So much for my victory garden

Posted by: MartinFocazio

So much for my victory garden - 07/02/09 05:33 PM

For those of us here in the northeast, it's been a horrid spring and summer - rain, rain, rain, clouds, rain rain, rain, clouds and more rain.

For us, the net effect has been to absolutely devastate my crop yields. My greenbean harvest yesterday was just pitiful, my tomatoes are STILL stuck at flower (no June tomatoes here) my peppers are stunted and grumpy looking. And my poor herbs. Not only is the basil being bothered by some gnawing critters, it's just looking forlorn. The parsley is doing better, as is the fennel, oregano and Garlic.

The peas were just pathetic this year.

Glad I don't have to survive on this...
Posted by: Andy

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/02/09 06:42 PM

Martin,

I've had a modest moral vistory with mine. I'm located just south of you in Chester Cty. The strawberries started out great but if I didn't pick each one at the moment they became ripe mold got them. Lost of third or more of the crop. The carrots and onions are doing OK but s..l..o..w. Corn and tomatoes the same. Potatoes have been growing green stuff but few flowers so far.

The one bright spot has been the red raspberries, they're big and plentiful.

I grow only enough fruits and veggies to eat on the spot, not enough for canning. But, boy, is it worth the trouble to be able to throw a good handful of just-picked berries on the morning cereal or have fresh dug potatoes and just husked corn on the cob with the gilled steak or chicken.

Let's hope July and August are sunny and warm.

Andy
Posted by: benjammin

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/02/09 06:48 PM

I had to spray my garden down with neem oil due to the excessive moisture causing an outbreak of Gray Spot on my tomatoes and mold all over my zucchini plants. Fortunately it seems to be working, and the temps have warmed up, and I am finally getting some fruit set. Not out of the woods yet.
Posted by: MartinFocazio

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/02/09 11:16 PM

raspberries are not quite ready up here .. soon tho
Posted by: Todd W

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/03/09 01:44 AM

My tomatoes are flower still here frown

They are almost 3ft tall too, and NONE.

My peppers are the size of a fingernail!


We do have 1 zuchini were gonna eat here soon, about 6", more to follow too!

Posted by: Lon

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/03/09 02:16 AM

Around here, we had a really wet beginning to the gardening season; that, combined with our heavy clay soil, meant a late start for most of the garden.
Everything is coming along nicely now... and we've already enjoyed eating Strawberries, Blackberries, Peas, Beans, Corn, Okra... and I've got lots of tomatos on the vines that should be ripe soon. So, we're feeling very fortunate.

Maybe some of your rain can work it's way down here; because it's starting to get pretty dry here.

I made the transition to Organic gardening this year; and I have not used any chemical fertilizer or pesticides.
Only time will tell if I have just hit a lucky steak; but, so far, the garden has never been healthier.
The whole garden just looks better, "feels" better, and I've got a lot more beneficial insects and frogs sharing the space with me.

Hopefully, your garden will really come on strong when the drowning rains let up. Best of luck!
Posted by: UncleGoo

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/03/09 01:26 PM

Late blight news story:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/nationworld/sns-ap-us-farm-scene-late-blight,0,3507154.story
Posted by: Todd W

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/03/09 03:44 PM

Ok, so it was like OVER NIGHT magic, we have now have numerous tiny tomatoes growing, and the black berries are flowering, it was overnight pretty much!

Posted by: Bear_Claw_Chris_Lapp

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/03/09 04:39 PM

My front porch container tomatoes are doing pretty good. These were taken about a week ago, and now several are starting to ripen.



Posted by: Art_in_FL

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/05/09 11:34 PM

Neem oil is good. Helps in a lot of cases for all sorts of reasons.

If the ground stays too wet for too long your going to drown the roots and be plagued by rot and fungus. A trick from a friend who grew his crops in a swamp, what he was growing and why it was in a swamp isn't important, used to grow his plants in five gallon buckets with the bottom cut out. This raised his plants up a good fourteen inches so they still did okay and didn't drown if the land was under half a foot of water for a week.

With the bottom of the bucket cut out when the roots needed more room they had somewhere to go.
Posted by: Dan_McI

Re: So much for my victory garden - 07/07/09 12:54 PM

My tomatoes do not exist, pretty mch the same for the carrots, spinach, peppers and a few other things. The legumes are doing fine. I seem to be able to grow peas and beans.