23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Well, for one thing....nothing wrong with snagging a tumble weed (which came from Siberia, and are called Siberian thistle BTW! ) or three and painting it white or silver and making it into an Xmas tree! DONE THAT! LOL
We have such a hard time between summer/fall plants, cause some of our summer stuff can go as late as November! It makes it difficult to start by seed, not knowing when we will be getting a killing frost (anywhere from Sept to Jan!)
I usually just buy starts for the fall/winter garden. Nancy
NOT this year, though! All summer stuff is done in and I'll be cleaning up the beds to cover up for the winter.
Still have carrots under a low tunnel here, and they're doing fine.
Our growing season this year featured frost on June 12th, and several days of freezes between September 10th and 13th. It has been in the mid 20's five times since then, and two of those nights were in the 20's for more than 8 hours. Lost count of how many nights were frosty.
Tough year, but carrots are tougher.
Could it be the Purple Bell in the Burpee Canival Mix? The Carnival Mix seeds are commonnly found on seed racks in the spring.
Here is a link that might be useful: Burbee Carnival Mix
Are you not allowed to use organic pesticides either? Because neem, spinosad, and pyrethrums will pretty much take care of nearly anything trying to eat your garden, bugwise.
If its squash bugs row covers will do the trick, if you can be sure they won't be "borrowed" away from your plants. I think by the time they start blossoming and you have to remove them, most of the squash bugs are gone.
Indeed I find DE is effective on a small scale. It also adds Ca to the soil which rarely goes amiss in the east.
Those who subscribe to the notion that malnourished plants are easily susceptible to insect attack sometimes pinpoint low S as the main issue.
Another strategy is to grow a crop in the general class but different enough that it may not suffer as much predation. Examples: cowpea is less favored by MBB than common beans; some kales and collards less favored by ICM than heading cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower; edible gourd is less susceptible to pests and some diseases than the three main squash species.
Soilent green, that is either Costoluto Genovese sel Valente or Russo Sicilian Togetta. Both really good for sauce only. Why I grow them. Both look rather alike.
I can send you seeds when you send me seeds of the beast you have. You need to name that!
Zen, yes that plants looks like it talks! Yikes! It has lips!
I keep notes and descriptions on all the varieties I have. Here they are for the two mentioned. Note though Russo is inderterminate for sure.
Rosso Sicilian -
Maturity midseason
Growth habit indet.
Leaf type regular
Fruit color red
Fruit shape hollow, ribbed
Fruit size small
Fruit type stuffer, paste
Variety type heirloom
Country Italy
(aka Russo Sicilian Togetta) Italian heirloom brought by a Sicilian man
to the U.S. in 1987; given to Ann Fuller of Mitchell, Indiana, who said
its slices look like red-petaled flowers (rosso means âÂÂredâÂÂ). Striking
crayfish red costoluta (ribbed) fruits weigh up to 6 ounces. Firm pithy
flesh is perfect for making tomato sauce or paste. Thin skin bruises
easily. Determinate. 70-90 days from transplant.
Purchased From Seed Savers Exchange
Costoluto Genovese sel Valente
Maturity midseason
Growth habit indet.
Leaf type regular
Fruit color red
Fruit shape irregular, ribbed, beefsteak
Fruit size medium
Fruit type slicer
Variety type open-pollinated, heirloom
Country Italy
VF Indeterminate. A vigorous, high producing plant with brilliant red
fruit of 8-10 ounces. Fruit are somewhat flattened and have pronounced
ribs and excellent taste. This selection has resistance to fusarium &
vert. wilts. Also makes a very good sauce. A good mid-season tomato
(75-80 days).
Purchashed from Seeds From Italy
In the first photo from the other day that tomato is probably Costoluto. Here is a photo fo two Russo's. They are in general smaller than Costoluto. Some are more ribbed than these, they vary a lot. Much more symetrical than Costoluto. I would grow both plants again. Both produce well.
Some other photos from this year's harvest, Not all Costoluto's are symetrical, see the one on the right.
This post was edited by Drew51 on Fri, Oct 10, 14 at 0:39
zensojourner - They may be our plants, but it is we who are living in their world. I remember back when she was just a cute, cuddly little tomato seedling. She is so demanding now, always talking down to me...
Drew51 - Thanks for the information. Can I assume that if those two varieties are thin-skinned a person does not have to remove skins as part of the processing?
Yes I would be interested in a trade sometime this winter. I am always on the lookout for varieties that would impart a more robust flavor for my sauces. Modern hybrid types such as are in that last photo I posted are wonderful for their production and uniformity, but I find their flavor to be quite bland and insipid. Not that I am complaining about getting free stuff...
I use modern hybrids as well as my own oxheart paste types that I have been developing as bulk ingredient for processing. I add heirlooms for flavor. Seems to work. The meaty and dry/hollow oxhearts and large pastes really cut down on processing time regarding evaporation/thickening of sauces.
What I am always on the lookout for are varieties with above average concentrated flavor. I am starting to think it logical to seek out authentic Italian varieties.
As for naming that tomato variety, I never get around to thinking about that, plus for all I know it already has a name and I just do not know it. It does get old having reference names such as "Unknown Tall Indeterminate Cherry Type that Produces 1.75 Diameter Fruit that Compare Better to Beefsteaks than to Cherries, Grows Well in Containers". LOL
Just for fun, how about the name "Icarus"?
-Tom
Bad genetics in that plant -- your others look great. What variety did you grow? I have never gotten off types in hybrid BS seeds, but with an OP variety from a major seed company, I grew out one plant that turned out to be a rutabaga, and another that looks like a B sprout but has a naked stalk, no buds at all.
Deer will eat the Jerusalem artichokes... only reason why mine are only 5 ft tall is because the deer had been grazing on them.
My deer don't touch my garlic or onions... (in the dead of last winter only thing green was my garlic and they didn't come close to them of course they ate up the arborvite in my front yard).
I'd try hot peppers and cherry tomatoes... cherry/small fruited toms can tolerate a less than ideal amount of sun. I have small thai chillis that I planted in the wrong spot one year and they got shaded out pretty badly... the plant did fine though. (BTW these are two that I grow out in the open not in my deer protected area)
If you able, buy new seedlings, plant them in more sunny location, but keep old ones where they are. You can compare how they do and will know for next year what to do. In my experience morning sun is the best sun plants can get, but I still plant in the areas that doesn't have it - I just give a better spot to the plants I care more about.
It isn't uncommon to notice a second wave of squash. What happens is the plants grow to a certain size to support fruit, then the fruit are set and most of the energy of the vine is directed to maturing the fruit. Once the fruit are either removed or the fruit are fully ripe and no longer an energy drain, the plants will attempt to produce more.
That seems reasonable. It may be just a coincidence, but I notice that in this "second wave" I have a lot more female flowers. In my original crop the M/F ratio was probably around 10/1, while now it's about 2or3/1. Not sure what would account for that. My plants seem a lot happier making female flowers.
I planted rhubarb seeds in June or July last year and left the seedlings in the ground over winter. Most of them made it through the winter. If your seedlings are tiny, they might not make it.
Thanks. I will see what happens and take a guess about how long to leave the "wall of water" protection around the plants.