I was just out tying up and de-suckering my indeterminates again for another 40 minutes tonight. I continue to wonder what variety the mystery heirloom cherry tomato is (that I thought was a slicer, but clearly is not.) When I compare the fruit formation on the two cherry plants, they kind of look different, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to really say for sure.
It’s a REALLY good thing I did an earlier pass tying them up yesterday, because we got a murderous thunderstorm with high winds and hail at 2 AM last night. Had I not done the preliminary tying, I’d probably be very sad today.
The Roma plant, my only determinate variety, is fascinating to observe in contrast to the heirlooms. It’s so much more compact and symmetrical; it almost looks like a Christmas tree. I have a heavy-gague cone-shaped cage around it, but otherwise don’t need to tie anything up or support it. And the amount of green fruit on it is kind of threatening; I think what’s going to happen is it’s going to all break color at roughly the same time and then I’ll have to quickly harvest and process it, right? Compared to the indeterminates, which will continue to produce almost to the first frost.
I don’t know that you have to do it quickly, but the way I understand it, the plants stop sending out new branches, and flower over a limited period of time.
This year, for the first time I am growing three determinate plants as part of someones trials. They have been ripening fruit for about three weeks so far.
Because tomatoes have enzymes which cause separation of juice and solids, creating more liquid, it’s best to cook them first to denature the enzymes and preserve flavor. One easy method is to cut them in half and roast them in an oiled sheet. Once cooked, they lose some water, take up less space in the freezer, and are super easy to use without additional processing.
I have the same humid, muggy (and rainy) weather that @bogman is experiencing. We have a brief respite since yesterday, but it’ll be coming back in spades later this week with scorching temps too. The only good news is that I’ve had to water my garden less this year. And that all those bald spots in my lawn actually all sprouted nice new grass in no time this summer. Usually it’s a 50/50 shot since I hate wasting water on lawn and grass.
This is my second year at growing shelling peas, and I’ve already harvested a meal or two. Like last year, by mid July after harvesting the pods, I notice that the plant looks like it starts to die off. It goes brown and starts to dry up, even though I’m still watering regularly. Is this normal, or am I neglecting to do something for my poor little pea plants? This year, I did see some new flowers sprout in some of the odd random spots on the shoots, but this is very few and far between. Certainly doesn’t look like it’s trying to grow a second crop.
Normal when it gets “hot”. For me, that’s usually mid May, when daytime temps are rarely under 80. I have to sow seed in November or so to get a few crops of bush peas. Sometimes I sow again in Feb.
Ah ok, thanks. That explains it. July is usually when the summer temps really set in, so that’s why they are withering on me. And we had a spell of 80+ temps the last week and a half right after the harvest, so probably can’t really count on more peas than these few buds that might survive.
We have a very small patch, and thus hand-pollinate to make it work. Our results won’t win a beauty contest next to commercially grown stuff, but I can testify to the taste: freshly picked and into the pot moments later - there is nothing as good. We’ll be eating this for lunch for the next week or so.
Here’s the shallot harvest in progress. We grew two varieties this year - this is Conservor, with great results! We planted this same variety last year (and in years prior), but I think there was a mix-up with the seed we received last year - the results weren’t nearly as large as we had been accustomed to. This year - all good!
