Notable performances this season

     With the first frost wrapping up our 2016 outdoor growing season, I thought it might be worthwhile reporting some of the more notable garden results.

Tomatoes
     Once again SunGold just pumped out the sweet yellow cherries—over 350 from just one plant, not counting those that fell off. If only there weren't so many that split. Reluctantly, I'm trying another variety like Blondkopfchen or Kangaroo Paw Yellow (don't you love that name!) next year.
     Pink Ping Pong was again a very productive yielder of pink saladette tomatoes, but I've raised this for several years, so I'm going to try Kimberley next season.
     Pineapple was a very pretty bicolor and tasty also. Kosovo has been a reliable heart for several years but the fruit get smaller late in the season. Next year I'll try Russian 117 and Wes.

Peppers:
     Big Bertha and Quadrato di Rosso were by far the best bell peppers. Marconi Red and Corno di Toro produced the most sweet peppers and Anaheim had the most mildly hot ones. The only hot peppers I raised this year were Early Jalepeno since DW is not a big fan of picante. Four plants averaged 26 little zingers apiece and I had to give most of them away. Maybe next year I'll try Serrano instead for a sllightly different flavor.

Serrano has a rather sharp taste and thin flesh even when ripe. You might like the Italian cherry varieties. They are sweeter and slightly more mild than jalapeños with substantial flesh. Cubanelles are a good option instead of Anaheim. Greek, not Italian, peperoncini make good refrigerator pickles for salads, cold cuts or cocktails. Sounds like you had a successful garden season. Congrats.

Thanks for the info on Serrano, Laurel. I do like peppers with thicker flesh. I've never grown cherry tomatoes, they look interesting enough to try.

I've grown Cubanelles, AlmaPaprika and Chimayo mild peppers before with good results. I like to try a new one each year. Maybe Poblano/Ancho next.

Poblanos are great. I haven't made Anchos because they are readily available and inexpensive. Definitely make room for a Poblano.

I tried Dulce de Espania, a Spanish version of Marconi. They were started in April and didn't produce red peppers until September. The plants are now five feet and more with lots of peppers. I'll try them again with an earlier start but am not happy about the wait.

Glad you asked. I pulled up several non-performers back in early September (tomatoes that is). Peppers always do well until the first frost which hasn't happened yet. I left my favorite Sun Sugars, Sweet 100's, and a Cherokee Purple, Roma (I think it was supposed to be a Health Kick), and a Dixie Red in the ground since temps were still hot. I just picked nearly a dozen Cherokee Purples this week, decent sized and a bowl full of Sun Sugars and Sweet 100's. Still very tasty and I haven't done anything but continue to irrigate a little bit twice a week.

I still have Poblanos and Jalapenos doing very well, and one sweet pepper (red) that is doing better now than it did in the mid-summer. Can't remember the variety but I won't grow it again. I think I had to buy one at the nursery this year. Blah! And I have had the Mother of all Sweet Basil plants. I cut back both (again) last week and they are still overly large. I guess they truly loved our Alabama drought this year.

Don, try the Sun Sugars next year if you want to try something similar to Sun Gold's. I find they don't crack as much and taste the same. My very favorite.

There has been an incompatibility between my computer and DG, but I just got a message that all should be well,so I'll try to stop by from time to time more often.I'm stil la Global Mod at Tville and idig, so that does take quite a bit of time.

This was a terrible summer for me,and please remember, I have to use a walker,am now 77, still not in heaven, totally home bound,so someone else now raises my plants for me and takes care of them.

This is what was out there this past summer:

Rosedale
Dikaya Roza
Little Dixie
Arard's Pink Heart
Soren's Black multiflora,not yet released
Not PurpleStrawberry
Sweet Ozark Orange
Daniel Burson
Sheryl's Portuguse Red Heart
Black Amber
Japanese Pink Cherry
Zluta Kytice, my fave multiflora.

Some made it but most did not as in always next year.LOL

Carolyn

I know you like hearts (as I do), Carolyn. What can you tell us about Arard's Pink or Sheryl's Portuguese you raised this year?

(I'm 86 and can sympathize with your ambulatory problems since I broke my leg a few years ago. But thanks to a metal brace and rehab I'm still actively gardening.)

Don

Carolyn! So great to see a post from you. I, and I'm sure many others still on DG, have been wondering about you this summer. If it's been as hot in NY as in AL, you were better off inside. I'm sorry you are confined but trust your computer is keeping you in communication at least some of the time.

We have been in a severe drought but thanks to careful irrigation I picked several fairly large Cherokee purples and a couple bowls of Sun Sugars and Sweet 100's the other day before our first frost. It was a mild frost so I went out and picked the rest of the few green ones still hanging in there. The plants are gone now though. I've never picked tomatoes this late in the season.

Thanks for checking in.
E

Carolyn, it is indeed wonderful to hear from you again. I had a very good tomato year in N. GA but, with no measurable rain since early July, and only able to sporadically water, plants succumbed one by one. Still, the dry weather made for less disease and very flavorful tomatoes! You sound busy as ever despite the challenges of getting around. Are you able to drive? Please continue to visit.

I received Arad's Pink Heart from Tunde who is from Romania, actually Jud, Arad, it's a large pink heart with excellent taste.She got it at a market where folks were selling tomatoes,but this past summer was growing two more that came from her relatives.

Sheryl's Red Portuguese Heart is a huge plant with very large hearts with excellent taste, She had made an offer at idig,that's where I got it from. She got it from a Portuguese lady, wanted more information,but never could find that lady again.We named it together and I've helped many name varieties that had no name.One that was great to help with is George Desitkis Italian Red.

I now have 7 folks doing seed production for me since I no longer can do that and this past summer there were 32 new ones,well more than that,from Romania,Poland,Czech Republic,France,Spain, Italy, Denmark,Germany,Canada,Poland, Slovenia and USA such as now Omar's Lebanese Heart, which is great since OL itself is a beefsteak.

I've made so many wonderful friends outside the US and have learned so much about their fave foods,cultures,preferred tomatoes and so much more.

Carolyn, 77 and still not in heaven.

Thanks for the welcome.No,I no longer can drive, my trusty Toyota sits in the garage on a trickle charger.

I am completely homebound now,I'm not going to detail the terrible fall I had in May, and what happened next,but I can no longer go out to my front room at all,LR/DR,down a step,I can no longer shower by myself,I no longer can fix my own meals,I have two ladies who prepare my meals and get meals on wheels for lunch,

Carolyn

And thank you as well for welcoming me back.

Cherokee Purple is great,I was one of the first to grow it, seeds from my long time friend Craig LeHoullier who got it from John Green.

Sometime you might want to try Indian Stripe, which is a version of CP,it comes in RL and PL and many now prefer it to CP itself.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Indian_Stripe

To date I've grown 4,000 plus different varieties .

Carolyn

@Carolyn:
Thanks a lot for sharing your information about those new hearts.
Your suggestion to try Indian Stripe instead of Cherokee Purple was also a useful prompt. C.P. has always been one of my favorite tasting tomatoes. When I tried I.S. a few years ago it was a poor tomato season and few of my plants did well. I'll have to give it another try. Thanks for the reminder.

I've also tried a few of the Dwarf Tomato Project varieties said to have excellent taste, but have not yet found any quite equal to C.P.

Nice to hear from you again, and I hope you can continue to visit us on DG as well as Tomatoville.

Don

Thank you for the recommendation for Indian Stripe. It's on my list for next year.

I neglected to mention I also had been growing Black Krim and Mortgage Lifter. Both didn't make it through July before needing to be pulled up. I had one good year several years back with ML so I often try it again. Black Krim was so-so this year. I experiment a lot with new varieties and give them a few years to see how they do here. At 68, I keep saying I'm going to scale back. Husband says he'll believe it when he sees it. Maybe next year I really will.