About our big dinner salads....and other random musings (begun July 17, finished today)

Busy Bumblebee on our Salvia Coccinea Coral Nymph in late August

What a rare event! We made big salads tonight for dinner where our own lettuce co-existed with our own tomatoes! Typically the lettuce is long gone before the tomatoes arrive. I wish I took a picture - Sue and I make big salads when they are the main dinner course. Aside from lettuce and tomatoes (tonight I used Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop and Glory F1 hybrid) were chopped sweet orange peppers (Trader Joe-sourced), our own cucumbers (Unagi hybrid, which I highly recommend), blueberries (picked just a few miles down the road), a few halves of Rainer cherries (Trader Joe again). I put some sliced deli turkey on mine, and Sue likes Kalamata olives on hers. There were also some craisins, toasted walnuts, some torn basil leaves (it is so nice to have fresh basil to use), grated Syrah soaked Bella Vista (yep - Trader Joe), olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and black pepper. Sue adds a bit of Balsamic to hers. It fills a plate - but being on average about 95% water, has but few calories - so it is an amazing feast that fills us up. We’ve been doing salads like this for many, many years.

It was such a quiet day - Sundays here seem to be that way. The birds aren’t as vocal as they were, with just the house wren and song sparrows filling the spaces. Hummingbirds are around again after a bit of an absence, at our two feeders or our various flower gardens, particularly loving the phlox, salvia and crocosmia. The main morning task was watering - afternoon was for hammock time and a book, and tomato harvesting. We love our days here in Hendersonville. When Sue and I are in our back yard corner, the three dogs tend to hang around near us - except when some sound sends them running to see if a mole or vole or rabbit or squirrel - or delivery truck - threatened their domain. We could watch them frolic and interact all day (and sometimes it seems like we do!).

I’ve fallen behind on answering emails, which are mostly gardening questions at this time of year. I hope to get caught up tomorrow, but sometimes it just seems a bit overwhelming, working on issues in others’ gardens at the same time that I am working on those showing up in my own. If yours is one of the unanswered emails, apologies - you will get a response soon! (note added August 25 - yes, I did get caught up - but am falling behind again!)

Walking around the garden after dinner is hitting that time when it can be intimidating. Tomato growing means issues, and those issues accelerate as the season progresses, the plants get big, and the warm, humid weather takes its toll. Not only is there the regular watering, feeding, tying and diseased foliage removal, daily harvests are now here - and the decisions on what to do with it. I always have plans to take it slow, sample each variety carefully, take lots of pictures - then - WHAM - there are 20 or 30 or more pounds of tomatoes sitting on this or that table, all ripening at once. Which need to be tasted? Which need their seeds saved? Is it canning time yet? Something is leaking - which tomato is the culprit? It is just about at that point in the year, and I know it will flash by, as I will be very busy daily for the next month or more.

I often wonder how I got to this place - 40 years of gardens, two books, a collaborative on line course, Zooms and interviews and phone calls and emails and Instagrams and blogs. Mostly I wonder what’s next - what to stop, what to start, and how I can be in the moment more, have less “lists” - start to disencumber myself from being so consistently “on” and busy. I am so happy that I left Facebook and Twitter behind. Instagram is really my main sharing format, and though I have a love/hate feeling about all social media, I will likely stick with it for some time. I’ve come to realize that my blogging really is mostly for me - my record, my archive, and a place to do posts like this - thinking out loud, ruminating about things. My feeling is that blogs don’t often get read - too many words, too much time needed to do so, and our society is moving more and more toward brief sound bites. That, though, it not me - I love to write, love words, love the whole act of putting thoughts down (no longer on paper, but through my fingers, from this keyboard). Part of me is ready to do less gardening - smaller gardens for sure, feeling less tied to the yard, feeling more free to take off for days to kayak or hike. Part of me is ready to move away from the Zooms and the sharing. And an even bigger part of me is not ready for that quite yet - even though I burn out each year doing this, I somehow reenergize over the fall and winter and do it all again the following year. It does give me things to ponder as I garden, and mow, and hike, and laze in the hammock.

The above was all written in mid July. Now, on August 25 as I finish this blog, it all still rings true. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I had wonderful experiences providing Zooms for the plant breeding department at Cornell (on the Dwarf Tomato Project), and Penn State Master Gardeners (on tomatoes). One more Zoom remains - the tomato talk - to an Orange County NC Master Gardener group in late October. Then - that’s it!

Things that are now done - Better Call Saul (for which I am very sad - I loved that series, and thought that the finale was brilliant), the Friday Office Hours for my Growing Epic Tomatoes course with Joe Lamp’l, and my weekly Thursday Instagram Lives. This is a relief for me. It opens up space to do more things, feel less tied down and obligated.

I now embark on completing the book on the Dwarf Tomato Project - that will be my main focus between now and next spring. When not working on that, it will be all about hiking, or kayaking, or reading, or listening to music - or lazing in the hammock with Sue. This all makes me very, very happy.

Finally - some ripe sweet bell peppers! Royal Purple, Chocolate Bell and Orange Bell, late August. Seed saving time!

Updates finished, looking ahead a bit...

A very different view after removing plants today

Today (August 16) I yanked the dead or dying tomato plants from the straw bales and tossed them over the fence into our back woods. I still have 8 tomato plants growing in 5 gallon grow bags sitting on top of the front bales where indeterminate tomatoes resided earlier this season. Six are F2 generation from the Glory family (Dester X Dwarf Gloria’s Treat) - four are regular leaf, two are potato leaf. Two are chartreuse foliage Dwarf Jade Beauty, sent to me by a Growing Epic Tomatoes student - they appeared in a packet of Dwarf Jade Beauty from Victory Seeds. They may be a mutation or a cross - we will find out once fruits from the combined efforts of three of us begin to ripen. These plants are doing battle with septoria and early blight, so the possibility of them bearing ripe fruit is not assured.

The line of cherry tomatoes and other random varieties along the plant continue on. Two, from plants given to me by my garden friend Eddie at the Marion event this spring, will most likely provide ripe tomatoes. Tennessee Surprise will be a large bicolor, and the other is an unusually shaped tomato, a ridged plum shape, that is a mystery. I just saved a batch of seeds from Mexico Midget. The other of interest is from the Suzy family - it is indeterminate, the plant is dead, but a few fruit were appropriate for seed saving - very odd, matte/fuzzy skinned, and a green/pink mottled color. The flesh was very seedy. My goal are fuzzy dwarfs, so this is a dead end, albeit a curious one. Once we harvest the many cherry tomatoes present, these plants will be pulled, probably in a week or two.

bell peppers loading up - White Gold near, Fire Opal rear

I just harvested a load of eggplants from the still healthy, productive plants in straw bales, as well as lots of Shishito and Padron peppers. There are fruits on the bell peppers, and I am hoping some will ripen to the final color before they rot, so I can save seeds.

My next task are to plant spinach and lettuce seeds, so we can get salad greens throughout fall, winter and next spring. I will start those in small containers and transplant them into my two raised beds in a few weeks. I will also plant a few garlic cloves - perhaps aiming at a dozen plants. I overdid it last year, but we’ve enjoyed eating our own garlic. I’ve also got a very full plant of Greek Columnar Basil, which is soon to become pesto.

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Now on to the future. This coming Thursday - August 18 - will be my last weekly Instagram Live weekly ask me anything/garden update. It was great fun doing them between March and now, but it is time to bring them to a close. It is highly likely I will do one per month, just to keep connections going, before starting the weekly instances again next spring. So - one each in September, October, November, December, January, February - then regular weekly sessions starting mid March 2023. This matches the last of the Friday Office Hours sessions for Growing Epic Tomatoes, weekly Zooms done with Joe Lamp’l. He and I are both ready for a bit of a break!

I will continue posting blogs - there are lots of articles in Off The Vine to post, and I expect to finish that little project by the end of 2022.

In June, I suspended the review of my tomato seed collection, stopping at #250. I will restart this review in September, realizing that there will be quite a lot of filler - varieties that I never did get to grow out, or with little background info. We’ll see how it goes.

It is time for me to focus on finishing the Dwarf Tomato Project book. Reduced gardening activity and the Instagram Lives, as well as less frequent posts on Instagram and less frequent garden updates on my blog, will provide some of that time I need to do so. In addition, I will be reducing time spent on answering emails. My plan is to focus on responding to garden questions email on one day per week - to be determined. I will start this process on September 1.

Finally - about the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project. It has been an incredible ride - begun in 2005, it is now 17 years later - with 145 releases in various seed catalogs. Efforts on this, particularly with regard to my role - making crosses, decisions, distributing seeds - will now reduce considerably. This project will likely never formally end - work will be devolved to those who wish to take responsibility for moving various parts forward. It simply is time!

In my next blog, I will start to post my ideas on what next year’s garden - including various mini-projects - might look like. It’s way too soon for me to know for sure, but I can share some first thoughts and options!

Chartreuse foliage Jade Beauty

Thoughts on a very brief tomato harvest....or was it all that different?

kayaking on Lake Santeetlah - on our August trip

“Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, this happens!”

That could be the defining phrase for all gardeners. We are all constantly grappling with change on both macro and micro levels. There is variability within every season - temperatures, weather, critters, diseases. Then, there is the broader variability of how things are changing on a more broad scale - amount of rainfall, average last frost dates, length and intensity of heat waves. We get to deal with both, every year. Sometimes things work out just fine - and sometimes they don’t.

We moved to Hendersonville in January 2020. The first garden was pretty delightful. The first tomato ripened on July 15, yields and flavors were excellent - we canned 63 quarts, a record that we will never break (because our gardens will be smaller from now on), and all plants were removed - the tomato season ended - on August 25. That’s six weeks of tomato production. Weather was quite ideal throughout, with few 90 degree days and a reasonable amount of rain.

2021 was unique in that the garden was tended in a very disciplined fashion, in order to support filming for the course Growing Epic Tomatoes that Joe Lamp’l and his team created, focusing on his and my tomato gardens. Harvest began on July 10, yields were heavy, and it all came to an end on August 30. Duration of tomato production for 2021 was therefore was a little over 7 weeks. The weather was perfect, and we canned nearly as many quarts - 56.

2022 started out quite well. With less pressure to film, I still focused on many of the techniques that led to such a successful 2021. Fruit set was excellent early on, and plant health held well. First tomato harvested was a bit earlier - on July 4. Then….the heat cranked up, along with humidity. Then the daily late afternoon thunderstorms began. It became impossible to keep up with the spread of diseases - initially septoria and early blight, but also more fusarium wilt than I’d experienced here yet. I am about to remove all of the plants - the season has come to an end, on August 15. Total quarts canned - 7 - very low, even considering my garden contained 60 plants, about half of what I grew the last two years. Duration of tomato production ended up at 6 weeks.

In writing this blog, it is the first time I crunched the numbers on my first three gardens, to compare. I’ll pull out the pertinent data here. In each case, the plants went into the bales on roughly May 1.

2020 - 130 plants - harvest duration July 15-August 25 - 6 weeks. 63 quarts canned.

2021 - 110 plants, harvest duration July 10-August 30 - 7+weeks. 56 quarts canned.

2022 - 60 plants, harvest duration July 4-August 15 - 6 weeks. 7 quarts canned.

There are some interesting trends. First ripe fruit are coming in a bit more quickly each year. The pressure from disease is increasing. There were more days at 90 and above this year, and more late day rain which kept foliage wet overnight.

As far as critters, this year was largely free of hornworms, army worms, fruit worms, Japanese beetles and stink bugs. This was a disease year as far as issues. 2020 and 2021 had more hornworms and fruit worms, Stink bugs have not been a problem here. But - this was also a slug year, due to the rain. I’d not experienced slugs in my straw bales in 2020 or 2021, but they really came on late here, and mostly impacted my cukes, beans and squash.

Clearly next year will be different once more - the conditions (warmer? cooler? wetter? dryer? more or less humid?), and the critters. It will also be different in terms of my approach. I’ll discuss that in my next blog.

So in summary, my first take on 2022 - spinach, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, eggplants, and tomato quality excellent. Bush snap beans and summer squash not quite excellent, but very good. Tomato yields very good early on but dropped off. Sweet bell peppers disappointing - rotting prior to ripening.

My first guess on 2023 - no bell peppers, less eggplants, a different mix (and location?) of tomatoes - less or no containers, less on the Dwarf tomato project. Better location for beans, squash, cukes - add melons. Nearly full turnover to straw bales.

Stay tuned for more in the upcoming blogs.

View from our airbnb in Robbinsville

Hendersonville Tomato Report - part 2. First Look at New Dwarf Families

A selection of uninspiring new Dwarf Tomato Project selections

Well, you can’t win ‘em all! As impressive as the F2 selections from my indeterminate X indeterminate crosses were (as reported in my last blog), the F2 dwarf selections from a set of indeterminate X dwarf hybrids (to form new dwarf families) didn’t particularly impress. For one thing, they seemed to be much more prone to disease than expected (particularly Septoria leaf spot, but also Fusarium wilt). Despite that, yield was fine - but having plenty of tomatoes that don’t light up the taste buds, even if unique and impressive looking, represent likely dead ends.

Blue’s Bling X Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry - Blingy family. I grew one dwarf, regular leaf, variegated foliage. The tomatoes were uniform, round, 3 ounces, purple in color with antho on the shoulder. The flavor was not great - I rated it 6.5. My hopes for this cross were to find a variegated leaf purple dwarf with antho on the shoulders with decent size and an excellent flavor. I got the color and the variegation, but not the size or flavor. It may be considered a dead end, but also may be worth a look to see if something better emerges in the next generation. In the above picture, it is the variety at the bottom of the pic.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart - Lilly family. I have such high hopes for this family, as both components are great tomatoes. I grew out two F2 dwarf selections, both regular leaf. I didn’t spot a potato leaf dwarf in my seedlings, but my garden friend Denise has some growing. Neither of these are represented in the above picture. There was one really good result, and one so-so. The first Lilly F2 to ripen produced a nice yield of very pretty round pink tomatoes with gold stripes. The flavor was actually quite good - not earth shattering, but sweet, balanced, quite lovely, 7.5 rated. I think it is well worth seeing what appears in the next generation. The second plant was pretty ordinary, yielding 4 ounce slightly oblate scarlet tomatoes, very meaty, with a mild, non-offensive flavor that I rated 6.5. I have high hopes that others will find some real stunners in this family.

Lucky Cross X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Crossy family. I did a number of crosses onto Dwarf Mocha’s Plum, mostly out of curiosity - what the small plum shape and size, purple fruit color with antho shoulders would do combined with large fruited tasty indeterminate varieties. I planted one regular leaf dwarf and one potato leaf dwarf. The regular leaf plant produced lots of 2 ounce purple plum shaped fruit with antho shoulders of no outstanding flavor - rated 6. The potato leaf plant looked very promising, with variable size near hearts up to 5 ounces, red/yellow bicolors. Alas, they were quite bland, also rating a 6. I hoped for more. Rather than growing out each of these, I would likely return to the F2 seed to grow out a few additional selections to see what else there is to find. Already, I am thinking that the size and fairly weak flavor of Dwarf Mocha’s Plum is dominating in the resulting selections.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Plummy family. I planted one regular leaf and one potato leaf selection. The regular leaf plant produced 3 ounce plum shaped pink fruit with antho shoulders of a slightly better flavor, rating a 7. The potato leaf plant was pink with antho, round, smaller at 2 ounces, and less flavorful, coming in at 6. I don’t see either of these as being worth pursuing further, and would return to dwarf hunt with the F2 seeds to see what else may be found. I am now really thinking that Dwarf Mocha’s Plum was a poor choice as a crossing partner.

Don’s Double Delight X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Donny family. I grew only one plant, and it has potato leaf foliage. It was really prolific, providing chocolate colored plum shaped fruit averaging 2 ounces, with prominent antho and faint stripes. Alas, I found them lacking in flavor, rating them a 6. They are colorful, and it may be worth growing out a plant from saved seed, but it may be better to go back to dwarf hunting with F2 seeds.

Lucky Cross X Dwarf Buddy’s Heart - Lucky family. I grew but one of these as well, choosing a potato leaf dwarf. The tomatoes were pretty, bright yellow with red swirls in and out, and in the 3 ounce range, oblate in shape. Flavor was lacking, and they were too tart - another 6. The color was fine, the flavor was not - back to the F2 dwarf hunting drawing board.

Blazey F4 dwarf selections (Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Honor Bright) - I grew two plants, one regular and one potato leaf. This is a lead sent to me by Susan from Idaho. The plants were as expected - green foliage tending to yellow with age, showing their genetic legacy from Honor Bright. In both plants, the 2-3 ounce slightly oblate tomatoes started pale green, then went to white, ripening to bright orange. Flavor was lacking, ranking in the 5-5.5 range for both. Swing and miss for these. You can see them in the pics as the two groupings of orange tomatoes, above the pink or purple ones.

So, that’s it - a fun season trying some new dwarfs from new families, with only one really worthy of progressing - the round pink with gold striped selection from the Lilly family. As to what’s next - we shall see.

Here’s the other view of this set of F2 dwarf selections. Colors included chocolate, purple, pink, orange and red/yellow bicolor, some with antho.

Report from the Hendersonville NC Tomatoman Garden Laboratory - crosses and dwarf project update, part 1. Focus on the indeterminates

Selections from Blue’s Bling X Polish (left), Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, potato leaf (top), and Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling, regular leaf (right)

I’ve tasted nearly all of the tomatoes that came from my recent crossing work - both with the indeterminate X indeterminate heirlooms, and with the indeterminate X Dwarfs. The results are mixed, with the most excitement arising with the indeterminate varieties.

Let’s start with those.

Glory F1 - Last year I crossed pollen from Dester onto Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, an act that was captured by Joe Lamp’l’s film crew and residing in one of the lessons in our Growing Epic Tomatoes course. A successful cross would result in an indeterminate regular leaf plant, which is what I found when I planted seeds saved from the yellow/red heart shaped fruit on Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, harvested last year.

The tomatoes on Glory F1 were medium to large, pink in color and variably shaped, slightly oblate, through round, with some hearts (as predicted - this color and shape represents the combination of the various dominant traits). The flavor was excellent - well balanced, intense and delicious, rating a strong 8 out of 10 - in line with both parents, which are similarly excellent.

Saved seed was planted, resulting in a 3:1 ratio of indeterminate to dwarf, and in the dwarfs, 3:1 ratio of regular to potato leaf. I have six plants (4 regular leaf dwarf, 2 potato leaf dwarf) happily growing in 5 gallon grow bags, ready to be situated where some currently dead indeterminate plants reside in their straw bales. The most likely colors will be pink and yellow/red bicolor, though it would not surprise me to see red, and yellow as well. Shapes should vary between oblate and heart. Flavor should be excellent. These tomatoes will provide my August into September harvest if I can keep them healthy - frequent rains and heat and humidity are really supercharging disease incidence.

Polish X Blue’s Bling F2 - Two years ago I crossed these two varieties, and the hybrid (grown last year) was a regular leaf indeterminate plant that gave large oblate delicious pink tomatoes. I decided to grow out one variegated potato leaf plant this year (saved seeds from the hybrid gave a 3:1 ratio of regular to potato leaf, and in those potato leaf, 3:1 ratio of green to variegated).

The tomatoes on the F2 plant in this year’s garden are in the one pound range, oblate, smooth, a nice rich purple color, and are quite delicious if allowed to fully ripen. They are very meaty, with the internal structure reflecting that of Polish. I am quite excited about this, as it represents a potato leaf version of Blue’s Bling with slightly better flavor and internal structure. It is a very early generation, so further work will be required to stabilize this fortunate find.

One possible name for this combination going forward is Polish Bling.

Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom F2 - Two years ago I crossed these two varieties, and the hybrid (grown last year) was just superb - a large, pink regular leaf tomato with superior flavor. I decided to grow two plants this year from the saved seed - a potato leaf, and a regular leaf selection. The potato leaf is a very high yielding healthy plant producing large, nearly globe shaped fruit that are yellow shading to pink on the outside, and a glowing pink in the center. When fully ripe, it is delicious, tending to the sweet side of things. I really like this tomato, and it is a good starting point for a rather unusually colored delicious new variety with superb pedigree. One possible working name for this lovely selection is Lillian’s Rose.

The regular leaf plant is quite unusual. It is healthy, vigorous, flowering like crazy, but shy to set fruit. I finally harvested a ripe tomato a few days ago - it is medium sized, pink in color - I’ve yet to check the internal color, or taste it - that comes later today. I am mystified by its struggle to set fruit, but just emphasizes that there are many traits of tomatoes that can surprise when one works with crosses.

Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling F2 - Two years ago I crossed these two varieties, and the hybrid (grown last year) was a regular leaf plant with medium to large round to oblate pink tomatoes with an excellent flavor. I decided to grow out two plants this year from the saved seed, one potato leaf, one regular leaf, both with variegated leaves. The potato leaf plant provided a truly outstanding result - a large smooth oblate tomato that was essentially a pink/yellow/green tricolor - the interior yellow with pink and some green, particularly in the seed gel - with outstanding flavor. A working name for this could be Lucky Bling.

The regular leaf selection is really coming on now, a very healthy, prolific plant providing medium to large bright yellow tomatoes with a bit of red blossom end blush - bright yellow interior with a red ring in the core, and similarly excellent flavor. One possible working name is Swirly Bling.

With four out of five successes in the above selections (and the jury being out on the 5th), I am very pleased. This really only scratches the surface in possibilities on not only the above crosses, but those that I didn’t explore yet - Cherokee Chocolate X Stump of the World, Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart, Green Giant X Cancelmo Family Heirloom, and Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripes. I may dip into them next year.

Lower fruit shows the interior of Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky, potato leaf

The harvest suddenly begins! So, what's tasting great?

One of our mini tomato tasting snacks - Polish, Yellow heirloom, Orange Coastal Pride, and Captain Lucky

Wow, that happened fast! We went from no tomatoes, to the first big tomato (July 12), to our first canning and at least 30 large fruited varieties as of today. It’s been wild, hectic, stressful, fun - and in many cases, outrageously delicious!

Flavor winners so far:

Three tomatoes were rated 9 out of 10 - exceptional in flavor. They are Captain Lucky (the green fleshed one in the above pic), Polish (no surprise there - also on the plate, above - large and pink), and an F2 selection from Little Lucky X Blues Bling, with potato leaf, variegated foliage and large tricolored tomatoes (green, pink, yellow outside, yellow with some red swirls and seeds with green gel) inside. Thus, so far, 3 tomatoes rated a 9.

Nearly as good are some old favorites - Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, what didn’t turn out to be Cherokee Green but a delicious large scarlet red tomato (likely a cross of Cherokee Green with a red or pink neighboring variety), Glory F1 hybrid (which I created by crossing Dwarf Gloria’s Treat with Dester - nice large pink tomatoes that are slightly heart shaped), JD Special C Tex potato leaf variant - large and purple, and some cherry tomatoes - Egg Yolk, Mexico Midget, Yellow Fruity, what was supposed to be Orange Fruity but is actually pink, and Suzy’s Wild Red. To date, that makes 10 tomatoes ranking an 8 in flavor.

Just behind those are Lucky Cross (7.5, plant suffering badly with disease), Estler’s Mortgage Lifter (which really delights me - it seems to be the real deal, flavor rating 7.5), Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop (rated 7.5), Lilly F2 selection (from Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart - 5 ounce round pink tomato with gold stripes), Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry (a chocolate cherry from the Teensy family, sister to Dwarf Eagle Smiley, 7.5), Yellow Family Heirloom (more of a pale orange, thinking it is similar to the old variety Jubilee - very solid, mild - 7), Mary’s Heirloom (reputedly from Hinton West Virginia and 200 years old - large pale orange - pleasant - reminds me a bit of Persimmon - 7), Dwarf Orange Coastal Pride (round, 6 ounces, orange - very firm and solid, mild for my taste but pleasant, 7), Don’s Double Delight X Dwarf Mocha Plum F2 potato leaf dwarf selection (3 ounce plum shaped chocolate, light stripes, antho - mild - 7), and Red Egg Yolk (a bit larger than Egg Yolk, 7). That makes 10 varieties in the 7-7.5 range.

Coming in toward the end so far flavor-wise are Blue’s Bling X Polish F2 potato leaf variegated, large purple fruit - lacking in flavor, rated 6; German Heirloom - very large pink hearts, very solid flesh, a bit dry and flavorless - 6; Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Dwarf Moby’s Cherry selection F2 - 4 ounce yellow oblate, fair at best, rated 6; and Suzy’s Wild Orange, which turned out red - quite bland - 6.5. So, that makes 4 tomatoes in the 6-6.5 range.

Remaining to be harvested/tasted are about 30 varieties. Overall, I am very pleased!

As far as plant health, this has been a challenging season when compared to our first two gardens in Hendersonville. Septoria, Early Blight and Fusarium are all present and came on more quickly this year. Lots of late day thunderstorms and some high heat and humidity all contribute.

The following are dead, or soon to be, due to Fusarium wilt - Cherokee Green (Not), Cherokee Chocolate (two plants), Lucky Cross, Glory F1 and German Heirloom (all indeterminate plants in straw bales), Mullens Mortgage Lifter in a grow bag, the Moby family dwarf, the Lilly family dwarf, and Orange Coastal Pride. Though it is sad to lose any plants to disease, 10 plants is not a bad hit for this point in the season. I have 6 Glory F2 dwarfs (2 of which are potato leaf), and 2 Chartreuse leaf Jade Beauty to take their places.

Crops that are done are lettuce (bolted), garlic and potatoes (harvested - very successful), snap beans, summer squash. Cucumbers are barely hanging in there, but were wonderful. We are picking eggplant and some peppers (Pinata jalapeno type, Shishito, Padron), and the eggplants. Bell peppers are proving to be a problem - they are getting waterlogged and rotting prior to harvest/ripening.

I started some beans and squash in a plug flat to transplant into the now empty bales in hopes of getting late summer crops. I also plan on starting some spinach in a few weeks to grow into fall/winter/spring.

Cherokee Chocolate. Cherokee Purple, Polish, Lucky Cross and the spectacular Bling X Little Lucky F2 tricolor.

July 7 - garden notes - LOTS happening, but the best is yet to come

The expected yellow leaves, and immature white fruit, on Blazey F4 selection dwarf, one of my many mysteries

A garden is a complex thing. One one had, there are times when it seems little changes day to day. But a bit more thought reveals that an awful lot is actually going on. As our garden turned from June to July, it - and me - are already feeling a bit of that hot summer day, lazy torpor that prevents action being taken when it is needed - removing the blemished leaves, feeding or watering on schedule, applying that big ball of twine to tame plants.

Over the past few weeks, here are a few things that have been happening in our big back yard garden.

Snap Beans - we’ve been enjoying so our nightly big plates of fresh beans, boiled until al dente, served with butter, chives, salt and pepper - the ultimate finger food appetizer. I noticed that the plants were looking a bit tired and the nightly pickings diminishing significantly. So - a few days ago all but two varieties were yanked out and those areas cultivated a bit and reseeded. I focused on two varieties - Marbel and Jade. I am hoping for quick germination, and then to fill in any blank spaces quickly - the goal being another round of delicious treats well prior to the sun no longer being optimum for the location of the bean strawbales. I also wanted to get on top of seed saving for two rare varieties that are favorites, so 10 gallon containers were seeded with Marbel and Fowler.

Squash - the squash avalanche continues, but is slowing a bit. The plants are maintaining their health and vigor. I am about to thin two big triple plant bales to single plants to provide some breathing room, as well as assess the condition of all of the plants in general. It may be time to free up two of the four bales and reseed to provide consistent squash until frost.

Cucumbers - We are in love with the hybrid variety Unagi - it has all of the flavor and texture attributes of our former favorite, Diva, but with more length and more disease resistance. The two hills of cukes have been really prolific, with only a bit of disease showing up. Once again, I will have to decide if it is time to pull the plants and reseed - that decision will have to be very soon.

Potatoes - the vines are still largely green, but flopping over. Flowers never did form. I have four 20 gallon containers, and have to decide if it is time to dump one out and explore formation of the potatoes. It is approaching 100 days from planting, so it may be time - at least we would have some nice new Yukon Golds to enjoy. If the yield is reasonable, I will try some more colorful, unusual varieties next year - growing them was so easy, using straw from last year’s bales.

Rhubarb - we’ve enjoyed using it for strawberry, later blueberry, crisp desserts. It may be time to let the plants just leaf out and strengthen the crown. Having the three plants in large containers worked very well, providing us with all we need.

Lettuce - Somehow, despite the heat, the lettuce soldiers on. We probably have two weeks of salads remaining before the plants bolt and get pulled. Having our own lettuce is such a joy.

Garlic - long pulled, it is gathered and hanging in the garage, curing nicely. We ended up with about 30 big, plump bulbs, which will give us plenty to eat and some to replant in our raised beds in September (which is racing at us, it seems!).

Eggplants - we are about to harvest our first, and are thinking ratatouille with our squash and canned tomatoes from last year. The plants look great - growing them in straw bales is working beautifully, as expected. I am hoping for effective seed saving from all five varieties.

Peppers - also looking excellent, with fruit set on all varieties. Once again, straw bale growing was the key to returning to a successful effort. I really need to get some good quality ripe fruit from the various bell varieties from my dehybridizing efforts. We are a few weeks away from picking the sweet ones, but not nearly as long with Pinata jalapeno, and Padron and Shishito.

Tomatoes - our daughter Caitlin visited over last weekend, and spent hours working the plants - removing the blemished leaves and tying the unruly stems to the stakes. The main disappointments so far - a Moby family dwarf which produced so-so medium sized yellow tomatoes went down hard to Fusarium wilt. One of the Mortgage Lifters and a Lilly family dwarf loaded with striped tomatoes may be about to suffer the same plight. The straw bale indeterminates are looking really good, with plenty of fruit set. The other disappointment is seeing that Cherokee Green is turning out to be scarlet red - clearly crossed seed, so I am growing a hybrid, perhaps a cross with Polish or Ferris Wheel. I got to taste and save seeds from Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry (excellent), and Suzy’s Wild Red (excellent). The cross between Cherokee Chocolate and Orange Coastal Pride seems to have worked. Some of the variegated microdwarfs are throwing sprays of blossoms. There are volunteer tomato seedlings (likely Mexico Midget) all over my gravel driveway.

As far as general garden maintenance, I am sticking to daily watering and weekly feeding, though the day has slipped to Saturday. This is the time to keep the plants healthy, then stand back and see what the results are as varieties ripen. The past three days saw heavy late afternoon or evening thunderstorms, which is leading to more foliage diseases (septoria and/or early blight) at this point in the season than I experienced last year.

With Cherokee Green clearly crossed, I have but a few varieties that I am familiar with - Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Polish, Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop, and Lucky Cross. Pretty much everything else will be a surprise - either family heirlooms new to me this year, or F2 selections from my recent hybrids. What fun!

Gorgeous tomatoes to come on an F2 variegated regular leaf plant from my cross of Blues Bling with Little Lucky.

Late June garden update - there is joy in the Hendersonville garden...and the best lies ahead!

Bell Pepper Royal Purple thrilled growing in a straw bale

If I was to have planned perfect weather for gardening, it would be the 2022 growing season to date. There is just enough rain, just enough heat, plenty of sun, and reasonable humidity. The proof is in the condition of the garden at this particular moment. Of course, things can change, but so far, so good.

The garlic was harvested and is in two big bunches, curing the garage hanging on hooks. We are enjoying lettuce (which will be gone in a few weeks), rhubarb (combining with strawberries, blueberries or blackberries for crisps), cucumbers, summer squash and snap beans. The sugar snap peas were fine, but they are always gone well before the appetite for them is satisfied.

Cherokee Purple - future delicious tomatoes here!

The focus now turns to the mid summer stars of the annual show - peppers, eggplants, and, especially, tomatoes. Most of the pepper plants have tiny peppers, and the eggplants are following suit. ALL of the tomatoes are setting fruit very well. Pests have been few, and disease at a reasonable level. I have one sick plant - an F2 dwarf selection from Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Dwarf Moby’s Cherry. It suddenly developed Fusarium wilt. Once the nice looking, medium sized tomatoes ripen, the plant will be gone.

We harvested (and enjoyed) the very first ripe tomato a few days ago - a future Dwarf Tomato Project release called Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry. It is a prolific chocolate colored cherry tomato with a full, delicious flavor that is nicely balanced between fruitiness, tartness and sweetness.

We are not far away from the first Mexico Midgets, and Suzy’s Wild Orange, Suzy’s Wild Red, Orange Fruity, Yellow Fruity, Red Egg Yolk and Egg Yolk will start to show color very soon.

Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry - this one ripened and was eaten yesterday…yum!

The 2022 garden is now well underway - mid-June update

Garlic removed Jan 9, variegated microdwarfs now in place

There are certain points in the year of a gardener that are simply the best. Each gardener of course will have their own particular favorite parts. For me, seed starting, transplanting, and checking out progress as the plants mature reign supreme. Sure, harvesting and tasting are great - but that part comes and goes like lightning. My least favorite part is hammering the stakes into the ground to support the indeterminate tomatoes.

As we race through June, it’s a good time to take stock. On June 5, I harvested the garlic from the elevated raised bed and used the space for variegated microdwarf tomatoes. The rest of the garlic (in the other raised bed) came out on June 9 - I think I have about 30 big bulbs curing on trays in my garage. Additional variegated microdwarfs, as well as one sent to me by my garden pal Justin, are now where the garlic used to be. Some lettuce and strawberries share the bed with the tomato plants. In the elevated raised bed, some chard is keeping the microdwarf tomatoes company.

We’ve been enjoying rhubarb, using it in combination with strawberries or blueberries for delicious crisps. We have a few containers of basil growing here and there. It feels odd to have the garden largely planted. The weeks are settling into the weekly feedings, daily waterings, and regular passes through the plants to note where suckering or tying or blemished foliage removal is needed.

The eggplants and peppers in strawbales or growbags are looking great. Most of the peppers have tiny buds, and a few of the eggplants do as well. I am so pleased that I decided to move both crops to a more favorable position, and put many in strawbales. The scant crop of each were really disappointing the last two years. Though many are unconvinced about eating eggplant, it is a star in some of our favorite summery things to eat. And who can ever get enough sweet peppers! Having Shishito and Padron as options will be really fun, and delicious.

As for the tomatoes - WOW. I still am amazed at how quickly the plants take to the strawbales and containers. It has been a month and a week, and the plants are pretty monstrous, with ample fruit set on most varieties. There are so many varieties to look forward to that I will start to feature some on my next update blog. With only a few familiar varieties - Egg Yolk, Mexico Midget, Mortgage Lifter (both Halladay and Mullens), Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green and Cherokee Chocolate (two plants), everything else is going to be a mystery - either family heirlooms recently sent to me, or F2s of my recent crosses. What fun!

Be sure to catch my weekly Instagram Live - Thursdays at 3 PM eastern. My handle is @nctomatoman . Weekly tours of the garden demonstrate how quickly things grow!

A whole lotta garlic curing in the garage

End of May garden update - taking stock after a whole lotta rain, and focusing on our flower gardens

Sugar Snap Peas, Iris, Daylilies

Enough! Waving the white flag here after a week of rain. But, with the forecast for the week to come showing solid sunny days in the upper 70s, we enter the “perfect garden condition” phase. I am writing this blog in bits - today is May 28, and it was blue sky and 75 degrees. Delightful! The next 10 day forecast shows temps varying from 75 to 82, with just a few days with 30% chance of late day showers.

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Random gardening thoughts on the season so far:

I’ve really loved it. Stepping back from seedling sales meant starting far less plants. Needing less materials meant far less money spent. I already had enough square pots and plug flats, and a good start on plastic labels. All I needed were a few bags of Metro Mix planting mix. They discontinued my favorite, the 360 blend, so I went with 830, and thought it worked fine. Less plants meant less transplanting, less worry about frost, and less movement in and out of the garage. My typical schedule worked fine - March 1 seed start, April 1 transplant start, with plants looking good by May 1.

I did have some customers, but not through advertising - just word of mouth, or those from the past two years. Pretty much everyone who comes to get plants are delightful. The only hitch is that we have three pretty protective dogs that can get barky - each for its own reason. Getting them into the house is a must.

My two raised beds had - and still have - garlic, which hindered their use a bit. One bed had spinach that I planted as seedlings in September (along with some lettuce and chard). The rough winter (two nights with temps in the low teens, and one 11 inch snow) did in the lettuce and chard, but the spinach, once things started to warm up, was spectacular. I cut the scapes from the garlic a week ago. The spinach started to bolt, so was removed, and replaced with lettuce, and a few strawberry plants from a friend. I hope to harvest the garlic in a few weeks, and the beds will then hold microdwarf tomatoes, particularly a variegated find from last year, up to 10 plants between the two raised beds.

I seeded sugar snap peas against the fence and created string trellis, as in previous years. The peas are now 6 feet tall and we are starting to pick some. In front of the peas are iris, moved from other gardens, and in front of those, daylilies I started from seed, sent by a friend. We should be seeing the daylilies bloom very soon. I think the iris was perturbed by the move, so just foliage this year.

Shade garden - bleeding heart, pulmonaria, astilbe and more

We’ve had a great time with our flower gardens. Our shade garden is full of bleeding heart, Solomon seal, Celadine poppy, and astilbe. To that collection are a few plants purchased this spring - pulmonaria, two hellebores, a new foamflower, and an epimedium. Some foamflowers and ferns complete the dense mix in that garden, anchored in the corner by a Virginia sweetspire. In the same area, different corner, we relocated a nine bark that has made its way around the yard.

Main flower garden - all sorts of things blooming, and on the cusp.

In our big flower garden, all sorts of things came up early in the spring - tulips and daffodils, joined by phlox, miniature roses, clematis Princess Diana and a white one we moved from Raleigh, coral bells, lots of lamium, oregano, an unusual rudbeckia, several gladiolas, an echinacea, cardinal flower, lots of Kalimeras, a Husker’s Red penstemon, two different cranesbills, a threadleaf coreopsid, a Japanese painted fern, balloon flower, and four astilbes. To that we’ve added some new plants - we purchased a new Rozanne cranesbill (it died last year), some new Salvia Greggei, Salvia leuchantha, an epimedium, a new echinacea, a spider wort - as well as some annuals (snapdragon, zinnia, salvia coccinea). Right now, clematis, penstemon, cranesbill, lamium, the new salvias, and the miniature roses are all providing color. Soon to join them will be the phlox and cardinal flower and gladiolas.

Near the shed, the garden is primarily a pathway for the dogs, with mostly phlox, with some rubdeckia and a relocated butterfly bush and Miss Kim lilac on one side, and red bee balm and a relocated peony, and a large old type lilac on the other, with balloon flower emerging here and there. Oddly, we’ve yet to see Miss Kim bloom in Hendersonville. Right next to the shed is a huge Lady Banks rose on a trellis that bloomed fairly lightly - a late frost once again nipped buds. We are now seeing lots of daylilies and canna coming up.

Husker’s Red penstemon looking great

Our big back flower edge garden is mostly shrubs. Everything in there is thriving - the hydrangea is budding well, the red rhododendron (which I am trying to propagate) was spectacular, choke berry and elderberry and forsythia are now huge, two red roses are gorgeous, and the garden ends with daylilies, crocosmia, a Russian Olive tree, a double white spirea, and a Virginia Sweetspire. It is overgrown, it is wild - and it works just great. Nearby is a fig that I rooted in Raleigh and we brought with us. It had the typical winter die back but is largely looking fine. Will it be in too shady a spot to give us figs? We shall see.

Near the deck is a garden constantly in flux. With a gorgeous Samaritan Jo clematis just finishing up bloom and a big spot of Green and Gold, it started with daffodils and tulips and an old fashioned lilac and a chartreuse foliaged spirea, and how is showing Japanese Iris (violet blue or yellow), gladiola foliage, Deutzia we brought from Raleigh, Russian Sage, a new Amsonia, and some annuals - zinnia and snapdragon. The soil isn’t great and we tend to move things in and out of this garden, depending on how they do.

Princess Diana clematis is the star here

A strip garden near the hose spigot was nothing but walking iris, lemon balm, spearmint and lamium with some Autumn Joy sedum. Sue and I stripped all of that out and it how holds daylilies - some from my friend Eddie, some from seed, with the sedum and some lamium, a a pot of Salvia coccinea. Near the heat pump, a wall strip garden is mostly Stella D’oro daylilies, with Wisteria on an arbor, and a flowering magnolia next to the arbor. The late spring frost and hard pruning meant no Wisteria blooms, but the magnolia, after early blooms got frosted, put on a nice show this spring.

In front, we have an azalea garden, with a Viburnum, newly planted Flame azalea, relocated hybrid Mountain Laurel, a yew and a quince mixed in. Some daffodils bloomed there early, and daylilies are now just starting. A strip garden on the side yard/front is mostly various hostas, with some sweet woodruff and a bright green leaf, pink flowered spirea. The main flower garden is anchored by a huge white flowered camellia, a smaller pink flowered camellia, two chartreuse leaf spirea, two recently hard pruned Rose of Sharon, and a holly. The garden has a few azaleas, a lot of lily of the valley, a red hot poker plant, lots of self seeded columbine, and some gladiola and daylilies. Early on, it was full of daffodils.

That’s a tour of our flower gardens, in general, but with some end of May details. Tending the flower gardens with Sue is one of the pleasures of the season. Sure, the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, along with the green beans, summer squash and cukes are great. But their seasons can be quite concentrated - while the flowers provide joy from early spring through late fall.

Back edge garden, showing our two red roses.