<p>Gopher snakes eat figs ?!</p>
<p>Got our first heirloom tomato today!!!</p>
<p>^^Mazel Tov Jym! ;)</p>
<p>My garlic’s in! (the ground, I mean)</p>
<p>Thanks, chchipcookie!! SAhold I schedule a bris? :)</p>
<p>We are still awash in cherry tomatoes. The bugs got the eggplant plants. I called them my religious plants because the leaves are holy (holey).</p>
<p>Bummer is our Granny Apple appletree, that was a gift when our older s was born and bore furit this year, seems to have bitten the big one, as it were…</p>
<p>We were cleaning up our tomato pots a couple of days ago in anticipation of our first hard freeze. There were still twice as many tomatoes on the plants than have already been picked. So we identified the four healthiest plants and brought them inside; picked the tomatoes off the others and have them in a basket on a windowsill.</p>
<p>Two of the plants are in our loft with sun most of the day. The tomatoes outdoors had barely been ripening - maybe one every few days. Well, in just two days in the loft, five tomatoes have turned almost completely red! Clearly they are grateful to be inside.</p>
<p>Have been reading but not posting. Just wanted to say re green tomatoes, in years past I’ve made tomato chutney but this year, thanks to googling, found green tomato pasta sauce recipes which were tasty and freezable. Does anyone have experience with fruit trees in containers? I understand now until ground freezes is best time for bare root planting and I have plans for a two tier espaliered pear in a 50 cm pot on a south facing wall. Tell me if I’m dreaming!</p>
<p>I brought in about 30 green cherry tomatoes yesterday because of the cold snap we are having. There are still flowers on the plants, but they will freeze. Ideas for these green cherry tomatoes if they dont ripen on the window sill? Probably not enouth to make the recipes noted above.</p>
<p>I brought in a bowl full of grape tomatoes a couple of weeks ago that were right sized but fully green - set them in the sunroom and they are now all fully red and delicious!</p>
<p>Reviving this thread because I just planted my sweet 100’s cherry tomatoes, basil and dill. Last year I couldn’t find sweet 100’s and tried patio tomatoes. Between the rain and the birds, who decided the few tomatoes we had were for them, it was an epic fail. The basil did fine, though.</p>
<p>Home Depot has all their small pot veggies and herbs 5 for $10 this weekend. We just finished planting our container garden, I have zucchini, San Marzano tomatoes, and some red, orange and green bell peppers. I also ordered some beets, Tuscan Kale and spinach. For herbs, I have a huge pot of Rosemary, some thyme, lemon thyme, several mints, oregano, several sages, Italian parsley and basil. I haven’t found any chives yet, when I saw them about a month ago, they were pretty sad looking. I have grown herbs forever, but haven’t grown vegetables in a very long time. I belong to a produce club, so I get my organic produce from local growers. We cook with zucchini a lot, so I am looking forward to my own garden fresh picks!</p>
<p>I bought most of my plants before HD’s sale, but when I saw the ad pop up, it prompted me to get another HUGE pot for the deck and the plants from HD. I know, I spent about $17 in the pot/base to save a few bucks on the plants and potting soil, but I wanted to do a little experiment anyway. I bought the same style pot but even bigger than the ones I currently had (the older ones are 18" across, the newer one is 20.5") to see if the pot size makes any difference. Doubt the pot size will make a difference, but they say to use the biggest you can.</p>
<p>I hope your new pot does well for you! Years ago, my husband planted an herb garden for me. He used two big galvanized steel tubs from the feed store, with different herbs planted in rows. It was a complete surprise, and one of the best Mother’s Day gifts I ever received! It grew well for several years, although we had to replace some plants along the way. Unfortunately, it was a casualty of the 2004 hurricane season.</p>
<p>I’ve got the basil and the dill in smaller pots. Hadnt thought of putting several herbs in one bigger pot.</p>
<p>Have six Solar Fire tomato plants growing in old 5 gal drywall mud buckets filled with potting mix. Last year bought at Big Lots on clearance for $1 each six of those upside down hanging plant kits “as seen on TV”. Got them as a novelty not knowing if they’d really work…they did…put some potting mix in containers, popped cherry tomato plants in bottom and hung them upside down on back porch in sun…am reusing this season too. Last year as an experiment too I planted two tomato plants in a bag of Black Cow manure…just slit plastic bag open on top, put plants in manure in bag and that was that…had mixed results…I don’t think the manure perked enough when I watered…the soil didn’t drain well.</p>
<p>I wanted to try those hang upside down things, but I have nowhere to hang them :(( </p>
<p>I had just about made up my mind NOT to try container gardening again this year, after failures and piddling results for the past two seasons. But maybe your effort this week will motivate me. I must admit that the mental gears in my head began to spin when I passed the palette of compost bags at the market yesterday. Maybe, just maybe…there’s hope for 2014.</p>
<p>LakeWashinton- every year I say the same thing but end up trying again. The last couple of years I have switched to a few containers on my patio. I also gave up on most vegetables and try to stick with the few things that I have some decent success with. I don’t get a whole lot of heat and hours of sun due to coastal fog. I find that early and. Cherry size tomatoes do best. We have a local vendor at our farmers market who sells vegetable plants. He has been a good source. This year I have planted 1 Black Prince, 1 San Francisco fog, 1 yellow pear, 1 Isis candy. I also planted a Serrano and will also plant a jalapeño. I also due okay with most herbs aside from basil and cilantro. I might add a tomatillo as well.
As much as I would like to grow cucumbers and peppers they just don’t do well.</p>
<p>Has anyone tried to grow brussel sprout stalks? I was tempted, but shied away.</p>
<p>I have always had very good luck with a jalapeno plant in a pot on the deck. It’s the only place at home I have sun and I love having jalapenos to pick right outside the door for fresh salsa, guac, etc. </p>