Gardening 2007, woot woot.

Update on my garden:

thai pepper finally turned red (it took more than 3 weeks :rolleyes: ):
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182509575-M.jpg
with more to come:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182509772-M.jpg

my pole green beans provide a nice canopy :)
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182508962-M.jpg
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182509982-M.jpg
1st harvest :)
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182510521-M.jpg

cucumber plant:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182509271-M.jpg
almost ready for harvest:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182508827-M.jpg

tomatoes are coming along nicely ("patio" type)
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182509429-M.jpg

and now for the I need help section:

Problem #1
I planted 2 "tumbler" tomatoes in hanging baskets. This type of tomato is designed to be planted in hanging baskets as it grows out and then down...
As far as I know, both plants have been treated the same (planted at same time, same soil, same watering etc...). But this is how they look now:
the good one:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182506250-M.jpg

the gimpy one:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182505692-M.jpg

Any ideas as to why the gimpy one is about 1/10 the size of the other?


Problem #2
I planted a "super fantastic" tomato. The plant itself grew very well: it's now nice and big (top a bit above the railing) and looks healthy. However, the tomatoes growing on it are strange (small & wrinkly) and the first few ones started rotting from the inside before they had even turned red...
"wrinkly" specimens:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182507461-M.jpg
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/182507293-M.jpg

Any ideas?

bump for suggestions about my tomato issues? Any ideas?

also, here's a photo of the entire garden:
http://shirk.smugmug.com/photos/183477201-M.jpg

Tahoe garden this year is the best ever. Got 5 tomato plants w/one cherry over 6' tall! A buncha pepper plants; jalapeno, serrano, anaheim, fresno, poblano & bell are all yielding, nothing outta the habaneros though.

Having a problem with the squirrels eating my tomatos though. They seem to wait until they turn red/ripe but have eaten a couple green ones too. We heard they don't like marigolds so we have a bunch of those surrounding the garden but doesn't seem to have scared 'em off much. Don't know though, could be much worse without 'em. Any suggestions to scare off the rodents before succumb to the urge to go Elmer Fudd on 'em?

Things are definitely slowing down...

Cucumber plant succumbed to powdery mildew (at least I got a decent crop this year before the mildew set in: didn't even get a single cucumber last year)

Green beans not producing anymore

tomatoes and peppers still going strong though:
"tumbler" tomatoes:
http://www.shirk.smugmug.com/photos/196715885-M.jpg

thai peppers:
http://www.shirk.smugmug.com/photos/196717046-M.jpg

bell peppers:
http://www.shirk.smugmug.com/photos/196714725-M.jpg

two weeks ago I was all excited for some frosts to come and kill some stuff off out of the garden so we could take a break. Instead it warmed back up and we're still getting cuces, peppers and so many fucking tomatoes I don't even know what to do, all the tomato plants are actually blooming again too :nonono2:

I can't complain I guess :) fresh tomatoes in October. We also harvested all the apples yesterday and I made some more HOT! sauce. Yay for the garden.

Spring with the kids will be fun.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...P7110128-1.jpg

cool, maybe someday I'll wall in a little section of the world away from winter ...
In the meantime, I've discovered the wonders of phytohaemagglutinin. :nonono2:
Pick your green beans very green or cook them well.

Nasty dude!

how about peas? I love raw sweet peas/snap peas.

You're asking advice from the dude who just poisoned himself? :rolleyes:
I dunno. The sweet, immature green beans were fine. The snowpeas were too.
But if the bean has started to turn colors, lose its sweetness, get slightly bitter or tough - well, there's a reason kids don't like veggies.

I have a tomato situation.
In light of how damn cold it is now in Denver, I don't think the tomatoes will last much longer. I picked half of them, and sacrificed the other half on the vine to tempt fate for the rest of the week. What are you all doing with a crapload of green tomatoes? Fried green tomatoes, tomato fritters, green tomato soup which doesn't sound too good - but what are some other good ideas?
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...es10-14-07.jpg

What's left:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...1&d=1193787127