...what a pleasure it is to blog from the back deck on a beautiful late August day.

My soundtrack consists of buzzing cicadas, the low whir, then toy-like squeaks, of zooming hummingbirds as they head for the nearby feeder, horn-like toots of the white breasted nuthatch - it is utterly delightful. A family of goldfinch just flew in to spend time at the feeder. The sky is deep blue and dotted with puffy white cumulus clouds. It is dead still - the angle of the sun and quality of the air advertises the coming fall season. What better time to start to describe my garden results of 2017.

Hummingbird interested in Jerusalem artichoke and lantana blossoms

A few days ago I removed just about all of the Dwarf tomatoes growing in 5 gallon grow bags. Aside from 2 of them, they were still alive, but stretched beyond the 4 foot mark, leaning here and there, and any future production would be spotty and too late for optimum quality. It was encouraging to see them still doing so well, as early blight and septoria were a constant enemy throughout the season. 

The vacancies allowed me to rearrange things a bit. I had been ignoring now-crowded and leaning eggplants and peppers. I relocated them all to give them more space, fixed the staking and provided a good dose of fertilizer. The eggplants were slow and steady all season; the peppers were severely impacted by bacterial spot from the very beginning, yet they are all still alive and somehow looking better; I am hoping for more of each. I've now made 6 pints of pepper jelly, which will make our fall, winter and spring lunch time bagels and cream cheese unbeatable.

(pictures of before and after can be found at the end of this blog)

I left the indeterminate tomatoes where they were, but following a really successful summer for most of them, it is only a matter of time before they are sent to horticultural heaven. They worked hard, yielded plenty of absolutely delicious fruits, and, with 20 quarts canned and a few bags roasted sauce in the freezer, all is well. 

My next series of blogs will take each crop - and in the case of tomatoes, each little project - piece by piece so that I can tie up the story of the 2017 garden. What I can say is that, for the most part, the weather cooperated. We didn't have an extended drought, and I was available to handle the few stretches of extreme heat and humidity. Blossom end rot was an issue for a few of the large container indeterminate varieties, but didn't really touch any of the dwarfs. Aside from a very few hornworms and fruitworms and early spring aphids, the plants were essentially pest free. 

Tomato spotted wilt hit a few varieties early on, which seems par for the course. Septoria and Early blight were their typical pesty selves, but removal of blemished foliage and better plant spacing meant that it never became unmanageable. A few of my straw bales seemed to be embedded with persistent herbicides, which led to premature death of both of my Sun Golds, as well as Egg Yolk. Downy Mildew really hit the basil hard, and bacterial spot caused grief for most of my peppers. The deer got me bad just one night.

The fun is in the details, so I will begin digging into specific results in the next blog.

Below is a carousel of pictures from my driveway rearrangement work. 

..and there goes the summer garden! Let's catch up.

Wow - time flies when you are:  having fun, doing lots of watering, harvesting, seed saving, cooking, and recovering on the couch after a shower. Looking back, my last substantive blog on progress was mid July. Here we are in late August, and in the blink of an eye, anticipation evolved into analysis of how it all went down.

Between mid July and now were tastings, dinners, trips and speaking events, garden visits, and even a near total solar eclipse. Add to that seed saving complete for over 100 tomato varieties, 20 quarts of canned tomatoes, frozen roasted sauce, frozen roasted tomatoes, some pints of hot pepper jam, and a run through all of our favorite tomato recipes. We've made the journey from the first few precious tiny Mexico Midgets to the dining room table covered with ripe tomatoes to a near complete absence, with just a few dribbling in every few days. 

Below is an array of pics taken between from mid July to the end of the month - it is a carousel - just click each pic to advance.

This speed-of-light trip through the peak of tomato season provides one of the reasons that they are so beloved....we eat for 12 months a year, but we get to eat great, home grown tomatoes for only a fraction of that span - peak harvest is really one month out of those 12, or only 8% of the year. 

I will do a few upcoming blogs on revelations of results from the various projects and mysteries, and dive into the details. Let's keep this one short, though.

It was a really good tomato season, a fairly poor pepper year, in the middle for eggplants, and a disaster for basil. Tomatoes were plentiful, generally healthy, and absolutely delicious. I have some ideas on why this year was so much better than the last handful that I will share when I do a more in depth analysis of the 2017 season. Peppers were hit hard by bacterial spot - first time ever for me, and the disease wasn't fussy as to which varieties...it impacted them all. The big problem with basil was a big outbreak of downy mildew...once again, my first battle with the devastating affliction. Sadly, there will be no pesto this year (unless we make it from purchased basil).

Below are some pics taken between August 1 and today....just a random sampling.

One more thing I wish to share, in the "chip off the old block" department. In April I shipped plants to my daughters Sara, in Olalla Washington (south of Seattle, near Gig Harbor), and Caitlin, in Abilene Texas. As expected, Sara is grappling with foliage disease and delayed fruit ripening due to weather conditions (patience, Sara - they will ripen!).

Caitlin, on the other hand, is replicating my success with containers in her yard - check out some pictures below. She and Patrick are having a blast eating Sun Gold, Mexico Midget, Egg Yolk, Rosella Crimson, Caitlin's Lucky Stripe, Dwarf Wild Fred, and others. I am so pleased that my girls share my love of gardening, growing great tasting tomatoes, and cooking!

Product Review - Gardener’s Revolution Classic Tomato Garden Kit from Gardener's Supply Company

Overall rating – 5 stars (out of 5) for results/effectiveness, 4 stars for the product and value

I am a long time gardener with lots of experience growing tomatoes (as well as peppers and eggplants – more on those later). When we moved into our Raleigh home 25 years ago, I hand dug a garden in the side yard, Over the years, the surrounding trees grew to a point where the garden no longer received enough hours of direct sun. The best sun location turned out to be our driveway, Moving the garden there meant learning all about container gardening, a perfect alternative to traditional dirt gardening. The main challenges are providing sufficient water and feeding, particularly during hot summers, and figuring out ways to keep the plants upright. Let me tell you....I've found a perfect solution!  Read on....

After publication of my book, Epic Tomatoes, I was asked by Gardener's Supply Company to test and evaluate their Gardener’s Revolution Classic Tomato Garden Kit. My plan was to test the product using three types of crops that achieve similar height and provide similar challenges for successful container gardening. The product instructions clearly designate that it is not suitable for indeterminate (tall growing) tomatoes, so I tested an eggplant and sweet pepper in one set up, 2 dwarf-growing tomatoes in a second set up, and 2 determinate tomatoes in the third planter.

Components of each kit: Large box with the planter and support components, planting medium and plant food. I noted that some of the plastic parts had some damage in shipping, but it didn’t hinder functional set up of the planters.

Assembly: Complete assembly of the planter ranged from a bit over an hour for the first to a bit less for the next two, with most of the time spent on a soon-to-be-redesigned clip mechanism. The top rim did not fit snugly on the planter, but it wasn’t necessary for proper use and function.

Seasonal crop maintenance: The self-watering design is a wonderful feature, and the effectiveness of keeping the plants healthy and productive in relation to my typical 5 gallon grow bags or pots was clearly evident. Occasional feeding and watering was a breeze, and the supports kept the plants easily upright.

Results, general: The seedlings grew quickly, at a significantly increased rate and vigor and health compared with traditional containers. Fruit set and yield and crop quality were superb. The planters were set up on May 1, and as I write this on August 3, the plants continue to thrive and produce, with exceptional fruit yield and quality.

Results, by specific plant type:

Dwarf growing tomato:  I placed two tomato seedlings in the planter, but one of them went down quickly to tomato spotted wilt virus; this was a random event, a disease spread by an infected thrip, and was in no way due to the planter. The remaining dwarf tomato variety grew spectacularly, reaching 4 feet height and 3 feet width within a few months. The plant was easily double in scale to similar varieties planted in 5 gallon containers. Quite simply, the dwarf variety in the planter showed the potential of this class of tomatoes; the tested variety is a recent release from a new breeding project that I co-lead. If one wants to maximize production of a dwarf stature tomato, this is the way to do it.

Determinate tomatoes: Two Martino's Roma tomatoes are excelling in the planter. Everything observed for the dwarf tomato, noted above, holds true for the determinate tomatoes.

Eggplant: Wow. I’ve never seen an eggplant produce so heavily. From one single plant, at least 20 perfectly healthy, delicious fruit were harvested, with more on the way.

Sweet Pepper: Again, as with the eggplant, the pepper (a notoriously finicky crop to grow in a traditional garden) became a production machine. Both pepper and eggplant achieved 4 feet in height, perfectly supported by the planter structure. The pepper plant has a minimum of 20 fruit, with some on the cusp of turning to its ripe color.

Overall assessment: Yes, there is some cost involved, and a few wrinkles to work out, primarily around the integrity of the device and how it makes it through the shipping process, and assembly of the support clips. But if one is looking for success – for ease of maintenance and for high yields of excellent quality produce, this is a superb product. Once purchased, they can be a fixture in the garden for many years.

Below you will find series of pictures of the progress of the planters. Click on the pictures to advance the carousel.

Set up and planting - early May

Early progress - into early June

Further along - into July and harvest time

An unexpected gift from a reader

An email arrived in my Inbox a few days ago from Crystal Lynn. Crystal first contacted me last March, after reading my book, realizing I lived nearby and was a source for tomato seedlings. My babies grew in her garden last year. We  had some nice email exchanges early in the season which involved some of her gardening questions, which I was delighted to answer. Clearly, Crystal's gardening adventures are continuing with success this year, which makes me happy.

I asked Crystal if she is comfortable with me sharing the note that she sent - thankfully, she is, and here it is.

"Hello there!

I wanted to sent you a quick note to let you know how much your help and your book have meant to me. As you may recall my husband used to tease me and I would prefer a bag of great tomatoes than a dozen red roses. It's so true. Lol. I also told you how I had not had a great tomato since we moved over 10 years ago. Well, that has all changed!!

I am sooo happy! I truly love tomatoes and yesterday, for the first day in my entire life, I had more fantastic tomatoes than I could eat and had grown myself!! We went on vacation and when we returned my crop those volunteers I messaged you about earlier this year, we going crazy. Delicious, bright-red tomatoes everywhere!!! What a delight! It made me so happy!

My son now understands the joy of home-grown tomatoes as well. He too loves to go in the garden and pick fresh tomatoes right off the vine for a snack. I am sure he will grown his own tomatoes too when he grows up. He really loves them as much as I do. 

Anyway, I had given up on my love of tomatoes a long time ago. I had tried and failed so many times and just thought I was destined to never eat great tomatoes again. Then I found your book. I was so inspired and have spent countless hours and money getting there, but I finally have realized my dream of having those wonderful, sweet, juicy tomatoes I always loved when we lived in Nebraska.

I just wanted to thank you for the gift you have given to all of the tomato lovers of the world! It sure makes me and my son happy!"

(Crystal included a picture of one of their tomato successes, taken by her son, Kendall, shown below)

Tomatoes on one of Crystal Lynn's plants, photographed by her son and shared with me

Thank you, Crystal, for sending the note - it is the ultimate gift for an author.

It's all happening now - tastings, harvest, cooking, seed saving, and more....

Somehow, we've moved on from searching desperately for a few ripe Mexico Midgets or Sun Golds to the annual line up of ripe tomatoes on the kitchen counters. It is fun, delicious, occasionally surprising - and consistently busy!

Before a discussion about the garden, I want to highlight a few upcoming activities well worth checking out. (there are links below, and also in my Upcoming Events page)

Tomorrow evening at 6:30 PM - Monday, July 17- is a special tomato dinner at Acme Food and Beverage in Carrboro NC. All details, including the sumptuous menu and registration, can be found here.

For those who miss our Tomatopalooza events, come on to Iseley Farm in Burlington NC on Saturday, July 22, at 3 PM in Burlington for the Epic Tomato Tasting. 

Beyond that, on July 25  the Durham Garden Forum Gardeners' Advice Fair will take place at Duke Garden at 6:30. A mini Tomatopalooza happens at the Olive Wagon in Lafayette Village in North Raleigh at 6 PM on July 27. Then comes the Home Grown Tomato Festival in Charlotte NC on July 29. Finally, consider registering for a special tomato themed class at Southern Season on August 6.  I will be doing three tomato workshops at different Wake County libraries in September and October; once the dates and locations are confirmed, they can be found in my upcoming events page.  

Now on to the garden....it has been HOT and HUMID. This makes the plants somewhat unhappy - and me as well; it is virtually impossible to be out there tending to things after lunch. Today saw a bit of relief with an early afternoon cloudburst.

Rain!

The lower tomato foliage turns pretty ugly when things get hot and humid, and I've done several rounds of foliage removal. I've clearly got issues persisting on some plants in bales - the 2 Sun Gold plants, Amethyst Cream and Egg Yolk in particular maintain a severe wilt from late morning on, but the foliage is still green and they are all producing. I've never seen so much blossom end rot on Green Giant, typically a very happy resident in my garden. Mama's Huge Orange is about dead, likely a victim of tomato spotted wilt; it is also not orange, but red. Anna's Kentucky Heirloom is similarly afflicted and I may get no tomatoes at all - ditto Lillian's Yellow Heirloom. The peppers are clearly suffering from bacterial spot and the basil is going down fast to either fusarium or downy mildew (or both).

However, that is the extent of the bad news. Eggplant is abundant and healthy, and the dwarf tomatoes are thriving and occasionally surprising; there is a lot of research going on, so each plant that ripens fruit offers an answer to a mystery. Some of the dwarfs - Dwarf Caitydid, Dwarf Beauty King to name a few absolute highlights - are simply delicious and the equal of the best indeterminate varieties.

Dwarf Beauty King, upper right, Dwarf Caitydid, bottom (a selection from our Tiggy line is upper left)

Tomato ripening and picking means seed saving, an activity that has kept me quite busy. Ripe tomatoes also mean the chance to cook up our favorite recipes; thus far we've had Pasta alla Norma, roasted tomato crostata, and tonight, our first tomato bisque. If the harvest intensifies, it will be canning time. It all happens in the blink of an eye, but I am putting lots of effort into keeping the plants going - attending to the foliage issues, feeding and watering - to really push the yields and see if I can get productivity well into August. 

Be sure to click on the images below to advance the picture carousel - just a sampling of the goings on in the driveway with tomatoes this week.