Saturday, May 21, 2011

Tomato Notes

Noting the last post of less than optimal conditions, I do want to record some tomato notes.


Yellow Tomatoes - First time to grow the yellows.  The Yellow Grape tomatoes  (Blondkopfchen) were both prolific and delightfull.  The Plum Lemon Tomato from Bill in Florida was the same.  And the big surprise was the Yellow Peach Tomato, the Garden Peach from Gary Isben’s TomatoFest Gourmet Collection's name comes from the fact that the fruit is a little fuzzy, just like a Peach, and it has a very refreshing taste to go along with it.


Everyglades Wild Tomato was also quite tasty and very prolific, preferring to travel the ground, rather than to gow upwards.  This was a little problematic as I was always walking on them, but it hardiness made up for its awkwardness.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Spring Turbulance

Hard to believe how long it has been since my last post.   Nearly 2 months ago.   If you read this and see other posts it will be because I backfilled with my memory.

All in all it has been a really tough spring in the garden.  Drought has been relentlous.  For the exception of a day or two, my plants have not know real rain water, only irrigation.  After this weekend, I will let most of the garden go, and the water bills are no longer   I will keep the drip irrigation running only on the row of tomato plants. 

The Seven Rows

On rows one and two, we harvested the corn, just under 200 ears in all.   Would have been double that if we had rain.  The tomato what were interplanted are alive, but just not making potatoes are there simply is not enough water.

Row three was the melons and cucumbers.  Save for a handfull of cucumbers this row was a complete failure.

Row four was the tomatoes.  An OK crops, thanks to the drip irrigation.  It is still going

Row five was the peas.  Thankfully these guys don't need much water at all and the pea harvest, mostly Dixie Lee were quite respectable.

Row six was the Bell Pepper and Eggplant.   The harvest of Bell Pepper  is OK and still going.  The Eggplant does not look good at all.

Row seven were the squashes, and we got a few, but again, all in all rated a failure.

So, spring 2011 winds to a pretty bad close with drought ruling the days.