What is going on here?

I came home after a couple days out of town and found this! There were two smaller tomatoes with the same problem. It could be tomato hornworms, but after extensive searching on the plant, I can't locate the actual worm. Tonight I will go out there with my flashlight to see what is happening. This is a lot of damage so I know that whatever it is, it's BIG!

Tomatoes at the Roofline

So, my tomatoes keep growing taller. I've already expanded my staking system once - you may remember that I had to exchange my 5 ft stakes in the Ultomato staking kit for 6 ft stakes. Now my plants are reaching 7 ft, so I ended up adding an extension to the top. Sungold tomato is the tallest with Brandywine not far behind.

I used zip-ties to attach a thinner stake to the ones already in place.

Then I added side supports with this soft wire.

Now the plants can climb up to the roof!

Bunches of Basil

What should you do with all that basil in the garden? Make basil pesto, of course - it's easy and well worth it! The scent given off by the basil as you prepare this dish will fill the whole kitchen with an intoxicating aroma. And enjoying fresh pesto is absolutely a treat to savor. I could eat it plain, by the spoonful, because it's so delicious.

The ingredients are:

2 cups packed basil

1/3 cup pine nuts

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan (or similar) cheese

salt and pepper

Blend 2 cups (packed very tightly) of basil and 1/3 cup pine nuts.

Add 3 cloves of garlic. Blend.

Add 1/2 cup olive oil a little at a time. Blend.

Now add 1/2 cup freshly grated cheese - parmigiano-reggiano, parmesan, romano, etc. (If you plan to freeze your pesto, then don't add the cheese - you can add it directly to your dish later, or combine it in the blender with your pesto once defrosted.) Blend.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend.

Basil Pesto!

Now have a snack before dinner...

Are you still hungry for dinner?

For a variation on this pesto, substitute 3/4 cup sundried tomatoes for 1 cup of the basil and you will have a delicious sundried tomato basil pesto recipe. It is also delicious mixed with pasta, or spread it on sliced bread for a mouthwatering treat.

Bamboo Teepee

My pea plants were not able to climb the stakes that I originally had in place because they were too big in diameter. I was using 6 ft green plastic stakes. After I replaced them with these very skinny 6 ft bamboo stakes, they were able to grab on and start climbing. I made a teepee out of 9 stakes and tied the plants to the stakes to direct their growth. So far, so good!

Garden Log #3

The front yard garden bed was planted on July 12 with the following vegetables.

Seeds:

Kohlrabi Purple & White Vienna Blend (Brassica oleracea)

Radish French Breakfast (Raphanus sativus)

Turnip Purple Top White Globe (Brassica rapa)

Bok choy White Stem (Brassic rapa Chinesis Group)

These vegetables were chosen because of their short growing season and the limited amount of time left in Michigan before frost.

I also planted these transplants:

9 Cabbage Bonnie Hybrid

1 Sweet Banana Pepper

1 Mammoth Jalapeno

1 Jalapeno

2 California Green Pepper

3 Black Beauty Eggplant

1 Japanese Eggplant

28 Little Gem Lettuce

Butterhead lettuce transplanted on June 30

Herbs planted July 16:

Lemon Thyme

Silver-Edged Thyme

Chives

Greek Basil

Dill

Italian Parsley (4)

Rosemary

I also planted a variety of annual flowers in the bed including impatiens, marigolds, petunia, allysum, and vinca.

All transplants, except the lettuce, were fertilized with a sprinkle of time release fertilizer in the planting hole.

"Clean-Out-The-Fridge" Easy Vegetable Stir-Fry

This is the easiest stir-fry to make and it has a lot of flavor too. Very comparable to your favorite chinese dish at the local restaurant. I make it when I need something quick for dinner, or when I need to use up an assortment of vegetables in the fridge. It will be a nice way to enjoy some of the peppers, eggplant, cabbage, and bok choy that I planted in the garden.

Here's what I found in my vegetable bin - but you can use anything that you have.

The seasoning is only 3 ingredients.

Stir fry all the veges in some oil until they are crisp-tender. I start with the onions, then the harder vegetables, then the softer ones.

Now add some hoisin sauce, a little chili sauce (be careful - it's hot!), and soy sauce to taste.

Voila! Dinner is served!

Go Ahead! Plant Vegetables in your Front Yard.

Having a container vegetable garden on your deck is a fun and convenient way to grow vegetables, however, the space limitations are one drawback to this method. Some gardeners may be compelled to start expanding their garden out into the yard so they can grow a greater variety of vegetables.

I found that it was easier to plant more vegetables in the garden beds that we already had in place, rather than creating a new area, and this happened to be in the front yard. It takes a little more consideration for design and plant type, but vegetables can be an attractive way to greet guests as they come up the walkway to your front door.

As you can see, we already had our foundation plantings in place - very respectable Stella d'Oro daylilies and evergreen shrubs. To liven up the area, I added a few stepping stones, some herbs and a variety of vegetables, and mixed it all together with some brightly colored annuals. Now, from a distance everything is pretty, and up close you can see that a gardener lives on the premises!

For a complete listing of what I planted see Garden Log #3.

Oh No! Late Blight.

We have a serious problem here.  Late blight has struck 3 of my 5 tomato plants.  Some sources say this means certain death, but I'm going to play my odds and try a copper fungicide spray.  It's an organic spray, but can be damaging to the soil.  Since my vegetables are in containers I'm not as worried about it building up in the soil.  Late blight has been a huge problem this year due to the cool, damp weather and possible contamination of plants by "big box" stores.  Unfortunately, I bought some of my plants from "Big Box Lowes".  Next year I will definitely buy my plants from local greenhouses or start my own seedlings at home.  

Anticipating Cabbage from the Garden

Baked egg rolls are a good way to use surplus cabbage from your vegetable garden.  The baked version with olive oil is much healthier than the standard deep frying method.  They won't be quite as crispy, but it's definitely worth trying!

Can you find the Hummingbird?

This is a female ruby-throated hummingbird at my new feeder.  It only took three days before they found it on my deck, flying very close to my back door.  They don't seem afraid of the close proximity, but disappear in a flash when I try to take pictures.

Notice the hummingbird's long bill, inside of which is a long tongue they use to lap up the nectar.  They certainly need the energy because in early fall the ruby-throated hummingbird migrates to Mexico and Central America flying at least 500 miles nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico.  Whew!