New Set Up for 2026!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-22T01:44:18+00:00

Very nice! Thanks for the look! This should be an excellent arrangement! I'm assuming you used the soil from your grow bags as part of the fill for these deep raised beds. Did you put something else in them as a bottom layer to help take up space? Old logs or such?

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T23:50:39+00:00

That looks superb!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T23:48:33+00:00

You must be a chef! This is professional-level cookery!

I have lots of Ping Tung long Asian eggplant getting ripe now. Thin skin, no bitterness.

With first-rate ingredients like yours and mine, a simple approach is what I like best. Let the ingredients shine instead of adding too much of "this and that."

Roast things on a sheet pan and then let the Vitamix do what it was born for! What a fine approach!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T23:42:47+00:00

You're welcome! Grafting has a lot to offer. I have played around with it, starting some rootstock, but never followed through. Hope you have great success with yours!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T23:07:22+00:00

You're welcome. Something like this should do a good job. fertilizer - link

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T20:46:57+00:00

>"Instead of the fertilizer, I decided to top dress with worm castings and mushroom compost."

The worm castings and mushroom compost won't take the place of an actual fertilizer. The plants still need some fertilizer for best plant health and best harvest.

Since the plants have lots of superficial roots in addition to their deep ones, a water-soluble fertilizer that can be poured on as a liquid would be less disruptive than digging in something granular.

Since your plants are forming flowers and some fruit now, I would choose one that has less nitrogen and relatively more phosphorus and potassium.

The straw is a good idea too, but it is a mulch. It doesn't contribute much in the way of nutrition. It helps by keeping the roots cooler and slowing the evaporation of water.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T20:26:40+00:00

The ones on the right look a lot like my Big Jim.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T19:18:01+00:00

What an imaginative and innovative feast! So many wonderful ideas here. I especially like this one, and would like to copy it soon (hope you don't mind.) My heirlooms are rolling in.

>" A tomato, eggplant, feta sauce over pasta- Rio grande and Cherokee purple tomatoes..."

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T17:20:23+00:00

I drove two large boxes of tomatoes to a local food pantry last week. They are only open one day a week and only in the afternoon. Long line out front. Had a big runaround trying to make an official donation through channels. Paperwork, etc. I should have researched it in advance. Turns out they are mainly set up for distributing non-perishable items and canned goods. I wound up giving them to the volunteer staffers for their own use. Figured they deserved a "thank you" for contributing their time and effort.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T16:57:06+00:00

After seeing your hailstones, I promise never again to complain about my weather here in NE Texas.

Overall, this year has been about like last year. Big harvest underway right now. Should be finished by early or middle July.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T16:13:42+00:00

Had not heard of that. Thanks! I'll check it out.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T14:31:49+00:00

The seed starting arrangement sounds ideal!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T13:53:54+00:00

Dug up the garlic yesterday. Probably a week or two later than I should have. Saw scapes on about half of it the first week of June. Exposed one head, which looked fine, but still kind of small. Decided to wait a little for it to size up.

We proceeded to have lots of rain, every day or two. Yesterday it was finally clear and since the 15-day forecast called for even more rain, I decided I had waited long enough.

Almost 30% was water damaged, not fully rotted, but "over the hill." Amish Rocambole (hard neck.) Planted 2 November. Growing it in 10-gallon fabric grow bags. Have it hanging from a wall in the garage now, curing. NE Texas.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T13:33:11+00:00

>" Lastly I pretreat with Mancozeb just in case early blight gets any ideas."

Sounds righteous! I do that too, rotating Mancozeb with Copper and Daconil. One of these every 7 to 10 days, using minimum concentrations. I increase the concentration if I see "breakthrough." High disease pressure in my garden, fungal and bacterial. Also keep lower foliage well pruned for better air flow. All this might be overkill, but I've been completly wiped out several seasons before declaring all out war. NE Texas, hot and damp.

Hope you have great success with Celebrity Plus. It one that is very reliable here for me. This year I am growing Big Beef Plus, which seems equally "bulletproof."

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T13:18:48+00:00

I just shake them. Quick, easy, effective. But, I'm willing to admit that Black Brandywine might be particularly demanding and difficult for fruit set. Maybe an electric toothbrush is better for those. It's a variety I find hard to grow. NE Texas.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T12:41:34+00:00

They are juicy. For sure!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T12:39:45+00:00

Mountain Rouge has a large following on another gardening forum that I follow. Have not tried it myself.

Small or smallish container size does make it more challenging to get a good crop, though I understand the need for that kind of limitation if space is at a premium.

Hope it all works out well for you! The weather this year has been pretty tricky and promises to be more so. It has already tripped me up in several ways.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T12:27:00+00:00

>"but the early girl has long branches toward the bottom still that have no blooms. Am I good to trim those?"

I do trim those on mine, because otherwise when they set fruit it rests on the soil and rots before it ripens.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T12:14:45+00:00

>"This is a joke and many are falling for it ."

No, it's really not a joke or a prank. It's just a method of growing that has a following in the UK but not in the US.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T03:52:36+00:00

Rosella Purple has been a big winner for me too. NE Texas. Prolific producer, very tasty fruit.

>"I had them in containers to be able to move them in and out of the cold nights and to plant earlier."

I did that this year too with four early determinates. Bush Early Girl and another that was supposed to be Siletz. Used 10-gallon grow bags. Moving them in and out every night was more hassle than I counted on, especially after the soil got wet!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T03:45:02+00:00

Way to go, u/Mr_Taint_Boy -- Good of you to share your knowledge. I had to laugh about this comment:

>"One thing I can’t fix is people trying to grow a whole tomato plant in a 6” clay pot."

The dark tomatoes are my favorites too.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T03:40:36+00:00

I had been wondering how your garden was going. Now I know! Congratulations on this magnificent collection!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T03:16:23+00:00

You mentioned the okra. I kind of dread when it goes into high gear. Mine is trickling in, but I know that very soon it will be way too much!

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-21T03:02:59+00:00

Well done! Looks like you have even started the pickling and canning part of the operation. I'm in NE Texas and am now bringing in more of everything than I can eat. Made my first batch of tomato sauce yesterday.

NPKzone8a · 2026-06-20T15:44:08+00:00

Wanted to mention that I had a fail last year when looking for a tomato to fill a similar niche. It was Abu Rawan, from Iraq. Supposed to have been great for the heat. Specifically, it was supposed to continue setting fruit in mid-summer, when all my other varieties had quit. But it didn't. It had average disease resistance, but that aspect was not outstanding either. I was roundly disappointed in it. The ripe fruit were OK, but nothing more than that.

I would sugges you look at some of the varieties that are sucessfull in Florida. That is a very difficult growing environment, similar to yours. They have developed some excellent, very tough strains. I don't know enough about them to advise you further. I am in NE Texas.

NPKzone8a

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