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Skalliwag

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37 minutes ago, tommy dee said:

WAIT.. so Mint drive the mites and bugs away?? pls confirm as I have shedloads fo that.  plus I am well pissed off seeing your toms lookin so good 🙂

...Rosemary & Mint are two herbs that do a great job as companion plants to ward off insects.  For bigger problems you can use insecticide.  For preventative measures- start with herbs & hose down method & homemade bug spray. My lemon tree in Thailand was always full of bugs, so I switched my soil to sand & perlite mix, sprayed the top of my mix with insecticide, and had tiny pots full of rosemary plants & mint plants encircling my larger Lemon tree container pot.  In the picture above, you’ll see some young pepper seedlings.  There is a small rosemary plant in the center of the large black container.  My dwarf apple tree in thailand always had apple mites...the only thing that fixed that was insecticide spray. Later on, I did preventative maintenance by using neem oil  &/or horticultural oil

 I’ll post more when I get up from my nap.  

 

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Snails & Slugs:

So the very light lines you see are the slug tracks from the past night. 

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The deeper lines you see below, on the porch deck, are older tracks that were left behind a few years ago. 

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 I use to grow a variety of lettuces in containers. There was a bit of a rabbit problem in the front yard, so I grew my lettuces in containers and kept them in the backyard on my deck porch.  Every night the slugs would come out and encircle my containers.  In the backyard, no rabbits, but a crap load of slugs hiding everywhere.  I used containers to grow my lettuces and then would wrap my containers with 3 plastic bags.  As the slugs try to climb up the bagged container bags, they would fall off.

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So, my 3rd and final succession growing crop are just sprouting or younglings.  They are easy pray for slugs/snails.  I usually just put down used/dried off coffee grounds as a barrier to halt the snails, but ran out.  I ended up putting salt over the old coffee grounds as my protective barrier.

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I used up my old coffee grounds recently as “initial” fertilizer for my jalapenos, tomatoes, blueberry and basil.  I try and only use grade fertilizer “after” the first harvest of a plant to give it the extra juice to continue to flower and produce more fruit and also to not shock/harm the plant with grade fertilizer until the plant is in the mature faze. 

I bought slug/snail killer, but haven’t had to open it as the used coffee grounds & salt combination are working just fine.

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If I were to have used the snail killer, I would have put it on the opposite side of the coffee grounds/plants, under the car on the left side.  The slugs/snails would have been attracted to the slug bate under the car and went that direction.

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Whenever I was thirsty and went into a 7-11/Family Mart to buy a beverage, I wouldn’t necessary buy what I actually wanted to drink, but buy something to drink which would be a container I could use for both propagating or protecting my young plants.

I would cover my young lettuce plants with old plastic beverage bottles.  Leave the top cap off and cut the bottle offs and stick it over the plant. 

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8 hours ago, tommy dee said:

WAIT.. so Mint drive the mites and bugs away?? pls confirm as I have shedloads fo that.  plus I am well pissed off seeing your toms lookin so good 🙂

#6.  Companion Planting Herbs:

I try to grow lots of Rosemary and Mint as these two herbs do a great job in repelling insects.  They give off a smell a lot of insects don’t like.  I would encircle my vegetables/balcony with lots of rosemary and mint plants.  I would also snip a tiny bit of the rosemary needles regularly and snip the tips of my mint to give off more of its odor.  If I were still doing row gardening in soil/in the ground I would be alternating herbs with vegetables row planting.  I would plant dill to the left & right of my cucumber plants, do the same with oregano with squash/zucchini. 

 

 

 

So, the first year I started my garden in Thailand, I wasn’t so successful as there are a number of challenges.  I learned from my mistakes, had a lot of help from Thai friends and found ways to be successful.  I’ll provide some insights and instead of giving a report based on my timeline, will provide you a timeline based on growing/establishing your own garden in a very hot/humid climate.

 

#1.  Seeds

I initially bought my seeds from a couple of garden stores in Thailand.  The problem was that most of the seeds I bought were very old and had a very poor germination rate.  Since that first year, growing my garden on my condo balcony, I have bought better seeds in order to start off on the right foot sort of speak.  I am from the states, in growing zone 8.  Thailand is in zone 12.  When deciding what to plant, you have to take into consideration the zone you will be planting in. You also have to decide how to start “from seed”. After a lot of trial and error, it is easier and you’ll have a higher germination rate by planting indoors in most situations.  It is so bloody hot in Thailand and most of what I wanted to grow germinated better in 70-85 degree temperatures, so initial seed germination was started indoors with peat moss/peat pellets.  I also bought my seeds from reputable vendors from the states.  As I was going back to the states for a couple visits per year or friends were coming to visit me, I had plenty of opportunities to get seeds to plant.  I also buy mostly Hybrid & F1 seeds.  They are more resistant to CMV, scab, MMV and resistant to many fungus and bugs.  A great many of the Hybrid & F1 seeds have better germination rate and days to harvest is shortened.  I also bought some seeds at the Russian Night Markets in Thailand.  There are a few varieties of Russian Brand pickling cucumber Hybrid seeds that are very good and they also produce “80% female flowers to 20% male flowers”. 

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#2.  Soil

So, my initial soil composition was horrible and that alone led to a lot of my failures.  When I learned to correct soil issues, my garden thrived. It also has a domino effect.  By starting off with good soil, I also cut down on insects, bugs and watering issues.  I initially bought soil from the Thai Garden Shops, which sold horrible soil.  My first decent soil, I received from my Thai secretary at the time.  She had her cousin drive down a truck full of really good soil from Nong Pu Lampu. Later on, I bought even better soil.  You can now easily buy great potting soil and amendments via online retailers such as Lazada and others. 

Now, my soil:  Due to spacing issues I chose to garden using containers “container gardening”. Over the course of time, I learned that container garden is much more efficient and you can handles the pitfalls of gardening in Thailand by using the container gardening method, I will elaborate more in my Udon Thani home purchasing notes below. 

The soil I eventually stuck with was actual “Potting Soil”.  But, I also amended my soil by adding perlite to make it drain better (eliminate overwatering, sitting water (bugs) and by adding sand and peat moss for nutrients.  So, my soil consisted of high quality: Potting Mix, Peat Moss, compost soil, Perlite & Sand.   I even bought 3 different kinds of sand and tested how long it would take for a 2 cups of water to drain through the sand and how much of it drained to the bottom.  Now, here in the states, I can buy potting soil and know that it is free of bugs and bug eggs. In Thailand, I don’t trust anything.  So, what I did was always sterilize my soil.  I would take my soil and bake it in the oven @ 200 degrees for 30-45 minutes to kill off any bugs and eggs.  Once I got my soil problem fixed, it solved a lot of problems, as everything is connected.

 

#3.  Containers

Due to limited space, I chose to use containers and pots to grow.  Now, when I buy my house in Udon Thani, I will still grow in containers vs. growing on a plot of land.  I will explain more later.  Now, here in the states, in my location, I grow my jalapenos in black containers.  They love the extra heat and works well in my growing zone. 

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But, in Thailand, it’s already dam hot….actually too hot.  So, I avoid using black pots as it has a way of burning the soil/roots.  Now, my vegetables like tomatoes, I put them in containers that have plenty of drainage holes, one that doesn’t absorb too much sunlight/heat and is the proper size and depth of the type of “hybrid/resistant” variety I want to grow.  Now, there are a lot of bugs and insects when you grow your garden using soil. Also, water/moisture that sits on your soil is a breeding ground for insects.  I usually water very early or very late, never during the middle part of the day.  I also, take a white plastic bag and cover the tops of my containers.  It takes a bit of work, working around the stems, but I try to cover any openings/soil that bugs can land on.  Not only will bugs/insects land on your plant & leaves, but they will land make a home in your soil.  So, I avoid that part by covering the soil. 

 

#4.  Insecticide: 

Where I am currently at in the states, I have very little to worry about in terms of bugs and insects. So, I can use the most basic method to get rid of bugs.  I can begin by using the hose down method.  I hose off my plants everyday with water.  By hosing off everyday from the beginning, I don’t allow an infestation to even begin (another reason why containers work better than a live garden).  I use to every night from my second floor balcony, lift up my container onto the railing and hose down my plant.  Eventually, the condo manager came and said that the Russian family down below me weren’t too happy with water falling from up above lol.  I would then let it dry off a bit and then spray it with insecticide. Every time I went back to the states, I would pre-order spray bottle of the best insecticides that were made for a vegetable garden.  They would arrive in a cardboard box.  I would wrap the box in wrapping paper to make it look like a present and then take the wrapped box and put it in a shopping bag.  I never had a problem bringing in insecticide from the states to Thailand.  You can buy insecticides on Lazada here in Thailand, but I liked the ones I could get from the states.  (I did the same thing with fungicide spray).

 

Homemade Bug Spray:  In Thailand, during the late afternoon, I would see lot more bugs in the air.  I know some people use dish soap & water mix/solution to spray on their plants.  I used a better homemade formula for the afternoons.  I used:

½ tsp dish soap

½ tsp canola oil

1 tsp baking soda

And then fill the rest of my spray bottle with water.  I would spray my plants in the late afternoon to keep the bugs of my plants.  I would also even spray the air to get rid of the bugs flying around.  Now, the homemade formula is a good accompaniment, but nothing works as good as insecticide. 

RECAP -  on bug spray from most simple/less effect    to    full on infestation problems

  1.  Water spraying method

  2. Homemade formula

  3. Organic spray like neem oil or any spray that says organic gardens

  4. Insecticide sprays and commercial grade insecticides

     

     

     

#5.  Powdery Mildew & Fungus:  

In Thailand, the high humidity level causes a lot of powdery mildew and fungus.  I am currently growing squash/zucchini here in the states.  And even here, my giant size zucchini leaves will eventually have powdery mildew on its leaves. So, I will begin, right away a homemade spray of milk + 8 parts water spray.  I will spray my leaves so that I limit the formation of powdery mildew/fungus.  In Thailand, I can take dry laundry soap + water and spray my leaves, even scrubbing the leaves.  I tend to like the actual fungicide spray as it is stronger and really does the trick… and yes, I bring bottles of this stuff back from the states to Thailand too.

 

#6.  Companion Planting Herbs:

I try to grow lots of Rosemary and Mint as these two herbs do a great job in repelling insects.  They give off a smell a lot of insects don’t like.  I would encircle my balcony with lots of rosemary and mint plants.  I would also snip a tiny bit of the rosemary needles regularly and snip the tips of my mint to give off more of its odor. 

 

#7.  Maintenance:  

A lot of issues can be limited from early maintenance.  For example, my tomato plants.  #1.  I buy varieties of tomato seeds that can be successful in hot Thailand weather.  Buy bug resistant hybrid seeds.  #2.  I scoop out 6” of soil every so often and replace the top soil with sterilized soil that I baked in the oven.  #3.  I cover the soil with a white plastic bag.  #4.  I hose down my plants every night.  #5.  I spray insecticide and fungicide on the plant and leaves and soil.  I also do proper plant maintenance.  Here in the part of the states I am in, if I chose not to do anything with the plant, I can still be successful.  In Thailand, with the humidity, I have to do proper maintenance of my plant.     #5. Pruning:  On my tomato plant, I need to prune any weak, dead, yellowing leaves right away.   I also need to prune to air-rate, allow air to flow easily through my tomato plant.  The center of my tomato plants need to be pruned to allow proper air flow.  #6.  When my flowers have set and fruits are young and more susceptible to bugs, I cover my fruit with plastic bags and tie them shut.  #7.  I also sprayed my tomato plants with Epsom Salt water mix on the foliage.  The chemical reaction mimics that bugs may be being attacking the plant and it naturally puts it defenses up.  #8.  Get ride of insect infested plants or move them away from healthy plants (again, easier to do when you grow in containers).

Herbs:  I grow a lot of herbs for eating/recipes. But whenever people use to come over to my place in Thailand, they saw that I had herbs encircling my tomato/vegetable plants.  I grew a lot of Rosemary & Mint.  Those two plants will repeal a lot of insects.  So, I would alternate those herbs pots that encircled my potted container garden.  I would regularly snip the leaves of my mint plant and needles of my rosemary to give off the odor that insects hate.  That is why companion growing herbs are so important too. 

 

#8.  Looking to buy house in Udon Thani

So, the last time I was in Udon Thani, I began looking around/shopping for a house to buy.  A big portion of what I was looking for involved buying a place so I could have a “container garden”.  I saw a couple of houses I liked, but didn’t like the outside location for my garden.  I need a place with good sunlight.  A place that isn’t swarming with insects/bugs, a place that isn’t a breeding ground for bugs.  I saw a place I liked, but the wall surrounding the house had a lot of standing water that attracted a lots of bugs.  Also, there was a darker area with a banana tree and lots of dried leaves/compost which was a breeding ground for disease and insects. 

In ground gardening:  The reason I don’t like in-ground gardening in Thailand is because it is much harder to minimize problems, fix issues and there are a number of difficulties to solve.  In Thailand, the soil is usually poor and takes a lot more work to solve that problem.  Also, bugs/insects in-ground is harder to control.  Whenever a plant is sick or needs maintenance, it is easier in container gardening to move it somewhere else or just throw it away.  Most of my gardening these days involves soil-less.  It solves a lot of the bug/insect, watering issues, diseases etc…  A lot of problems disappear with soil-less gardening and I tend to only have to worry about is the tops of my plant. 

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 I would have trouble writing my complete knowledge of gardening on my little fingernail & filling it.

This is from my mum's house & those six big flowers came from a single bulb.

My claim to fame is that they grew & flowered on the windowsill of my old bedroom😎

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.Pick some tomatoes and hosed down plants today38FFDF46-5EBC-467B-9A03-D9962243AD63.jpeg

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I pruned the first group of tomato plants now 3 times, but they grow like crazy

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carrots coming in nicely, will use for sunday pot roast & crock pot cooking

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...the same soil & ph reader is $17 USD

and in Thailand it is only $6 

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  • 2 weeks later...

... just had some fresh basil & tomato with mozzarella dipped in balsamic vinegar.  4BAD3249-F830-4053-83C0-3F5EBD2BAA42.jpeg

I find that growing herbs works better with the soilless method. Helps to keep the  bugs from eatting my lettuce leaf basil.  

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Will begin harvesting tomatoes, cilantro and jalapeños today, to make pico de gallo and fire roasted salsa.  

 

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In thailand, I had problems with flower drop, so I began growing my jalapeño inside until the flowers set.  Typically, you need night temps to be at least 24 degree or lower to keep the flowers from falling and allowing fruit to set.

 

...for those of you who see the gardening a bit boring, here’s another diff. pic

 

 

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Run of hot,sunny weather here and everything has exploded.

am dangerously low of stored water,will run out by weeks end.Water is cheap here,but still,would’ve loved to have made it.

next year will store more.

Hothouse is fucking crazy.3 cantaloupe plants have 20 pieces of fruit on them.Mental.

Peas are done.We have four massive zip lock bags of frozen peas in the freezer.More than enough for winter.

Chillies are doing well.
Mama is a very happy cookie right now.

Chillies,beans And tomato’s for Som Tam.

Correct basil for Phad Kapao.

Thai watermelon,cantaloupe and more cucumbers than even she can possibly eat.

My work here is done.

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14 hours ago, Sea-Hawks said:

looks great!

Looks like an enclosed area/greenhouse with raised bed???

I also saw some wire fencing, whatcha trying to keep out?

 

I have plastic deer fencing in place around the gardens.

the steel mesh you see is for the beans and peas to climb up.

its concrete mesh.Easy peasy.

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i wont dream of posting photos as my scraggy veg area doesnt compare to those shown here but I am thrilled to say that the tomatoes have flowers, spuds have risen and look ok, and bell peppers are actually bearing fruit. 

also planted melon and cucumber which both seem to be growing well, but still seedlings.  I bought those disks someone showed here, that you water, they swell up and make a seed pod, they have been great.  adding green mesh over the top of the area has helped beat the sun and although its still scraggy, i enjoy my daily waterings and checks. 

new tomato seedlings are much thicker in their stems than before the mesh, so they may have a future too

 

lots of good tips here, this is a good thread.

 

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36 minutes ago, tommy dee said:

i wont dream of posting photos as my scraggy veg area doesnt compare to those shown here but I am thrilled to say that the tomatoes have flowers, spuds have risen and look ok, and bell peppers are actually bearing fruit. 

also planted melon and cucumber which both seem to be growing well, but still seedlings.  I bought those disks someone showed here, that you water, they swell up and make a seed pod, they have been great.  adding green mesh over the top of the area has helped beat the sun and although its still scraggy, i enjoy my daily waterings and checks. 

new tomato seedlings are much thicker in their stems than before the mesh, so they may have a future too

 

lots of good tips here, this is a good thread.

 

Very little more in life more satisfying than taking a seed and turning it into food.

Hit the tomato’s with some food once every two weeks.👍They’ll be great.
store bought simply can’t compete with the taste of fresh veggies.Keep it up.

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This week, did my usually clippings of my basil.  Chose to make my own pesto sauce, then used it to make Chicken Pesto Broccoli.  

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Today, still picking my jalapeño. My two mature plants just keep on producing tons of peppers.   I canned some whole and some sliced.  Then made some jalapeño poppers wrapped in bacon.  

 

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My apples were a bit small as I didn’t bother to thin out my trees this year, but made apple cobbler.  

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Thinking about stuffed green peppers for the weekend. 

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My zucchini have already flowered and some of them are about 2-3 inches long.  I have 35 zucchini plants so I ll be eatting a lot of zucchini soon   

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I grew most of my zucchini this year in styrofoam coolers. They’re a bit jammed together, but in the long run easier to manage  

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...next time I’m back in LOS, I think I’ll grow the mini roma.  It seems like the perfect size for a balcony/pots.  Anybody else out there growing any tomatoes on their balcony???

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Only ME

 

who could plant cucumber and melons, see the cucumbers not really growing as seedlings, so plant more, only to find the cucumbers were fine, its the frickin melons that havent germinated.  I am thinking a few months will set up a stall outside the gate ffs 🙂

 

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On 8/7/2020 at 8:16 PM, Sea-Hawks said:

This week, did my usually clippings of my basil.  Chose to make my own pesto sauce, then used it to make Chicken Pesto Broccoli.  

E0CC4726-0CBD-4FEB-9D84-51933568C6A6.jpeg

EA297167-83D0-408D-ABFD-8AB4C84D3047.jpeg

C4A75F92-C103-4DA1-8346-0A8E9710A7EC.jpeg

Today, still picking my jalapeño. My two mature plants just keep on producing tons of peppers.   I canned some whole and some sliced.  Then made some jalapeño poppers wrapped in bacon.  

 

6D24B33F-B86A-48E8-A067-DEF88E2FAE69.jpeg

C7A573C9-58A4-49B3-AF77-D8439FE92299.jpeg

7F901671-28B3-4B40-8BA4-7CBD887716F3.jpeg

C097333E-5D97-4379-BC5E-D3108ED14CDE.jpeg

My apples were a bit small as I didn’t bother to thin out my trees this year, but made apple cobbler.  

1C026CFE-6642-48B1-9CF3-71BF0EE29A04.jpeg

Thinking about stuffed green peppers for the weekend. 

36BE8FAD-3DA4-4171-8110-970E68D89BD9.jpeg

My zucchini have already flowered and some of them are about 2-3 inches long.  I have 35 zucchini plants so I ll be eatting a lot of zucchini soon   

A914324C-86C0-4F84-BA48-F48A202F9A20.jpeg

I grew most of my zucchini this year in styrofoam coolers. They’re a bit jammed together, but in the long run easier to manage  

8FED878E-3F6B-4688-89B1-05D477504749.jpeg

3E0052CF-8787-4F54-8CA6-B6D1BE21CE68.jpeg

 

...next time I’m back in LOS, I think I’ll grow the mini roma.  It seems like the perfect size for a balcony/pots.  Anybody else out there growing any tomatoes on their balcony???

0A1A17C3-DD5F-4579-A2DA-683325B912E1.jpeg

16E6D4CC-6DB3-4953-83A5-A54507E714FB.jpeg

 

Recipe for the Jalepino’s?

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...btw, on the jalapeño poppers, I used regular and thin sliced bacon.  Cut them into thirds as that was long enough to wrap.  Realized that after the first batch, best to stick a toothpick through the middle of the bacon peppers or else it will fall off ( i cooked mine in the air fryer). 

I made an extra set, in which I left in the seeds, it was super hot & spicy, i would dip those into homemade ranch dressing before devouring.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Blossom End Rot - happens to tomato & zucchini.  I started to notice that my zucchini plants that are growing in dirt has started to show signs of end rot.  

End Rot - the ends of the flower/fruit are rotten or yellowing and not growing.  

Why - my zucchini has already flowered and fruited 1 cycle already.  It has used up all the calcium around its area/pot.  I need to replenish the calcium.  

Also - avoid watering extremes back & forth.  If you water too much & then let it dry out too much, this can also cause End Rot.  Also too much fertilizer or manure/compost can cause this to tomatoes/zucchini.  

Simple fix - add a couple of tums tablets to the soil or container pot

 

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Sorry, not gonna cut and paste to Line up report/headings.  

So this week, working from home still.  No real work so email check daily for about 15-30 min and then about 6 hours daily in the garden/picking/cooking/canning.  

Zucchini everywhere- this week zucchini sticks with homemade ranch dipping sauce. Cooked in Air Fryer. 

Basil lettuce leaf - daily morning tomatoe/basil/ mozzarella with balsamic vinegar breakfast.

Basil - Pesto: used all the leaves to make a full jar of pesto and put it in the freezer 

Pickled my cucs: whole & spears.

Raining here, so not have to water today. Pesto pasta with chicken for lunch today....gotta go cook now 😉

 

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

...this season, I did succession planting.  My 3rd and final set, I grew in either Grow-Bags or Air Pots.  Using both these types of containers sped up the growth time along with making them grow extra big.  I think the Air Pots/or similar did the best in making my tomato plants over 6 feet tall.  

I think I’ll buy more fake/knock off Air pots from Lazada when I can get back into Thailand.  C776C28A-C247-44C9-8F08-A9FA8B210036.jpeg

 

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