Mid November update

A quick update today. One quick shot of cool air and it's back to being hot for this time of year. At least it is not too hot to grow and things are coming along.

The peppers haven't done too much yet. A few Fooled You Jalapenos and finally a California Wonder Pepper is fruiting. With the wind being pretty strong lately the peppers have taken the brunt of it and they have been beat up.

The Yellow Granex onions are growing a little quicker it seems. I have a problem with mole crickets in the beds sometimes and they have eaten a few of the onions which is aggravating. Once it cools down a bit they seem to go away. I might try some parasitic nematodes which would take care of them, too,

Next the Roma Tomatoes are blooming like crazy. I have found a few fruit forming in the thick foliage which is encouraging. The last couple times I grew them they didn't come out well.

The next bed has the Cabbage, Toy Choy, and Red Butterhead Lettuce. We have picked some of the choy for stir fry and the rest is about ready.

Next comes the Black Beauty Eggplant. I pulled up the green beans which were finished and planted more broccoli in their place. I finally got to harvest some eggplant and will be cooking it up today.

My tomatoes are large and getting full of fruit. They won't be ripe for about another month though. At least I haven't found any caterpillars on them yet.

 

Here is the next crop of green beans. They are the same variety as was in the eggplant bed which did real well.

 

Next we have the beets, carrots, radishes, and zucchini. I have thinned the beets once and harvested most of the radishes today.

 

The first crop of cucumbers is still puttering along but about finished. The next crop is flowering and setting some fruit. With the cooler weather the leaves are starting to get mold and mildew on them. Also they are still infested with aphids but the lady bugs are there too so I don't want to spray anything for the aphids.

Next my Pack Man Broccoli is about ready to pick. It heads up pretty quick once it is transplanted in the beds.

Here we have everglades Tomatoes which pretty much grow wild and where they feel like growing. These started right around the compost pile and are taking over that area.

Finally my next crop of Beefsteak Tomatoes are going to need cages pretty soon so they don't fall over.

All in all things are doing fine. Once my business slows down more I will have time to get a lot more seeds started and more winter crops put out. That's it for now.

November is under way.

While the northern parts of the U.S. are under some snow our growing season is now fully under way. The sun has not been so oppressive even though our temperatures have been running a bit above normal for the last couple of weeks. I think this is part of the reason my plants seem to have really begun to grow.

Since the peppers are in a bed that doesn't have much wind protection they to a good beating the last couple of days. We had a lot of wind as a cool front has tried to make it's way here.

I found out after doing some research that the wrinkly pepper leaves are probably caused by a calcium deficiency in the plant. That in my opinion is much preferable to disease being the culprit. Even though this one Fooled You Jalapeno has the problem the worst it still is the first plant to produce fruit.

The rest are blooming and most plants look much better.

My Roma tomatoes are really coming along and now blooming has begun.

The next bed has Cabbage, Toy Choy, and Red Butterhead Lettuce. Most are looking real healthy and the cabbage is beginning to head up. The choy is about ready to harvest. This variety takes around three to four weeks from germination to harvest so you aren't waiting what seems like forever for some fresh produce to eat.

Finally we have some Eggplant success!! From reading different forums people have said the cause of the flowers dropping is mainly lack of water or the humidity is too high which causes the pollen to stick and not fall.
Our humidity was real bad and now that it has cooled off and dropped we have fruit.

Next my slicing tomatoes are producing well and I am looking forward to a good crop.

The next stop is the bed that houses the Nutri Rich Carrots, Detroit Dark Red Bets, Radishes, and Zucchini.

The Marketmore Cucumbers keep on going and I have harvested bags of them which made neighbors happy.
The second and third plantings are moving along and I have already harvested from the second planting.

 Aphids have really been growing in the cumbers, too. This has in turn brought out a few lady bugs. I have decided to let the lady bugs populate instead of spray the aphids. Hopefully those and the cooler weather will eradicate my problem.

The Packman Broccoli is forming heads so we should have fresh broccoli in a week or so.

The next Beefsteak tomato crop is in. I don't know the variety because the small pack just said Beefsteak on it. It was from a school fundraiser and my wife purchased a kit with several different veggie and herb seeds in it.

 Here the Papaya have begun to ripen and we have picked a few. At least they don't all ripen at once.

My Carambola has really kicked it into gear. One nice thing about them is they have several crops a year. It just amazes me how easy these are to grow and yet the stores around here sell them for up to $2 each and people buy them.

And finally the Pineapple look great. I noticed a new one popping out from a plant that I don't think is a year old. Usually it takes are 18 months or so. The other four are really large and can be picked now but will be much better if left to ripen a bit before I pick them.

That's all for today.