Was away for 2 weeks and came home to some ripe tomatoes. Many are split with the frequent heavy rain we had and the earwigs ruined more than a few. Anyway, gave away a dozen, have had toasted tomato sandwiches and will look for inspiration on the tomato master thread. Mostly Black Krim with some Brandywine.
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Can you tell me about the ‘toasted tomato’ sandwiches? That sounds delish!
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How long are the cactus stems (technically “cladodes”) before flowering/fruiting starts? I’m wondering how big they need to get before fruiting. We have an “Edgar’s Baby” in the greenhouse; supposedly one of the best flavored.
Do you have more than one variety?
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They are super simple. Buttered toast, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Repeat. It’s a family joke that my mother and her siblings use butter, salt and pepper to season absolutely everything, but it really does the trick here.
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If grown from seeds, it usually takes 5 to 6 years. Our cactus stems usually reach about 5-8 feet, or roughly 1 feet per year. The smallest of our stems that bore fruit were a measly 4 feet in length if I recall correctly (or barely to my waist).
I think at least 4 feet. 5 feet would be best.
We have the Vietnamese Jaina variety in our front yard, and a American Beauty (pink flesh) in our backyard. Our neighbors just gifted us a “Connie Mayer” which we just potted.
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Love tomato sandwiches:tomato:
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I just read that Edgar’s Baby is self sterile; so no fruit unless we get a pollinator. Would you be willing to sell/trade for stem pieces? I’ve got plenty of Edgar’s baby climbing around. It’s supposed to be one of the best flavored, but the vendor neglected to mention it’s self-sterile.
Raspberries to these eyes. Just picked a nice mess last weekend.
It’s the imperfections that make eating from your garden that much more you, and not some perfect looking, but shtty tasting storebought stuff. I’ll say our local sweet corn really did turn out this year. I was afraid the lack of rain would make it starchy. Not so.
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Nice! I planted an Oregon spring start in May this year – it’s finally winding down with only three fruits left to ripen and no sign of flowers. That was a new variety to me and I was pleased with the output/taste (although it was hardly any earlier than the Early Girl right next to it). I’ll yank it out and use that spot for the chard seedlings I’ve got going inside.
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I’m tired of growing green rhubarb and want to specifically mail-order a red variety. I don’t want seeds, I don’t think - I’m lazy. Has anyone here mail-ordered and successfully planted a rhubarb crown?
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Yes, I have. I bought a Canadian Red and Victoria (can’t remember the exact vendor—Burpee? Guerney? Fedco?). I purchased these two for their cooler climate growing. Success for 20 years. Not this year; just not a year for it. Climate change? Spring was late and wet, summer came in like a blast furnace and I’m pretty sure our first frost will be here next week. The anemic stalks and leaves went directly into the compost. They both always needed a lot of TLC and food. They didn’t produce the huge stalks I always envied, but I made a enough straight rhubarb pies and canned some syrups.
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We had a bumper crop, some rhubarb being started from crowns that would have been started 40 or more years ago.
We transplanted 8 plants a few years ago and they were doing well this summer.
That said, I’ve had no zucchini this summer. Very weird. I usually have tons. White scallop squash is doing well.
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I ordered Victoria crowns from Johnny’s Seeds, but Victoria isn’t very red; more of a blush. The plants need high nutrition and prefer cool springs. They take some years (3–5) to get productive. During hot dry weather, they often go dormant. Shading from western sun can help.
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I looked and every single vendor i could find that sells crowns is sold out this time of year 
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Ya gotta get on it as soon as the mail order catalogs go out or follow their online shops at the beginning of the new year. I think rhubarb plants became popular again with the pandemic.
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Yeah. I have two huge, mature plants in the backyard now. But both are green.
