Garden progress - getting close
>> Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Lots of things are blossoming and blooming. I'm feeling like my garden is behind compared to others - a coworker and neighbor already have fully-grown cucumbers, but I'm holding out hope.
Everything looks healthy and seems to be growing like crazy.
(Note the right side with the HUGE leaves. Those are pumpkins. My husband told me that they get big but I didn't believe him. They are the small little decorative pumpkins, and I've counted about 15-20 blossoms, so far. Eek! Anyone need pumpkins? I really shouldn't have put them there, but I wanted them so bad. Everything else around it seems to be holding its own, although I'm sure the pumpkins are blocking at least some of their sunlight. Luckily, I grew them up a tomato cage so they aren't taking over the entire area.)
The orange blossoms are a few of the pumpkin blossoms. The yellow are cucumbers. I didn't actually plant a cucumber plant there (I don't think). So, I'm not sure where it came from. But, it seems to be co-existing with the pumpkin somehow.
The tomatoes are also going wild. It's hard to get in to them to trim them. But, I've counted about 30 tomatoes coming in already, not including the blossoms. (4 plants)
Here's one turning red already. Yay!
And, cherry tomatoes, too.
Here's where I cut the big head of broccoli out already. I almost cut down the plant, but decided to google it instead. University of Illinois extension has a very helpful site with lots of tips for individual plants. Here's broccoli. It said: "Removing the central head stimulates the side shoots to develop for later pickings... You can continue to harvest broccoli for several weeks." So, don't cut down the plant after the first picking, you'll get more.
Here are the pretty purple eggplant blossoms.
Here are the pretty purple eggplant blossoms.
And my favorite plant of all - CUCUMBER. Don't you just love these little baby cucumbers? They are adorable. I cannot get over them.
Isn't it so fun to watch it grow? Amazing, really.
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8 people have something to say:
What is this about trimming tomatoes? I have several plants growing but haven't done any trimming. Oops. What should I be doing?
Congrats on the progress! It all looks wonderful. Our first few cucumbers are at the same stage, so we're racing you now.
I'm with Jill....what is this tomato trimming you speak of????
I have been told and read that if you clip off some of the branches coming in, it focuses more on growing hte fruit instead of leaves. I tried to pinch off the growths coming in between two established branches. My neighbor also told me that after they reach a certain height (4-5 feet), you should clip them at the top. But, I haven't done that at all.
My tomatoes are not looking too good. However, we have gotten a few peppers (bell and banana). They were wonderful.
Thanks for the tip! Off to pinch off some tomato growths. Grow tomatoes not leaves, dang it!
Your garden looks like it's doing great! I'm so jealous.
My husband and I planted 3 tomato plants (we're new to growing our own food, so we started small) and they are doing well so far. I was also suprised you mentioned trimming - we've done very little.
Thanks for sharing the UI Website. I read up on tomatoes and learned a couple things.
And, PS - here's a pretty good article about "pinching" the "suckers"
http://gardening.about.com/od/growingtips/tp/Tomato_Tips.htm
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