Weekly harvest weigh in #2



Well here is, and I can't believe a weeks passed already.  Things here are looking good.  My father-in-law who's wisdom in the garden I trust completely was kind enough to loan me his rototiller to help keep my garden in check.  He's an old country boy who grew up on a farm.  He's kept a garden longer than anybody I know personally and he's quite successful because he's got a wealth of knowledge to pull from.  He moved his garden to a different location and kept it smaller this year so he said its easier for him to use a garden hoe to keep weeds in check then muscle the rototiller through it.

Well I've got the opposite problem.  Trying to hoe by hand a 2,000 sq ft garden is no joke.  I was doing ok, but it could be a lot better.  So I still do some weeding and hoeing by hand, but I fired up that Brigs and Stratton tiller and got to down to business.  And I'm VERY grateful for that rototiller.  Yes it bucks like a bronco at the rodeo, but that's a trade I'll make considering I just don't have the time to keep things in check otherwise with all the rain we've gotten.

So as far as the updates go things are doing really good.

Holy Moses!  What is that?!

My jalapenos are doing great.  I've got probably a half dozen peppers on the best producing one in various sizes.  I did discover something pretty wild when I found a purple pepper growing on one of jalapeno plants!!  Surprise!!!  That threw me at first and after asking about it on TEG  That plant is slower to produce but the purple pepper is just wild.  I thought I was just getting a jalapeno plant not purple ones.  I'm curious to see how the flavor compares to the green ones and to see how the rest of the peppers from that plant develop.  

I've got a handful of Early Girl tomatoes that are coming in, and even more Romas.  The plants have even more blossoms that have yet to set fruit, so I'm hoping those will get pollinated and develop too.  My Big Boys are doing very well, the consistently look the best from plant to plant with lots of blossoms, with my Romas with some of them looking not looking so hot, to some that look great, and the Early Girls fall in between those 2.

My Green Zebras look alright.  They don't look bad, but they are not as robust as Id like either.  They are blooming but its tough when I compare their growth to the other maters in the garden they look ok.  My Lemon Boys though, holy Moses!!!  They are thick, and look fantastic!!!  Good number of blossoms but the plants themselves look like if they were not caged they'd take over the garden!  I have high hopes for them considering their growth.  I've never eaten a yellow tomato, but if their flavor is anything like how they grow, they will become a staple in my garden.

Got my first blossom on my Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins, and my giant pumpkin is already producing vines and its got a bunch of buds almost ready to open.  I'm really psyched about trying to grow a BIG pumpkin.  If I can get one over 200lbs I'll be thrilled.  I can't even imagine if I grew a REALLY big one.  I just want a pumpkin that I have to carve with a chainsaw and its big enough for my 3 y.o. daughter to climb into and put the lid on.

I also saw a great recipe on making zucchini candy that I'm going to try this year.  From all the reviews I've heard about it, why not?  They are already blooming and getting ready to start producing.  I think its going to shape up to be a very tasty year.