What to Plant

Well tomatoes of course!! However first plant in my garden space was Patriot Blueberry ....... surrounded by Pine straw - I've read a variety of opinions on this method of altering PH - blueberries love acidic soil ..... so time will tell And now for the tomatoes ......... some interesting ones this year. I'm trying out Cheerful F2 from a seed distribution at Tomatoville, and two of the dwarf project releases: Dwarf Jade Beauty and Sleeping Lady .... check them out at Tatiana's TOMATObase

Plot 5

It was a long wait, but I finally have a garden plot - happy dance. The space is 6 x 12 ........ Lots of weeds, but the soil also has plenty of worms First job was to clear out the space, lots of creeping grass, hopefully I got all the roots!!

First Harvest

What a difference a few weeks makes ... tomato plant issues seem to have stabilized - just prior to my vacation trip to our Interior I was desperate and gave each container a good sprinkle of tomato food, epsom salts and even more lime - or maybe it was just hubby's watering method :-)

Anyhoo, a few more pics

Sunflowers are now in full bloom - very fast as these were started in late June from seed!!

And my first harvest pic - purple pole bean, Grub`s Mystery Green and Smarty F1 tomatoes

Weather has been extremely hot here on the coast last few days - our second heat spell of the summer - almost hit 30 C yesterday - that`s about 87 F

Good Fruit Set

Another two weeks of summer gone already!! I must say the weather has been most cooperative of late ..... and here's a few pictures of the results ....

This is Smarty F1, one of the few hybrids I've grown of late - checking out its disease resistance, and as can be seen in the same photo we have had some foliage problems. According to my newly purchased moisture meter it seems I was way overwatering, and now that I've cut back the leaves are starting to look healthier - whatever the problem it hasn't stopped fruit set ... here's another pic (click on pics for better look)

And a final pic for today - had to include progress on the Paquito sunflowers

The season is progressing ..... starting to notice leaf issues, etc. I purchased a moisture meter and tried it out yesterday in the garden. A great little tool, no batteries required and under $10.

Two of my containers registered on the wet side, so I did not water. Three others were given a tablespoon of epsom salts to help with greening the leaves and watered. With this hot weather we've been having of late (mid 20's C - hot for here) I'm still trying to get my watering routine down.

Anyhoo, pics of a few more fruit sets - Brandywine and Grub's Mystery Green, and I couldn't resist - started some dwarf sunflowers a few weeks back and they have now been transplanted - what better way to celebrate summer than by growing tomatoes and sunflowers.

Fruit Set

After a cool wet spring, summer has arrived overnight!! Near record breaking temperatures the last few days - 27 C (81 F) yesterday - for the coast that is hot ......

The container tomatoes will require daily monitoring for moisture with this weather. I try to visit the garden early in the a.m. to ensure my containers have enough water to get through this heat spell . There is no water on site - so it takes a bit of time and effort to get everything adequately watered. Here they are - looking good yesterday. We even finally have some fruit set - the above pic is Sylvan Gaume, a large red heart - first of the container plants to set - and they look like they are going to be big ones!!

And, here is a pic of my ripe Yellow Plum, grown indoors. Juicy, mild and on the sweet side. Plants are still growing and setting fruit.