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Old June 24, 2016   #16
braybright
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In the past month I have found a place for every seedling, and given away a few. Many have begun to grow in earnest, a few have straggled behind. I've got blooms on a few tomatoes!
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Old July 14, 2016   #17
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Got some baby fruits! I think there may have been a mix up with my Black Cherry seeds - I thought the fruit was supposed to be round? I have two plants in different locations so I am guessing the mistake was made by the seed company. I'll just have to wait and see what color they ripen to I suppose! In other news, I overestimated my ability to manage a community garden plot in addition to my backyard garden, newborn baby and two older children - the plot has become a tomato graveyard. RIP to a chunk of my growlist: Black Krim, Sara Black, Vorlon, Cherokee Purple, Sweet Ozark Orange, Eva Purple Ball x Big Beef, Pink Accordion, Chico III, Jack White, Great White, Ananas Noire, Northern Lights, & New Yorker.

The rest are surviving or thriving here at home!
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Old August 8, 2016   #18
braybright
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Celebrating our first ripe tomato of the season this morning! Emmy, the Romanian heirloom. (Not associated with the Dwarf Project line under the same working name)

I know it wasn't completely ripe but we were too excited to wait any more so I cut it into quarters and shared it with my daughters. Sweet tomatoey flesh and tangy green gel. We loved it! I am hoping to try several more varieties this season to improve my opinion on flavor. I don't have much personal experience with homegrown tomatoes so this is all really exciting to me! I grew up on Romas and storebought.

Emmy is a thriving plant for me, the biggest so far out of all 20 varieties I planted out at the end of May (I was late getting them out, due to a new arrival in the family!) I counted 40 fruits on her last week so we are in for a good haul!
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Old August 8, 2016   #19
imp
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Isn't it exciting to get the first tomatoes in? You have a lot on your plate, so go easy on yourself and do what you can as you can!

Enjoy and many more terrific tomatoes for you and your girls!
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Old August 8, 2016   #20
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Thanks, imp, I couldn't manage without my little helpers! I am just glad I have convinced them that tomato flowers are not for picking... (After my three year old sweetly handed me the biggest truss of blossoms from our Carbon plant, "Here Mommy, these are for you!)
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Old September 7, 2016   #21
braybright
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The past month has brought three and a quarter pounds of fruit from "Emmy", and a couple pints of various cherries. A few plants have surprised me and bounced back from their woes, including Sweet Ozark Orange which is bushy and beautiful. It has a couple lovely fruits that I hope ripen in time. I had my first PBTD today and it was tasty! Pictured below are PBTD on the left and Polish Pastel on the right.
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Old October 25, 2016   #22
braybright
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I can't believe the season is just about over. It went much differently than I had planned, but then I was likely too ambitious at the outset!! I am satisfied with what I've harvested, and don't expect much else to ripen before our first frost next week. I've kept track in a handy spreadsheet and am thrilled that we got a tad over 50 lbs of produce this summer, mostly tomatoes, but a couple of squash and Armenian cucumbers, and some greens too. My best year yet (third time really is the charm!)

Photo captions:

Some various items in bloom or growing and getting closer to ripening.

The voles pounced on any low-hanging fruit so I improvised with some twine and bamboo sticks to get as much as I could lifted a bit higher.

We loved Lemon Drop cherries! Lovely and tangy/tasty. This photo of mine won the Sample Seed Shop's annual contest!

Rose de L'Omio, an apparently little-known heart that I got seed for from Wintersown in 2012. It has the most stunning, vibrant pink color when fully ripe. That photo is untouched, in natural light! The texture is creamy and the flavor is very good - this was the plant the voles ate the most from, even climbing up on the baskets I used to raise the fruit out of their reach (so I thought) they must have agreed with my assessment!

Emmy has continued to go gangbusters! Since I have been picking at color break to thwart the voles, I took to using these 5 doz egg cartons for ripening them and it's worked a treat.

I finally got a ripe Sweet Ozark Orange, and boy is it impressive! Fabulous texture and taste, I am certainly adding it to the grow list next year.
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File Type: jpg lemon drop.jpg (276.8 KB, 84 views)
File Type: jpg rose de l'omio.jpg (234.0 KB, 85 views)
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Old December 6, 2016   #23
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Our first frost wasn't until Nov 16 so many of my tomatoes hung out on the plants, remaining green until I brought them in to finish ripening.

The final count for produce I grew this year was 89 lbs, 12 oz! I learned a lot from my mistakes and have become more familiar with my particular conditions, as well as with what some of my tastes and preferences are. I am the only one in the house who likes eating larger tomatoes fresh (other family members will if it's in salsa fresca or the occasional salad - though the do snack on cherries) so next year I'm focusing more on cherry types and those which are good for cooking.

I am waiting until after the holidays to officially plan for next season, but I have a few plants in my Aerogardens to tend through winter to keep me busy.

Lettuce and basil does fabulously in those, and the micro-toms I've got are doing great as well. Pictured below, Pinocchio Orange is a couple inches taller than a coffee mug and already loading up with fruit! I think I started it mid-late October. Pinocchio Red is larger but still fitting nicely under the lights. I've got a couple of PL purple micro cherries going from a fellow Utahn's breeding project, and I am thrilled that I had one of my own crosses successfully take! (Emmy x Rose de L'Omio, working name "Emrys") I'm going to attempt growing the F1 of my cross over the winter so I can start exploring the F2's next summer.

Next up will be variety reviews and hopefully after the first of the year I can begin my very first little seed offer!
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Old December 20, 2016   #24
braybright
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Here are my thoughts on the varieties we harvested from this year.

Brad's Black Heart: It was in a bucket with less sun than any of the others, and still produced a couple of fruits. I used them only for seed saving.

Emmy: HUGE producer of yellow saladettes, monster plant (unpruned, I just let it go to town). Excellent for fresh use in salsas etc. My family did not enjoy them in sauce or any other way other than fresh.

GGWT: Produced well even though I got it planted pretty late and not in the best location. Beautiful striped fruits and good dark tomato taste. I'll pick between this and PBTD for next year.

Lemon Drop: Family favorite! Creamy yellow/white cherries, tangy and munchable. Will be back next year, probably my #1 for 2016.

Lime Green Salad: Even in the ground I didn't get a lot of fruit from this one, though the taste was good. Lovely little plant with green saladettes. I thought the flavor got grassy when the yellow undertones appear, so I made sure to harvest before that point.

Lucky Tiger: Good producer, the red tint is great for telling when these are ready. Flavor so-so in my opinion, texture not so appealing either.

Maglia Rosa: Also a good producer, beautifully colored fruit, however has the same texture issue as Lucky Tiger. I tried eating both at various underripe stages and never found one that was appealing to me.

Orange Russian #117: Quite late, hefty hearts with great color. Good flavor.

Pink Berkeley Tie Dye: My family loved these! That dark tomato flavor is hard to beat, and the stripes were pretty, too. Produced very well. I'll pick between this and GGWT for next year.

Polish Pastel: Quite productive, did well in the heat. Sweet fruity flavor in salsa and sauce, but even better dried! After I dehydrated some I realized they taste almost like apricots rather than tomatoes. Really delicious and will be back next year!

Rose de L'Omio: Productive heart, the critters seemed to like this one a lot. Ripens to a vibrant pink and has good flavor and creamy texture.

Rutgers: Didn't do so well, I think due to poor location, but the few fruits we got were fine. Didn't stand out so much compared to others.

Sweet Ozark Orange: Late but very delicious and beautiful orange beefsteak! Excellent on sandwiches and for fresh use. I loved the color, texture, and large size. I'm growing it again!

Sungold F1: I neglected it completely and still got a couple dozen fruits. Priorities were elsewhere!

Supersweet 100 F1: Grew at the request of my six year old, I don't like them.

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Leutschauer Paprika pepper: Produced well through the summer! I picked most green or at first blush, they didn't take long to ripen to red. I dried them and made the most splendid rough-ground paprika. Fruity, spicy, and delicious! Must grow every year!

Pinot Noir F1 bell pepper: Only got a couple of peppers, they were a striking purple color but small sized and of average flavor.

Tangerine Dream sweet pepper: I was impressed that it produced when I basically ignored it in a container all summer. The peppers were larger than I expected, and took forever and a day to ripen. They were on the plant for at least 8 weeks without getting orange at all, and full sized almost that whole time. It could have been our cool nights that extended the ripening period however. Good flavor, but probably not the best candidate under my conditions.

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Now that I have a better idea of what my family likes and what our specific conditions and space constraints are, planning for next year I am focusing more on cherries, good-sized slicers, and types that'll make great sauce. I'll still have a few novelties but try to focus more on what we'll use!

I am working on my seed offer that will be posted in the proper forum in January. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
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