Jim Inman's (jinman) Garden - 2007

[JC-jetro]

This is "small potatoes" compared to your operation, David, but here is our one-day tomato harvest this morning. Also our cucumbers and shelled peas. We are going to can tomatoes tomorrow morning and freeze the peas. We'll find somebody to give the cucumbers to since we have a big bag in the refrigerator.

BTW: Our refrigerator is full of tomatoes and containers of sliced cantaloupe. Guess what I'm eating most of the time.

Jim,

Great looking bunch of tomatoes, I started harvesting my tomatoes officially this weekend. I think in couple of weeks I'll be inundated by them. As you said earlier I was on my hand and knees picking them up. I got to space them apart further. after few days of hot sun a bit of mold issue that I had is gone.

The only thing I don't do is to refrigerate them. That actually kills their taste.

JC


WITH CERTAIN TYPES OF PRODUCE, REFRIGERATION ISN'T COOL

 

[jinman]

Jim,

Great looking bunch of tomatoes, I started harvesting my tomatoes officially this weekend. I think in couple of weeks I'll be inundated by them. As you said earlier I was on my hand and knees picking them up. I got to space them apart further. after few days of hot sun a bit of mold issue that I had is gone.

The only thing I don't do is to refrigerate them. That actually kills their taste.

JC

Those are some really pretty tomatoes, JC. Many of mine have appearance defects due to the inconsistent rain. Only the small cherries and the Porters look perfect. However, the Better Boys and Early Girls taste just fine. Since I'm giving them away, nobody seems to mind.

You are absolutely right about the taste of tomatoes and many other vegetables when they are refrigerated. Peaches actually taste best at room temperature, but when I cut them up and sprinkle them with sugar, I normally let them set in the refrigerator for an hour or so while the sugar draws out the juice. That seems to make them just right...or so it seems with my grandkids who consume every peach piece and every drop of juice.

I couldn't help but smile a bit at that article because they said melons need to be refrigerated after cutting. I just had a 4th of July watermelon feast, and I'd bet folks would have been really surprised if I'd served non-chlled melons. While the tast may be better at room temperature, there are just some things you want/expect to be cold. Watermelon is one of those.

We put tomatoes in the refrigerator for precisely the reason stated in that link, we want to stop the ripening. We have so many tomatoes that it is probably close to a week between picking and eating. About the 4th day, we put them in the fridge to keep them from being too ripe. Also, it seems that nothing we can do will inhibit fruit flys. They drive my wife nuts. By putting stuff in the refrigerator, at least the fruit flys aren't constantly swarming.

So I absolutely agree with that article in theory, but in practice, we make some exceptions. It seems my refrigerator is full of exceptions at the moment.

And...this morning I tossed four cantaloupes out of my #3 washtub full in the garage. They had turned to mush. It kills me to do that, but when you produce in the quantities we have, there will always be some waste. Maybe the critters in the woods will appreciate them. I disposed of them over 1/4 mile from our garden. I think rotting fruit and melons around the garden last year was an attractant for critters. As yet, we have had maybe a half-dozen melons with critter damage, but nothing like last year's brutal attack.

 

[Bird]

I disposed of them over 1/4 mile from our garden. I think rotting fruit and melons around the garden last year was an attractant for critters.

I always did exactly the opposite; put ALL plant material we weren't going to eat right back into the garden. It eventually got tilled in. Of course your area has a few different critters from what I had.

 

[TBDonnelly]

This evening I harvested a few hills of Pontiac Red Potatoes. This is only my second attempt at growing 'taters. The first attempt did not do so well. The little potatoes sort of all grew together. They were strange looking potatoes. I'm happy to say after changing to a more sandy soil with some compost mixed in, the results are much better!

After viewing the picture.......I have a question. There are some nice size potatoes, also some very small potatoes. Can I leave the potatoes (that are still in the ground), there for a while and let the smaller potatoes grow or will the larger potatoes become overgrown and unedible?

I included in the picture my potato harvesting device. I'm a little embarassed to show it after seeing that really slick one of dumbdog's.

Don

 

[DUMBDOG]

You can leave the potatoes in the ground and harvest them after the plant drys up or just before the first frost.

 

[randy41]

i think if you leave them in the ground and you get a lot of rain they will rot.

 

[jinman]

This evening I harvested a few hills of Pontiac Red Potatoes. This is only my second attempt at growing 'taters. The first attempt did not do so well. The little potatoes sort of all grew together. They were strange looking potatoes.

Your potatoes look really nice. Some of my potatoes in the hay were pretty rough and mutated, but at least half were normal. The ones in the ground were better. You'd think the hay would be easier to grow nice potatoes, but that was not the case.

I like to get the small potatoes because they go so good with green beans. Also, my soil is so heavy that I think I damage most of the plant while picking any potatoes, so I just dig the whole plant. I guess if I didn't have many potatoes, I might be a bit more careful. With your digger, you should be able to carefully dig and leave the smaller potatoes as David suggested.

This last weekend I harvested the remaining potatoes. Half of them were rotten in the ground. It was NOT a pleasant experience.

 

[TBDonnelly]

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking about how nice it would be to have a vegetable cleaning table by the garden. I've been saving this stainless steel sink from a long ago kitchen remodel and I think it will work well for this purpose. A cousin gave me an old tabletop. A set of table legs from the tool store and..........

Don

 

[BTDT]

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking about how nice it would be to have a vegetable cleaning table by the garden. I've been saving this stainless steel sink from a long ago kitchen remodel and I think it will work well for this purpose. A cousin gave me an old tabletop. A set of table legs from the tool store and..........

Don

Nice addition to the garden. Do you wish you had gone with larger wheels/tires to make it easier to roll around in the grass?

 

[wushaw]

That could double a fish cleaning station also