Discussion Board

Is this a new garden? If you did well with this plot before, but are failing this year, I do not know enough to have any suggestions. But if it is a new garden, I would start with a complete soil test. Contact your local agricultural authorities (in my area, it is a state university) and ask about the process. I paid $20 for mine, and it was a real eye opener!

CT

It sounds like your soil needs some improvement. What is the soil like, where you planted? Have you added organic matter? An inexpensive way to improve the soil over the winter is to collect bags of leaves, chop the leaves if possible, or go over them with a mower, then dig this into the soil. By spring the leaves will have decomposed and your soil will be soft and rich. I agree with glassbird, a soil test can be helpful too.

If your soil is low in nutrients you can get organic fertilizers, such as rock powders, that will correct the problem. Once you have enough organic matter built up in the soil (might take a couple of years) you won't need to add these fertilizers every year. I use some alfalfa meal (nitrogen source) now but otherwise the nutrients stay in balance from the mulch we add every year.

With enough organic matter (leaves, compost, mulch), enough nutrients and enough water, your garden should flourish.

Debbie-
What time of day did you take these pix? Most veggies need all day sun, but especially tomatoes. They really need full sun, am-pm. The hottest time of day is the later pm. It looks like there is a lot of shade where they are planted.

Sort of looks like snails eating the plant leaves. Try setting some beer out in small flat dishes that they can crawl into. They crawl into the dish, then drink the beer, then can't crawl out & drown. Bad to use snail bait. Kids & Pets-a no-no.

Jan

Yes, there are both male and female flowers, but I cannot find a good set of pictures to help you to know the difference. Obviously, you need both to be open at the same time for pollination to occur. Do you have multiple plants?

it didn't look that bad Debbie. I've had a really hard summer and bad growing year, and believe me, I keep thinking this is the worst I've ever done.

Now that our break the records summer is starting to cool a bit, I'm amazed at how plants are taking off. I might have a garden after all.

Google "zucchini blossoms male female" on Google Images. It's the best I can find to show you the differences. The male flower has a long, slim part that attaches it to the plant. The female's is shorter and has a slight swelling at the base, which, when fertilized, becomes the fruit. If you're going to go to the trouble to pollinate by hand, do it very early in the day.

Next year consider planting some flowers in your vegetable garden. Choose a variety of flower types so as to attract a lot of different kinds of pollinators and other beneficial insects. Bees aren't the only insect that can do the deed.

Also, if I remember correctly, each flower is only open for one day.

debbie, I think that you can take a male flower that hasn't opened yet, pull the petals off carefully to open it, and use it to pollinate a female flower that HAS opened. However I would guess that they both have to be fresh & living--I don't think picking and saving the male flower for a few days would work, or I would have read about this technique in my seed-saving books.

She thinks you're 'messing with nature,' but she eats factory produced eggs...? Ay-yi-yi (facepalm).

I haven't every gotten into pollenating my own veggies. I do watch to make sure I see bees or butterflies by them though. So I guess we are lucky to still have something flying around.

For the first year in many, I finally am seeing honey bees. They are sticking to the clover but I am so excited to be seeing them. I keep wondering if a neighbor might have started a hive. It's not something I'd expect in my area but you never know. I'm also amazed at how many people have dug up part of their lawn to put in a garden.

debbie, if you do get a zucch, I'm sure it will be the most delicious one in all of history!!!

Here's an article about the farm ("facility") in Iowa where the egg outbreak started...the details are pretty interesting. This company is known for sloppy practices and cutting corners, but they are rich and powerful.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/us/27eggs.html?hpw

That should work.

Also did you know that you can eat the male flowers? I used to eat them stuffed with cheese and deep fried so I'll have to work on finding a healthier version. They don't have to be cooked. One warning though is make sure you don't have a bee in it if you go to take a bite!

I'll also second the comment of interplanting some flowers. Borage works well to draw lots of pollinators to the garden.

Debbie
Does your frost come that early? My tomatoes still have and are growing more blossoms so I'm hoping for the tomatoes to last a while since I didn't get many this summer.

Debbie, if you wait until after frost to eat your carrots they will be even better! The sugars start to convert when it's cold and they are amazing then!

Our squash--we had several types --were doing ok, then when it got hot they just dryed up. I think my hubby got water on the leaves and they sort of got moldy.
I never thought of hand pollinating.
I have wondered about the flowers as well. I was thinking that a few petals chopped up and just added to a dish. Or could they be dried and then made into a powder to add color. I will have to try it out next year.
Any way I think your garden looks great. Ours is really at the end. We sure got lots of tomatoes.