Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies and garden pics)

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MsCowpea
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#181

Post: # 13472Unread post MsCowpea
Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:57 pm

I used to have a little round cranking press but you had to stop all the time to empty out the seeds and skin. It worked great but I thought I would like the type where the seeds/skins were exuded off to the side. So
I just got a different type that is super heavy and well made but not easy to take apart and clean so I may return it and continue search.
It would be great if you were doing bushels of tomatoes at once and got it over with but not so good for processing a small amount daily.


First time growing turmeric. Have 5 containers. Easy to grow in S. Fla. Removed some roots before the pic was taken so it was even a bit larger.
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Ginger2778
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#182

Post: # 13476Unread post Ginger2778
Tue Mar 10, 2020 9:32 pm

That is a lot of tumeric. What will you do with all of it? I read that it's a great antioxidant.
- Marsha

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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#183

Post: # 13484Unread post MsCowpea
Tue Mar 10, 2020 11:15 pm

We will use some to start more turmeric plants and give rest away. We grew it for its anti-inflammatory benefits but now that I have it I don’t know what to do with it. I have been researching how to use it. I didn’t know there are different types. One is preferred for medicine and other for cooking. I think this might be cooking type but not sure. Mine is sort of golden color , others are deep orange. (Would you like some? Will send with Derek if you do.).
I don’t like the taste at all.

Love this lady’s face when she tastes the raw turmeric .

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Ginger2778
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#184

Post: # 13535Unread post Ginger2778
Wed Mar 11, 2020 7:06 pm

MsCowpea wrote: Tue Mar 10, 2020 11:15 pm We will use some to start more turmeric plants and give rest away. We grew it for its anti-inflammatory benefits but now that I have it I don’t know what to do with it. I have been researching how to use it. I didn’t know there are different types. One is preferred for medicine and other for cooking. I think this might be cooking type but not sure. Mine is sort of golden color , others are deep orange. (Would you like some? Will send with Derek if you do.).
I don’t like the taste at all.

Love this lady’s face when she tastes the raw turmeric .

I've never eaten it fresh. I wonder if it is similar at all to ginger. Might be good in a stir fry? Sure, I'd love to try 1 or 2, thank you.
How are your mango trees coming along? I've never seen mine be this extremely loaded. Starting to get another round of tomatoes now too. The plain old grow and gain got nice new growth on many of them.(lots already died from disease too, I got really lazy this year, or maybe I just got defeated by all the rain)
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#185

Post: # 13725Unread post MsCowpea
Fri Mar 13, 2020 5:09 pm

I rarely catch this as the second you make a move toward him he closes back up again. This is the first time I got a look at the back.
Didn’t realize the feathers were black on that side.

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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#186

Post: # 13743Unread post Ginger2778
Fri Mar 13, 2020 9:23 pm

Very nice!
- Marsha

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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#187

Post: # 15002Unread post MsCowpea
Wed Mar 25, 2020 11:26 pm

I usual have a fair amount of stink bugs and leaf footed bugs as the season is winding down. This year not one stink bug which is very strange. Eighteen years of stink bugs and now not one??? Seems odd.
Did find this leaf footed guy- there are probably others but I don’t see them and normally there are quite a few.
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Recently bought an eggplant at the nursery but didn’t plant it—just parked it by my back door. Probably for just over a week or two. When I finally got around to it it was covered in aphids and cast off skins of aphids. They must have reproduced with live births and in a very short time had their first molt. Luckily 3 ladybugs nymphs were enjoying a meal. Glad I procrastinated planting it so the aphids didn’t get moved down to my garden.
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This Juliet in a raised bed still looks relatively unscathed by disease while others are finally succumbing. They are nematode resistant and produce
buckets and buckets in beds amended with compost DESPITE the nematodes. Even other varieties, including heirlooms can be grown in raised beds. (added: Though nematode resistant varieties wouldn’t hurt.) You can stay one jump ahead of the nematodes if you amend the beds. The bigger problem is foliage diseases.


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Bag loads of red Juliets were picked by friends about a week ago, they really cleared them out and I Thought that would make a dent in them but still picked these today. I have 4 bigs trays in the oven already.
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I have never seen a scotch bonnet pepper plant at a nursery but I did a few months back and bought it. Definitely not the mushroom shaped yellow that I always grow. Not sure what it is.


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EVERY time I go to the garden for last 2 weeks or so 2 red cardinals come swooping out of the tomato cages. Male and female. The male is gorgeous of course. The female sort of dingy red. They can peck all tomatoes they want. They swoop out so fast I can’t get a picture
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Last edited by MsCowpea on Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#188

Post: # 15017Unread post PlainJane
Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:12 am

Just incredible production from Juliet; now if only they tasted like Sun Golds, lol!

I just found an aphid infestation on one of the ornamental cabbage in a container on the patio. I confess I didn’t check for lady bug nymphs. Straight into the yard waste bin. It was about 30 ft. away from the tomato area and I have a lot of traps out over there so keeping my fingers crossed.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#189

Post: # 15020Unread post Ginger2778
Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:39 am

I had 3 cucumbers in an Earthbox, and I didn't notice the aphids until I saw ladybug nymphs all over it. There must have been 30 nymphs, so I let the aphids be, because I wanted the nymphs to mature. A strong water power wash was done about 3 days later, but I only wanted to slow the aphids down, not wash off the nymphs. A week later lots of ladybug pupae appeared on now completely dead cucumber plants. I have 3 new cucumber plants put elsewhere anyways.
I loved seeing the really close up photo of your ladybug larvae and the aphid mummies. Amazing detail! Juliets just give and give, wow! I still have a few of the garlic ones you gave me, but most of those, and all of the tomato candy ones went into our bellies along with cream cheese and triscuits! So the way you do it, Juliets can be delicious. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, and my delicious care package!
My tomatoes a lot have died from foliar disease, and a lot are getting a second round, Big Cheef is really renewing itself, maybe 15 new fruit forming. It's so hot that I just haven't had the desire to trim off the fungusy old dead leaves, and spray the copper. I did sow some asparagus beans, as well as Blue Lake and Tastemaker, all in Earthboxes where the tomatoes have expired.
I think your way of growing with amended soil and tomatoes planted in them gives the tomatoes a lot of room to spread so you get much bigger plants and fruit than mine. It's a lot of work to do what you do, I commend you on your dedication. I learn so much from you too.
Those "Scotch Bonnets" look a little like the scorpion types, or the 7 pot types. SCARY!
Last edited by Ginger2778 on Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#190

Post: # 15027Unread post worth1
Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:16 am

Scotch bonnet looks like a ghost pepper.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#191

Post: # 15038Unread post MsCowpea
Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:01 pm

Marsha, I would pitch any of the garlic ones still left over. It is not like the olden days when people kept garlic tomatoes covered with oil and used for a long time. Now they say don’t do that particularly made with the garlic. My Juliets are also only half- dehydrated. Next time I give any prepared ones away I will write on them to consume in 3 days just to be safe. Or better yet just give them fresh and let people fix them at home in their own oven. I dont know about the honey ones - maybe the honey preserves them a bit longer - maybe a week???

Plain Jane, I agree, it is a shame Juliets don’t taste even a little bit better. Particularly for fresh eating. I am constantly telling people we give them to they aren’t the greatest but roast them to concentrate the flavors but DH just took one of those big trays to give some to a friend of his. He said the guy ate 6 of them right out of the tray and said they were great and he meant it. Uhhhh??? People just don’t know what a really delicious tomato tastes like. But I should quit knocking them when I give them away because too many people I know think they are really good for fresh eating. 🤪🤔
Last edited by MsCowpea on Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#192

Post: # 15041Unread post worth1
Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:28 pm

I'm growing Juliet for the first time this year.
I want to ferment them.
Worth
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#193

Post: # 15044Unread post MsCowpea
Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:29 pm

Marsha and Worth, I agree they are definitely one of the super hot ones. Here is a better pic. They have a slight stinger like the scorpion types. I have a Carolina Reaper just stuck out in the yard just for a novelty. A while back, Unbeknownst to me, DH picked a couple red Carolina Reapers and just stuck them in our scotch bonnet frozen bag. He didn’t know the background of that pepper (ie hottest in the world at the time). And I thought they were some of the few red scotch bonnets we had and threw it in a pot of soup where it eventually broke open.
I tasted the soup expecting a nice scotch bonnet flavor and it was incredibly scorching hot. 🤯🤯🤯 Just took a second to figure it all out and , yes, he had picked Carolina Reapers. The soup was barely edible with a big glass a milk but I kept thinking why do people like them this hot?
Give me a nice Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Pepper with that delicious flavor any day.
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Over the years I have grown many Scotch Bonnets but have never tried to do this. Started them a few weeks ago to grow over the summer so I can have a big plant to repot in the fall.
Have to keep them from getting diseased and buggy. And the rain off of them. Plan on taking them in and out of the house. If that doesn’t work I will just reseed at the usual time for South Florida.
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Last edited by MsCowpea on Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#194

Post: # 15045Unread post Ginger2778
Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:44 pm

Those are some pretty little pepper seedlings.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#195

Post: # 15046Unread post Ginger2778
Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:45 pm

MsCowpea wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:01 pm Marsha, I would pitch any of the garlic ones still left over. It is not like the olden days when people kept garlic tomatoes covered with oil and used for a long time. Now they say don’t do that particularly made with the garlic. My Juliets are also only half- dehydrated. Next time I give any prepared ones away I will write on them to consume in 3 days just to be safe. Or better yet just give them fresh and let people fix them at home in their own oven. I dont know about the honey ones - maybe the honey preserves them a bit longer - maybe a week???

Plain Jane, I agree, it is a shame Juliets don’t taste even a little bit better. Particularly for fresh eating. I am constantly telling people we give them to they aren’t the greatest but roast them to concentrate the flavors but DH just took one of those big trays to give some to a friend of his. He said the guy ate 6 of them right out of the tray and said they were great and he meant it. Uhhhh??? People just don’t know what a really delicious tomato tastes like. But I should quit knocking them when I give them away because too many people I know think they are really good for fresh eating. 🤪🤔
They're ok, I have them in the fridge, keeping pretty well actually.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#196

Post: # 15055Unread post MsCowpea
Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:25 pm

Marsha, I know they seem OK but supposedly even with refrigeration I read the garlic can grow bacteria. I didn't use to be so careful -- and they sure seem OK to me too but the 'experts' say use them in a couple days. If the tomatoes were bone dry and covered with oil (no garlic) then I think
they last much longer. (thinking of sun dried tomatoes in a jar) I would love to do this with really dried Juliets but the 'rules' have me spooked. I don't want to end up as a (rare) sorry example in a home economics textbook. :lol: The sun dried in a jar do have a preservative.
Last edited by MsCowpea on Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#197

Post: # 15057Unread post MsCowpea
Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:35 pm

Well DH walked down the street to Trinidadian family with 4 of those peppers. He said he told them they were the hottest pepper in the world.
They said they were quite familiar with them and wanted all we had for hot sauce!!! Said they would take any and all we had in future as well so he brought them the rest of them on that plate. That is great news as their are zillions of tiny peppers on that plant and I hate for them to go to waste. Their hot sauce would make normal people cry I think.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#198

Post: # 15060Unread post Ginger2778
Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:45 pm

MsCowpea wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:35 pm Well DH walked down the street to Trinidadian family with 4 of those peppers. He said he told them they were the hottest pepper in the world.
They said they were quite familiar with them and wanted all we had for hot sauce!!! Said they would take any and all we had in future as well so he brought them the rest of them on that plate. That is great news as their are zillions of tiny peppers on that plant and I hate for them to go to waste. Their hot sauce would make normal people cry I think.
I cried just looking at the photos!
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#199

Post: # 15063Unread post MsCowpea
Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:02 pm

worth, fermented Juliets? is that like making sauerkraut but with tomatoes? Do they taste like pickles? Hopefully they have some sugar in the recipe. Sugar really improves a Juliet. You know that if you plant a Juliet you will then have a garage full of fermented Juliets in jars? You can give tons away and still have Juliets that you will have to ferment and ferment.


Later: never knew you could do such a thing. I went online and looked at recipes. It seems sugar is never used , it is strictly a salty brine method. They don’t even use vinegar so having a hard time imagining what they taste like. It wouldn’t be a pickle.
Last edited by MsCowpea on Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Winter Tomatoes in Fl. (Plus veggies)

#200

Post: # 15069Unread post MsCowpea
Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:20 pm

Found a pic of my 'soil'. Just dig down about 2 or 3 inches anywhere in my yard. And nematodes thrive in sandy soil. I need lots of compost.
Even my raised beds were made with predominately coarse sand with some top soil and amended with compost over the years.

Sandy Hole.jpg
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