Bad Tomato Year

How has everyone's tomatoes been doing this year?

I am having quite a problem with Early blight. And from talking with others, it seems they are too. Just wondering how you all are faring this year. I have planted a second crop and have been diligently treating with Daconil and those plants look wonderful. I will probably have to incorporate into my routine.

And the deer didn't help matters. First time since I've been here that they ate some of my maters.

BB

Best tomato year I had in a long time, But TSWV resistant cultivars. Of course that is in the kitchen garden, those in the field dried up.

Our plants are stunted and production is the lowest I can ever remember. I'm usually canning surplus by now and giving away lots. I blame it on a combination of extended drought as well as that June heat wave that caused blossom drop. I could water enough to keep most alive, but they suffered when I wasn't there. This is the first time we had established plants up and die. Those that made it are setting fruit on the upper third of the plant, while the lower two thirds are weak and have little leaf. No disease problems though. I seeded a second planting that just went into the ground four weeks ago and did cuttings of more vigorous varieties, such as German Queen.
Laurel

Well you know the old saying "Just when you think you have things figured out...."


BB

Actually, I am reminded of Rosanne Rosannadanna (Gilda Radner), from the original Saturday Night Live..."It's always something". I'll never presume to have things figured out when it comes to gardening. So here's hoping our Fall tomatoes restore the faith.

Laurel

DH is actually the veggie gardener here but he has commented that the tomatoes seem to have stopped ripening - in that they get 2/3 way there and just hold on. Any thoughts?

I'm having a great tomato year. My only argument is with what appears to be leaf footed bugs of some sort. They are causing spotting. I'm having some swelling and cracking but that is my fault...to much nitrogen.
Cedar, just hang on to those tomatoes and let them ripen slowly. This has been a complaint from gardeners all over the state...many of mine are slow too. And then since we've been getting rain, they swell and crack but I'm doing my best to keep them on the vine.

I'm going to go ahead and innoculate my soil this fall with beneficials to ward off any tomato problems. I have a little blight here and there but since I only have a kitchen garden, I can remove blighted leaves as I want - I just wipe the secuter blades well with disinfectant between each cut. Works well, and things haven't spread far. I've only removed one plant (which was finished production anyway) and have kept the rest fairly healthy.

GGG

This is our first year with a kitchen garden, and the only things that have produced really well are our tomatoes. I took two baskets full to church this morning to give away. Of course, we had to have a couple of each type, Romas, grape and cherry, and the slicers and smaller salad tomatoes, several different ones. My plants may not be as pretty as I would like with little buggies and lack of rain, but they sure are making lots of 'maters! Cukes are pitiful and squash not doing as well as earlier this season, peppers have bolted and refuse to do much, but the maters keep on comin'.

Well, it just goes to show you how different each garden is. We have sent bags of yellow and zucchini squash as well as cukes to the Sandy Springs food pantry. We are drowning in beans and giving to several families. Our tomatoes are just starting to reach the point of being more than we can eat uncooked. Our second round of tomatoes is just setting fruit, so I'm hoping (dreaming) we'll be buried shortly. The few hybrids growing have not fared much better than the heirlooms.

It's going to be a good long time before we can look at any squash after this season is over! Squash pizza, pasta, fritters, casseroles, stewed, grilled, roasted, pickled and relished. Did I leave anything out (don't tell me)?

I've never seen peppers bolt. I have a tobasco that I dug up and potted last year and kept down in the basement. Put it out this Spring and it's been happy and still producing in a plastic pot.

Laurel

But Laurel....all those squash taste so wonderful on your table! We have enjoyed the ones you shared with us, too. I cook mine with stewed tomatoes and italian seasonings....yum!
Sue M

:).

had no luck this year fr lack of rain. gave up trying

This is one of the best tomato years I've had ... lot's better than last year. I grow all mine in EB's. They've done very well.

BB, the ones you gave me at the RU have been wonderful ... especially the Pink Oxheart. Those are the biggest toms I've ever seen! LOL Thanks so much for sharing.
~Susan

Glad to hear it Susan.

My second batch looks much better by the way

BB

My second batch looks better as well. The first batch is starting to put out the "death" crop. Lots of maters, but the plants are going downhill fast. The plants look like October tomatoes. Very tired. I had two volunteer NOIDs that are being road tested. They don't seem to mind the heat, blight or dry weather and are setting tons of salad size (6 oz) fruit. We'll check out the taste next week.

Laurel

Drought really has been awful here. Rain all around us, but very little here until tonight. My Brad's Brandywine has had a few and they were yummy. Plum Dandy and Green Zebra are full and will be ripening shortly. Striped Hollow has a few and is blooming again.
Elaine

Give us a report on the taste test of your other tomatoes Elaine.

We were all but guaranteed rain last night and this a.m.. However, there have been just a few sprinkles. The next possible rain will be the beginning of next week. Back to watering morning and night.

I finished ripping out 2 tomato beds yesterday. I have 2 more to remove. I got 5 gallon grow bags for the fall planting. Hope this keeps them from getting blight and whatever else they died from. I'll just have to keep spraying with neem and soap to keep the white flies at bay. I only have the 3 plants you gave me Laurel. I did get a lot of green zebra, stupice and moneymaker. Just a few lime green salad, plum dandy and big rainbow. Of course the cherries, black, wild and Dr. Carolyn all did great. I may let them go awhile longer. Peppers are doing much better than the tomatoes.
Becky

Laurel:

Are those peaches? They look good. My peaches bore fruit for the 1st time this year but they didn't do well. Probably because I didn't know how to care for the trees properly.

Becky:

I've been spraying my second planting with a solution that includes daconil and neem oil. These plants look much better that my spring planted ones

BB

Hi BB
What mix of daconil and neem do you use per gallon? I need to try that. I am really enjoying the produce from your stand. The pak choi was yummy stir fried.

Becky

Becky, are you saying the plants I gave you are doing well? I hope so. My AMS (NOID) peppers are now almost six feet tall and covered in peppers! The tomatoes that have done poorly are all the purchased early Spring plants. They seem to be reviving somewhat, so I'll leave them be. My seed grown plants are doing great, but I hoped for a bigger, earlier harvest. I started very late.

BB, those are peaches. Georgia Belles, a white fleshed variety. We do not spray, fertilize or tend in any way. The squirrels often help start a new tree here and there. Because of our bad cultural habits (:)), the peaches are tiny, but so tasty. Perfect for brandied peaches. It takes to or three to get your peach on though. Good to see you back. Missed your posts. Did I do these zucchini fritters? Made from the one that got away.

Laurel

Laurel what is your recipe for the fritters if you don't mind me asking?

Please excuse my interrupting your thread......I often check in to see if my friend Farmer Dill has gotten rain yet.

Laurel:

Why you got to make everyone hungry????

Becky:

So sorry I missed your BDay posts. Happy belated! I'm going to be 50 in one month. :-(

Hi Lilypon:

No problem. Not sure if FarmerDill got rain. They are expecting a bunch down south tonight.

Moosejaw sounds very cold in the winter! :-) What do you grow and when do you grow it?

BB

Oh Gosh, Lilypon. I'm not a recipe person (can you believe I own a catering company?) but will do my best to approximate. I invented these fritters years ago to deal with that four lbs zucchini. So here goes...

Grate some zucchini in the food processor...at least four cups. This can be done way in advance (like a day or so) if you get lazy. You can also add the green onions (below) and keep it ready to go.

For each two cups of zucchini (crammed and heaping and not very exact) add two chopped green onions, using all parts. Store at this time or add one whisked egg per cup of recipe. I usually use four cups of zucchin, two green onions and two eggs. Trust me...one big zucchini can send you to the skillet for the night if you're not careful.

Prepare a binder mix of one part corn meal and two parts unbleached flour (I use local stone ground corn meal and King Arthur flour). For each cup of mix add 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda. I usually make a batch that is three cups; one cup cornmeal, two cups flour, three tsps. baking powder and 3/4 tsp baking soda. Save extra for breading fish or venison cutlets. If you examine the recipe, it is 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp of soda for each cup of grain. This is good to know for all kinds of frying and baking, including cakes.

When you are ready to prepare the fritters, pull zucchini/green onion mix from fridge, add egg and fresh ground black pepper to taste(not previously mentioned). A bit of cayenne is good too if you'd like a pop of spice. Heat olive or peanut oil in a cast iron skillet to 1-2" over medium high, not too high. While oil is heating, add flour/meal mix to zucchini until it resembles a firm pancake batter. The salts in the baking powder and soda will make the zucchini weep and you may need to add more as you go. That's why I don't give an exact recipe. Fry fritters by quarter cup measure or, I use, a gravy ladle. Turn with two forks as they are so light and tender tongs will tear them up. The trick to the fritters is to get them cooked through without being burned on the outside. Again, don't fry too hot. Salt to taste as they come off the pan. They do not need draining and can go right on the plate.

Leftovers are great. They are soggy the next day, but taste like classic egg foo young. I serve the fresh fritters with sour cream. You can play with the recipe and add all kinds of fresh herbs as well as whatever peppers, dried and fresh, that turn you on. Hope you try it and if you do, please tell me knw how I can explain it better. I teach people how to cook in my kitchens, but don't do cookbooks.
Laurel

So, BB, it's not as if you've not been invited.:)

We got 1.4 inches last night and this morning. Maybe I can set cabbage and collards tomorrow.

BronxBoy we grow food here that has the South quivering in it's boots ;D

Our watermelon (now it's not nice to laugh yourself silly, y'all hear! :)

T'would be Sugar Baby (we've got about 30 that will ripen before frost)

:D So happy to hear that FarmerDill! :D

Our pumpkins and corn (taken a week or so ago)....picked our first cob today! :D

This message was edited Aug 14, 2008 7:33 AM

Muskmellon (little older pic)

and taters, beans, English/Snow/Snap Peas (still haven't tried growing your Southern Cream Peas yet). rhubarb, strawberries, Apples, Plums, grapes, different summer squash and Zucchini (Thank you so much for your Fritter Recipe Laurel :)

and these tomatoes:


Amish Salad
Ashleigh
Aunt Gertie's Gold
Aunt Ginny's Purple
Big Rainbow
Black Cherry
Brandywine (Sudduths)
Delicious
Eva Purple Ball
Fireball
Gregori's Alatai
Jet Star
Mexico
Moskovitch
Pruden's Purple
Red Barn
Russian Bogatar
Stick
Striped German
Stump of the World
Sun Gold

Missed Bloody Butcher and Celebrity.

Aunt Ginny's Purple (and given how loaded they are frost had better stay away until mid-Sept at least)

Sorry, amend recipe to one egg per two cups.

Great to hear about your rain Farmerdill. I've got beets and rutabagas up and am trying to get the concrete soil turned enough for lettuce. Starting to pick okra here.

Lilypon, we wear Crocs, not boots in our garden.lol You might need the extra protection in 3b. Cute Sugar Baby. Whatcha gonna do with thirty? That's a lot of sorbet.
Laurel

Laurel thank you again and I'm cutting and pasting the above right now! We've got quite a crop of the dangerous stuff growing out there and I'm afraid all my neighbours have their car windows rolled up tight at this time of year. ;)

Bronx Boy you don't want to know how cold we can get but -62 F (with windchill) is known to hit us for at least a couple of days each winter (climate change is making it much rarer however).

Pam

And one of the water lilies that's growing in my yard. I'd kill for a Magnolia Tree (you lucky ducks) but unfortunately it only grew in Saskatchewan when the dinosaurs roamed.

Lilypon, I'm going to DMail you about some tomato advice. You are growing some on my wish list for next year. Can you get Dixie White Butter Peas? I've had to send them out to others.
Laurel

LOL re Crocs vs. winter"? boots ;) (gots a pair sitting at the patch for me to wear too). Actually we hit 148 F last summer (Savannah, Georgia was the only place in North America that was as hot and humid as we were), this year has been much more normal (in the 80's day/60's night). We were also in drought conditions this year (and last year and ......) . We finally got our first rain in the first week of June (thankfully it was 3" because we never saw another drop really until 2 days ago (2 1/2" in 20 minutes). Now we are under Tornado watch (we shouldn't be getting rains in August, our wheat is ripening now). :'( Actually our farm, not nearby, was hailed out in July so the rains won't affect us now.

Will be watching for it Laurel.......my puter is running a bit slow right now.

Also growing Swiss Chard, Beets, Kolarabi, lettuce, 4 different radishes (just picked our first black radish today, and Dill (oh how I love the smells of summer :).

Quit picking on our Sugar Baby! :)

So your evidently NOT in Southern Kansas, Lilypon! Gosh, I never saw snow until I was fifteen. Your weather sounds terrifying. I'll talk to you soon about the tomatoes.
Laurel

Nope not in Southern Kansas (looooooooooook way, way, way up north ;). But people here are starting to wonder if our province moved down to Georgia (when the previously unknown humidity comes) or in Kansas when we started getting F5 tornadoes on the Canadian plains (that was also last year).

Forgot BronxBoy asked when we plant out......we can plant lettuce/radishes in late fall or on top of a snowbank for early germination come spring. Peas and other cold weather crops are planted in April or early May (depending when we have snow melt), beans etc are normally planted after May 21st and Tomatoes are usually put in the ground here June 1st (I planted mine May 21st this year and had to cover a number of times.....thankfully we just dropped down to 36F after plant out so the gamble worked out alright).

We have 1 planting season......no 2nd chance here.

Poor Bronx Boy is going to regret asking but I realized I forgot I'm growing

Cucumbers: English Burpless; a pickling variety (can't remember the name) and Marketmore

Gourd: Canonball this year (last year I grew the large Birdhouse variety)

Beans: Chinese Foot long (haven't tried that one up here before.....I planted late and I don't think it'll produce in time); also planted a French Filet variety that I'm impressed with.

Peppers: Islander, Fish, Green Crisp, Black Hungarian, Jalapeño, a chili variety, and a couple of different bells (including an all purple and a couple of monster ones .... Farmer Dill I'll try to remember to take pics for the PlantFiles).

Here's a few veggies I've uploaded: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/imagesbyuser.php?user=Lilypon

Laurel we can trade seeds....both Canadian and American customs allow small amounts through (Even Dr. Carolyn has posted that). If it is stopped they only stopped it because the agent didn't know the laws. They are trying to stop bulk imports and seeds that are restricted (in my case it's corn that I can't get from the U.S.). I've not yet had a letter/package that was permanently seized going either direction (I did have one that was held but when a senior import officer looked at it it was released to me).



This message was edited Aug 14, 2008 8:26 AM