rusty76

...good thing I got that keyboard hooked up so I could post again, eh?

So, let's see. Tomatoes were achieved, although I have not yet planted them. Apparently a good thing, as the predicted low for tomorrow morning is...32F. I'd just like to point out that Tuesday it was 78F, sunny, and gorgeous. Today is mid-40's and right now deliciously lingering gently rumbly rain.

Admittedly, while this puts the kibosh on my plans to work like a crazy woman in the garden today, it's great for the plants. I wish I could have gotten the seeds I bought yesterday planted to take advantage of all this, but oh well.

This year's tomatoes:

NEW - Tomande: "The flavour and looks of an heirloom tomato, but with the yield and disease resistance of a modern hybrid. Tomande produces large flat tomatoes with jointed shoulders that are very juicy and have lots of old fashioned tomato flavour. An abundant crop of beautiful large 8-10 oz tomatoes are borne on a strong indeterminate vine. These are much earlier than heirloom varieties, maturing at 70 days from transplant."

Hmmm...I bought what was labeled as "Porter's Pride" but the internet seems to think that it's actually "Porter's Dark Cherry". Extremely good plant for Texas, as it set fruit all summer long through 105F days and drought. Produced until the temps dropped below 50F consistently.

Sun Gold Cherry: "Ripens to a golden orange, with a very sweet flavor. This tomato is popular in all climates as it produces in warm and cold conditions. Fruit matures quickly, and crops heavily throughout the warmer months."

Brandywine: "The fruits have a very large beefstake shape and grow on unusually upright, potato-leaved plants. The color is an appetizing shade of red-pink. The fruits set one or two per cluster and ripen late. But at summer's end, Brandywine's qualities really shine when it develops an incredible fine, sweet flavor. Fruits average 1 lb each."

NEW - Persimmon: "Beautiful, golden-orange tomatoes have one of the best flavors of all the orange tomatoes. Average 5 inches in diameter and between 1-2 lbs., quite meaty with few seeds. "

Japanese Black Trifele: "Attractive tomatoes are the shape and size of a Bartlett pear with a beautiful purplish-brick color; the fruit are perfect and smooth with no cracks. The flavor is absolutely sublime, having all the richness of fine chocolate."

NEW - Lycopersicon melanocarpa: "Bushy plant, medium to large sized as far as tomatoes are concerned, growing to 5-6ft. Fruits ripen in 70-75 days from blossom set and are probably the most beautiful of the wild Lycopersicon. Plants bear reasonably heavily, with fruits born in small clusters."

I also bought seeds yesterday for oregano, catnip, and peas. Last year I tried cucumbers for my novelty veg, and while I did get a few (tasty!) fruit, it was so hot that year it was more work than it was worth to keep up with the watering needs. The Zilker Garden Festival is coming up next weekend, and I'll pick up some dill, basil, and maybe rosemary and chives there.

I'm a very 'instant gratification' gardener - I like to plant things that produce early, prolifically, and require pruning (it's theraputic - "Take that, manager 'i need this report redone for new dates, because i'm too dumb to look at my records!'")

Usually I pick up herb plants from nurseries that are already about 6" tall, but this year I'm trying both approaches - the oregano plant wintered over ok, and is coming back but the basil went to that great pesto in the sky. This was a real bummer, as it had actually wintered over the previous year and seemed quite hardy. The mint is coming back (can anything kill mint? yes, overwatering!) and I have hopes that the catnip will come back - it's a mint as well.

I can't wait to get out there and start planting and shaping and loving my garden.