On Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:59:54 GMT, "Faye"
worldnet.att.net>
wrote:
>Your own fresh from the garden will have a crispness impossible to attain
>from storebought. What variety are you growing? Iceberg does not perform
>well here relative to other varieties. I like the Mesclun mix. It provides
>a variety of flavours, textures, and colours. It can be grown year 'round
>with successive sowings, is only taken out by weather extremes, but toss in
>a few more seeds and you'll have it again in short order. It has become a
>tradition for me to sow lettuce seeds on New Year's Day.
I can't remember the variety offhand. It is not iceberg but a green
leafy variety. Iceberg is "OK" flavorwise but if I figure if I'm going
to eat lettuce at all, I may as well get the nutritional benefits of
something with a bit more fortitude than iceland.
>> One small tomato finally made it to red. Not much to taste but there
>> are plenty of bigger green ones starting to come in. My wife wants to
>> fry the green ones. I remain to be convinced.
>
>It seems like it takes the first ones forever to turn green! I love fried
>green tomatoes, but can't bear the thought of pulling green ones until I've
>gotten a nice harvest of ripe red ones. Again, what variety did you grow?
>That really is a most important factor in performance. You can't beat
>Better Boys, traditional round, and Romas, tasty Italian plum. I am utterly
>amazed that, despite the drought, my plants are producing the finest crop
>ever. The Better Boys are regularly bearing 1 1/4 lb. solid meaty fruit. I
>weighed them on Pappy's old Depression Era garden scale and Mother noted
>that, at $2 lb. in the stores, they were $2.50 tomatos. : )) The Romas
>took off so fast and early that, though I had staked them, I did not even
>try to tie them up. They are producing prolifically, hanging in masses from
>the vines, with only a handful succumbing to blossom end rot, a
>drought-induced disease in which the cells collapse when a growing plant is
>suddenly denied adequate water. My trial variety this year is Brandywine.
>Bless it's heart. : /
Again, I can't remember the variety of the major ones. Beefstake or
something (Maybe "big boy"? They are doing quite well and I'm not
quite doing a decent job of controlling all the outgrowths (which
somewhat amuses my chaotic side). I am not wild on big tomatoes
(though they do taste good) but prefer the smaller varieties. My
father used to grow "Moneymaker" which may not be available here but
there is one called "Sweet 100" which is similar if slightly smaller.
I like this one as I can grab a couple to snack on every now and then
and it is the first one to deliver red fruit. I also have one plant of
a striped variety (selected by my daughter) which looked like it might
be bearing fruit early on but has not. I would have thought it would
have cross pollinated with the other plants but cest la vie.
>I will interject here that gardening is a trial and error learning process.
>I would feel a failure if I didn't learn something ever year to use in years
>to come.
>
>Come to town some evening and take your wife to Germantown Cafe for fried
>green tomatoes. They serve them with just a tiny dollop of ceamy goat
>cheese. Delicious. Try the squash fritters too. The appetizers make a
>meal.
My wife wants to make the fried green tomatoes. I have not had them
and remain to be convinced.
>> Peas are looking ropey. But one pod got big enough to pop open. As
>> good as I remember...
>
>Never heard peas described thus. Are they English? Very cool season crop
>here. Try sowing again in August or early September then again in February
>or March. I grow Crowders, most beloved by deer.
It seems fairly clear that I sowed these too late. I don't regret it
though :). The seeds were bought at Wal-mart
>> Eight squash plants, one squash. Planted too close together perhaps?
>> Still early days yet...
>
>Watch for squash bugs. What kind? Yellow? How close did you plant? They
>need room to run. Try zucchini, nice upright plants, but squash vine borers
>are a pain. I usually give up and put in a second sowing. I have canned a
>couple of batches of Three Pepper Zucchini Relish (so designated because I
>tossed in banana, jalapeno, and cayenne that happened to be ready when the
>zukes came in). We're have having Zucchini Lasagna today to celebrate
>America and I made three additional pans, cut into individual portions, and
>froze, one of the few things whose flavour is not destroyed by freezing. It
>is actually better than eating it the day it was made.
4 green 4 yellow. There are now several yellow ones growing and I
found three green ones yesterday, one of which was large enough that I
suspect I must have missed it when I said the crop was disappointing
before.
We actually have a bonus one too. When I was planting the 4/4 an
ungerminated seed or small plant must have got away and ended up in a
crack in the drive. It is a little small but doing well (I thought it
was a weed at first). I don't have the heart to pull it up.
I don't think either of us is likely to get into the canning or
preserving. Though my dad was known to make a jar of pickled cabbage
or eggs from time to time.
>> Brocoli is still all leaves...
>
>Can't listen to Martha on when to put out cruciferous veggies. Very cold
>season if worth the effort at all here. In the Master Gardener program, the
>veggie teacher actually said, "Don't even try. You'll just be
>disappointed." It is impossible to grow here without so much pesticide that
>you wouldn't want to eat it in the end anyway. And it stinks.
Probably too late again then (though you say it probably wouldn't have
been worth it anyway). I have not seen a great deal of insect attack
on the plants as they are though so I may chance it again next year.
>> Onions and carrots are just not trying.
>"Ground's too rocky by far" for carrots. I grow the small varieties in two
>planters that are an old water heater cut in half. It's usually too wet for
>onions, but this year is exceptional in dryness, so the ground's probably
>too hard for them. Welcome to Tennessee.
I may give them another chance next year. The carrots did start
getting a little promising the last time I tried (except my daughter
ate them all)
>> Corn: too early to tell.
>
>Hand pollinate. Definitely. I have learned this year that it is a good
>idea to sow Sunflower seeds close to Corn and when the Golden Finches come
>for the flowers, they alight on the corn and go from stalk to stalk and, I
>hope, help with pollination in the absense of Beloved Honey Bees.
The ears are starting to show. Could be interesting. My mother is
visiting starting Tuesday so at least I'll have something to show her.
>> Peppers are looking promising.
>
>What variety? Inquiring minds must know : ) The sun is bleaching my bell
>varieties.
Bell peppers. They are looking good and there are many more of them
than I was expecting (8 plants). I am a bell pepper fan and with the
prices in the shop, I am pretty pleased at what I am seeing.
>> Didn't know canteloupe plants grew like that.
>
>If any in your family have mold/fungus allergies, beware canteloupe. It is
>a haven for the foul beasties.
We are good as far as I know.
>Thank goodness there is
>> only the one.
>
>It will swallow your house "Little Shop of Horrors" style.
It also is not bearing fruit. I guess there are no nearby friends to
help it along. Are they any good in the shade? If so, I may have a
good place to put a couple next year.
>I shall end on this particular day with a quote from Tom Jeff:
>
>"Though an old man, I am but a young gardener."
>
>Enjoy the journey, Richard.
>
>God Bless the USA.
>
>God Save the Queen.
Please don't be saying that for my benefit :)
>Faye
>
>
--
If you squeeze my lizard
I'll put my snake on you
I'm a romantic adventure
And I'm a reptile too
