More Tomatoes are the Subject for Today

It seems that all I have been talking about is my tomatoes.  Fortunately I have been getting plenty of them this season especially when it comes to cherry tomatoes.  300 cherry tomatoes were picked last week while today I beat that by getting 490 ripe cherry tomatoes.  It looks like more salsa will have to be made with these types of tomatoes.

On the other hand I picked plenty of Roma and steakhouse tomatoes this past week as well.  I had over forty pounds of Roma tomatoes that needed to be used otherwise they would become rotten and not good for anything.  Luckily I made plenty of sauce with them and was able to fill up plenty of glass jars with this sauce.  I will be using most of it over the winter as well as the salsa from the cherry tomatoes.

I also had picked many steakhouse tomatoes which are basically good for sandwiches.  I love BLT and have been slicing large pieces of tomato for my lunch.  Having a large slice of fresh tomato on your sandwiches is one of the best things of the summertime.  It is one of the many things I look forward to each year.

Now that I have discussed my tomatoes it is time to talk about other vegetables in my garden.  First of all I picked some more pole beans today and will probably be freezing some of them for use in a couple of months.  I only picked a small batch, but there is still plenty of time with plenty of more beans to be picked real soon.

My melons are doing well and I don’t know exactly when, but some of them are going to be harvested sometime this month hopefully.  My watermelon will most likely be the first since it was planted first and the first to generate a melon.  I have a couple of cantaloupes and a couple of honeydew melons that are still on the vine not ready for picking.

Hundreds of Cherry Tomatoes are Just Waiting to be Harvested

Although there plenty of cherry tomatoes to be picked that doesn’t mean that there are no other types of tomatoes or vegetables ready for harvesting.  In fact I have been picking steakhouse tomatoes throughout the past week and have been enjoying them on a daily basis with my sandwiches.  Roma tomatoes are also just about ready to be turned into sauce once I pick just a few more in the next couple of days.

Eggplants are confirmed to finally be pollinated now that all three plants have at least one good size vegetable thriving.  I am going to wait as long as possible in order to get them to get them as large as possible before harvesting them.  Making eggplant Parmesan out of them is the best meal to make with this unique vegetable.

My sunflowers that I have planted through the season at different times are now producing their flower heads and should soon be opening.  The first ones I planted back in April or May are the first to start producing heads and will most likely be the first to open.  I would say that they will start opening very soon and maybe by the end of this week.

My melons are doing quite well and most of my vines have at least one melon growing on them.  I have a couple of crimson sweet watermelons that are growing the best out of all of them. 

My pumpkins have also started to ripen and one of the first ones is pretty much totally orange in color and probably ready to pick soon.  While the first one is done ripening I still have others that have just started producing pumpkins.  I hope that this new one will be able to get to a good size even though it is late producing a pumpkin.

My cucumber vines are on their way to producing plenty of vegetables.  Most of them have plenty of flowers which means I should have plenty of cucumbers in the near future from most of them.  I picked three of them today from three separate plants.  I can’t wait to many more of them.

Peat Pots Made for Planting Melons, Peppers, and Eggplants

It is pretty common to place sensitive plants into peat pots because when it comes time to planting them outside they will not be harmed by you handling them.  I started planting some fruit and vegetables today that take some time to mature and harvest.  Melons take the longest followed by eggplants and then peppers.  All three were planted using these biodegradable containers.

Once I planted each of the seeds I then added them under some fluorescent lights that are used to start the germination process as soon as possible.  This year I am growing crimson sweet watermelon along with Carolina cross and Georgia rattlesnake.  This type is more round than oblong like most other watermelons tend to be.  As long as it has the same taste I don't mind what the shape of it is.

I am also growing a different cantaloupe as well.  I have been growing an heirloom melon throughout the past several years, but this season I wanted to grow something different.  This year I am growing a crenshaw cantaloupe which is supposed to be much larger than the ones I have been growing.

Flowers grown inside are just about ready to go outside once some warmer weather arrives.  I can place them outside during the day right now, but will probably bring them in during the night.  The night is still too cold to leave certain plants outside, but soon I will be planting my spring cool weather plants.

Gardening is Out and the Winter Season is In

It is now getting colder and most of my plants are done for this year except for a few peppers and my strawberry plants which will be protected with some straw.  I didn’t think my pepper plants would last through November, but I am still picking the peppers right off the plant until the very first frost which will end the season officially.



Before or when the ground freezes straw needs to be applied to plants that you want to save for next year.  Certain plants don’t need straw especially if they are perennials like blueberries.  Strawberries on the other hand can survive without straw, but you will be taking a risk not covering it with straw.  It is always best to cover them with straw before the real cold weather arrives.



At the moment I am just enjoying the very last of the summer fruit and vegetables.  I had recently started cutting my watermelons which are really tasty and juicy.  I am trying to keep them around for as long as possible in order to enjoy their incredible flavor.  They should be able to last a month or so as long as they are kept in a cool refrigerator.


Carrots are still outside in the ground and they will be ready once Thanksgiving comes around the corner.  In a couple of weeks I will have them up from the ground and they will be cut and ready to be eaten immediately.  With enough of them I could can them and enjoy them all through the cold winter months.  There is only one row, but if they are big enough I will can them for future enjoyment.

Melons are done and Ready for Harvesting

The only large fruit that was left from the summer were my watermelons.  It was that time this week to finally pick them from the vine.  They had been left outside long enough and they should be ripe inside once I cut them to see for sure.  All my melons are now done and all that is left are some remaining cherry tomatoes and peppers.



While I was outside I thought it would be prudent to continue picking some cherry tomatoes that were left on several of the plants.  Many of them are still green and just some sunlight to turn them red is what I am waiting for.  There were a few that were ready for picking and that is what I did this week.



Peppers on the other hand will probably last a little bit longer at the moment.  They have several fruit on the plants and I think I have many more pepper harvests in the near future.  Once a frost comes then it will be the end of these plants and the entire garden for the most part.

Two More Watermelons Picked One Left to Go

There were three watermelons in the garden that were finishing up ripening in the past few weeks and it looked like it was time to pick them.  The biggest one in the garden I decided not to pick because the plant is still alive and has a few green leaves.  This is usually a sign that the watermelon is not ripe, but within a week or so it might be ready for harvesting.

The two that I decided to pick today came from a plant that had turned brown mainly due to the face of the cooler weather and it had exhausted all of its energy on the fruit it grew this season.  I usually like to wait until the stem is ready to come off or comes off on its own.  Today it happened to come off on its own on both of the watermelons and that is when I chose to harvest them.

Check out the watermelon below because this is the last one that I have to pick for this year.

The End of July Means Fall Seed Planting Begins

This is just an optional way of extending the growing season by planting fall seeds that can withstand the cool weather or sometimes require the cool weather to produce great tasting leaves.  Since time is always against me as a gardener I like to grow as much as I can in the allotted time that I have.  This is why I like to have a fall harvest and this is usually when I begin planting the seeds.

It is also a great way to grow different things for the current garden season.  This year I am planning on growing cabbage, kale, and broccoli.  These plants thrive in the colder weather and can also withstand some hot weather in case there are some hotter than normal days during September to October.  I planted eight of each plant into small pots today.

On a side note some of my cherry tomatoes have been turning red.  I noticed this yesterday when I was going through my plants and I noticed that some of my cherries were red.  They were not quite ripe to eat, but today I decided to pick one of them a give it a taste.  It was quite good for a first and I should be picking many more of them in the next couple of weeks at the most.  I hope it will be sooner, but these are just the early bloomers that like to ripen really fast and early.

I finally have my first honeydew melon of the season growing on one of the vines.  I only have two plants, but since I have never grown these before I think that this would be plenty for now.  I could always grow more next year, but for now I wanted to focus on the honeydew and my watermelons for this season.

Speaking of my watermelons I think that they are doing quite well right now.  I hope that they get as big as possible because it won't be the same eating a small watermelon.  I am not looking to grow a 200 lb watermelon, but I think a twenty to thirty pound melon would be perfect.  Take a look at a couple of them below.

I have a total of five watermelons growing at the moment and these are just two examples of how they are growing.  The others are pretty much the same in size and shape, but I wonder which one of these melons will be the biggest of the season.  Make sure to keep reading this blog to find out how big these watermelons can get this year.

Melon Plants Starting to Produce Fruit

One of the most important things that I check in my garden is if my vine plants are producing fruit or at least flowers that will lead to having fruit.  For example I noticed that some of my melons are producing flowers, but still don't have any fruit that has been pollinated.  On the other hand I have a couple of vines that do have some fruit that should continue to grow each day.

Here are some cantaloupes and watermelon fruits that are beginning to grow as of today.

This is just one cantaloupe that I have on my vines.  I have three total and if you count the watermelon that that means I have four melons total.

This is one watermelon that I have so far.  With just two plants I should hopefully be able to harvest two watermelons.  The one below is from the first plant that was transplanted early in the season.

Cucumbers are also growing quite well and a few more that will be ready by this weekend are just waiting to be harvested.  I ate the first one today and it tasted real sweet and no bitterness at all.  This is what I hope for every garden season.  Check out all the cucumbers that will be picked very soon.

Aside from melons and cucumbers I am getting some beans starting to grow as well.  I happened to get them earlier than last season, but this is just one plant that has a bean.  When a large enough harvest comes I will be sure that I let you know.

Some peppers are coming through as well.

The Latest Update on My Plant Progress

Here is just a simple post that I wanted to put together and show you the latest progress that my plants have been making.  Some new sprouts, flowers beginning to bud, and others that are beginning to thrive are just some of the things that are happening with my indoor plants.  Let's begin with my fruits and vegetables.

Onions and spinach are the only plants that are in the garden right now, but they are enjoying the somewhat cool and sunny weather.  Along with the rain they are thriving just like they should.

Now here are cucumbers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, and watermelons.

Now let's move on to the herbs and flowers that I have been planting.  These would include alyssum, dill, and cilantro for now.

This is just some of the plant progress that has been going on the past couple of weeks with the sunny weather and somewhat warmer temperatures.  Make sure to come back often to see what else is happening with my garden and indoor plants.

Make Sure to Utilize This Time for More Indoor Planting

If you are like me and want to start plants indoors from seeds, then you should make sure that you utilize all this extra time before the season.  I just did a second planting inside because a few seeds that I thought would sprout never did.  This is not the end of the world if you miss on the first try because I always make sure that I have time to plant them a second time.

I had a feeling that the watermelon, cucumbers, and pepper seeds were not going to germinate and that is why I purchased more of them during last weeks sale.  I do want to stress that you are going to need to have some patience when it comes to growing indoors because you are not getting the necessary sunlight that they need.  You can always substitute this with a florescent light which I use all the time. 

If your plants are not showing signs of germinating after three to four weeks, then it is time for a second planting.  What you can do is scratch the top surface of the soil and see if anything is about to pop through the soil.  If you don't see anything, then just make a new planting for that vegetable or flower.