GardenDesk

Hot Hot Harvest for Tomato Tuesday

It is Hot! I know its common for gardeners to complain about the weather, but I really don't remember a day ever being as hot here as it has been yesterday and today. The "heat index" has been about 110 degrees. I waited until almost dark last night to visit the garden since it had cooled down to a lovely 93 degrees! I could only stand it for about a half hour in which I harvested a few tomatoes, onions, lots of squash and cucumbers, and a small bell pepper.

Since this is Tomato Tuesday, I need to show the tomatoes first. These are more of our 4th of July variety along with the first of the cherry tomatoes; Gardener's Delight, Sun Sugar and Chocolate Cherry (which is actually much larger than a cherry). The 4th of Julys are not as red as I usually pick them, but I was afraid that because of the heat, something would eat them before I could pick them. Also in the tomato container is the first green pepper of the year.

I dug some of the onions whose plants had turned brown. These are the size onions we usually get. I wish every year's onions were like the big onions in 2009. Of course that year was the coldest July on record and we might break the record in the other direction this year.
Sorry, I digress about the weather again. Here's the onion picture:

The most prolific veggies so far this year have been cucumbers and summer squash and I harvested a whole lot of them last night!

I picked yellow crook neck squash, Ambassador Zucchini, Spaghetti Squash, and Lungo Bianco di Sicilia Zucchini. The Lungo Bianco is my favorite. It is a white Italian heirloom variety that I was fortunate to get a few years ago from Kenny at Veggie Gardening Tips.

I picked several different sizes, but the round one is the spaghetti squash.

It seems that all the other veggies have taken over this post, when it is supposed to be a Tomato Tuesday post. That's okay I guess. Tomatoes don't mind sharing.

 

So how is your garden growing? What are your tomatoes liek? I invite you to join in on Tomato Tuesday. Write about your tomatoes on your blog or website and then link to it with the below Mister Linky o we can all come read your tomato post. Then consider adding a Tomato Tuesday banner to your site like the one above.

Thank you to those who signed up on the past Tomato Tuesdays. Be a part of this week's Tomato Tuesday by signing in below. Remember to link to your tomato post in the Mister Linky Widget, not your overall site. You can link to your site when you leave a comment.

Thanks and Happy Tomato Tuesday! Remember to check out the Tomato Tuesday Banner page!

 

Building a Trellis for the Cucumbers!

Vining cucumbers will be in a different bed from where I originally planned on my excel map because I don't have the end beds ready yet and the cucumbers I started from seed indoors are now big and beautiful and need a garden home. That's why I built a new trellis for them in bed 4 above the squash.

The trellis is just a simple frame made from recycled wood, with trellis netting attached to it. Here is a picture of my trellis netting before I put it up.

This year I used the Burpee trellis netting but in year's past I got it from Park Seed.

I love this trellis netting because it's cheap and it really works! It has six or seven inch openings that you can reach through for harvesting. It's made of soft nylon, is washable and doesn't tangle when stored.

I only buy new every few years because it keeps for a long time, even when I've left it out all year long!

I use this trellis netting to support peas, cucumbers, small pumpkins or melons, luffa and some gourds, and sometimes even to support tomatoes.

 

 

I built my cucumber trellis by driving wood 2x4s into the ground on either side of the bed. I then have a top support ready that spans to reach each end post. This trellis is made from 2x4's only because that is what I have on hand from previous projects. If I were buying new, I would use 1x1s instead.

I attach the trellis netting by "weaving" it onto the wood supports.

See how the netting goes from one side of the board to the other? It is best if you can weave it onto the top board and both side supports because then it is securely attached without any tying, nailing or stapling.

I attach the top trellis board to the support boards by lining the boards up and drilling a hole down through the top board into the upright boards. Then you can simply drop a lag bolt down in the hole. The trellis stays in place well, but comes apart easily when its time to take it down. For this one I re-used lag screws in the drilled holes, so I did have to use a wrench to attach it.

My side posts are five feet tall because my trellis netting was five by fifteen feet. I secured the bottom of the netting to the ground with old tent stakes.

Then, all that was left to do was to add my cucumber seedlings.

I planted one cuke every foot or so, alternating which side of the net to plant them.

Since I already had the trellis boards ready from previous years, making this trellis and planting the cucumbers only took about an hour. Now before long, my cucumber plants will grow all the way to the top of the trellis and I will be harvesting cucumbers without even bending down!

I can hardly wait!