I decided to try again and planted three. One was destroyed by a wild chiweenie. The other two have done great up to now, producing about a half dozen squash so far. That may be it. Something keeps eating the flowers off one plant and the other appears to have vine borers. Sigh.
Don’t believe I’ve ever grown okra before this year. Four of five have survived (no idea what happened to the lost plant) but have barely grown. Even so, I’ve harvested one little okra and expect the plants to take off in the summer heat.
Bell peppers round out my 2023 summer vegetable selections. The three I planted are the most robust pepper plants I’ve ever seen. They’ve just started blooming.
If all goes well over the next few weeks, I’ll have a surplus of tomatoes, peppers, and okra. I’m hopeful, but know better than to count my veggies before they ripen. Gardening is always a gamble.
No matter what happens, this years’ crop is already the best in a long time–even without the winter garden harvest. Even one good tomato is worth all the effort. More than that is just icing on the cake. As always, I’ll keep you posted.
2 responses to “Veggie Delight”
Worms keep getting my large tomatoes and bell peppers. I just planted my summer squash, zucchini and cabbage with seeds, but they’ve sprouted. We’ll see! My cucumbers are doing the best. My Lab and chickens eat the surplus. My radishes were a flop…wont try that or carrots again. Sounds like you’re doing better than me with your garden. I’m happy for rain. I can hardly wait for my squash to come in.
You can plant radishes and carrots really early. THey prefer cooler weather. Good luck!