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We discovered that all of our determinate tomato bushes contain green tomatoes with a strange "bullseye" mushy brown spot not the bottom. With much internet research, we came to the conclusion that our tomatoes are suffering from Buckeye Rot.

Buckeye Rot is caused by a soil born fungus called Phytophthora parasitica. It affects tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. This fungus is activated when the garden doesn't drain well or is overwatered (homeguides.com, n.d.).

I think this might have been my issue because I was watering a whole bunch because we were experiencing 100+ degree weather. All of the fruits affected were touching the soil.

It turns out this is a problem that is easier to avoid than treat.

TREATMENT

June 11, 2018: Richard and I removed all of the affected fruit and pulled all foliage off from the ground up to 15cm (Tomato Diseases, n.d.). The ground was allowed to completely dry for 2 days following a deep watering in the morning.

June 14, 2018: The following day, an organic liquid copper fungicide spray was used on everything in each of the gardens containing edible items.

Rose, L. (n.d.). How to avoid Buckeye Rot in tomatoes. Retrieved from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/avoid-buckeye-rot-tomatoes-45167.html

Tomato Diseases (n.d.) Retrieved from http://nhb.gov.in/pdf/vegetable/tomato/tom002.pdf

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We have been finding black sugar ants all over our tomatoes, ruining them. I researched two methods to rid us of these nibbly creatures.

June 13, 2018
1. I sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth- food grade, onto the base of edible every plant we have, including fruit trees. The powder basically cuts up all insects and dries them up. I chose not to sprinkle it on the foliage for fear the powder would get into the flowers and destroy beneficial insects, such as bees (Richsoil.com, n.d.).

2. I also created a garlic-chili pepper spray. I didn't really follow a recipe, I just threw in some red pepper flakes, dried cayenne pepper spice, and garlic cloves into a pot of bottled water, boiled it, mushed up the cloves, and let it sit on the stove until the next day. Then I strained the concoction into a spray bottled, filled the rest of it up with bottled water and sprayed all my plants. Guess what, within hours, my plants were ant free! Turns out they are repelled by the smell of hot peppers and garlic.

Jim & Mary. (n.d.) How to battle pests naturally with hot pepper and garlic spray. Retrieved from https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2013/07/16/battle-pests-garlic-spray/

Richsoil. (n.d.) Diatomaceous Earth (food grade): Bug killer you can eat! Retrieved from https://richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

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This was our first attempt at growing in this area. We tilled up a patch in the grass with lots of filtered sun from the pecan tree. Our hot and sweet banana peppers, jalapeños, and yellow pear tomatoes were very prolific. Nothing else really took. I believe we got two spaghetti squash, some Mr. Stripey tomatoes, and too much danged zucchini.

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We increased the size of the bed and used a rented tiller to till the soil. This time, we made big rows with decent furrows and installed a soaker hoses that ran on top of each row. I really wanted a large harvest of tomatoes because I want to can a bunch of tomato paste, sauce, and marinara sauce (see Too Much Stuff - Recipes For a Large Harvest).

We planted some peas, carrots, beets, radishes, cabbage, mixed lettuce, iceberg lettuce, and turnips.

Peas: succesful, need a better device to climb. We used twin linked between to poles and it was not sturdy enough. We also could have planted earlier. From seed/direct sew is fine.

Carrots: Two survived, then we forgot about them and they went bad. Plant earlier. From seed/direct sew is fine.

Beets: They seemed to have a lot of foliage and then disappeared. Yes, the plants disappeared. Was something eating them? Plant earlier.

Radishes: We did ok, but we need to get our harvesting time down. Also, plant earlier.

Turnips: Ours were awesome and delicious! They were a purple/white variety. We even made turnip greens out of it, but the leaves need to be be younger. We cooked the older leaves and they had a rough texture (see Too Much Stuff). Plant earlier. Seed/Direct sow

Iceberg Lettuce - Bonnie Plants from Lowes. Did great! Moving location to Rose garden in the Fall because of the extra shade. Made a great salad and BLT!

Mixed Lettuce - Bonnie Plants from Lowes. Also, successful and prolific. Moving to Rose garden in the Fall because of the extra shade. Also, made a great salad and BLT!

Cabbage: Awesome! Also moving to Rose Garden. It is important to get the heads before fungus and bugs do. We had two and one was unsalvageable. However, the other made a great cabbage, sausage, and potato crockpot dish (see Too Much Stuff).

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Turnip Greens - Use the young leaves, not the old. The old have a rough texture. https://www.pinterest.com/offsite/?token=631-453&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.familysavvy.com%2Fhow-to-cook-greens-collard-or-turnip%2F&pin=69383650485579078&client_tracking_params=CwABAAAADDU0MDAwNzU1MjMzNwA

Mashed Turnips - https://www.thespruceeats.com/mashed-turnips-recipe-101858

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Cabbage, Sausage, Potato - I added twice as much garlic and onion than the recipe called for, mostly because we have alot
of it. I used local sausage found at Pinkies from Miles, TX. Potatoes were those small colored potatoes found at HEB. It turned out amazing, especially the next day. http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/kielbasa-cabbage-and-onions-low-carb-slow-cooker-crock-pot-323548#activity-feed

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I planted a lot of tomatoes, all different kinds, determinate and indeterminate. Determinate were caged, indeterminate staked. Then we got Buckeye Rot (hopefully not Blight) and little black ants. At this point, June 14th, I am not sure how the determinate crop is going to do. We also planted:

Corn: seems to be doing well.

Okra: Started with a bang and has slowed down.

And more tomatoes, and I'm going to add more....

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We planted Mammoth Sunflowers and they were AMAZING!!! But then a really rough wind storm came about and blew them over. But they were still pretty and the seeds were edible.

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We planted Intermediate-Day onion transplants from Dixondale Farms, an extremely reputable source. Specifically, we planted Candy (yellow onion) and Super Star (white onion). This is our second year in a row, different location, to be succesful with these specific onion varieties and source. If you want big onions, you have to go with Intermediate-Day, not Short-Day like the Farmer's Almanac and Aggie Horticulture will tell you. TRUST ME!!!

This year we are learning the importance of curing onions. Onions are less likely to get moldy and mushy if they are hung up by their greens in a shaded, kinda cool area, with lots of air flow. This year we are trying out underneath our carport in the front.

The attached picture is of our onion and garlic harvest curing.

By the way, Dixondale Farms is awesome and they always give you more than you need. I recommend having a backup friend to give some of your extras to. This next year, I may sample some different varieties from GrowOrganic.com

http://www.dixondalefarms.com/category/intermediate_day_onions

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Crop rotation is supposed to be impotant to prevent diseases and such. I don't exa

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Our weather was weird this year and we had a very cool late spring. Usually it is already hot as F%&$ by April. I think this cause our onions to delay their growth, so we got started really late on the next batch of goodies, We planted more items as we pulled the onions. I still have a few onions left, but not many!

Cantaloupe- grown from seed. We will see how it goes.

Eggplant- Bonnie Plants at Lowes.

Moon & Stars Watermelon- grown from seed.

Straight Neck Squash- grown from seed

Crook Neck Squash- Bonnie Plants at Lowes

Zucchini- Bonnie Plants at Lowes

Spaghetti Squash- grown from seed

National Pickling Cucumbers

Some other Pickling Cucumbers

Regular Cucumbers- Bonnie Plants at Lowes

Pepper

At this point, we planted these really late. I think they will still grow and hopefully be successful, but everyone else I know with squash and zucchini already have a huge harvest. PLANT EARLIER.

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This was our very first attempt at a garden. It did okay with peas.

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Planted a variety of peppers here kinda late in the summer. It was super uneventful. I also think it is too shade here for peppers. Peppers love the heat and sun!

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We had sooooo many onion transplants left over from Dixondale Farms. We put them here and super crowed them. Then our dumbasses put the top of an old aquaponics device we were taking apart on top of the onions. This blocked some of the sun needed and bent many of the greens. The onions turned out okay and tasted fine, but none of them got too big. We put these "baby" onions in a crockpot with some roast beef. DELICIOUS!

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After finally pulling all the baby onions out to cure or cook, we planted two sugar baby icebox watermelons. Hopefully they will not be too crowed. In the winter, we used mulch made of leaves from around the yard and it has done spectacular. Minimal weeds and great soil! GOOD TO KEEP IN MIND FOR NEXT FALL/WINTER WHEN LEAVES DROP.

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This was are first time to plant onions. We chose the sampler pack from Dixondale Farms. This pack include transplants for Candy (yellow), Super Star (White), and Red Candy Apple (red). Candy and Super Star were great, read, meh. They tasted good, but they didn't get very big and they were the first to go bad. However, we did not cure any of our onions. And the ones we tried to cure, cut of tops, put in panty hose, hang in closet. All of these got mold on them and/or started growing. By the way, the reds really started growing and we planted them the next year. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. They just sent up stalks and went to seed. No bueno.

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We planted pumpkins, a variety seed pack, direct sow, from grow organic. Evidently, this was too late to plant to expect carving pumpkins for halloween, but we still got great pumpkins to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We planted the organic rainbow mix. We got some:
Casper white pumpkins, even though they were more bluish.

Cinderella: did okay

Dickinson: great for pies!

Jack O'lantern: I don't think these grew.

These pumpkins grew all over the front yard and had the neighbors talking and asking questions. They all loved the homemade pumpkin pies we gave them!
Next year, I really want to try growing a giant pumpkin!!!!!!

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Planted the combo garlic pack, plus extra elephant garlic, from Grow Organic.com.

Elephant Garlic: yes, amazing.

California Early White (organic soft neck): if these are what I think they are, bulbs are big, but they did okay, and yes, they were the first to come up.

Music (conventional hardneck): not sure which ones these are.

Russian Red (conventional hardneck): not sure which ones these are either.

French Red Shallots (organic): Nope, not doing these again. They are still growing and it's mid June, and they don's seem to be developed in the ones I have pulled with dried up leaves.

I plan to do elephant garlic, california early white, and maybe another type in the future. No shallots, sorry. I still love you, but only from the grocery store or farmer's market.

Next year, I will plant as early as possible.

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Sample of potatoes from grow organic. Nothing grew. Lots of foliage, not potatoes. We put a lot of work into this and we got nothing. Probably not trying potatoes again any time soon.

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Tomatoes from seed transplants. Lots of foliage, no fruit.

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Garlic/Shallot combo mix. Garlic was super small. Shallots are still there and it is freaking June of 2018. Next plan is to try leafy veggies due to the extra afternoon shade.

We do have a theory that the neighbor's honeysuckle bush is leeching some type of deterrent to keep neighboring plants at bay.

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We planted a patch of everbearing Seascape strawberries, a little aways from the honeysuckle. Their foliage looks okay, and some are sending out runners. We have seen a few tiny strawberries, but then they disappear. Birds? Squirrels?

These strawberries are mulched and are almost weed free. Plus, there is something about this bed that retains moisture really well.

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Multi-Graft "Western Fruit Salad- Planted Winter 2016

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Multi-Graft "Western Fruit Salad- Planted Winter 2016

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This was my first multi-graft fruit tree to plant from grow organic. I think it has peaches, apricots, and santa rosa plum. It gets better and better every year. You have to put a bird net on it, otherwise birds and squirrels will help themselves.

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Multi-Graft "Constant Harvest Pluot"- Planted Winter 2017

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Multi-Graft "Constant Harvest Pluot"- Planted Winter 2017

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A cross between a plum and an apricot from grow organic. I have flavor queen, dapple dandy, and I am not sure what the other one is , but they are soooooo good. Use a bird net!

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Peter's Honey Fig Tree-Planted Winter 2018

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Peter's Honey Fig Tree-Planted Winter 2018

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From groworganic. Died, I think because of the bad cold fronts we had right after I planted. These has happened to me multiple times. Baby fig trees are so sensitive to super cold.

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Planted the same time as the honey fig. It almost dies, as well, but some how barely survived. It is growing, but no fruit yet.

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We planted this to replace the Peter's Honey Fig. We got it from Lowes and it already had one fruit on it. I really wanted two fig trees because, even though they are self-fruiting, I have heard they do better with more than one tree. We shall see. At least it is still alive and putting on more fruit!

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Multi-Graft Sweet Cherry Tree- Planted Winter 2018

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Multi-Graft Sweet Cherry Tree- Planted Winter 2018

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All the other trees are in our front yard. This one went to the back, near the back fence and the pool. I believe there is bing cherries, but I do not know what the other two varieties are. The labels came off of the tree before I could get a look. It seems to be established and doing well. No fruit, but I am not expecting any until next year.

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We built this bed to put elephant garlic. It did great!

After pulling the elephant garlic, we are moving the bed a few feet forward to add a path between the Clementine garden and this one. Not sure what we are putting there next....

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Due to the garlic taking longer to grow than expected (I think our unseasonably late cool weather had something to do with this), we got started late on this garden too. But we have herbs and peppers with a nice mulch to help with weeds (which it does).

We also recently planted some determinate tomatoes on the other half, very late in the season, amongst the leftover garlic and shallots we are waiting on. I probably got these tomatoes in the ground in late May. Right now, they are taking their sweet time growing. Period.

Herbs-Don't let them flower! They will lose flavor and quality after going to seed.

Basil x 2: super prolific, been dehydrating them to make organic dried basil. Super easy!

Thyme: doing good, slow grower

Cilantro: did okay. I made some awesome elote with it and then it died on me.

Oregano: doing good, slow grower.

Peppers: I think the like the full sun!

Sweet Banana Peppers: soooo prolific.

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Richard built me a large raised bed. To save money, we layered it with cardboard, then put dead grass clippings and such from our compost pile, then we added cheap dirt/fertilizer bags from Lowes. We planted the Jersey Knight roots as directed. I believe 9 of the 12 came up and seem to be doing good. They have gotten super big. Directions say to not harvest the first year, and only harvest a little the second year.

Our main problem is the weeds!!!! We think maybe the dead grass clippings were not so dead and the bed is infested with grass. We are constantly pulling weeds and cannot keep up with it. We don't think we should mulch it for fear of keeping the asparagus stalks from reaching the surface. ARG. But, it doesn't seem like the asparagus mind the weeds too much, but I still don't want to risk the grasses talking over. Plus, the bed is leaking water and we need to figure how to fix this.

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We did great with the 5 plants in Olivia Summer 2018. I would like to double that amount next year.

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Eggplants seem hearty  in Georgina, even though she has been disease and pest infested this year.

Basil is soooo prolific, only one plant is needed.

I forgot to plant parsley in 2018. Need to do it in 2019 for dried
herb spices.