Update

Fruit set on Airyleaf and PPP.  Black Cherry may be a bust - no flowers, and (my bad) I didn't string them up in time, they flopped over and have such weak stems that they bent when I tried to get some string on them for support.   Hmm.   

This is cool - Indigo Rose is showing purple where the sunlight hits. Same fruit as the photo from a few days ago.

More fruit set

On Better Boy, Black from Tula, kellogs, flamme, green zebra, Hawaiian currant.  

About those aphids

A follow-up to the aphid situation: Not too long after I noticed the aphids, I spotted many tan/brown aphidy-looking things among the live aphids.  I'd assumed these were some sort of normally empty skins cast off at a late stage molt, but actually they were aphid mummies.  These are aphids that have been parasitized by wasp larvae that kill 'em, eat them from the inside out, then "hatch" out a small hole in the dead aphid's husky skin. !

Well, after about a week, there really were plenty of these aphid mummies to be seen and the aphid numbers seemed to be diminishing noticeably.  Score one for biological control.  Thank you, unknown parasitic wasps!

First fruit set

 Coyote and all three Indigo Rose plants have some fruit setting.  The IR flowers have very noticeably purplish stems.  I have been late in stringing up all the plants properly, so several are flopping over a bit. Oddly the better boy plants are among the shortest of the lot, but are quite sturdy.   The ~80 degree weather for the past few weeks has really helped growth.  Also, I set up a soaker hose which seems to work well, though we've had quite good periodic rain showers so it's been hardly necessary.  

This is fruit on Indigo Rose, 6/4/13.   Note the dark stems.

Warm weather, first buds and aphids

With some warm weather over the last 2 weeks, the plants are finally taking off.  Today I noticed buds on the Black from Tulas, and a couple others.  On the other hand...aphids have colonized a few plants in a big way.   I've started spraying with diluted dishwash soap, which is reported to irritate/kill aphids. I'm trying to avoid non-organic pestidicides if possible - not that I'm really philosophically opposed to them, but I do have small kids that play in the backyard and I'd just rather not if I don't have to.  

Another tactic is to buy & release insect control species, like ladybugs (their true name is ladybird beetles), but this has some pros and cons.  e.g.:

http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/why-you-shouldnt-buy-ladybugs-natural-pest-control-your-garden.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/guidelines-attracting-purchasing-ladybugs-436922.html

Although purchased ladybird beetles can carry parasites, it's probably likely that the native ladybirds in one's garden probably carry a fair parasite load too - most wild insects will.  So I believe the concern over introducing parasites that will affect other "good" insects might be overblown relative to simply attracting more ladybirds.

Green lacewings are apparently a good alternative.

Biobest produces Adalia bipunctata ladybird larvae ; distributed by International Technology Services in the USA.  

>90˚?

I've been reading that tomato plants have trouble setting fruit if the daytime temps are over 90 degrees.   We have a name for that weather in Tennessee - it's called "Summer".  If this is true I'm screwed.  But if it is, how does anybody grow them around here?

Destroying a pallet/Chicken farm smell

Over the last week I pulled apart the pallet on which they delivered all the dirt etc.  I recycled the boards as edging for the garden.  It's a "faux raised" bed!   On Tuesday I had a day at home, so I leveled out the plot with more dirt etc.   The garden surface was still an inch or two below the surrounding yard, and it pooled a lot of water (briefly) in the heavy rain last weekend.  So I added a mix of: 40 lbs cheapo topsoil + 1 lg. bag name-brand topsoil (miracle gro) + 1 smaller bag miracle gro potting mix, + ~ 3 lbs Tomato tone.  The tomato tone smells exactly like a chicken farm.   I mixed this in the wheelbarrow, applied it and then mixed a second batch, and applied that too.  Looks pretty good so far.  Note = about 6 lbs tomato tone across the entire garden, ~ 100 sq ft.   I totally eyeballed the amount based on the 20 lb bag...

So far all the plants are doing OK.  Next up:  Weed control/plastic mulch, and fencing the garden...to prevent the little ones from accidentally stomping on my plants.