Gardening is still going strong at my house! I’ve religiously watered my plants every morning and thus far, everything is doing pretty good! And, we were so excited when we were able to pick our first zucchini! While the harvests have been super small thus far (i.e. one pepper one day and one tomato two days later), this has been a really fun experience! Above is one day’s “bounty” this week. And, below is the finished result. From a “healthy” standpoint, this was a super healthy meal that I threw together. The only nutritional deficit was that I didn’t add any protein (besides the toasted pine nuts) which I should have. (In retrospect I wish I added garbanzo beans) And, it was super cheap! I used low sodium chicken broth, whole wheat pasta and frozen rolls that I had stockpiled away. All of these items I scored dirt cheap or free. My husband gave me the best compliment when he said he would order this meal in a restaurant. 😉
I don’t want to lie and tell you that everything is going perfectly in my garden. I’m finding signs of worms.. In fact, I’ve seen the worms – one crawled out of a zucchini this a.m. (we were able to salvage half of it – is that gross?) and I found more baby worms inside an Anaheim pepper. BLECH. Above is a picture of my herbs. The basil I had transplanted to my raised bed garden and it thrived for a little while but now is doing horrible. The herbs pictured above are all alive but many are getting sunscorched. And, I may not use them enough to help them thrive? Like the cilantro, I probably use it once or twice a week and in small quantities. Or the dill – I add it to tuna fish or to fresh fish but only a few times a week.. The mint is still hardy as is the greek oregano..
My favorite gardening purchase still remains to be my jalapeno plants! They have gone crazy with baby jalapenos again and they are so cute! I am going to start picking them tonight. The only concern I have is that I’m noticing the plant isn’t flowering anymore. So, I’m wondering if this is it’s last hurrah? Does anyone know how to tell if the plant is finished producing?
This is the second zucchini that my plants produced. I actually picked this zucchini this morning. It had a worm in half of it
but we (yes – I did have to get hubby involved.. I’m very squeamish with worms..) were able to salvage the other half. 🙁
My tomato plants are still doing great! I haven’t been able to pick any of these tomatoes yet but today noticed that towards the center of the plant are a couple of tomatoes that need picking. Will get them tonight. 🙂
Above is a pic of the leaves of one of my Roma Tomato plants.. You can see the worms are loving this plant. So, can you guys leave comments with your best remedies for getting rid of worms? I’m noticing that they are in all areas of my garden and that while they love this plant, they are loving little bits of all of my plants. So, can you give me remedies that I can use on all types of vegetable plants and not just tomato plants?
Can you make out the dead plant in the picture above? (Sorry – I was lazy – I should have used my good camera for this.) This is a green bell pepper plant. One day it was thriving and had 3 baby peppers. The next day it was a shriveled mess. I know that I watered it enough.. I’m thinking that something else killed it. Any ideas on what might have happened? I’m so worried that this might happen to my other pepper plants!
Lastly, above is a green pepper plant that is thriving. The bell peppers may look big in this picture but they are still too small to be picked. (I think??) My cayenne pepper plants and red chili pepper plants are still looking good. The red chili peppers have gotten huge but I’m just supposed to let them stay on the branches until they turn red right?? Can someone help me with that?
Questions for you:
I’ve spread out some of my questions in the paragraphs above. I’ve highlighted them in purple. I’ve loved all of your feedback and help to my questions! Thank you so much for all of your advice and comments. I would still love to hear how your gardens are doing! What veggies do you have planted? What veggies have you been able to harvest! Have any of you grown garlic before? I know it is too late in the season for me to grow it but would love to hear how it went for you!
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
BT works really well for the worms and is natural and safe for you to eat. We had the same worm problem, but since we started with the BT, things are great. The next best thing is Sevin, which isn’t organic but as close as you can get, I am told.
What is BT? 🙂 Do I find it at Lowe’s?? P.S. I love your blog! 🙂
BT = Bacillus thuringiensis and you can get it at almost any garden shop. I have used it for a few years for tomato worms and it worked great! (I believe it works for most caterpillars) I haven’t used it this year because I only have a few tomato plants so I check under the leaves every day and when I find the eggs I simply remove them. No worms thus far!
Sevin Dust is the only thing I have ever used for bugs of any kind (worms included). I remember my Dad using it from the time I can remember our first garden.
Your pepper plant that you think is dead.. isn’t it’s just withered. Something is stealing it’s water supply..lol. Water it extra. You can pick green bell peppers any time once they are grown. They taste the same no matter how big they get.
The red peppers.. once they are the size you want them to be.. pull them and put them in a window sill that gets some sun. They will turn red.
How are your cucumbers doing? Bad news for mine, every single one of my plants are dead 🙁 I think I may try to plant them on the other side of the house in more shade after I treat the dirt with some lime.. pretty sure my PH is off in the “sand” dirt where I planted them..lol I have enjoyed 4 of my Black Prince Tomatoes even though they are small they taste AMAZING. My tomatoes are not looking too good right now either. I’m beginning to get nervous that they will die too. They are just getting taller and taller without bushing out at all and still loosing more and more bottom branches. Can’t figure that one out. Maybe the basil should be brought inside and sat somewhere so that it can get indirect sunlight. You’re garden looks wonderful and i’m glad you are getting to eat some of your harvest!!
Testing…I want to make sued this works. Lost a few paragraphs a while ago.
Hi Liza, I think your name is? Good for you for starting a garden! It takes patience and a whole lot of work! Our backyard is mostly veggie gardens…7 of them, around 4’x20. Right now only okra and peppers will grow because of the heat. Your bug problem could have been nematodes. You can pick your chilis before they turn red. We use sevin and insectacidal soap, and often. This harvest was the best since we have Been here. We are in NPR, as well. My husband will start the seeds in august for the fall garden. We had about 80 pounds of tomatoes, and so far 16 pounds of peppers, so now we have 26 quart jars of tomato sauce in the pantry! I guess I can skip the bogos on ragu! The cukes and zucchini did well. We have had a lot of brewed and major dill pickles! We dry the green onion, as well as some herbs. Cole crops were good as well. Good luck
, I can send pics to an email address, if you’d like tom see pics. I really enjoy your posts. It must be a lot of work! Happy summer! Patty
Last year I tried Jalapenos (Tampa area), but all in pots. I got a big bloom, then it tapered off. One sickly group even produced a few 2nd-year peppers this spring, but nothing worthwhile. The most important thing I found online was that many flowers fail to set fruit once nighttime temps exceed 75, and I found that to be true. I had hundreds of blooms, but I’d started too late and lost most of them. Next year I’m starting indoors in Jan-Feb.
http://www.ehow.com/info_8352725_long-jalapeno-plant-grow.html
Oh how I wish I had a yard! I am in a town house and am thinking about doing a container garden. We do have beds where plants are and according to the home owner association I can plant but the landscape guys will not touch it. Which is fine by me. Does anyone container garden?
I container garden and am having amazIng luck with my tomatoes, basil and cilantro. My peppers on the other hand are much like Doug’s and shriveling away. Any help is much appreciated!!!
Liza,
About that jalapeno plant-I have had great success growing jalapeno plants in the past-this year the flowers were dropping too but now I am seeing many baby peppers all over the plant so hang in there and cont to fertilize regularly.
Thuricide is a organic insecticide that controls the worms green, brown etc. You have to get a sprayer and mix it but it works well when applied 1-3x best in the evenings.
For Michelle,I live in a condo and started purchasing earth boxes. You can grow 2 tomato plants per box, have had a salsa box, kale, rainbow chard etc. You can make earth boxes- instructions online. I have earth buckets which are homemade and are easier to move around in small spaces. Basil grows well in a bucket and I am blessed to be able to make pesto and freeze it for future use…
Liza – this made me laugh “is this it’s last hurrah?” and the peppers are “cute”. awesome that you got to pick some stuff and make dinner with it! I may get bold and post my gardening pictures… LOL
Carmen – I kind of view my jalapeno plants as the finale of a fireworks show. You know? Tons of fireworks exploding or in my case 25-30 peppers in the midst of growing. So, I’m wondering if this is all there is or if I should expect more peppers. haha. I am so obsessive aren’t I? 🙂
IDEA for your herbs!
When I get too many herbs I puree them and freese them in ice cube trays and once frozen put them in labeled freezer containers in the freezer. If I have more than enough I share my Herb cubes with friends and family.
It’s nice to have a backup to the plant. Never know when the “firework show” will end!! 🙂 Plus it’s so quick and convenient to toss an herb cube into whatever I may be cooking!
Love your garden updates!! 🙂
OH, lastly…. someone said it was too hot for anything but peppers n okra. She must be an expierienced grower. So is my father. We’ve lived in the clw/lgo area my entire life and he always had a garden. He insisted that it wasn’t the right time of yr for the squash family. However, I’ve proved him wrong! My gardens have little to no shade and I have tons of fruit on the vines! I have a crookneck squash plant with at least 10 yellow squash on them right now. I have zucchini, canteloupe and cucumbers. They did struggle for a minute, but I water every day and they are thriving!! 🙂
I also have a watermelon plant that is struggling, pumpkin, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant and swt potatos! Just planted Sunflowers to bring in some “sunshine” 🙂
I love to Garden!!
By the way, what exactly was in the dish you prepared? Looks yummy:)