Today's harvest

[Kathleen]

More okra! The tomatoes are starting to ripen....s l o w l y. Okay....three of them are hinting at it. A cucumber was ready....i have a lot of vine with little fruit. A pepper might get picked tomorrow.

 

[pepperhead212]

Okra is a daily harvest - I go out in the morning, when the shade is on them, and cut the ones to size, and they get too large, if a day is skipped! I just pickled some today - first attempt.

 

[pepperhead212]

With all this other stuff already, peppers are starting to come in!

Today I realised that the branch that I tried to fix on the Thai pepper plant had died. I had tried sprinkling them with water frequently, and waited for them to come back, but it died, so I picked all of the peppers from it today, and there were a lot, but that is only about 40% of the peppers on the plant! The branch on the Aji Dulce, however, seems to have come back. The leaves will wilt slightly in the sun, but come back as soon as the sun is off of them.
Thai vesuvius, totally snapped off by wind, and put back together with grafting tape. 8-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Unfortunately, the section of the Thai Vesuvius, that I tried to put back together with grafting tape, did not make it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All of the peppers from the dead branch of the Thai Vesuvius. 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Aji dulce, snapped off about 2/3 of the way by wind, held back together by grafting tape. 8-4 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The damaged branch of the Aji Dulce, recovering well. 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The habaneros are starting to ripen, but they are not chocolates, just some orange hab - must have been a stray seed in the pack. I'm sure they'll still be good.
Ripening habanero, supposed to be chocolate, but must have been a stray seed. 8-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I may have harvested the last of my cucumbers today - the plants look horrible, due to all this rain and humidity. And more rain today and tonight.

 

[Kathleen]

Okra is a daily harvest - I go out in the morning, when the shade is on them, and cut the ones to size, and they get too large, if a day is skipped! I just pickled some today - first attempt.

Exactly! Fortunately, I absolutely love okra.

My cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen. I have a few Celebrity tomatoes that have appeared. I was able to harvest a few cucumbers with some "volunteer" dill to make summer pickles to go with dinner tonight. It's slowly picking up.

I also have a few peppers that could be ready.

Why do my pictures always appear sideways?

 

[pepperhead212]

I just harvested some more peppers today, and put two trays of peppers in the dehydrator. I have a packed quart bag of okra, so I'll have to freeze it tonight. A bunch more tomatoes, but have to wait a little longer to pick, so they are in the shade.

 

[pepperhead212]

A few more things later today:
A couple of bitter melons, and some more tomatoes and eggplants. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tomatillos, and a few more tomatoes. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A really strange Amish Gold Slicer, all on one stem. 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cucumber plants looked horrible, after all this rain and humidity brought on some bad fungal disease. I picked my last 3 today, and pulled the 3 plants, planting 3 clones, after clearing all the vines.
My last few cucumbers - you can see why I pulled the plants out! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

3 cucumber clones, planted on 8-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[GotGarlic]

Exactly! Fortunately, I absolutely love okra.

My cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen. I have a few Celebrity tomatoes that have appeared. I was able to harvest a few cucumbers with some "volunteer" dill to make summer pickles to go with dinner tonight. It's slowly picking up.

I also have a few peppers that could be ready.

Why do my pictures always appear sideways?

The forum software prefers images taken in landscape orientation (wider) rather than portrait (taller).

 

[larry_stewart]

Had to aggressively pick all my almost ripe tomatoes due to birds getting at them prior to full ripeness. Other than a net, a BB gun or 9 lazy cats, any other ideas on how to keep birds away from the tomatoes ? Largest tomato of the year so far , it was a Brandy Boy Hybrid from Burpeee. Also, what can I do with a single green tomato that I accidentally knocked off the the vine. Its too unripe to ripen, not a big fan of fried green tomatoes, and dont want to sacrifice other green tomatoes at this point in the season so only want to use the single tomato.

 

[pepperhead212]

Nice size, Larry!

I'm not a fan of fried green tomatoes, but if you eat those, that's one thing to do, along with other fried veggies. I'm more prone to dice them up and add to a Thai curry, with a variety of other veggies - also good in Indian curries. In fact, that reminds me - I have to make up a new batch of green curry paste.

Only harvest today was okra, as always, and a few more tomatoes. A bunch more I have to harvest tomorrow - I just have to get motivated early, before the sun hits that area!

 

[larry_stewart]

I wanted to let that big guy ripen fully, but once I saw the damage on th other ones, I figured id be less upset if I picked it early and let it ripen a few days, than see it unripened anyway, with a bunch of peck marks in it.

 

[GotGarlic]

You could make a pickle out of it.
https://foodinjars.com/recipe/small-batch-pickled-green-tomatoes/

Or green tomato chutney.
https://foodinjars.com/recipe/green-tomato-chutney/

 

[bethzaring]

The only ripe tomatoes I am getting are still the early, Fourth of July. Main crop of tomatoes are not showing any color change. Picked enough green beans for supper, will have enough to pick to freeze by the weekend. My daily quotient of calabacitas summer squash from my one and only plant. And my first boxes of roasted green chiles!

 

[pepperhead212]

It's pepper time! In addition to all those tomatoes, peppers are starting to ripen big time, though many of the Ajis are not ripening yet.
Thai Vesuvius, picked a couple of days ago,, ripe and ready to dry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

3rd picking of Thai Vesuvius. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Clockwise from TL- Hanoi Market, unk. Habanero, Aji Dulce, Superchili, Superthai, Jalapeño. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[pepperhead212]

I went back out, when the shade was on the areas, and pulled every tomato, green and ripened, from those determinate ones, 6 varieties. It doesn't look like any of them are starting to flower much again, like some do after the initial picking, so I may be pulling those soon. Other tomatoes are still doing well, and the bitter melons and tinda gourds are loaded. I got some dark seeds from the largest tinda gourd - I'll see if a couple sprout, and save them for next season, though I still have a lot in the seed pack. The new white bitter melon is not at all bitter, and the inside is not red, like the photo in Baker Creek (my source for the seeds), so I assume that it's not mature enough, but when I leave them much longer, they start getting brown spots, and even those aren't red. I saved some seeds, but don't think they are mature enough - I'll find out.
About 2 layers of ripe tomatoes, plus a lot of green ones on top, for pickling. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 2 more quarts of Sprites. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bitter melons and Tinda gourds. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The new white Okinawan Bitter Melon, cut open. 8-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Green bitter melon, cut open, and partly seeded. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[Vinylhanger]

I would only eat fried green tomatoes if I could. My favorite way to eat tomatoes..

I pulled these monsters yesterday. Made "steaks" out if them and they baked up nicely. These seem to do better than most zuchinni when they get "too" big.

It's a Baker Seed variety that is supposed to be harvested small. Oops.

The other is a pineapple squash.

I have the rest of them marinating overnight for dinner tonight.

 

[larry_stewart]

The only ripe tomatoes I am getting are still the early, Fourth of July.

This is the first year I've grown the 4th of July variety tomato. Although not my favorite tomato of the bunch, those plants sure do produce. They just dont stop. Do to that and their earliness, ill definitely grow them again next year.

 

[Kathleen]

Had to aggressively pick all my almost ripe tomatoes due to birds getting at them prior to full ripeness. Other than a net, a BB gun or 9 lazy cats, any other ideas on how to keep birds away from the tomatoes ? Largest tomato of the year so far , it was a Brandy Boy Hybrid from Burpeee. Also, what can I do with a single green tomato that I accidentally knocked off the the vine. Its too unripe to ripen, not a big fan of fried green tomatoes, and dont want to sacrifice other green tomatoes at this point in the season so only want to use the single tomato.

I got FOUR cherry tomatoes today...and okra. But FOUR! Tomato happiness abounds. I cannot wait for my others to ripen. The Brandywine tomato is doing nothing at all this year. It's growing without a flower anywhere to be seen.

About birds and tomatoes: There is an old wives tale that birds are not wanting the tomato as much as the water within it. Put a container of water around your plants. Another option is to toss a net over your plants. Just my two cents of marginal garden knowledge.

 

[bethzaring]

This is the first year I've grown the 4th of July variety tomato. Although not my favorite tomato of the bunch, those plants sure do produce. They just dont stop. Do to that and their earliness, ill definitely grow them again next year.

I bought the plants at my local gardening center and this is the first year they have carried them. I thought the flavor was "eh" but my next door neighbor thought they tasted very good. I have an 130 day growing season so will grow them again. Last year I got almost no tomatoes due to an early freeze. I'm happy to hear they just don't stop. Every other day I am blenderizing them with other vegetables and freezing the juice, until I get a canner load for quarts of V8 juice.

 

[larry_stewart]

I bought the plants at my local gardening center and this is the first year they have carried them. I thought the flavor was "eh" but my next door neighbor thought they tasted very good. I have an 130 day growing season so will grow them again. Last year I got almost no tomatoes due to an early freeze. I'm happy to hear they just don't stop. Every other day I am blenderizing them with other vegetables and freezing the juice, until I get a canner load for quarts of V8 juice.

The only tomatoes that I have that are more productive are the grapes and Cherries. I agree with the flavor, not #1 on my list, but being ready a few weeks earlier than the others, it saves me from buying store bought tomatoes 3 weeks early. Most of my larger tomatoes produce a heavy initial load, but even being indeterminate and the plant growing 6+ feet, the larger tomato varieties aren't producing many flowers on the upper couple of feet, and the ones that do, likely won't have enough time to develop to the point that they ripen fully or even can ripen off the vine, As for th 4th tomatoes, they are still producing new tomatoes at the 6-7 foot height and will likely ripen ( as long as the damn birds stay away from them).

So I guess the Niche they have in my garden is extending the harvesting time for fresh tomatoes in my garden both early in the season and at the end of the season. They also increase the volume of sauce Im freezing. Even with not the best quality flavor, tossing a few of those into a huge pot of other tomatoes, their flavor gets lost to the others..

My Roma's actually did poor this year. I got maybe 25% of the amount of tomatoes I usually get with them, and being determinate, what I got s what I got. Thee larger varieties I grew , although produced the same amount of tomatoes, the fruit being anywhere from 4 to 10 times the weight made them better producers by volume. Anyway, we live and we learn. Next year Im sure ill have other issues to deal with. But overall, Im prettiy happy with the selection I have this year.

 

[Kathleen]

I am excited! Not only did I get some more cherry tomatoes, a cucumber, and a few beans, BUT then I noticed that the beans I planted in the hanging baskets are starting to come in. I'm bouncing as I never thought it would work. I have about 15 plants in the baskets! Plus, they are pretty hanging there!!!