July 1st update- dry gardening and old barn shed

The dry gardening is doing so-so.  So far I've gotten about two dozen grape tomatoes, a dozen mid-sized green tomatoes, and several jalapeños.   Enough to make two big jars of roasted green salsa.   Lots a romaine lettuce in May and June.. Lots of salads but let it go to seed cause I was tired of washing it all the time.  My neighbor has 3x as many tomato plants and waters his beds frequently,  he says he isn't getting anything.   However, the squirrels are and they are sticking it to him by leaving half of everything they eat on the fence railing, in his kid's clubhouse, and even in my tree right above my hammock.  We had a lot of rain in May and beginning of June, so that really helped establish my plants. Since I planted everything in April, I think, I have only watered twice.  Last week we finally made it up to the high 90's and 100's with no rain so things were beginning to dry out.   

Everything looks scraggly but the fruit is still growing.   I have saved a lot of water usage this year.   

Ironically though,  this summer has already cost me a lot of money too.  Our AC went out, after about 25-30 years, it finally called it quits.  

My first summer project is a garden shed.    Total cost less than $250.  I reused old fence pickets, the old rust nails from the pockets, left over paint and lumber from previous projects.  I did have to buy a few 2x6s and 2x4s, along with the corrugated sheets for the roof.  So not only did I clean out my garage of materials, I was able to create less waste for the landfill.  

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 6

The size is 8x4x8ft.  In hindsight, would have made it shorter, but I guess I can put some shelves in it and hang my garden tools up high, leaving space below for things.  

All in all, I had a blast working in the heat, sweating it up, getting some exercise, creating something, and getting dirty.  The only bad thing was one paper wasp sting on my thumb knuckle.  

Go Garden and Get Dirty!

End of summer harvesting

I have pulled the third cantaloupe and so far the first two were good.  I have got three more still growing on the vines that I hope to enjoy in a week or two.

The aphids are terrible and my DIY garlic pepper spray just isn't working and they are devouring all of my large red tomatoes.  I went ahead and pulled most of all the remaining green tomatoes, which I plan on roasting on the grill and making salsa and/or some fried green tomatoes.

The eggplant plant only produced one decent size vegetable.  Will have to check out some paleo recipes to use this one. 

I need to start planting seeds for the fall right about now but never do because the summer crops usually keep producing till mid to late September.  However, looking today, many of the plants are already showing signs of dying.  I hope to get out later this week to clean out the beds, add some good compost, and plant some seeds.  School starts back up next week so this week is my last chance. 

Ideas fall garden:  

Brussels sprouts, pumpkins, kale, broccoli, sweet corn, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, watermelon, beats, and tomato transplants

I recently read that tomato transplants might do well in central Texas in the Fall. So I am going to experiment.  It will be more of an experiment with transplanting cuttings since I haven't done it that much.  Will also need to do it later on with my grape vines.  

Speaking of grapes,  I didn't bury the timbers in deep enough and the cantaloupe vines have started making them lean.   I tied some runner strings to the top of the timbers for the grapes to grow up but it's not fairing out like I had imagined. I have been considering spending some money to make a really nice arbor walkway on the back of my house, move the grapevines, so they will grow and provide a covered shade porch.  Having the grapes in the back of the garden, they are getting crowded out and don't get enough sunlight.  I have also been thinking about doing something in the front yard as well.  Not sure yet though. 

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Most useful garden/kitchen tool for this year's growing season

A cheap salad spinner. This handy tool is being used at least once a week to wash and spin my lettuce from the garden.  

A couple of changes for this years Summer garden are: 

Not worrying about companion planting. Using soaker hoses with a timer that waters every morning, early in the morning, 3 AM for 30 minutes for deep soaking and not mulching like last year.

So far this growing season is doing a lot better than last year.

So well in fact that I still have a lot of. Jalapeño peppers still in fridge to use.  

The first of many cucumbers has started to grow.  These are going to be some pretty big cucumbers. 

Here's a view of more cucumber vines, Bibb lettuce, and buckets of herbs (basil, mint, and cilantro). 

The grape vines actually started out great in May but are now beginning to turn their leaves yellow. Not sure what the cause is so will have to do a little research to find out.  On the left side is a tomato cage containing about four cucumber vines.  I have never had vines so long before, so I am looping them up in the cage to try to keep them off the ground away from slugs and other hungry critters.  This past weekend there was a squirrel convention in my backyard. I counted around 10 squirrels in and around my garden.  As son as I would chase some in one direction. Others would flank the garden from the other side.  Cassie was even trying to help me but there were to many for us.  Some of them even started charging us. These squirrels are getting pretty dangerous. I might have to break down and get an airsoft gun to protect my property and my life.  

Get dirty and keep on gardening. 

A little friend and foe

So things are slowing beginning to produce in the garden.   So far a few little grape tomatoes have been ripe enough to pick and a couple of the Early Girls as well.  Looks like I have a three cabbage shoots sprouting up to in one of the raised beds.  Everything seems to be going well with the old beds.  I laid out a soaker hose and covered it with some mulch this year to see if it helps with the watering.   I am still using the timer on the hose and have only been letting it water for 15 minutes.  I recently decided to increase the time to 20 minutes to see if there will be any change.

I spent most of my weekend working on the rain barrel for the self-watering gutter grow system.  I finally have it finished and still need to install it.  So far I have just been dumping collected rain water from five gallon buckets into the gutters to feed the plants.  One day as I was moving the buckets over, I found a little friend sitting in the water just soaking up the coolness of the water.

To help with the mosquito problem, I went to a local pet store and purchased some 10 cent fish to eat the larvae.   Not sure if its working or not.  Only bought 4 fish, so either I didn't buy enough or there are just to many larvae.   I ended up doing some research and found that I could use the mosquito dunks in the gutters and that it would not be harmful to my vegetables.

This past week I spent all day Monday trying to fix my fence (it was leaning in my neighbors yard at about a 45 degree angle. So I straightened up the post and decided to cut the pickets in half and make a 3ft fence.  This will allow my neighbor and I to talk with each other, keep Cassie in my yard, his kids in his yard, and the sun to hit both of our gardens.

The squirrels are back!  I found this guy just lounging around, probably because he was full of eating my vegetables.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

I think my garden has officially made its value just in tomatoes so far

This morning I found some more ripe tomatoes ready to be picked.  Thanks to Jennie's yarn scale, I am able to get a correct weight on my tomato yield.  Today they weighed in just a hair over 2 lbs.  I think its about time I start swapping produce with my neighbors, because I can't eat this many tomatoes.  Went to HEB this morning for the weekly grocery shopping and was able  to plan a whole weeks of meals using mostly produce from my garden.  Only spent $76 for this week, that of course includes store bought produce that is organic.   My wife and I try to eat mainly organic or local.  My garden is grown organically, as well as I can.  No one can be 100% organic if growing outside.

Found another zucchini this morning about 7" long.  I am going to wait a few days before picking it, simply because I already have 2 sitting in the fridge.  Thinking about making some yummy zucchini bread with it and one of the meals for the week will be grilled zucchini pizzas.

Finally have a few Aladdin sweet and bell peppers that are getting to a good size.  The larger ones should be ready in about a week.

Pest problems:  Loopers (larva of moths) or some cutworms are devouring my kale leaves and aphids are starting to eat my tomatoes.

Possible solution: I might try to mix me up some Garrett Juice to help with the pests.  J. Howard Garrett has written several gardening books.  Some of my favorite are:

Garden Tip:  don't get tomato pollen in your eyes... it stings!!  It's the one drawback of clumping my tomato plants this year.  I was reaching deep in the depths of the clump and a leaf rubbed my eye.  From now on its safety glasses for sure.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!

Another small harvest

As May comes to an end and the hot summer weather returns, I am hoping that my garden produces more produce in the next few weeks.
I went ahead and cut the two remaining cucumbers from the vines.  I think I left them on a little to long though, as they were turning a pale greenish/yellow color.  The thing about cucumbers is that the more you pluck, the more they will produce.  I also cut the zucchini, which reached about 11 inches long.











Some friends of ours already gave us two big zucchini earlier this week, so my wife and I are trying to find different ways of cooking it.  I grilled it on the grill with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  My wife made a cucumber sauce and it was quite tasty.  We also made some kale chips in the oven, which were good.














I also picked two jalapeno peppers and two tiny little cherry tomatoes.  Besides waiting for the rest of my produce to grow, I am having a small battle with some squirrels, who have already eaten the first of my strawberries.  I had bought a squirrel feeder when I first planted my seeds, hoping it would divert them away.  I guess my little friend just loves sweet strawberries.

Get dirty and keep on gardening!