Written by Chris on August 29th, 2010
There is one thing that loves being blasted by the August heat, and that is bougainvillea. Mine have been blooming all summer. I followed a tip I got at Shoal Creek Nursery one day. 
They have amazing hanging baskets of bougainvilleas, spilling over with blooms. I asked how they achieved that, and the guy there said the woman that supplies the plants to them feeds them at every watering with a 1/4 strength solution of Miracle Gro. So I got some and have been doing the same (I use 1/2 tsp of Miracle Gro–the small end of the scoop that comes with the fertilizer–in the watering can I have, which holds 2 gallons of water). My bougies are in smallish clay pots on the west side of the house, so they need water every morning in this heat. And I feed them the Miracle Gro every morning. Seems to work pretty well. Yeah yeah, not organic, but it’s only for containers, and I go organic everywhere else….
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Written by Chris on August 29th, 2010
I popped a couple of the fall tomatoes into the ground today. Seeds were planted on 6/26. Removed the Black Krim that never did anything and replaced it with an Aunt Ginny’s Purple. Then added one more plant to the garden, a Cherokee Purple. Am leaving the cherry tomatoes and the Japanese Black Trifele because they still seem to be doing pretty well, so hopefully will be producing through the fall. Not sure about the Bush Early Girl yet, it’s a bit spindly, but still producing. May replace it here soon. Don’t have room for any more plants, so will have to sacrifice it if I want to try a different variety for Fall.
Slightly Crispy in the August Heat
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Tags: tomatoes
Written by Chris on August 22nd, 2010
Surprisingly, the tomatoes are still going pretty well. The cherries I expected to keep producing through the August heat, but am surprised that the non-cherry varieties are not doing too poorly either. Am getting decent tomatoes off the Japanese Black Trifele and somewhat decent tomatoes from the Bush Early Girl. The JBTs are juicy and seem normal (tho I have never grown them before, so not sure what normal is), but the Early Girls are sort of not fully plumped out with juicy tomato innards–there is a gap between the seed gel stuff and the outer tomato wall. I’m assuming this may be due to the hot conditions, not sure. But the JBTs are not showing any signs of this–are juicy through and through. The JBTs I’m getting are weighing in at about 3 oz. Pretty small, but one is enough to fill out a couple of turkey sandwiches.
Japanese Black Trifele
Japanese Black Trifele
Sungold, White Currant, JBT and BEG
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Tags: tomatoes
Written by Chris on July 3rd, 2010
The 8-Ball, Zephyr and Multipik have petered out. The Spacemaster cucumber has gotten a second wind and has produced another cuke. It actually produces tons of cucumbers, but very few get pollinated on this plant.
So, I planted three new squash seeds today to hopefully get some Fall summer squash. Trying something different this time. Just went to the local Big Box store and grabbed whatever squash seeds they had. So planted two yellow “Dixie Hybrid” squash and one “Grey Zucchini”. We’ll see.
Posted in Earthbox, Vegetables | 1 Response »
Tags: squash
Written by Chris on June 30th, 2010
Finally was able to harvest a couple of “real” tomatoes–i.e., not cherry tomatoes. These are Bush Early Girl. Not that big, but bigger than a cherry. Have not tasted one yet, first one is just now to full ripeness. Anyway, exciting to finally get a non-cherry tomato!
Bush Early Girls, plus Sungolds and White Currants
Posted in Vegetables | 4 Responses »
Tags: tomatoes
They have amazing hanging baskets of bougainvilleas, spilling over with blooms. I asked how they achieved that, and the guy there said the woman that supplies the plants to them feeds them at every watering with a 1/4 strength solution of Miracle Gro. So I got some and have been doing the same (I use 1/2 tsp of Miracle Gro–the small end of the scoop that comes with the fertilizer–in the watering can I have, which holds 2 gallons of water). My bougies are in smallish clay pots on the west side of the house, so they need water every morning in this heat. And I feed them the Miracle Gro every morning. Seems to work pretty well. Yeah yeah, not organic, but it’s only for containers, and I go organic everywhere else….