2023 Mid-Atlantic Garden, Lawn, and Other Green Stuff Thread

[Eskimo Joe]

Garlic ordered. Harvested 50 tomatoes yesterday for canning from 3 plants. Another 200+ tomatoes ripening for our reserves.

[MN Transplant]

3 hours ago, CAPE said:

It's time to start the incremental reseeding/overseeding process. More grass has survived than usual, so it won't be a near complete do over. Normally clover takes over as the grass withers away, but it has not done so this year. The key might be getting 10" of rain in July lol. Normal rainfall never made a difference.

This may be as lively as our grass has looked as we approach late August.  Even in the record precip year (2018) there was a short span of no rain in July that torched it.  The continuous rain here since late June has done the job.

[midatlanticweather]

4 hours ago, CAPE said:

It's time to start the incremental reseeding/overseeding process. More grass has survived than usual, so it won't be a near complete do over. Normally clover takes over as the grass withers away, but it has not done so this year. The key might be getting 10" of rain in July lol. Normal rainfall never made a difference.

Still feeling the sting of drought out this way. I need to secure some seed and get aeration done. The challenge is the dry hard soil. Trajectory has not been great for good rains in Purcellville. We have improved recently but still a lot of parched soil 

[clskinsfan]

On 8/19/2023 at 9:26 AM, Eskimo Joe said:

Garlic ordered. Harvested 50 tomatoes yesterday for canning from 3 plants. Another 200+ tomatoes ripening for our reserves.

tomatoes are amazing this year. I planted 40 plants this year and have canned tons of sauce, salsa and stewed. They love dry weather. And are sweet as can be this year. Everything else is just about dead in my garden. 

[BlizzardNole]

Our neighbors gave us some tomatoes from their garden and they are about the best we've ever had!  We were wondering if it was the dry summer and now we know!

[ThePhotoGuy]

I don't normally do fall veggie plantings but thinking about doing some this year if it isn't too late. Any suggestion for fall veggie seeds to plant soon? 

[Eskimo Joe]

10 hours ago, ThePhotoGuy said:

I don't normally do fall veggie plantings but thinking about doing some this year if it isn't too late. Any suggestion for fall veggie seeds to plant soon? 

Collards, broccoli, spinach, beets, garlic, onions.

[mattie g]

11 hours ago, ThePhotoGuy said:

I don't normally do fall veggie plantings but thinking about doing some this year if it isn't too late. Any suggestion for fall veggie seeds to plant soon? 

I just planted lettuce, broccoli, spinach, and mache seeds yesterday.

Seed garlic cloves will go into the ground around Halloween in preparation for harvest around the Fourth of July (give or take a week or two).

[ThePhotoGuy]

Thanks! I have done spinach before but will try out broccoli, garlic and onions this year. 

[clskinsfan]

You probably still have time to do another round of cucumbers as well. I just planted some last week.

[Eskimo Joe]

1 hour ago, clskinsfan said:

You probably still have time to do another round of cucumbers as well. I just planted some last week.

Yes. If you put cucumbers in now and they're on a warm side of the house, you'll get a round or two. We don't have cool autumns anymore so you should be good.

[wxdude64]

3 hours ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Yes. If you put cucumbers in now and they're on a warm side of the house, you'll get a round or two. We don't have cool autumns anymore so you should be good.

LOL, we just did ANOTHER 9 qts of pickles, cucumbers out the ears this year. I think somewhere near 35 qts and 20-25 pints of B&B, dill and spicy dill packed up for the next year or two. No cukes next year. We'll get at least one more round off the current plants from the looks of the small ones coming on. 

[mattie g]

I haven't done cucumbers in a couple years - been doing cantaloupe instead. H Mart has Kirby cucumbers at a good price, so I just get those for pickling.

I'm hoping to make some smoked salsa this weekend. Tomatoes, jalapenos, and garlic from the garden form the base of probably 10-12 Ball jars of salsa. Made it for the first time two seasons ago and it turned out amazing!

[clskinsfan]

16 hours ago, wxdude64 said:

LOL, we just did ANOTHER 9 qts of pickles, cucumbers out the ears this year. I think somewhere near 35 qts and 20-25 pints of B&B, dill and spicy dill packed up for the next year or two. No cukes next year. We'll get at least one more round off the current plants from the looks of the small ones coming on. 

I am not lucky enough to keep them from getting diseased here. I get a couple of rounds out of cucumber plants and they look like crap. I just pull them up and replant. They grow fast enough. Usually 50-60 days and you have more than you can eat.

[North Balti Zen]

I had literally never tried a garden before as an adult and this year we gave it a shot. Hit and miss but, man, the six tomato plants I put in are making me feel like a minor deity. Just an affirming plant to grow...

[nw baltimore wx]

2 hours ago, North Balti Zen said:

I had literally never tried a garden before as an adult and this year we gave it a shot. Hit and miss but, man, the six tomato plants I put in are making me feel like a minor deity. Just an affirming plant to grow...

Next year plant a few banana, cayenne, jalapeño, and Serrano peppers. Stupid easy.

[North Balti Zen]

100% gonna add those next year. The onions never did their thing, the broccoli didn’t really either.  Carrots did good and green peppers about to produce. 
 

gonna try some late planter spinach and radishes.

[nw baltimore wx]

6 minutes ago, North Balti Zen said:

100% gonna add those next year. The onions never did their thing, the broccoli didn’t really either.  Carrots did good and green peppers about to produce. 
 

gonna try some late planter spinach and radishes.

You’ll have success with those peppers. Banana come in sweet and hot. I think the hots are legit. Good for salsa and hot sauce recipes. The sweets are not imo really sweet, but they add a nice crunch to tuna salad, bagel toppings, eggs, etc. And both are prolific.

Your onions didn’t do well? Did you do small plants in March?

[WxUSAF]

Yikes. This heat plus 3 weeks with little rain have done a number on my plants. 

[Eskimo Joe]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:48 PM, WxUSAF said:

Yikes. This heat plus 3 weeks with little rain have done a number on my plants. 

Same here. We've been trying to fertilize and water where we can for a last burst of color to help the pollinators out, but it looks like too little too late.

[aldie 22]

This weekend i am planning on edging my plant beds, aerating, seeding and probably adding some top dressing. Should be great weather for it.

[frd]

22 hours ago, aldie 22 said:

This weekend i am planning on edging my plant beds, aerating, seeding and probably adding some top dressing. Should be great weather for it.

https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature

soil moisture up a bit and soil temp trending down. Best germination for overseed is 70 degrees F 5 day average. 

 

plug in your location using the link above 

 

 

 

[mattie g]

My tomatoes are absolutely rocking right now. Best crop in years! Cantaloupe are finally starting to come around, as well.

Fall planting hasn't gone so well though, despite really good conditions after planting and ensuring proper soil moisture. Mache is germinating nicely and I have a few broccoli seedlings, but spinach is nonexistent (seems to be a theme for me) and the lettuce is underwhelming. Thinking maybe I should have started seedlings indoors.

[frd]

1 hour ago, mattie g said:

My tomatoes are absolutely rocking right now. Best crop in years! Cantaloupe are finally starting to come around, as well.

Fall planting hasn't gone so well though, despite really good conditions after planting and ensuring proper soil moisture. Mache is germinating nicely and I have a few broccoli seedlings, but spinach is nonexistent (seems to be a theme for me) and the lettuce is underwhelming. Thinking maybe I should have started seedlings indoors.

 

 

How do you not get tomato blight?

Been a constant issue here even with new raised bed gardens. So hot and humid and wet !  I tried a copper spray and straw mulch, helped a little bit, but by mid August  most tomatoes not are not looking great.   As many leaves died from the blight. 

[mattie g]

2 hours ago, frd said:

How do you not get tomato blight?

Been a constant issue here even with new raised bed gardens. So hot and humid and wet !  I tried a copper spray and straw mulch, helped a little bit, but by mid August  most tomatoes not are not looking great.   As many leaves died from the blight. 

That sucks...sorry to hear that. Any disease is a major pain in the ass, no matter the crop!

<knock on wood>

I've never had too much of an issue with it. I prune all suckers until the plants get to about 7' tall, then I let them go (usually by the middle of July or thereabouts). I also space them pretty well, so those two things together help with airflow and keeping the plants relatively dry. The leaves at the bottom always get some sort of blight as the season goes along, but I try to prune them when I can to help keep it from spreading.

[Eskimo Joe]

1 hour ago, frd said:

 

 

How do you not get tomato blight?

Been a constant issue here even with new raised bed gardens. So hot and humid and wet !  I tried a copper spray and straw mulch, helped a little bit, but by mid August  most tomatoes not are not looking great.   As many leaves died from the blight. 

Mulching with straw mitigates a lot of those problems.

[mattie g]

37 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Mulching with straw mitigates a lot of those problems.

I mulch with regular hardwood mulch - never thought about straw mulch.

As I said, I don't really have issues with blight but might just try some straw mulch in part of the beds next season to see how it goes.

[stormy]

I never really paid attention to this thread before but during the past 30 minutes I have really enjoyed reading thoughts and experiences from you folks!

Though suffering from drought, we have enjoyed a wonderful garden this year. We harvested a near record 3 bushels of kenebec potatoes from a planted 10 pounds!  Have harvested over 10 bushels of tomatoes from 6 vines!  Canned 50 qts. and gave away bushels. Many have commented on the finest tomatoes ever seen!  My fresh hot banana peppers add spice to every evening meal.

 

[frd]

1 hour ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Mulching with straw mitigates a lot of those problems.

Very true, thanks !  I researched last year that the blight spores reside in the soil , when it rains it splashes upon the bottom leaves and then works it way up the plant. 

Still happy I had decent tomatoe crop, but not like 30 years ago when I had so many I could can my own tomatoes for winter time homemade pizza sause or spaghetti sauce.     

[MN Transplant]

This morning’s harvest