Thursday, June 7, 2012

First Fruit 2012


The garden is doing very well. So far there have been no signs of disease and minimal signs of insect pests.


The Hakucho Hybrid melon plants are starting to take off. I will train them up their cages and then back toward the reed fence.


Now this was a surprise. The Flexum Hybrid pepper plants were the first to fruit in the garden this year, usually it's the cherry tomato plant. There's a lot of them too, I counted at least 10 on my last check. I should be snacking on fresh peppers by the end of July.



Tomato flower on the Black cherry tomato plant.


The first cherry tomato fruit, it formed the day after the peppers emerged. I think these will be ready to eat by the end of June.


The beginnings of an eggplant flower.


Friend or foe? I used the Google and found out it's a garden friend, lady beetle larva.


Flower on a Giant Aconcagua pepper plant.


Summertime Green tomatoes.


I realized I had some spare window screen fabric in storage so now I'm trying it out as shade cloth for the garden. The fabric is on the jumbo, 26 gallon container that is exposed to full sun. It covers the 2 sides of the container that face afternoon sun.

It doesn't filter out a huge amount of sunlight, but every little bit helps. I'll try it out for a few weeks and if its holds up to the weather (in other words, the wind does not tear it to shreds) I'll buy more. Once it gets hotter I can just double up the fabric to block out more sun.


I originally added grommets to the fabric, but I did not end up using them. They weren't needed in this situation, I just clipped the fabric to the trellis and to the lip of the container. Next time I'll skip the grommets if the situation doesn't call for it. I would still add duck tape though to give the clips a better surface area for gripping.


Summertime Green tomatoes on the left and right, Mountain Magic tomato in the middle.

I really like the growth habit of these dwarf plants. Their compact, bushy growth is perfect for container gardens and for windy rooftop environments.

On blustery days I like to check on the plants to make sure none of their ties have come loose from their stakes. Less movement means less of a chance for plant damage. Larger plants, like the Mountain Magic and Black cherry tomato flap and sway side to side on gusty days. These dwarf plants barely wiggle.


A flower on a Summertime Green tomato plant.

How is your garden doing? Is it ahead or behind last year's garden? I looked at the photos from around the same time last year and this year's tomatoes and peppers are ahead of last year's plants, the melons and eggplant are slightly behind.


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2 comments:

  1. Everything is looking fantastic! I hope the shade cloth works out well. Your trellis is perfect for putting things up!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Charm, that was an unexpected benefit of the trellis. It's given me ideas for next year.

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