I was gone for this week but the garden survived!

Garden Log

Container 1

Container 1 Progress

It’s worth noting that this container seems to have something wrong with its weed cloth. Whenever the water runs out it’s brown - full of dirt it looks like. I’m assuming it won’t be a problem before we take that container apart and plant something new in it.

  • Bush beans - Still doing well, still making plenty of beans. The research I’ve done says I should be picking the beans 50-55 days after the plant started.
  • Flowers - Even better than before.
  • Ginger - No change, still healthy

Container 2

Container 2 progress

The eggplant exploded while I was gone! It has huge leaves now and is starting to flower:

Eggplant flowers

Container 3

Container 3 Progress

This container is currently shaded.

  • Parsley - It’s growing new leaves now that it’s had a week away from the wild parsley-eating girl. It also has fewer yellow leaves. Still, I had hoped this would take off like a weed and it’s not :(
  • Big pepper plant - There’s no major change in the stress level of the plant but it’s certainly having an effect on the peppers. The farthest along pepper is already turning yellow on the vine way before it’s reached a useful size and the other peppers are looking deformed and they have an odd scaly texture on them: Pepper problems My research has turned up several potential problems:
    • Bad fertilizer mix
    • Lack of light during pollenation
    • Bacterial leaf spot

Bad fertilizer mix is a possibility - I used a standard 10-10-10 fertilizer for each container which may be the wrong mix for peppers. Lack of light during pollenation is a definite possibility with the shade, but we’re in the hottest part of the summer now and I’m not sure I dare remove the shade even to test how it affects the health of the plant. After a bit of eyeballing, it doesn’t look like bacterial leaf spot because the spots don’t turn dark purple and look rotten. Overall, I think I’m going to blame the shade. I’ll have to find a better way to shade the peppers.

  • Turmeric - We have three turmeric shoots now!

Plan

Container 1

I’m beginning to wonder if I should remove one of the flowers so that the bush beans can have some more reoom.

Container 2

All’s well so far, so I’m going to let this ride in terms of watering and shading for the time being.

Container 3

I need to investigate better ways to protect the peppers from the sun while ensuring the plant gets enough light.

Container 4 - Planned

Possible options:

  • Yellow squash
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Okra
  • Southern Peas
  • Sweet potatoes

I’m leaning toward cherry tomatoes at the moment.

Fall/Winter

We’d like the following plants:

  • Garlic
  • Onion
  • Green onion
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • More greens
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli

I’d like at least 6 containers by October 1st.

Fruit Trees

We want the following fruit trees:

  • Avocado
  • Mango
  • Lime
  • Papaya

Harvest Log

Harvest Date Green Pepper Tomato (Beefsteak) Beans Eggplant
Up to now 12 11 0  
6/17/17 2 5(3) 0  
6/24/17 0   0  
7/3/17 0   0 0
7/10/17 0   0 0
Total 14 14 0 0

To Do

  • Research when to harvest beans

Resources