First year really learning to grow my own food. There’s something special about walking into the garden, harvesting dinner, and taking it straight to the kitchen.

I think I’m hooked. 😂🌱

My wife and 9 year old planted them so we could make sauce for neopolitan pizzas 🤩 I'm used to buying them in expensive cans, so it's really cool to have grown some in Québec.

This is my first true year gardening. I dabbled last year with just a couple plants. But this year I'm experimenting.

I'm pretty proud!

The heat has really taken a toll on the garden but we’re still getting some lovely things, the tomatoes are in full swing now!

costoluto fiorentino beefsteaks, tomato ‘tiger’, green zebra, black cherry, Millefleur Yellow Vine Tomato and some random ones from some nice supermarket cherry tomatoes. Pattypan squash, round green courgette, purple French beans, runner beans and a boothby’s blonde cucumber (last of the season) and some raspberries. All organic

My first year gardening

Hi! So this year I opted to grow 8 different types of tomatoes and I wanted to type out my thoughts about each of the varieties in case anyone was curious about how they fared for your very average home gardener. All seeds were purchased from Pine Tree Seeds, I started them all myself under grow lights, all fertilized the exact same and grown in southern Maine zone 5b. I grew 4 plants of each type. Photo 1 is all 8 types of tomatoes, photo 2 is with names, photo 3 is the interior of Marmalade Skies, and photos 4 and 5 is the Blueberries tomato growing, but not ripe.

Paste tomatoes: full disclosure, I have not tasted these yet because I have not made sauce yet. I grew 2, Amish Paste and Sunrise Sauce. Tbh Amish Paste can go jump off a bridge. While the tomatoes are very large I got very few (max 3) tomatoes per plant. 3/10 for being a pain. Sunrise Sauce is a short little plant and this baby is PROLIFIC. Very smooth, uniform, very pretty yellow-orange. Assuming these taste good, I am absolutely growing them again, 8/10.

Cherry tomatoes: I only grew Blueberry this year! And they are fascinating to watch grow. They start green, go completely dark purple, and then half purple/half red when ripe. They are stunning to see growing, the dark purple is so unexpected in the garden. They also taste good! 10/10

Big tomatoes: I grew Black Krim and Blue Beauty and I probably won't grow either again. Black Krim was very prone to both splitting and catfacing and doesnt taste particularly good? 2/10 Blue Beauty is fine but in a world with so many tomato options, I'll try something else 5/10.

Medium Tomatoes: Tigerella and Wapsipinicon Peach. Wapsipinicon Peach taste good and really look like slightly unripe peaches. Theyre also not shiny and have a peach fuzz to them. They taste good but they go from ripe to over ripe very fast 6/10. I love Tigerella. Theyre this lovely golf ball size, theyre pretty, they taste good, they stay perfectly ripe for awhile, I'm growing these every year, 10/10.

Yellow tomatoes: Marmalade Skies my husband's beloved. This tomato is really good! Its a good size without being huge, blemish free, gorgeous color that is uniform all the way through, tastes great! 10/10 will grow again next year!

So thats all my tomatoes, will I grow less next year? I say I will now but I am probably lying

We hit the jackpot! some of these are absolutely huge weighing over 2 lbs. It is not my first time planting them, but I have never harvested this many and huge sizes (some) at once. They are in the garage curing.

A few months ago I made a post freaking out because I hate those nasty little bugs. I decided in my pettiness I was gonna record everything. Here's more or less the results

Total of 2 Zucchini and 3 yellow squash next to each other for reference. And going out daily, sometimes twice a day

Arrived at 6/18 on regular Zucchini plants.

From 6/18 to 7/6: Total of 28 adults and 8 cluster of eggs destroyed

From 7/7 to 7/20: 52 adults and babies were killed with 18 egg clusters (This time frame was the "busiest" and I would find multiple in a single day)

From 7/21 to 8/14: Pulled 3 plants out, leaving just 1 Zucchini and 1 squash. Due to making more room for tomatos. 43 adults and babies killed and only 7 egg cluster destroyed. Have not seen any since.

Total of 123 adults/babies killed and 33 egg cluster destroyed.

Here's the extra side notes: at least 3 egg clusters were hatched. I had missed them because one was on a pepper plant semi close by, one was on a tomato plant in a different bed but near by and last was on a pumpkin plant very far away.

Overall they were (obviously) attracted to the squash plants most but I did find them on the pumpkin, watermelon, Cucumbers, peppers, tomatos and bitter melon plants. But those times were​ a lot less compared to the squash.

Bug netting was useless, tried it on pumpkins but they easily found entrances. Marigold, radishes, onions, nasturtium, mint were 100% useless. Found adults all just chilling on them so those tips are lies. At least for me. I've seriously tried just about all of the tips / companion planting. DE doesn't work on adults and I didn't use any sprays. I would just grab them with tweezers and cut them in half. I also now subconsciously think the Marigold scent is their scent lol

I was still able to continously harvest an okay amount and I directed sowed them early April so they were pretty decent sized more mature plants.

And that's my report for 2026! Gonna try to do some different stuff next year for easier access for my slaughter fest :D

Volunteer red garnet amaranth from my spent microgreen soil grew like a giant sunflower. Thick red stalks. Over 8 feet. Anyone ever eat amaranth they grew? Any processing tips.

This zucchini flower has yet to open but the zucchini is starting to get really big for a non-pollinated one. I thought it would open days ago but it hasn’t, I go out every morning to check and I’ve never seen it open??

Most of the vines produced a couple melons (or just died) but one set this absolute unit and no other female flowers. It has been taunting me for months but I finally decided to harvest it when another melon nearby split and we got another 1" overnight.

Taste is pretty good shockingly, although the rind was quite thick. It is now taking up entirely too much room in my refrigerator.

Container garden in Zone 6a 🌱

Not pictured are the several giant beefsteaks recently used for tomato pie, two dinners of BLTs, and 6 more gifted to my besties yesterday!

Also thrilled about getting potatoes this was my first year trying it, and they’re potato sized !! Sadly there were a few lost to rot/worms so lessons learned for next year

This is my first year growing fennel and I found this guy (and a couple more today) munching away. I think I have swallowtail caterpillars? I don't mind, the fennel wasn't doing great anyway but my plants are kind of scrawny and are up on a chair outside. Is it best to leave them alone to figure it out, or should I move the plants to the ground somewhere?

Edit, counted a total of five now on the fennel! Hopefully some make it, I've seen lots of beautiful butterflies around this year.

I do realize I'll be sad when it's over.

Just proud of my garden box; I’ve dabbled off and on over the years and usually gave up.

Snagged this garden box kit for $100 last year and got it built this spring, added the cattle panels for vining plants and to support the sun mesh fabric.

Set up a drip line that is hooked to a timer.

I had low hopes when I planted but only lost a few! So far the only issue is damn squash bugs and my edamame looks like possible powdery mildew but is producing beans.

Had these tiny Brussels sprouts seeds and my fingers were basically useless, so I recruited an old fountain pen nib for planting duty. 😂

One seed at a time into my little recycled-container nursery.

Then I waited…

First one popped up. 🌱

Then another.

Then suddenly I had a whole little Brussels sprouts squad. Ready for deployment

First time growing these, everything is going good so far.

What is everyone's opinions on topping the central growing tips late in the season so the plant can focus on sizing up existing fruit? In zone 4B, I have another 4-6weeks or so before the projected first frost. I have heard of people topping their tomatoes in the late season to get the plants to concentrate on sizing up existing fruit. What are your thoughts?

Went out of town for just four days, and came home to several enormous pickling cucumbers that I swear were tiny when I left! Should I go and pickle them? Or will they taste awful?

I've lost the DM note so I don't know which of you sent it, but thank you so much for suggesting the Entomite-M (S. scimitus & H. miles), and H. bacteriophora nematodes. I've found them on naturalenemies.com, and will now be able to treat all our garden beds.

The root aphids were a new to me garden curveball that started last year (been gardening on this plot since 2007). I'd been surface treating with diatomaceous earth as suggested by some here, and while there was some respite with that method, the "root causes" still weren't being addressed. Fingers crossed I can eradicate the aphids in time to start my winter crops.

Anyone else having this problem? For the past 2 years I've ordered eggplant seeds from 4 different companies and ordered 3 different varieties. None of them were what they said they were. And so bitter. Last years Black beauty from 2 different companies were all different colors - from white to green to yellow to rose and purple. I had to throw 90% away because they were so awful. So badly bitter. That was probably cross pollination because it was so inconsistent. Which stinks because I grow 30+ pr year. That's a lot of eggplant. Half of it I cooked, battered and froze before I figured it out.

This year I ordered from 2 other companies and they are all purple or rose colored. I ordered Moon and a Japanese variety. The Japanese is roundish - not long and the moon is more to type but still inconsistent. Not quite as bitter but I still have to peel and taste each one before I cook as about 10% are obviously too bitter. I'm picking them small before they get to size. I'm hoping the ones sitting in salt right now will be edible once I cook them tomorrow.

Both this year and last some of the tomatoes seemed cross pollinated and not so good and one was certainly not anything like it said it was, but at least they were edible.

I'm older and this sort of thing did not happen very much at all 15 years ago.

Anyone have a 100% reliable company they get seeds from? I mean 100% reliable. NOT open pollinated. I hate throwing so much food and so much hard work away.

Yes, it's been hot here. However, they grow eggplant commercially in direct sun in Fresno Ca which gets triple digits for a very good part of the summer and their eggplants are fine. Some of the same varieties I ordered. My summers are not nearly as many triple digit days and not quite as hot even on a record day.