Catching Up

Ok I'm back. Vacation was awesome and I'm sad it's over, but I'm very happy to return to gardening. I fully expected pests and/or disease to run wild while I was gone, but to my immense surprise nothing of the sort happened. The garden is still doing great! 2 plants look a little yellow, but just 2 out of 20+ is great news. All of the plants have grown immensely and almost all of them have fruited.

Planet F1 peppers.

Minnesota Midget melons. The one on the right looks a little pale so I've been keeping my eye on it. I suspect spider mites, it certainly is the right weather for them, so the leaves will get a good dousing of water soon.

So far I see 2 melons, plus a few that look like they've been pollinated, but I won't add them to the tally unless they get larger.

Brandy Boy F1 tomato. Some of the lower leaves look a little yellow, but I think this has more to do with age and wear and tear as opposed to disease.

Not a lot of fruit on this plant, but the ones that are there are getting quite large. I assume there's a trade-off between size and quantity so I don't expect a lot more fruit from this plant.

Jasper F1 cherry. The lower leaves look yellow, but I'm not sure if it's due to disease or natural aging. The plant is currently supporting 150+ fruits so paler leaves could just mean the plant's energy is more focused on fruit production than leafy growth. If it is disease my applications of Actinovate should keep it in check.

The cherries are excellent, flavor floats between sweet and tart.

The Serenade F1 melon plants have completely overtaken the reed fence. I hope the vines stop growing because they have nowhere else to go.

I count 8 melons so far.

Japanese Black Trifele tomato.

I ate 2 red ones, but I think I harvested them too early, they barely had any flavor. I'll wait until they get darker before harvesting anymore.

Ozark Beauty strawberry plants.

Beaver Lodge tomato. Tons of fruit on this plant. I'm very impressed with how prolific this plant is, especially given the fact that it's an open pollinated variety. It's yield rivals hybrids.

The first red tomato was blah and mealy, which is typical of first tomatoes so I'm waiting until more tomatoes turn red to form an opinion.

Giant Aconcagua peppers.

Yukon Gold potatoes. The plants are at death's door so it looks like potato harvesting will be in a week or two. Thank goodness, because with this weather I've been having to water the container twice a day. That gets old real fast.

The plants on this section of the roof are gigantic compared to the last update.

On Deck F1 corn and Butterbean soybeans.

The first corn tassel has appeared.

Along with the first silk. I've been hand pollinating the silk to ensure a successful harvest. Hand pollinating is pretty easy. I just shake the tassel into a paper bag and then dump the entire contents onto the silk. I'm not sure how many times you're supposed to do this so I've done it 3 or 4 times just to be safe.

The Cosmonaut Volkov plant is huge. It's now the largest tomato plant on the roof.

June 27-July 17:

Cherry Tomato (Jasper F1): 1 pound, 5.25 ounces

Tomato (Beaver Lodge): 1.625 ounces

Tomato (Japanese Black Trifele): 4.375 ounces

Total Harvest: 1 pound, 11.25 ounces

Running Weight Total 2013: 2 pounds, 0.125 ounces

Woohoo, finally broke the 1 pound mark!

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