Tomatoes, Cauliflowers & Green Chillies

While working in the yard my wife spotted the first Tomatoes, Cauliflowers & Green Chillies. Too glad to see them grow!

Zucchini update

In an earlier post I mentioned about the Vine borer/Stem borer on the Zucchini which wrapped with Aluminum foil and also treated with dilute milk for the powdery mildew. It seems to be working although the Yellow Zucchini didn't survive. A good lesson learned on the Zucchini problem!

Transplants, Onions,...

It's almost two weeks since I updated this blog. My wife and I were busy painting our main floor and in between did some gardening work. We had installed a drip irrigation system in front of the house where we have the flower beds. Today we partially finished the drip irrigation system for the vegetable raised beds in the back yard. Although we were in the garden weeding, we transplanted eggplants and more tomatoes. We have been continuously harvesting lettuce and I sowed more in a planter box on the patio. The Red Onions which we planted along the fence is doing fairly well. There was a bush earlier in this place which we got rid of. The soil is not good enough for them but it was a gamble to grow them here. In the fall I plan to plant onions in the raised beds.

We transplanted the Eggplants in between the Garlic. Since we'll be able to harvest Garlic next month the Eggplants would have more room to grow. The Garlic Scapes are ready to be picked but I have figure out to use it in a dish. 

Blueberries

Oblivious to us, with all the attention on the veggies and the raised beds, there were lots of blooms on the Blueberries a few weeks back. I see Blueberries forming and they should ripen in a couple of weeks. Although they are not many - just 7 of them in 5 gallon buckets - we use them in Yogurt and Cereal and also they attract bees which aid in pollination.

Vine borer on Zucchini

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I tried to check what could be done on the almost eaten up stem on the Zucchini. I was late in detecting this and sprayed Neem Oil yesterday to deter the stem borer/vine borer. I slit open the stem a little but couldn't find the borer. I checked online that foil could work; so wrapped Aluminum foil around the stem of the affected Zucchini and also the undamaged one. Also covered one of the branches with soil to propagate roots and I'll see how it goes.

There's some powdery mildew on one of the plants. I have to give it a shower with diluted milk which I'll do it when it stops raining (hopefully by tomorrow).

More Seed Sowing,...

Since our raised beds would run out of space we thought of growing in the beds along the fence. Although it isn't a dedicated veggie gardening space ( I had already planted a few of Pole Beans, Scarlett Runner Beans, Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, and Cabbages) we thought of making the best use of space. Also a few Tomatoes and Peppers were planted in front of the house in between flowering plants. It could be a little late for some of these but I decided to give it a shot; so sowed more seeds of - Bottle gourd, Ridge gourd, Sponge gourd, Zucchini, Malabar Spinach, Red Stemmed Gongura (Hibiscus sabdariffa), Cucumber, Butterhead Lettuce and Argula.

Tomatoes, Brassicaceae, Garlic

I was busy with work and also we have been waiting for the temperatures to warm up. We transplanted tomatoes, in the raised beds and planted marigolds in between them. The cabbages and cauliflowers are growing inspite being eaten by the snails and slugs. Every time there was a shower I went out to pick the snails & slugs which can eat all the leaves in one night. I had more cabbage saplings so I planted in front of the house between other taller plants. This would shield them from the direct sunlight. The Red Russian Garlic which we planted in the fall is doing great. I have to check the bulb formation - maybe I'll pull up one sometime next week as the shoots are over two feet high.

 Today we harvested Romaine Lettuce which was outgrowing the planter box. There's more coming up in the second planter box and also in the raised beds but I plan to sow more for a continuous supply.