Greenstalk Update and Fruits - Early July 2023

Number four on my 2023 to-do list was to 'get (more) serious with vegetables'.   And, despite not really posting about it, I think we've (sort-of) done that - by planting up a Greenstalk vertical container garden.  This Spring, I filled it out with a mix of herbs and vegetables (fruits) and we're seeing some of them set fruit right now.  We harvested these strawberries from the Greenstalk. 

Below are a few signs of the tomatoes that we planted in the bottom row of the Greenstalk - the Red Robin dwarf plant from the Morton Sale and both a Rutgers Heirloom and a Roma Paste from the orange big box store.  What was the reason for these three?  They're all DETERMINATE tomatoes.   Which means...they grow to a specific size and stop.  Other, vining tomatoes can just.keep,growing.  Since this is a container-situation, I figured determinate varieties were the right choice.   Also, these are tomatoes that are known to be slicers/eaters/canners. 

What kind of growth are we seeing?  The Romas are the furthest along.

The Rutgers Tomatoes are right behind them, though. 

We're also growing some peppers - including this King Arthur Hybrid from the Morton sale.  We grew this one last year, too. 

I pinched off some of the very early fruit, but now we're seeing our first peppers - see below.

We also planted up a row of Lieutenant Broccoli - something that I have never grown before - but is noted for doing well in 'warm weather'.  

We're already seeing some crowns - see below:

And last, we have some leaves of Buttercrunch lettuce that have matured - these were grown from seed.  I'm re-learning about how to best grow lettuce - which I think has a tough time during the heat of the Summer.  But, see below for our first flush of lettuce leaves - buttercrunch.   I'll have to get smart about planting the next round of seeds later this Summer/early Fall.