This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the 1980s,
it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most prolific plants
have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many hundreds of tomatoes.
The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also producing countless tomatoes, the
Tellow Pears are also doing OK but not as well as the Sugar Snacks, Sun
Golds and Grapes. My large varieties are just now starting to ripen but
they are all heavy with tomatoes. The first to start ripening have been
the Cherokee Purples, but now I'm getting Black Princes and Cosmonaut
Volkov's. I started the Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed,
this is the first time that I've been successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing that's
different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse manure mulch.

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year in
they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of them,
this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

General Schvantzkoph wrote:

This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the 1980s,

We had a flock of tomato plants and averaged under two tomatoes per
plant. Not a good year here in Chicago metro area. The herbs all did
great.

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
....
I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

we've done fine this year so far, the Sweet 100 cherry
tomato plants (we really did not need more than 1) have
been producing about a quart a day now. we just had
some rain so anything that was near ripe has split, so
i'll have to throw a few lbs of them over the fence.

our bigger tomatoes have also done fine (i'm not sure
if these were Beef Steak or Better Boy -- i'll have to
ask the greenhouse what they had) i think we've canned
about 40 quarts of tomatoes so far and given away a
few bushels and eaten a few bushels too. and there
are plenty still out there if we get enough sunshine to
finish them off. might be a challenge as we can get
a frost within a few weeks and we have some cooler
nights coming now (mid 40s). the hot dry weather
in the 90s were ok with the clay holding the moisture
and the deep watering that we do (using buckets down
a foot and a half with holes in the bottom). we watered
about every 4-5 days and had rain all summer at about
three week intervals.

compared to last year we have actually not had as
good of a year, but i think much of that is the two
cherry tomatoes on the end of the four rows of
larger tomatoes have blocked most of the evening
light.

still, on the whole, can't complain at all.


songbird

Doug Freyburger wrote:
General Schvantzkoph wrote:

This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the
1980s,

We had a flock of tomato plants and averaged under two tomatoes per
plant. Not a good year here in Chicago metro area. The herbs all did
great.
The worst year for me. It was my fault. I was so busy during the summer
for my retirement and dealing with my replacement, I neglected my garden
horribly. In my haste, I planted everything to close, little maintenance
and just left to nature. Still I have enough for eating and tasted ok.
Perhaps a third as I hoped for canning and not as tasty. The tomato horn
worms did lots of damage.
This is my first week of freedom. Next year will be great year for
gardening!

--
Enjoy Life... Dan L

"songbird" wrote:
General Schvantzkoph wrote:
...
I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

we've done fine this year so far, the Sweet 100 cherry
tomato plants (we really did not need more than 1) have
been producing about a quart a day now. we just had
some rain so anything that was near ripe has split, so i'll have to
throw a few lbs of them over the fence.

our bigger tomatoes have also done fine (i'm not sure
if these were Beef Steak or Better Boy -- i'll have to
ask the greenhouse what they had) i think we've canned about 40 quarts
of tomatoes so far and given away a few bushels and eaten a few
bushels too. and there are plenty still out there if we get enough
sunshine to finish them off. might be a challenge as we can get
a frost within a few weeks and we have some cooler
nights coming now (mid 40s). the hot dry weather
in the 90s were ok with the clay holding the moisture and the deep
watering that we do (using buckets down a foot and a half with holes
in the bottom). we watered
about every 4-5 days and had rain all summer at about
three week intervals.

compared to last year we have actually not had as good of a year, but
i think much of that is the two
cherry tomatoes on the end of the four rows of
larger tomatoes have blocked most of the evening
light.

still, on the whole, can't complain at all.


songbird
I use the extra cherry tomatoes for making fresh salsa. Great for tacos


--
Enjoy Life... Dan L

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the
1980s, it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most
prolific plants have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many
hundreds of tomatoes. The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also
producing countless tomatoes, the Tellow Pears are also doing OK but
not as well as the Sugar Snacks, Sun Golds and Grapes. My large
varieties are just now starting to ripen but they are all heavy with
tomatoes. The first to start ripening have been the Cherokee Purples,
but now I'm getting Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's. I started
the Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed, this is the first
time that I've been successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing
that's different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse
manure mulch.

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year
in they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of
them, this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

I don't even have fruit yet, even on sweet 100's. Seattle's summer has been
dismal for hot weather plants. My basil is at best 8" tall, and most still
around 3".

In article ,
"Bob F" wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote:
This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the
1980s, it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most
prolific plants have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many
hundreds of tomatoes. The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also
producing countless tomatoes, the Tellow Pears are also doing OK but
not as well as the Sugar Snacks, Sun Golds and Grapes. My large
varieties are just now starting to ripen but they are all heavy with
tomatoes. The first to start ripening have been the Cherokee Purples,
but now I'm getting Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's. I started
the Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed, this is the first
time that I've been successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing
that's different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse
manure mulch.

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year
in they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of
them, this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

I don't even have fruit yet, even on sweet 100's. Seattle's summer has been
dismal for hot weather plants. My basil is at best 8" tall, and most still
around 3".

I'd recommend 4 gallon pots for the basil (paint black if it is a cold
year), and clear plastic mulch and drip irrigation for the tomatoes.
Even in my crummy location (under trees, north side of hill, 6 full
hours of sunshine), I've been 3 weeks ahead of other local gardeners. To
the above, you may want to add a hoop house, if you have full sun.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/m...515308172.html

Dan L wrote:
....
The worst year for me. It was my fault. I was so busy during the
summer for my retirement and dealing with my replacement, I neglected
my garden horribly. In my haste, I planted everything to close,
little maintenance and just left to nature. Still I have enough for
eating and tasted ok. Perhaps a third as I hoped for canning and not
as tasty. The tomato horn worms did lots of damage.

we had fewer worms this year, but i have
no idea why other than the most likeliest
explanations, fewer eggs were laid or
more eggs were eaten by other bugs.

my better idea is that we have more
birds around this year who are eating
all sorts of things. i've enjoyed watching
the bluebirds wrestling the huge grasshoppers
in the crushed limestone. we do not feed
the birds, we only have birdbaths for them.
so they actually have to forage.


This is my first week of freedom. Next year will be great year for
gardening!

congrats! and welcome to the funny farm.


songbird

"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message
...
This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the 1980s,
it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most prolific plants
have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many hundreds of tomatoes.
The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also producing countless tomatoes, the
Tellow Pears are also doing OK but not as well as the Sugar Snacks, Sun
Golds and Grapes. My large varieties are just now starting to ripen but
they are all heavy with tomatoes. The first to start ripening have been
the Cherokee Purples, but now I'm getting Black Princes and Cosmonaut
Volkov's. I started the Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed,
this is the first time that I've been successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing that's
different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse manure mulch.

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year in
they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of them,
this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

Do you mean for the first summer period of the year or the second one? I
did average for the first summer period of the year and I've not yet planted
for the second summer period so I can't forecast how my toms will go then. I
expect I'll get some cherry toms before the end of the calendar year though.

General Schvantzkoph said:

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

Weather started out pretty wet, then turned hot and very dry -- August
was disasterous. I have a theory that the wet spring and early summer
led to underdeveloped root systems, leaving the plants less able to cope
with the dramatic shift in moisture. (I wasn't able to do enough watering
to make up for the lack of rain.)

The pole beans stopped setting and dropped a ton of leaves and I lost the
last planting of sweet corn. (We had the first Labor Day without sweet corn
and pole beans in many years.)

The SunSugar and grapes tomatoes were OK; for the sauce tomatoes I
had my smallest harvest in many years, and the slicers tapered off to
almost nothing.

Zuchinnis and cucumbers never recovered from the attack of cucumber
beetles that happend in early June (while I was out of state).

Cabbage is dwarfed (wilting every day must do that to them).

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

On Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:56:07 +1000, FarmI wrote:

"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message
...
This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the 1980s,
it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most prolific
plants have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many hundreds of
tomatoes. The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also producing countless
tomatoes, the Tellow Pears are also doing OK but not as well as the
Sugar Snacks, Sun Golds and Grapes. My large varieties are just now
starting to ripen but they are all heavy with tomatoes. The first to
start ripening have been the Cherokee Purples, but now I'm getting
Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's. I started the Black Princes and
Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed, this is the first time that I've been
successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing that's
different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse manure
mulch.

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year
in they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of
them, this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

Do you mean for the first summer period of the year or the second one?
I did average for the first summer period of the year and I've not yet
planted for the second summer period so I can't forecast how my toms
will go then. I expect I'll get some cherry toms before the end of the
calendar year though.

What do you mean by second summer period? Where do you live? In New
England it's always touch and go about having enough time for one crop to
come in before it turns cold.

In article ,
says...



What do you mean by second summer period? Where do you live? In New
England it's always touch and go about having enough time for one crop to
come in before it turns cold.

Farml is in Australia.

In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

General Schvantzkoph said:

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

Weather started out pretty wet, then turned hot and very dry -- August
was disasterous. I have a theory that the wet spring and early summer
led to underdeveloped root systems, leaving the plants less able to cope
with the dramatic shift in moisture. (I wasn't able to do enough watering
to make up for the lack of rain.)

The pole beans stopped setting and dropped a ton of leaves and I lost the
last planting of sweet corn. (We had the first Labor Day without sweet corn
and pole beans in many years.)

The SunSugar and grapes tomatoes were OK; for the sauce tomatoes I
had my smallest harvest in many years, and the slicers tapered off to
almost nothing.

Zuchinnis and cucumbers never recovered from the attack of cucumber
beetles that happend in early June (while I was out of state).

Cabbage is dwarfed (wilting every day must do that to them).

Cold summer here in northern California but everything has been
producing for the last month. Glacier tomatoes were a sight for sore
eyes, but they don't have much taste. Think I'll stick with Stupice next
year for my early tomatoes. Old German is producing some softball size
tomatoes, and the Green Zebras and Blondkopfchen (cherry) are tart and
good for salads. I'm still waiting on the Brandywines, and the Gold
Medals.
Best crop we've ever had for sweet peppers, Quadrato di Asti, Corno di
Toro, Giant Szgedi, and Yellow Wax. We are still waiting for the
Quadrato to turn red, before we start harvesting them. Nothing like
grilled, red bell pepper. The Corno di Toro, and Giant Szgedi are
sauteed as a side dish, and the Yellow wax go fresh into salads.
Rascally Raccoon scratched out half of the potatoes, but the potatoes
with tomato cages are doing fine, and going dormant now. Great year for
lettuce. The sugar pumpkin initially headed south, until it ran into the
shade from our fence, now has doubled back heading east, looking like
it's going to make a break for it;O) Bad year for the cukes, but that
was because I was having brain farts. The zuchs have settled down, and
we don't have to eat them every night (Gott sei dank).

Already laying out the 2011 garden plan. Crop rotation is really hard,
because I grow 3 Solanaceae, and there is only so much good light in the
yard. The temptation is to follow Solanum with Capsicum this year, and
then I'll have it mostly sorted out after that.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/m...515308172.html

On Sep 2, 3:41*pm, General Schvantzkoph
wrote:
This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the 1980s,
it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most prolific plants
have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many hundreds of tomatoes.
The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also producing countless tomatoes, the
Tellow Pears are also doing OK but not as well as the Sugar Snacks, Sun
Golds and Grapes. My large varieties are just now starting to ripen but
they are all heavy with tomatoes. The first to start ripening have been
the Cherokee Purples, but now I'm getting Black Princes and Cosmonaut
Volkov's. I started the Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed,
this is the first time that I've been successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing that's
different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse manure mulch..

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year in
they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of them,
this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

Oh you lucky devil! Terrible, terrible year for tomatoes in the
Eugene, OR area. After dealing us a brutal, lingering winter,
virtually no spring and erratic summer weather, Mother Nature is not
my favorite lady. Now it's turned cold and rainy - down to the 40's at
night. Odds on anything maturing at this point slim to none. Of my 8
tomato plants, only the Sun Golds have produced anything edible - a
grand total of six little ripe cherry tomatoes.

Even the local farm stand is importing tomatoes from Washington. Very
tough for these nice people who make a good portion of their yearly
income from their tomato crop. I'd kill for a real home grown
beefsteak about now...and I sure won't be doing any canning this year.

Our apple, plum, and pear trees took bad hits from late frosts and
have produced poorly, if at all, and the birds got most of our
blueberries. At least my squashes and bush beans are producing
(sigh).

Nancy T

"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message
On Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:56:07 +1000, FarmI wrote:
"General Schvantzkoph" wrote in message
...
This has been the best year that I've had for tomatoes since the 1980s,
it's more than made up for last year's disaster. The most prolific
plants have been the Sugar Snacks which have produced many hundreds of
tomatoes. The Grape and Sun Gold Cherrys are also producing countless
tomatoes, the Tellow Pears are also doing OK but not as well as the
Sugar Snacks, Sun Golds and Grapes. My large varieties are just now
starting to ripen but they are all heavy with tomatoes. The first to
start ripening have been the Cherokee Purples, but now I'm getting
Black Princes and Cosmonaut Volkov's. I started the Black Princes and
Cosmonaut Volkov's from seed, this is the first time that I've been
successful doing that.

The hot dry weather gets most of the credit, but the other thing that's
different this year is that I covered my garden with a horse manure
mulch.

My cucumbers and corn are also doing well, they both failed completely
last year. The disappointment has been my blueberry bushes, last year
in they produced so many berries that I still have a freezer full of
them, this year I only got berries for a couple of weeks.

I'm in Massachusetts. Is everyone else having a good year also?

Do you mean for the first summer period of the year or the second one?
I did average for the first summer period of the year and I've not yet
planted for the second summer period so I can't forecast how my toms
will go then. I expect I'll get some cherry toms before the end of the
calendar year though.

What do you mean by second summer period?

The summer that starts on 1 December 2010 (as oppossed to the first summer
period of the year which was in January and February 2010).

Where do you live? In New
England it's always touch and go about having enough time for one crop to
come in before it turns cold.

I live in the Southern Hemisphere.