Shule's 2021 garden grow log

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Shule
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#121

Post: # 51011Unread post Shule
Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:20 am

The previous time I grew Matina (in 2019), the plant was different from your typical Matina. It grew a lot of suckers early, and a lot more initial fruits (instead of just 1 to 3 to start it had several). It was different from the other Matina seedlings that I overseeded with it. I realized today that my plant this year is definitely super bushy like its parent. I'm codenaming the project MatinaBush_. The plant I grew in 2019 is MatinaBush_A, and this year's plant is MatinaBush_B.

This could be an accidental cross, or a mutation. It seems genetic. If you received Matina seeds marked 2019 from me (I gave some to maybe two or three people, possibly here, on Tomatoville, or on The Organic Gardening Community forum), then they are from the bushy plant line. If they're from before 2019, they should be regular Matina. MatinaBush-A would be the proper name for you to use for those 2019 seeds (use the same name when you save seeds). If you're not sure if the seeds were from me or not, just ask me, and/or tell me what the label on the clear plastic zipper bag says. I should know whether it was me.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#122

Post: # 51054Unread post Shule
Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:06 pm

Yesterday: 96/68
Today: 97/62; UVI 9
Tomorrow: 100/64; UVI 9
The rest of the month: 96-106/62-76
The whole month of August: 83-96/52-73

Counting what I harvested today, here's the harvested fruit count (ripe fruits still on the plants are not counted; I only count as I harvest them, to make it easier):

[Normal fruit count / bad uneaten ripe fruits / edible BER fruits (tossed BER fruits, squished unripe fruits and such aren't counted). The normal fruit count also includes fruits with bad parts where the rest is intended to be used, but not BER fruits.]

5CGI_B: 6
BSX (B): 0/0/1
Clad_B0: 2
Egg Yolk: 3
Frittata Kitchen (B): 6
Frittata Kitchen (B0): 1
Horse_A: 1
Insurance_B F1: 1
Japanese Black Trifele (B1): 1
Matt's Hornet: 1
Mexican Yellow: 0/0/1
Pearler_A: 4
Pearler_A1: 2
SunChocola F3: 1
SunCitron F2: 12
SunGarnet F2: 4
v21_A3: 2
v21_A6: 6/2/0
v21_A24: 64

Non-tomatoes:

Armenian cucumbers: 3
Burr Gerkins: ~98
Muncher Cucumbers: 2
Wonderberries: a lot (I haven't been counting)
Zucchini: ~5

The garden is looking great, except for the Horse_A tomato is looking problematic, the watermelons by it are starting to wilt for some unknown reason, and the Sprite tomato looks like it's struggling.

v21_A26 and v21_A27 are doing excellently, especially for being among the last tomatoes to volunteer. They might be Isis Candy or a cross with it (I'm not sure). They look more vigorous than Isis Candy, though. They're setting lots of fruit.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#123

Post: # 51365Unread post Shule
Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:06 pm

Saturday: 99/67
Sunday: 103/63 (103 was less than previously anticipated)
Monday: 101/68
Tuesday: 104/76
Wednesday (yesterday): 101/72
Today: 103/72; UVI 8.7
Tomorrow: 101/74; UVI 9
Saturday: 90/69 with thunderstorms; UVI 4 (90 is less than previously anticipated)

I haven't posted in my growlog in a while, but there's the weather I missed, and an extra day.

So, all the BSX tomatoes are pink.

v21_A4 has either pink or purple fruit, and round salad-sized fruit. I don't know what it is! I guess it could be from that Pink Ping Pong cross, but I grew that quite a ways a way from there last year. It looks tasty, but I haven't tasted it, yet.

Some peppers that look like Neapolitan, and another kind, are ripening.

I picked some kind of pepper that had mild BER, stuffed it with string cheese, and baked it on 450 for about 18 minutes. It was pretty tasty, even though it wasn't at the ideal maturity to harvest.

There's a volunteer watermelon in the garden.

Yesterday, I did a full strength foliar spray of 24-8-16 Miracle Gro on the following:
* All the watermelons, except for the volunteer, which I forgot to fertilize, and two other plants which I gave the foliar spray the day before.
* All the peppers (except one that I fertilized the same way the day before)
* A few tomatoes (Matina, the one with both Napoli and a volunteer PL plant, and the day before I did the one that had herbicide damage)

Speaking of herbicide damage, someone sprayed weeds by Napoli (C) and got some herbicide on it. Hopefully it didn't get on 5CGI_B. I better save seeds sooner than later on that plant's fruit.

Yesterday or the day before I harvested a SunPeach F2. It was pink and oblong. It wasn't ripe enough, but it had a deep sweet tomatoey flavor.

Yesterday, I harvested a bunch of tomatoes. I decided counting the fruits was getting impractical and draining me (considering I'm growing a lot of kinds of tomatoes and the harvest is increasing). So, I just harvested them all. They're in the kitchen, but here's what I remember:
* Lots of v21_A24 (I would guess at least 50, but I could be off.)
* A few SunGarnet F2
* A few Matt's Hornet
* A few v21_A4
* A few from among the BSX tomatoes
* A few from Insurance_B F1
* Some from v21_A6
* Some from Pearler_A and the other Pearler_ tomatoes.
* A few from Bash_A
* A few SunCitron F2s
* Two to a few Chocolate Chestnut
* Possibly some others

This morning, I harvested all the ripe wonderberries I could find on the five plants in the backyard. I got about 1.25 quarts, not counting the fruits that fell, and the fruits that split on the volunteer that I didn't move (it had a bunch of split fruits; that's not something I've commonly seen in wonderberries, though). If I had had as many wonderberry plants as tomato plants, the wonderberries would have beat the tomatoes by weight, by a *lot*! I'd need to be out there picking all day, and night, though, probably. I think I can pick them faster than I can pick blackcurrants by weight, though.

They're definitely easier to harvest when they're not in those wire tomato cages (but they look nice in them).

Here's a picture of the tomatoes and the wonderberries that I mentioned harvesting. Not all the tomatoes are visible. Note that the stainless steel bowl is much larger than the green melamine bowl (but the picture makes them look pretty close to the same size); the wonderberries are pea-sized:
16275960455776579436313064632048.jpg
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#124

Post: # 51407Unread post PlainJane
Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:05 am

I’m amazed your tomatoes don’t seem to be affected by your high temps. What a haul!
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#125

Post: # 51447Unread post Shule
Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:21 pm

Today: 103/76; UVI 8.5
Tomorrow: 90/69; UVI 4

I found a whole bunch of robins eating the blackcurrants yesterday morning. They didn't mind my presence as much, that time. They probably noticed how long it took me to navigate the tomato jungle, and figured they were safe on the other side of it.

I think the Horse_A tomato is dead. I'm not sure what happened. It just kind of died. It could be a wilt disease, or just the growing conditions got to it. It looked so good before that, though (but it hadn't set very much: like three fruit, maybe). I didn't save seeds; so, that project is over, and the name can be reclaimed in the future by another project, if need be. But there's the chance it isn't dead and that it'll grow new leaves. I think it's dead, though.

I'm thinking about fertilizing Matt's Hornet and the three BSX plants again. The first fruit of each of those (closest to the last fertilization) tasted the best, actually; so, I'm thinking maybe it won't be a problem if I do (for those specific varieties).

-----

[mention]PlainJane[/mention]
The heat does affect things, but they are doing exceptionally well considering (although a number of the plants are ones I've tested in the heat in past years). Calcium nitrate seems to give the plants a boost that helps them more through the heat later; maybe that has something to do with it. The cooler nights and aridity, too, though, for sure.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#126

Post: # 51466Unread post Julianna
Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:49 pm

That is what happened to a few of mine this year. Just inexplicable death. They were amazing seedlings and then... Just never thrived or maybe grew fine for a while but ultimately died. Very disappointing.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#127

Post: # 51528Unread post Shule
Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:02 pm

Today: 93/71; UVI was at least 8, but it was only supposed to be 4; the max UV site says it was 5.7, though; I'm inclined to believe the 8 report, based on the weather earlier today (last day of July)
Tomorrow: 87/69; UVI 4

We actually got a a fair amount of rain, this evening (when it was getting dark), with a little lightning and I don't recall wind. So, I went outside and harvested the ripe tomatoes during the rain (in order to prevent them from splitting, losing flavor, molding, or some such). Here's a picture of today's harvest (I have the cherries in a separate bowl):
IMG_20210731_213834.jpg
These include at least the following varieties:

* BSX x several
* v21_A6 x several (I haven't seen any diseased-looking fruits on this in a while; nice. I've been trying to harvest them quickly; so, maybe that's helping.)
* Egg Yolk x some
* Mexican Yellow x 2
* v21_A4 x a few to some
* Cosmic Eclipse x 2
* Clad_A x a few to several
* Clad_A0 x a few to several
* Costoluto Florentino; maybe 1 or 2
* Frittata Kitchen x a few
* v21_A24 x maybe 20-something
* Matt's Hornet x a few
* A round pink salad tomato from an unidentified plant that's probably a volunteer x 1
* A pink cherry tomato from an unidentified plant (probably from a non-cherry, because I don't remember harvesting it)
* I don't remember if I harvested any Pearler_ tomatoes.

I ate a few before I took the picture. They were pretty good, and at least one or two were pretty sweet. I forgot to harvest those from 5CGI_B.

The one that looks like it has tentacles coming out of the blossom end is Mexican Yellow; here's a closer shot:
IMG_20210731_215415.jpg
It rained enough where I don't need to water the plants (otherwise, I would have watered the rest of the peppers; I wanted those in the 18-gallon totes earlier today). :)

There are more ripe wonderberries and West India burr gherkins, but I didn't harvest any today.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#128

Post: # 51641Unread post bower
Mon Aug 02, 2021 2:01 pm

Tentacled yellow is so amazing I laughed out loud. :) Those pinks pictured above on July 29 are simply gorgeous. Are these one of your crosses?
Astonished and delighted how well your tomatoes are producing in the heat.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#129

Post: # 51674Unread post Shule
Tue Aug 03, 2021 2:12 am

Sunday: 85/70
Monday: 97/68; UVI 9
Tuesday: 98/68; UVI 9
Wednesday: 102/68; UVI 9

[mention]Bower[/mention]
:)

The pink tomatoes (except for maybe the salad-sized one and the cherry) are BSX. There are plenty more of those under the fruits in the newer picture. BSX can get bigger than all those pictured, but I think the heat makes it about 50-60% smaller (you may be seeing bigger ones soon). It's one of the best-producing tomatoes I've found for July production, this year and last. It's a cross between Brandywine (Sudduth's strain), and something else (possibly Black Cherry). It's not my own cross. I received F4 seeds from HudsonValley of Tomatoville on 16 Nov 2019. Surprisingly, it's supposed to be pink, with smaller beefsteaks! Mine was black with decent-sized beefsteaks last year (not like huge, but many were in the medium large to maybe large range).

If the F3 BSX was pink, and my F4 was black, and my F5s are pink again, that seems to suggest another cross whether before I got the seed or after. I mean, black and pink fruit can't both be recessive to each other, can they? So, I guess mine can't be the pure BSX, but I suppose it's a double cross (at least). That might explain some things (like how big the fruit has been even though a cherry cross was suspected, and how it didn't have much flavor last year, much as many F1s, but how it's quite tasty this year; I'm guessing my F4 seed that I received was a new F1). I plan to grow both F5 and F6 plants next year (I may even grow F4 plants if I have more of the original seed). I better stop calling it BSX, I guess, if it's not BSX. It's been PL both generations I grew it, so the father has to be PL, and probably has large fruit. The F4 was PL, too (says the description). It's a very promising tomato. It's definitely a favorite. It even tastes excellent, this year (I had some on cream cheese sandwiches, and you'd think there was ham with the tomato on it; pleasantly acidic on a sandwich, too)!

[mention]HudsonValley[/mention] Are you the same HudsonValley who gave me (shule-1 on TV) BSX seeds? Did you ever grow Black from Tula? That's the only big black PL tomato that comes to mind, offhand. I'm not on TV anymore (so, I can't reply if you PM me there). How is BSX doing for you?

Bower, most of my own crosses are about salad-sized, this year. Insurance_B was supposed to be large-fruited with pink beefsteaks, but it got crossed, and it's a salad-sized to medium smooth red oblate tomato. The Mexican Yellow cross F3 might get big fruit, but it hasn't been taking the heat very well in the last several days (the plant looks tired and flat); it'll hopefully revive when it cools down. Horse_A still looks dead. Clad_A and Clad_A0 are doing awesomely. I need to take a picture; the plants have so much fruit. Pearler_A is doing great, but the other Pearler's are still recovering from the wind damage, or whatever made them curl. Nax_A is still young, but it's getting plenty of fruit. I think I've got a fourth Napoli cross, too, but I'm not sure. Bash_A is looking okay, but not like it's parent last year (that's probably the soil and the heat, as it was doing better before the heat came on for so long); it has really deep red fruit again. Picnic_B and probably Picnic_B0 have big fruit, this year, as usual. The oxheart-shaped Marion hasn't had ripe fruit, yet.

The tomatoes sure do seem to be loving the cooler weather from Sunday and all that rain. There are loads that ripened over the weekend, and I see new fruits setting on SunDolce F2 (which didn't set a lot in the heat, surprisingly; I say surprisingly since it was so vigorous before the heat set in, and since it's a cherry). We had a lot more rain Saturday night, too. I saw a number of new ripe ones on Matt's Hornet.

Black Cherry, SunDolce F2, Picnic_B and maybe others are ripening for the first time, this year. Picnic_B is pink.

It rained so much on Saturday night that the ground was still wet the last time I checked today (I mean Monday; it's after midnight). That's an unusual length of time to have wet ground after a rain in the summer. Sunday felt very humid (I don't know what it was); it's 55%, right now, which is very high for here.

I'll probably harvest tomatoes again on Tuesday (I guess that's today).

There are lots of blackberries.

Our grapes are getting ripe already! I mean, a number of them turned purple/black already. That's a surprise. I didn't know they were even done growing to their full size/shape.

Lots of two-striped grasshoppers are living on our eastern horseradish plants. I counted about 15 of them the other day (all fully mature except for one). Some of them were light green than usual.

Well, I just saw some lightning! The power went out Saturday night; so, I better submit this in case it goes out again.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#130

Post: # 51679Unread post bower
Tue Aug 03, 2021 4:14 am

If the seeds from a black fruit produce pink fruit, there's been another cross. :) Lovely! :)
I do think that growing out crosses (and making new ones) in extreme weather is the way to develop some resistance to those conditions, so it's great to see your successes :D
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#131

Post: # 51716Unread post Shule
Tue Aug 03, 2021 10:12 pm

Today: 99/68; UVI 8.7
Tomorrow: 102/70; UVI 9

I harvested more wonderberries and tomatoes (there are more ripe ones outside).

Black Bear actually looks pink, too, this year. It looks a lot like the mid-sized BSX tomatoes.

Here's a picture of the tomatoes--followed by a picture of all the BSX tomatoes that I picked out of that stainless steel bowl after I took the first picture. It's possible I might have mixed a Black Bear cross or so in with them, and taken out a BSX, but either way that's the number size, and basic appearance of them.
IMG_20210803_195719.jpg
IMG_20210803_200604.jpg
[mention]Bower[/mention]
It make sense that crosses would help with breeding new varieties that do well in an area. Part of the reason for that, I think, is that the tomatoes aren't self-pollinated (so, you're selecting for pollen that can remain viable when it travels).
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#132

Post: # 51880Unread post JRinPA
Sat Aug 07, 2021 1:49 pm

01.JPG
search wonderberry...found that nice bowl of them. Very nice. I picked my first ever today. They look to be a lot smaller, are very soft, and taste pretty nice.

I know someone here in town that makes wine. I know he did tomato wine once. I wonder how many have tried/made wonderberry wine?

What is the easiest method you have found for harvesting large quantities of these Wonderberries? I'm thinking for next year single flat piece of CRW so you can get to each side with bowl? And just keep tying them up to it. And a whole row of seeds sown in a rain gutter or something, then just clear the bed and transplant.

[mention]Shule[/mention] can you confirm these are the wonderberry plants and I did not weed off both the wonderberry transplants I put there and these are actually a weed? lol Because those leaves look bug eaten just like the weeds here.

Okay I checked and they look exactly like the baker creek/rare seeds pic of the fruit so I think I'm good. :D
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#133

Post: # 51912Unread post Shule
Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:59 am

Thursday: 100/67
Friday: 88/66
Saturday: 94/65; UVI 8.4

[mention]JRinPA[/mention]
I'll have to read and answer your post on Monday.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#134

Post: # 52022Unread post Shule
Tue Aug 10, 2021 5:44 am

[mention]JRinPA[/mention]
They look like wonderberries. (Although some other nightshades look a lot the same.) They do look a little small, though, but I've had them that size. They probably need one of a few things:

* More acclimatization to your garden (they may get bigger every year for a while). Might as well save seeds from only the biggest fruits while you're at it.
* Potassium and/or phosphorus and/or fertilizer generally. Potassium should help against the leaf-eating pests, and increase fruit size.
* Such as black plastic to warm the soil; it makes for bigger plants with tastier fruits; my fruits seem bigger with it, too, but that could be the acclimatization factor.
* If you didn't thin the plants to one plant per spot, you'll have better results if you do, in future.

That's great to hear you like the taste!

I think for me the main thing that helps in harvesting is practice, and relaxing while I do it (I find harvesting them relaxing when I actually do it). Sitting in a chair while I do it can be nice, if possible (a low chair would probably be best). The more I do it, the easier it seems. I don't harvest the trusses (I just roll them out of the calyces; rolling them is easier than pulling them, I think). The trusses on mine don't all ripen at once, usually, anyway.

However, to harvest mass amounts, maybe the following idea would work (I don't know, though):

Put a towel or something under the plant, and shake the plant. Let the fruits fall onto the towel. Selectively breed for fruits that do this easily when ripe (and not when unripe), in order to make it work better year by year. So, even if you just get a few fruits that way, this year, save seeds from those and do the same thing each year; see if it helps.

Hopefully I'll test it to see how well it works. A similar idea is supposed to work for mulberries, anyhow.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#135

Post: # 52048Unread post JRinPA
Tue Aug 10, 2021 8:44 pm

Not a bad idea to select for the ones that fall off easy, if you want to harvest that way. We have done mulberries with sheets in the past. Even done it in a 14ft semi vee boat with three people in it, shaking the whole tree to drop them into the sheets in the boat, trying not to fall in. But I think these are so soft, they may crush much more than mulberries. The taste is pretty nice though.

That is just one plant that made it through the weeding. I put two in, and I think I scuffed the one out since they look just like a weed to me.

I think mine are small mainly just because it's been so dry, but I saw some pics on internet search that showed almost exactly the same size, color, sheen, and truss size. Yours are more impressive than most pics on the internet.

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#136

Post: # 52086Unread post Shule
Thu Aug 12, 2021 1:24 am

Monday: 87/54
Tuesday: 96/53
Wednesday (today's waking period): 101/66; UVI 8.3
Thursday (today, sort of): 104/67; UVI 8
Friday: 104/67; UVI 8
Saturday: 105/72; UVI 8
Sunday: 105//72; UVI 8
Monday: 96/59; UVI 8

It's supposed to be in the 80s and a couple days in the early 90s after that, for the rest of the month and into September some.
-----
Okay, so, I finally started saving tomato and pepper seeds. I'm zapping them now. I've had some strange sort of fatigue (possibly caused by low brain circulation or something), but I'm starting to feel better now that I've been eating better for that.

Anyway, I'm saving seeds from the following:
u21_A4 pepper x 3 (looks like Neapolitan)
u21_A5 pepper x 3? (looks like Neapolitan)
u21_A8 pepper x 2? (looks like Neapolitan)
u21_A9 pepper x 4? (looks like Neapolitan)
Lesya pepper x 1
Isis Candy tomato x several (but many were seedless)
SunGarnet F2 tomato x 9
SunCitron F2 tomato x 10
Picnic_B tomato x 1
Marion tomato x 2, each in its own bag (oxheart-shaped)
Mexican Yellow tomato x1 (with tentacles; yeah, I had it hanging around a while; it was about to go bad)

The pepper I have that says it's Neapolitan doesn't look like Neapolitan, though! It looks like a mini Cubanelle, maybe.

The peppers were very good in flavor, with the Neapolitan-looking ones being sweet, and Lesya being extra flavorful.

The oxheart-shaped Marions (which I'm thinking must be a cross) are quite sweet, kind of like sweet cherry tomatoes (almost like Matt's Hornet). They are somewhat smaller than regular Marion. The flesh looks a lot like the flesh of a salad tomato, but they're not tart (the sliced one is the longer one, which was the first to ripen):
IMG_20210811_221514.jpg
IMG_20210811_221718.jpg
Egg Yolk is enormous, now (one of the biggest tomato plants I've seen in a while), and setting a lot more fruit than it was before the temperature dropped for a while. It's covering Isis Candy, and appears to want to climb our neighbor's tall wooden fence. I'm curious if it will! It has vines reaching up about half-way, or so, so far, pressing up against the fence, reaching up. Remind me to evaluate it again in a couple weeks, if I don't. I was going to have it by something to climb, but we ended up moving what I had next to it somewhere else to keep Galapagos Island from going onto the greens and stuff. So, it's interesting what it's doing with the fence, since I wasn't expecting that. I'm not sure if other big tomatoes would do the same thing, so far, though. I should get a picture.

Amana Orange has ripening fruit, as do some of the beefsteak volunteers, and other things.

My hope with the tentacled Mexican Yellow is that its offspring might be more resistant to BER. I don't see BER on catfaced tomatoes very often; so, yeah; maybe catfacing can be a good thing.

I decided to put all the tomato seeds in the blender on low, this year (to get the gel sacks off before zapping), to save time and effort, and to select for seeds that can withstand the blender--instead of rubbing the gel sacks off before zapping.

Something about Isis Candy that's interesting is not only is it bicolor, but it has color phases like some peppers do. It starts green, turns yellow, turns bicolor orange/red, and then turns red. It did pretty much the same thing last year, except I don't remember the yellow phase. It's quite edible in the final two phases, and tastes like it could use some more ripening when yellow.
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#137

Post: # 52251Unread post Shule
Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:27 pm

Thursday: 106/69
Friday: 101/70
Saturday (today): 101/67; UVI 8.2
Sunday: 104/70; UVI: 8

I haven't been doing a whole lot in the garden, this week (other than watering peppers and saving some seeds). I've been computer programming, studying carotenoids (e.g. zeaxanthin, capsanthin, capsorubin, violaxanthin, astaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, fuxoxanthin, lutein, diadinoxanthin, torulene, phytofluene), flavonoids, algae, antioxidants, ORAC values, and stuff like that.

There are a lot of tomatoes to harvest and/or seed, though. I should go fertilize the peppers quick. Some of the peppers are finally turning orange. I'm glad to be able to get seed from them soon.

I really want to save seeds these varieties soon:
* Matt's Hornet
* BSX cross (from all three plants)
* Clad_A
* Clad_B
* Pearler_A, and the other Pearler_ tomatoes
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Shule
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Location: SW Idaho, USA

Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#138

Post: # 52336Unread post Shule
Mon Aug 16, 2021 4:55 pm

Today: 100/68; UVI 8.3
Tomorrow: 80/59; UVI 7

I did fertilize the peppers, watermelons, cucumbers, the eastern potatoes, the muskmelons (mostly), the nectarine tree, a rose bush, Matina, Sprite, and a few other things, on Saturday night. I also watered the peppers, cucumbers, and the houseplants, too.

It's been quite smoky for some days, now.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Shule
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#139

Post: # 52374Unread post Shule
Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:07 am

So, I decided to save seeds and dehydrate the meat/walls of those that I was saving seeds from. The dehydrator is running (with 6 13"x15" trays full), and the seeds are being zapped. I used the blender to remove the gel sacks, again, as I before intended.

Here's what I saved seeds from:
* Clad_A (I think this filled about half of the food dehydrator. I used all of the ones I picked.)
* Matt's Hornet (Most of these looked fine, although a number of them were under-sized. A few had circles on them; so, it mustn't be completely immune to the disease that was near that soil last year. I didn't save seeds from the fruits with circles on them.)
* Pearler_A (I still have lots of these whole fruits left--most of one of those stainless steel bowls full--but the ones I saved seeds from are dehydrating. Interestingly, I probably got more seeds from these than the other two varieties, even though I saved seeds from fewer fruits--although I harvested more fruits by weight, including mostly the ones that aren't dehydrating and are still whole, of course. I saved seeds from the ones with the least signs of problems like BER, splitting, etc.; none of them actually had full-on BER if I remember right, but a lot of the fruits have small spots of skin that look like they were thinking about getting BER.)

I was going to save seeds from the BSX cross plants, and the other Pearler_ tomatoes, too, but I had so many fruits on the other three varieties that I didn't have time.

It looks like I have another new Napoli cross, which I've been referring to as Napoli (C4). It tastes really good, too. It's sweet and really nice-tasting. Very prolific, too; impressive. Still red. Smaller fruits than regular Napoli. Ovate fruits, more symmetrical than Napoli. Earlier than Napoli, in my garden.

I'm really pleased with the Medovaya Kaplya cross volunteers. They're the perfect size for snacking, and for easy harvesting. They taste great. They're prolific.

With the drop in temperature, I wouldn't be surprised if we had a few storms, and some rain. Now's a good time to be harvesting, dehydrating, and stuff.

That single okra plant that sprouted kind of late is doing phenomenally well in the bucket I have it in, despite the super late transplant. I suppose okra must like growing in containers (I've been fertilizing it with foliar sprays of Miracle Gro, too; maybe it likes that).

I actually saw some of our spider mites, today! Usually they're so small they're invisible to humans, but they're huge, this year. Maybe they like Miracle Gro, too. They're on some of the watermelons in the backyard. It's good to finally meet them after all these years of seeing evidence of their infestations. They're cute. They seem to congregate in piles/clusters sometimes, too. Ours are like a beige, tan, or cream color. They're not red. I don't plan to kill them. They might eventually kill the plants (that remains to be seen), but they help the watermelons to ripen faster (and they're not on all the watermelons).

I'm probably going to feel cold tonight after all this heat. I better dehydrate more tomatoes--that'll keep me warm. (I like heat.)

Leafhoppers are ravaging our grape foliage. Wasps are eating our blackberries! We waited a little too long to pick them, this week, I think.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Shule
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#140

Post: # 52458Unread post Shule
Wed Aug 18, 2021 10:09 pm

Yesterday: 87/63 (yesterday, it said it only got to 83, and only 80 was forecasted; I'm confused about why today it says 87); UVI about 6.
Today: 79/58; UVI 6.4
Tomorrow: 84/56; UVI 7

I wrote a post yesterday, but I accidentally didn't post it, and closed the tab.

Anyway, today, I tried my first Nax_A tomato. It was delicious. Oblate, red fruits.

Speaking of Napoli crosses, I found another one! (Before today.) It has ovate fruit, more symmetrical than Napoli, and smaller than Napoli. The fruits are very sweet and delicious, like they crossed with a good cherry, or something (maybe with Porter?). Prolific. I haven't decided what to call it, yet.

Yesterday, I made some (just over a quart of) pizza-dipping sauce out of the remaining Pearler_A tomatoes that hadn't been seeded, dehydrated, or eaten. It included the following:
* Pearler_A tomatoes
* Wonderberries
* Extra virgin olive oil (added when nearly finished)
* Garlic powder
* Onion powder
* Basil
* Paprika
* 4 fresh sage leaves from the garden
* Some pink sea salt (less than I've been using; I'm going for a high-circulation diet; so, I'm experimenting with low to moderate--not high--salt and more spices/herbs/antioxidants/carotenoids/flavonoids/fruits/vegetables/greens/grains/b-vitamins/edible-flowers/sea-life/color)
* Black pepper

I blended it all up in the blender, except the oil.

The Pearler_A tomatoes blended up (before adding ingredients) were actually remarkably pink, instead of red. That surprised me, as I had never had that happen before when expecting a red sauce. The finished sauce was a darker pink.

There are plenty of ripe tomatoes to pick.

I ate a Hungarian Sweet Wax, but it was hot! Not very hot, but hot. It was tasty, too. I wonder if they're all hot (I'm growing a lot of them; two of them visibly look like crosses, and not the same one, either; one looks like it's part Jalapeno, and the other looks like it's part whatever you call those crinkly little yellow slightly hot peppers that you pickle).
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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