These are the volunteers from last year. They are still doing very well and I have started to trim to tops so they won't go too wild. The front row especially has a bunch of tomatoes set. The back row does too, but they are a little leggy because they don't get as much light.
These are the cucumbers. They are doing very well now and there are quite a few set. You can see the string they are trained to climb up. They take less room that way and also, it keeps them out of the dirt; easy to find and pick the cucumbers.
These are severely pruned plants. I should have taken before pictures. They were completely grown together. They weren't getting any light or air. So I trimmed up the bottoms to the level of the first tomatoes to give them a little extra vigor to the fruit and kept the leaves out of the dirt, which helps keep them healthy too-- mildew, etc. I also thinned out the spaces between and cut the tops. I didn't cut the tops last year and they just grew and grew. The yellow pear ended up being about 13 feet tall, although doubled over. I'm going to prune this year and see if I can't keep them in a little better control, but still keep them producing.
This is a strange thing. This is a regular leaf that has been trimmed. From the place where it was trimmed it is growing a new stem and you can already see the flower bud starting. I have never seen this before, but have noticed it on several plants this year-- trimmed and untrimmed. This is not the only strange thing. I have also noticed that when a stem with blooms on it doesn't set any fruit (all the blooms fall off) that the stem, which is very different from regular growth, turns back into a regular stem and starts growing again. I also pinch off the suckers too. This year new suckers have grown back over and over again. These heirlooms never cease to amaze me. They really want to grow and produce. They are much more vigorous than any hybrid I have ever grown.
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