I assume this is almost ready to be planting? Been like this last few days.

Maybe I should grow edible mushrooms like this.

maxjohnson wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 12:16 pm I assume this is almost ready to be planting? Been like this last few days.

Maybe I should grow edible mushrooms like this.

I was thinking that yesterday when I saw all of the mushrooms growing. It would be fun to try too.

maxjohnson wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 12:16 pm I assume this is almost ready to be planting? Been like this last few days.

Maybe I should grow edible mushrooms like this.

Looking good! Stick your hand into the center. As long as it's below about 80°F, you're good to plant.

Apparently the ink cap mushrooms are edible, but will inside a disulfuram reaction if you've consumed any ETOH within the previous few days.

Cowlick's has *9* fruits on its first truss. Aunt Ginny's Purple and Marianna's Peace both have 8. More updates to come!

Your tomatoes look really great. I have been experimenting with straw bale gardening for the last few years. It is fun. I grew some really nice Cherokee Purples last year in a straw bale. One note you want straw bales, not wheat bales. Straw bales don't have the wheat seeds. If you use hay bales, such as what you would feed livestock, the wheat seed are in there and they will sprout and you will soon have a little green carpet of wheat seedlings.

I have found two books that were very helpful.
The first by Joel Karsten- Straw Bale Gardens

The second by Craig Lehoullier (NC Tomato Man fame). Growing Vegetables -in Straw Bales. Craig is a big proponent of straw bale gardening.

Craig has move from Raleigh to Hendersonville, NC and looks to be using a lot of straw bales in his garden there. I follow his blog. https://www.craiglehoullier.com/blog1/2 ... rious-news

You can find both of these books used, on Abe Books and save some money.
https://www.abebooks.com/?cm_mmc=ggl-_- ... mIQAvD_BwE

Here is one of the stars of the garden, Marianna's Peace

Mid summer update! Lots of pics to come.

*Only 4 plants have yet to produce any harvestable fruit: BWS, Aunt Gertie's Gold, KBX, and Orange Strawberry.

*Blossom end rot continues to be a problem, with NAR and Momotaro being particularly hard-hit.

*The king of the season so far is a Big Beef weighing in at 22 ounces. (By the way, I bought this plant on a whim and am so happy I did--its vigor and uniform fruit production are really something to behold.)

*MUCH LESS fungal disease stress as compared to last season. I've sprayed once with copper in mid-June, then mancozeb around July 4th.

*Our weather since the 4th week of June has been blazing HOT and humid, with occasional thunderstorms. I continue to irrigate the bales twice a day.

*Out of all the tomatoes I've tasted so far, the best one has been....Prudens Purple. I had a near-religious experience with my first PP on bread with mayo. I know it's an old school varietal and not "cool", but goddamn that tomato made me weak in my knees.

Excellent!! What are the hearts?
I grew Pruden's Purple for the 1st time this year. I agree, it's a definite keeper!!
Big Beef...Can't say enough good things about that one! I got none as large as yours, but more than a few in the 12-15 oz range. It's hands down the best overall tomato I've ever grown...

But first, a word or two.

I am disappointed. I am embarrassed. I lost my mojo last year.

The season was going so well! Everything was meticulously noted. When I fed, what I harvested, how much did it weigh, etc. And then the realities of full-time work, pandemic ramifications, and family caught up with me. I couldn't take notes the way I intended to. But instead of making peace with not continuing with an academic approach to the garden, I simply gave up. You know 'the perfect is the enemy of the good'? Yeah, that was me and I hit the wall, HARD. I couldn't even bear to go into the garden from about late August onward. I was disgusted with myself. Then a pre-Halloween freeze and snowfall put an ignominious end to the 2020 season.

This season I'm dialing it back a bit--15 plants--from the 21 I had last year. I'm also going to diversify the garden. The past 2 years have been wall-to-wall tomatoes, and a handful of basil and sugar snaps.

Apologies to all of you who were following this thread. I have high hopes that I can atone for last season and continue to make progress as a gardener, and as a human being, warts and all.

I'll be posting pics and general notes for last season's group over the next several days.

A happy weekend to you all, and let the games begin!

Hi friends!

After much deliberation over the transplants available to me, I've chosen my 15 plants.

Anna Russian -- 2020 return. Died of some sort of wilt in mid-August
Polish -- new arrival. If Craig Lehoulier speaks well of this tomato, it's certainly good enough for me
Big Beef -- 2020 return. Was wowed by this plant, and will likely be a staple moving forward
BW Sudduth -- 2020 return. Sublime
Rebel Yell -- 2020 return. Beast-like vigor and high production; yielded well into the fall
Pruden's Purple -- 3rd consecutive year. Was my favorite tomato of the 2020 season
Cherokee Purple -- 3rd consecutive year. Consistently outstanding
Carbon -- 2019 return. Planted late in the season and didn't yield much, but what it produced was outstanding
Persimmon -- new arrival
BW Yellow -- new arrival
Goldie -- new arrival
Northern Lights -- new arrival
Dagma's Perection -- new arrival
Jaune Flamme -- 2019 return. These are just =delicious=
Sungold -- 3rd consecutive year. No need for comment!

I'm hoping to get some A+ yellow/orange fruits this season. My Aunt Gertie's Gold last season was really good, but it was not available to me this year. Fingers crossed!

Yummy list, heirl00m!