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Downriver 2022 - Garden Adventures

More tomato varieties are starting to produce. Picked some tomatillos as well.

Tomatoes IMG_20220811_124016635.jpg

What's that big "pinkish" one center left?
 
We were out clearing some overgrowth and found these pretty little caterpillars on the underside of a leaf. I took a pic and thought I'd try to ID it later. Come to find out, this little cutie is NOT so cute. It is the Saddleback Caterpillar. Watch out for these guys if you live in their range. Very painful "sting".

Saddleback Catarpillar IMG_20220812_152809833_HDR~2.jpg

Saddleback Catepillar info
Range of Saddleback Caterpillar
 
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The heat wave of pretty hard on the garden, but the Whippoorwill cowpea continues to set pods. We've picked pods as snaps for two or three meals so far, and there's still more to come. Will probably let them go to seed pretty soon. You can see how the Mexican Bean Beetle destroyed the French Gold beans, just to the left. They started on the whippoorwills, but I've sprayed twice and hopefully they'll back off.

Cowpea - Whippoorwill IMG_20220814_133248329_HDR.jpg
 
The okra is coming along, albeit late. Picked the first pod off the Louisiana 16". It wasn't nearly that long lol. The other varieties are just starting to flower, so it won't be long before fresh Okra and Tomatoes will be on the dinner table. Yum.

Okra IMG_20220814_133309428_HDR.jpg
 
....and this out of control tomato is Tomatoberry (seeds from @skullbiker). This thing is going nuts lol. Setting pods all over the place. Should be picking the first ripe fruit shortly. Looking forward to giving it a taste. Thanks for the seeds SB!

Tomato - Tomatoberry IMG_20220814_133401991_HDR.jpg Tomato - Tomatoberry 2 IMG_20220814_133401991_HDR.jpg
 
....and this out of control tomato is Tomatoberry (seeds from @skullbiker). This thing is going nuts lol. Setting pods all over the place. Should be picking the first ripe fruit shortly. Looking forward to giving it a taste. Thanks for the seeds SB!

Tomato - Tomatoberry IMG_20220814_133401991_HDR.jpg Tomato - Tomatoberry 2 IMG_20220814_133401991_HDR.jpg

The Tomatoberry are still my all time favorite after more than ten yearsof growing them. Excellent snakers and awesome chopped up for salsa. Mine generally get 8 to ten feet tall if I give them support, I had one in Kratky hydro reach to about 14 feet tall some years back up north. Good luck with yours, they look like they're really going to produce.
 
The Tomatoberry are still my all time favorite after more than ten yearsof growing them....

Tried my first Tomatoberry yesterday, Interesting tomato! Great flavor. The first thing I noticed was how FIRM they are. No "mush" with these guys. I see why you like them so much. I'll be growing it again. Great little tomato!
 
Garden maintenance. There's always something to do. Replaced the "back" garden gate the other day. I re-used the boards from the old "front" gate I rebuilt earlier this year.

hauling it down to the garden
Garden Gate 2 IMG_20220818_172309774_HDR.jpg
 
Well, it looks like the okra has contracted some type of wilt. I think they're done for, except the AfricanX, interestingly. It is a tropical okra cross (created by @Glen_) and seems to be resistant to whichever wilt this is.

Louisiana 16", White Velvet, Burmese - all sickly like this
Okra - sick IMG_20220823_173203383_HDR.jpg

AfricanX - looking fine (just like that new gate lol)
Okra - AfricanX not sick IMG_20220823_173223967_HDR.jpg
 
Your tomatoes look good. I've found that I can't grow any tomato here that splits on top, everything is good until the splitting and then they're covered with thousands of bugs!
 
We were out clearing some overgrowth and found these pretty little caterpillars on the underside of a leaf. I took a pic and thought I'd try to ID it later. Come to find out, this little cutie is NOT so cute. It is the Saddleback Caterpillar. Watch out for these guys if you live in their range. Very painful "sting".

Saddleback Catarpillar IMG_20220812_152809833_HDR~2.jpg

Saddleback Catepillar info
Range of Saddleback Caterpillar
Wow, Those have to be one of the more exotic caterpillars I've ever seen. Are the common where you live?
 
Wow, Those have to be one of the more exotic caterpillars I've ever seen. Are the common where you live?
Well, evidently we live in the middle of their range, but I've lived in this area for decades and it's the first time I've ever seen one. I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. :shocked:
 
A nice new-to-me tomato this year is Wisconsin 55. Nice flavor - good slicer. This should make an awesome BLT!

Tomato - Wisc 55 IMG_20220825_122309972.jpg Tomato - Wisc 55 IMG_20220825_122239853.jpg
Those look huge! You'd think the Wisconsin 55 up here would be growing better, but those are some pretty nice ones by me! I've got one that is producing a little smaller than slicer tomatoes, and there's someone growing them at the CG that aren't that big either! I keep meaning to look up and see if those are named after Hwy 55, which runs thru here, or what.
 
Here's another tomato called Big Beef OP. It's supposed to be a stabilized version of Big Beef (F1) hybrid. Problem is....it's not. Big Beef is a large, RED beefsteak. This is a green-when-ripe (GWR) tomato. I emailed pics to the seed-seller and they confirmed it's NOT Big Beef OP. They said it must have gotten mixed up with one of my GWR tomatoes. Problem is, I haven't grown a GWR in 15 years because I don't care for them lol. Anyway, for an unknown GWR, this one is pretty good! lol

Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220825_191254072.jpg Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220825_191312441.jpg Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220825_191240435.jpg Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220827_124402329.jpg
 
I emailed pics to the seed-seller and they confirmed it's NOT Big Beef OP. They said it must have gotten mixed up with one of my GWR tomatoes. Problem is, I haven't grown a GWR in 15 years because I don't care for them lol.

Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220825_191254072.jpg Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220825_191312441.jpg Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220825_191240435.jpg Tomato - Big Beef OP IMG_20220827_124402329.jpg
Wow, that seller was prompt in dumping the fault on your side of the fence! Great customer service...🤦‍♂️ Nice looking tomato btw.
 
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