Orange Cucumber

Yesterday, after work, I took a peek at my garden to see how the vegetables were faring. And behold, I had tomatoes that were finally ripening up and cucumbers hanging on the vine and what looked like squash! Wait...I didn't plant any squash, so what was it doing there? I reached down and plucked from the vine an...ORANGE CUCUMBER! The color closely resembles goldenrod from the Crayola crayons box.

What could this be? Did I have a different variety of cucumber that I had forgotten about? Nope, looks like the bees cross-pollinated my cucumbers with my tomatoes. :) I had heard that I I would need to keep a 100 yards between cucumbers and watermelon, but I didn't think that I might have needed to use this guideline for my tomatoes. For now I will happily pluck goldenrod cucumbers off the vine.

I also retrieved one ear of corn that was ready and that the raccoon hadn't already enjoyed. He does tell me that the corn is sweet and delicious, just how I like it. It is nice to have a taste tester to make sure the food is ready.

I was trying to get fancy in my vegetable display. With this bounty I felt like a real farmer, too bad I didn't have any wheat to stick chew on and my overalls were in the laundry. But I was barefoot, I have the mosquito bites on my feet to prove it.

Vegetables are Growing!!!

My culinary skills had better get... well, better quickly. My garden is starting to produce real vegetables. I no longer have to go out to the garden and imagine the wonderful vegetables that I will be able to reap. Now I can actually see them!

I have cucumbers is varying sizes, maybe next week I can have one for dinner.

The tomatoes are showing up, but still small.

Green Beans are poking their head out. And to think I didn't like Green Beans when I was a kid.

I pulled out a carrot to check their progress, we still have a long way to go.

The corn is showing some life, I am guessing another month...maybe.

I haven't seen any strawberries since the first few, but it looks like it is still growing.

And the blueberries, yum!!!

My Own Tomato Topsy Turvy

You might have seen the Topsy Turvy Tomato planter on TV or in your local store. It is the invention that grows tomato plants upside down. Allowing for the plant to be hung instead of planted into the ground, this way it takes up less room on your patio or balcony. It works wonders for city dwellers you don't have a lot of land but want to enjoy fresh tomatoes. For people you do have enough land, such as me, we use it to keep the tomatoes off of the ground so that they don't rot before you get them.

The one main reason I am trying this type of growing is because we are getting so much rain here in Kentucky and not a lot of sun, so my tomato plants are really growing. They are healthy but have not reached for the sky like my other plants. So I thought I would try this other method after seeing my friend's tomato plant in a Topsy Turvy.

Instead of going out and buying one I found directions online to build my own at Instructables.com. The directions call for a two liter bottle, knife, strong string or twine, duct tape, aluminum foil, potting soil and a tomato plant.

First you cut the bottom out of the bottle then punch three to four holes around this cut edge. Tape the edge with duct tape, this way you can avoid getting cut on the plastic. String your holes. *Make sure that your string or twine is fairly strong, it is going to have to hold wet soil and a fairly heavy plant. Just think of all the tomatoes that will be on it. :)

Then I took a small piece of aluminum foil, I used foil because it was rigid and could be threaded through the mouth of the bottle easier. Wrap the foil around the top portion of the plant. Be careful not to get it to tight, you don't want to damage the plant just confine it. After you have wrapped your plant, thread it through the mouth of the bottle coming from the inside. You want the roots to sit inside the bottle. Once situated take the foil off, add potting soil and water. Then find a good place in full sun to hang your tomato plant. Just remember that a sturdy hook or fence will be needed because of the weight.

Because the bottle is acting like a greenhouse to the roots you must make sure to water often! Some say two times a day. Look at your soil and do what it tells you.

I will be interested to see what kind of yield I get from my plant hanging upside down. If this works I will continue to do it year after year. Hopefully the sun will peak out and all of my tomato plants will give me baskets full of beautiful red tomatoes.

Happy Gardening!