Something Ripened This Way Comes

[Skander]

Yeah I’m too lazy for cilantro. Planted three or four seedlings and tried to let them self-reseed. Didn’t work.

It always bolts on me in about 2 seconds, so annoying. Especially since I only usually need a tablespoon, and it's gotten more expensive. Though the seeds are really good dried- way tastier than store coriander.

A neighbor had good results with the extreme neglect method for getting it to reseed.

[iamsmu]

Yeah I’m too lazy for cilantro. Planted three or four seedlings and tried to let them self-reseed. Didn’t work.

It always bolts on me in about 2 seconds, so annoying. Especially since I only usually need a tablespoon, and it's gotten more expensive. Though the seeds are really good dried- way tastier than store coriander.

A neighbor had good results with the extreme neglect method for getting it to reseed.

Cilantro will bolt at soil temperature above 75f. It's not a hot weather plant. It hates tomatoe and pepper growing conditions. This was a shocking discovery to me. I guess it grows on shady mountain slopes in salsa country.

[iamsmu]

Does anyone grow Thai basil? Does it bolt almost instantly for you? I can only make such much thai food to keep up with it.

The place we get plants from did grow the most amazing varietal of sweet basil this year. It's bulletproof, just amazing.

Thai basil is a pain. All basil has super shallow roots. Thai basil seems especially dependent on early growing temps and water. I've had random success with it.

[ch]

Didn’t know that about cilantro. Next year we’ll plant it in our shady bed.

[fishwife]

Yeah I’m too lazy for cilantro. Planted three or four seedlings and tried to let them self-reseed. Didn’t work.

The seeds don't always survive cold winter temps.

It always bolts on me in about 2 seconds, so annoying. Especially since I only usually need a tablespoon, and it's gotten more expensive. Though the seeds are really good dried- way tastier than store coriander.

A neighbor had good results with the extreme neglect method for getting it to reseed.

It bolts really quickly. The reason to grow it, IMO, is for the GREEN seeds. They're awesome. Sometimes I eat them right off the plant as I'm gardening. They're amazing in cooking, and they're actually a rather wonderful ingredient in dairy-based desserts. If you crush them and steep them in your hot cream/milk for custards and such, it's revelatory. I keep meaning to make this green coriander seed gelato thing that I've been craving, but I keep putting off buying an ice cream maker because I can't decide what kind to get (space vs. features, etc.).

Also, the flowers are great for attracting hoverflies/parasitoid wasps/lady beetles/lacewings to do pest control in the garden.

Didn’t know that about cilantro. Next year we’ll plant it in our shady bed.

You also need to succession plant it. Keep sowing fresh seeds every couple of weeks. And keep the growing area moist. Don't let it dry out.

[fishwife]

Oh man, I should have checked back in earlier. I veggie garden every summer. This summer has sucked a bit because of a rampant squirrel overpopulation/fruiting tree failure perfect storm that has resulted in unprecedented squirrel issues for me. Also, the monsoonish weather is a foliar disease nightmare this year. But I normally enjoy lots of great veggies in the summer and fall.

[ch]

We just planted cilantro as an afterthought. The shady bed was a huge disappointment this year. Next year I’ll use a lot of it for cilantro since it doesn’t seem to be good for much else. The problem will be keeping it moist.

Blight on the tomatoes is the biggest problem we need to solve. I also want to try succession planting the determinates.

Next year... less basil, more parsley, more cilantro, more tomatoes. Maybe some peppers. More aggressive fungicide and fertilizing. Tomatoes and herbs have the biggest payoff for me, though, since tomatoes are way better than store bought and herbs are expensive to buy.

I’d like to do drip irrigation, but I’m renting so it seems like overkill.

[simonrest]

I just pulled out our 2 raised planters. I've grown tomatoes every summer for the last 6 years - they always do really well. Basil, rosemary, parsley, mint. Hate growing coriander. I grew cucumbers which weren't much good, Pumpkins which went too well and took over a large part of the garden, and peppers which also went well.

I'm now down to lemons and tahitian limes which have taken 5 years to establish properly but are now giving good and plentiful fruit, as long as I can keep aphids off them. Once I finish the garden I may plant winter fruit trees too

[DCM]

My neighbors untamed blackberry brambles. The suckers are invading my yard. I stole some fruit over the fence. It’s not even good.

In a similar vein: we rent our place, and the landlord planted an apple tree smack in the middle of the garden. It's pretty and all, the birds love it, and it's great to sit under on hot summer days and enjoy a cup of coffee - but it casts lots of shadow on the beds, the windfalls keep falling on my veg and attract lots of wasps, plus the apples aren't even at all tasty. Our neighbours tell us that our landlord once made cider out of the apples (we live in England's West Country, famed for its traditional ciders) and that it tasted something like paint stripper...

[DCM]

So, I harvested my pumpkins today - three kuris, four turbans and five sugars. Seems weird to have winter veg already harvested, but then it's already beginning to feel a bit autumnal here in the UK.

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[ch]

You go away for a few days and suddenly there’s an army of caterpillars decimating your parsley. Murdered about a dozen future butterflies today. (Wouldn’t feel as bad if they were future moths.)

[mgil]

@DoubleBreastedAmazon has had a pretty good haul over the last week it would seem.

[Skid]

I've been eating fresh from the garden since July starting with blue berries and salads. I've got a couple acres of fruit trees ripening now. The oriental pears are so juicy that juice drips off your elbows when eating them:) I've made and the family has drank almost 10 gallons of fresh apple cider with lots more apples to go Also have already been dining on corn/taters/carrots/etc. from the garden. Bloody blue jays are eating all my hazel nuts tho. Bears should be by soon too...

[DoubleBreastedAmazon]

Oooo!!!! This is a fun thread!

Thanks for the tag @mgil. Some of y'alls garden pics are lovely. Mine is a fucking wild mess, don't have the time to tend it much, these days. But it still seems to produce so much fruit, nonetheless. All I have going this year are squash and tomatoe plants. My gourds have been battling powdery mildew, but are still bearing fruit. My fridge is packed to the gills with tomatoes and squash. My husband doesn't eat very much of either of these, so I am powering through them all by my lonesome. These days I'm consuming in excess of 900g of tomatoes and 400g of squash daily! Good for keeping my calories down, that's for sure!

I planted a few varieties of tomatoes this year, but lost the tags identifying them, so I don't actually know what's what.

My favorite this season are these giant orange ones: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN ... lNdVJIYXBR

These other guys are very pretty, but not quite as tasty:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipM ... hodTVldC1B

Than I've got these large beef steaks that are pretty nice too:
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM ... yS8DxYDQun

If y'all recognize any of these varieties, I'd love to know what they are so I can try get them again next year.

Also, if anyone good ways to preserve tomatoes so that they don't go to waste, I am looking for suggestions!

[cgeorg]

Spaghetti sauce?

[ch]

Managed to get 2 romas and 6 or 7 better boys with minimal blight today. Pulled them at first blush. Normally let them ripen more but wanted to get them before the blight got too bad.

I also finally got around to pruning my peppermint and am planning to dry it for tea. My spearmint got trashed by teeny caterpillars. Going to have to pay closer attention to it as it regrows.