Ornamentals

Chris got these from Swartz Gardens in Castle Hayne and replaced the strawberry plants in the strawberry tower with them. One is an ornamental pepper and we're not sure what the other is.

Tomato Crop

We picked the red tomatoes from the garden at Brenda's house and I believe they are mostly Georgia Streaks and the Yellow Pears we got from our topsy turvy.

Venus Fly Trap

We also got this at the farmers market this week. We had one a couple of years ago and it died pretty soon after we got it. I think Chris fed it hamburger meat or something. I'm not allowing him to do that this time so maybe it will last a while and maybe it will catch some flys for us.

Wheat Grass

We recently started growing wheat grass. Chris got a kit and some seed and a juicer from Progressive Gardens a couple of weeks ago and we grow it under one of our fluorescent growlights. You are supposed to drink 1-2 shots a day of it and it is a natural detox. I've only had a couple of shots so far because it just got tall enough to cut. It tastes pretty gross to me and I almost barf when i drink it but I do feel better throughout the day after drinking it so we'll see.

Farmers Market in Asheville

We got these two different plants this week at the farmers market in Asheville. One is thyme and the other is an orchid. If anyone knows anything about growing orchids any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Changes for Next Year's Garden

Here are some notes on things we plan to change next year and some general obvservations about our garden.

• no red okra. they are more ornamental than edible. Too tough, not enough fruit.
• no Jetsonic tomatoes. These were "freebie" seeds we received in the mail. They appear to be determinate, although i am sure packaging says otherwise. they all got to about 24 inches and stopped growing. fruits are small and not many blooms. Boo.
• all tomatoes growing hydroponically next year will likely be patio's. we have some green zebras and other varieties. they are very heaving in foliage and outgrowing the hydro systems they are in. i am running out of room to stake them. the patio in the SWC has more fruit on it than any indeterminate plant we have so far.
• no cherry tomatoes. they are too small to enjoy. the yellow pear and tom toms are heartier and better in salads and for small snacks. do not want to waste garden real estate on tomatoes the size of raisins.
• likely will plant cherokee purple and georgia streaks in all SWC and in the regular garden next year. these are producing well with large fruit and healthy vines. contrary to all southern gardeners, we only planted one of the "better boy" (gasp!) this year. it is in the homemade topsy turvy.
• hydroponic eggplant is growing so much better than in soil garden. i had an extra plant and put in the autopot so it would not go to waste. the foliage and size are triple that of the soil counterpart.

With respect to hydroponics:

• we are using or have used the following systems

1. autopot
2. drip system using grodan
3. deep water culture with air circulation
4. waterfarm
5. wick method using coco and perlite

here is what we have noticed....

• the autopot has the most consistent results. good vegetative growth. the smart valve works well. we built our own autopot from rubbermaid trays and pickle buckets as a reservoir.
• the waterfarm is slow to start, but has a nice size tomato in it now. uses a lot of nutrient. at this point, almost every 3 days, it runs out.
• the DWC seems to be the most self reliant and easy to use. the nutrient has never run dry. the roots drop down into the nutrient. the gap between the nutrient and the top of the roots provides oxygen uptake. there is always some root mass "underwater". i top it off every few days.
• the perlite/coco mix with wick system works well too. this has a medusa pepper in a grobal system. i like this method
• the drip system is the most work. i will not create another. it uses a butt load of nutrient. the drip lines clog easily. they pop out of the little stakes. the plants are growing well. almost too well. the tomato is so big, it is staked and tied and staked so more. as a result, it drinks a lot of nutrient. takes up a lot of space, the pump had to be put in a net bag to prevent the roots from clogging the uptake. must keep nutrient at a certain level or the pump will run dry.

The Patio Tomatoes!

The first tomato off the vine. No chemicals, no funky fertilizers. Just water, good soil, tiger bloom and botanicare plant nutrients. Delicious.

Couple of happy snaps at Carol's House

Here are some random photos are the things blooming around carol's house. Maggie is taking a break by resting in their new hammock.

Mini Bell's

These are mini bellpeppers growing here. They have really gotten quite large and now have blossoms.

Meet Mullet!

This is vikki and harry's dog, Mullet. Took some photos while visiting family this weekend. Harry made a topsy turvy out of a small white bucket. Check out those photos.

This topsy turvy is getting some attention. we had a neighbor drive by, get out of his car and take a photo of this hanging on our front porch. The yellow pear tomatoes are starting turn now. There are over 100 individual tomatoes on this plant. Good soil and good feeding make a difference.

Snap Dragon

This is the only plant to bloom from the seeds we started a while back.

Patio

We have been waiting for these guys to start ripening. Will likely pick these tonight. Still, much more fruit left to go. Feeding with tiger bloom and/or botanicare floral formula every couple of days.

An update.....

Well its been about 2 weeks since the last update. There hasn't been any new additions or subtractions to the garden and all we have been doing is playing the waiting game. Waiting for all the fruit to start ripening. Finally, we are getting some tomatoes. This lily was photographed at carol's house in Newport.

Keep reading!
chris

Hydroponic Volcano Pepper

Tomatoes!

Cherokee Purple, a bunch of Patios, some Yellow Pears and either a Delicious or a Jetsonic, we're not sure.

Garden

Red Velvet Okra

This okra is already producing but the plants aren't very big. We're not sure if they are supposed to be small or what.

Brenda's Topsy Turvy

Moon and Stars Watermelon

A baby Moon and Stars heirloom watermelon.

Garden at Brenda"s

Here is an update on the garden we have in the ground at Brenda's house. Everything is growing really well this year. We have blooms on almost everything except the black beauty eggplants, which arent nearly big enough yet anyway.

Giant Sunflower

This sunflower is planted in the ground at Brenda's house. It is supposed to get up to 12 feet tall however this one is only about 4 feet and it has already bloomed and has about 3 more smaller flowers on it besides this one.

Swiss Chard

Chris grew this from seed. It is now in a self-watering container on the front porch. (yes our porch has a lot of plants on it)

Peppers!

This is a close up of one of the really hot jalapenos from a previous post and also a volcano pepper grown hydroponically on the front porch.

Yellow Pear

This is the tomato we are growing in the topsy turvy. It is a Yellow Pear tomato and is an heirloom variety. The tomatoes will be small like cherry tomatoes except pear shaped and yellow.

Strawberry

Lots of little strawberries in another self-watering container. These strawberries dont get very big but man are they delicious!

Various Tomatoes

A Cherokee Purple tomato, a violet(hidden in the middle) and a Carolina Gold tomato.  All in self-watering pickle bucket/kitty litter bucket containers.

Frosted Explosion!

I think this is one of the prettiest plants I've ever seen.  It is an ornamental grass and it accidentaly has a lettuce or something growing in it but we recently pulled that out so now it is even prettier.

Patio Tomato

This patio tomato is much larger than we expected it to get. It is about twice the size of the ones in our garden planted in the ground at brenda's. It is supposed to be a heavy producer and it looks like that is an accurate description so far. The tomatoes  look really healthy although none have started to turn red yet. It is planted in a pickle bucket self-watering container sitting in our front yard.

really hot jalapenos

We have been growing these jalapenos for about 9 months, maybe more. First we had it inside in a hydroponics system under standard flourescent lights and it wasnt growing any larger than about 3 inches. Then we got a better light and it grew to about its full size and flowered but never grew any fruit. Then we moved it outside once it was warm enough and now it has tons of fruit on it and some have turned red. Becky, Kenny and Chris all agree the red ones are very hot.

topsy turvies

The yellow pear heirloom tomato in a traditional topsy turvy and some mini bells and carnival bell peppers in a pepper topsy turvy variation.