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My favorite fruit, the tomato, has a 2 month growing season here in northern MN. So much shade from the trees that I have to grow them in planters that can be moved as the sunlight is available. I'll eat canned tomatoes before I buy the "hydroponic" things that the grocers sell.
We had a bad year last year with our garden. Planted late due to a lot of personal events that spring and once planted, the rain stopped. About all we got was yellow squash. Out of 5 rows of beans we got 5 plants and out of 3 rows of sweet peas we got one plant. Wasn't even worth waiting on beans or peas, can't do anything with two or three beans so I pulled them out.
This year off to a much better start. Zuichini, yellow squash, cucumbers all coming along nicely. Beans and peas look great, corn is growing well. Only mystery this year is our red beats. They are coming up but not faster than the weeds and I can't weed until they are big enough to tell the difference between the two. I have a large garden at our church and a small garden here at the house with tomatoes and peppers. Trying a watermellon here at the house too. Got a few small ones at the big garden but I don't think they ever got enough water there to really take off. Also growing ground cherries this year and I have no real idea what they are or what they taste like so they should be interesting. I was told by an Amish women they are tart and used in pies.
The best thing to grow for me is tomatoes, lemon cucumbers and peppers. Several sliced tomatoes, a sliced cucumber, maybe a chopped green onion, olive oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Died and went to heaven. The Greeks live to be 100 eating like this.
What is bad is that the seed companies like Monsanto screw around with the plants and put things like mouse genes into a tomato so it will have a longer shelf life, They also have terminator genes in them to make them die after producing a few fruits. Genetically altered corn is illegal in Europe and has been for years but 80% of imported feed is this crap because it has spread across the globe. Imagine what would happen if their terminator gene decided to mutate across every plant. Every living plant wiped out because Monsanto wanted more money. I put Monsanto at the top of my list of companies that should be put away forever. A horrible, unethical group of people.
MY tomatoes never seemed to produce very well here (Texas) no matter what I tried, but peppers of every type produce like crazy.
The tomato plants grow ok here with enough water, they just don't seem to have much yield. Maybe it's the soil (?)
Spent a fortune on different fertilizers but only get a few from each plant.
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I'm carrying on my fathers tradition of planting a garden big enough( about 2 acres) to share with those in the community who are'nt able to have one of their own but it's getting more and more difficult to grow anything using the genetically engineered hybrid plants or seed. In addition to tomatoes, butterbeans is another crop I don't seem to be able to grow anymore. The few that do come up just won't produce. Hot peppers are one thing that I have no trouble growing. Yesterday was the seasons first picking, got a 5 gallon bucket most full of bell, cayenne and jalapenos. Anybody want some?
I will dry some of each crop's beans or seeds and plant them the next year. My best tomatoes are grown that way. (still have seeds- maybe next year, plus have a couple of volunteer plants growing now)
The half-runner beans have been generated for quite a few years that way, as their original source is unknown, we do know they're not Store bought- came from a relative who got them from another relative who has been growing them for a long time. The dried beans will still spot after three years- I tend to run a mixture of years during each planting.
Tomato seeds will keep at least two years. I just them on paper towels to dry whilst fresh out of a ripe fruit. When dry they're stuck! Easy to store and handle that way.
Peppers seem hit or miss. Too dry and they just quit.
Either it's voting time in Iraq again, or the blackberries are ripe!
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First recce pick (delayed due to fractured foot) showed some promising areas:
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But doing the photo documentary resulted in some losses of some very ripe berries.:crying:
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(The very best never make it to the basket as they either fall or "explode" upon touch- requiring that they be eaten immediately!):thup:
In actuality, the blackberry "garden" is sort of a misnomer, unless you consider "the world" as your garden.:)
I'm not a very efficient berry picker, out of every 3 handfuls I pick 2 get eaten. :D
Agree on the Monsanto issue; I have the impression that Monsanto intends to subjugate the world to its means. Blackberries grow rampant up here but the trick is to beat the bears to them, same for hazel nuts. Got to love those "heritage" tomatoes! Grew some a couple of years ago and they were fabulous. So many things to do..don't plan well enough in advance most years, shame on me. My salvation is a produce shop run by a family that farms here and in Guatemala and sells some very fine produce locally. I wait every year for the tomatoes, turnips and beet greens - always get funny looks from the local folks when I ask for the greens...Scandinavian country. Rutabaga, Kohlrabi, some parsnips...I do love the summer season up here; short but delicious.
I don't know what this says about my spiritual health, but I seem to have made a new friend today whilst picking. Quite cling-y- thought she would never leave...
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Hey, does this serpent make my arm look fat?