Hope this keeps up for three more weeks

[Cecilia_MD7a]

Here's a pic of yesterday's harvest. The varieties are (clockwise from top left) Polish Dwarf, Sungold, Stupice, Cherokee Green, Black Krim, Hopkins, and Chesapeake.

I ate some of the Sungolds, Stupices, and Polish Dwarfs (Dwarves?) today, and they tasted great. DH and I will probably wait for the weekend to try the larger varieties, when we break out the fresh mozzarella.

Forgot to mention, EVERYTHING isn't perfect so far - as you can see, the Cherokee Green and Cheasapeake are catfaced, and several of my 'maters have had BER. But if everything doesn't peter out in a few weeks, I should have more toms for MAGTAG this year than last. I hope so, since we won't be able to rely on the usual treasure trove from Greg this year.

I can't say it enough: Please, everybody, try contribute some of your harvest to MAGTAG this year!

[cdbva]

Beautiful, Cecelia. And tasty-looking!

I harvested my first Cherokee Purples this week. Oh, so good. My husband even said they were beautiful, which is an odd thing to say about CP. (He hasn't seen the Siamese triplets yet --yikes! )

Still have several in various stages of growth, so I hope I can bring some.

Christine

[Cecilia_MD7a]

I dropped a bunch of my 'maters off at my dad's house on Saturday while I visited him. I called today for his report on the flavor of the different varieties, and he pretty much agrees with me that Chesapeake, though huge, is on the bland side compared to the others. He said the Stupices were very good, and he really liked the Black Krim. I haven't tried Black Krim yet this year, but I'm a fan of black tomatoes, too, so I'll probably agree with Dad. And, of course, he gobbled down all the Sungolds as soon as I gave them to him.

I picked my first Lemon Boy today, but haven't tried it yet.

I told you that my Chesapeakes and Hungarian Hearts are really large (for me) this year. I know they're not anywhere close to the 3-lb monsters that have won for Largest Tomato at MAGTAG, but I harvested a 1.91 lb HH and a 1.85 Chesapeake today.

[gflynn]

Cecilia,

Those are big ones!

I have a Persimon that is turning ripe and it looks like I may have some cherokee Purple (Christine do bring them becaue mine may not happen!) and Cherokee Green. I may even have a prue but that is questionable. My Berkley Tye Dye Pink are making a comeback even with the issues I am having but I doubt they will be ready in time.

I have another tomato in a pot that was supposed to be taxi but instead is enourmous and I have yet to figure out what type it is. Also, this one isn't getting blossum end rot. Normally large ones in pots have this problem but this one dosen't seem to care. It could be that this year I have been fertilizing the potted plants 2 times per week.

Greg

[Cecilia_MD7a]

My only varieties that haven't produced a ripened fruit yet are Church and Greater Baltimore. Both have unripe toms. Church has a few huge ones, and GB has lots of round, medium-sized fruit. Perhaps they'll ripen in time for MAGTAG, since I'm still expecting all the others to peter out by then!

[Cecilia_MD7a]

I picked my first 2-pounder yesterday! It was a Church - my first one. Haven't tasted it yet. I took a photo but haven't downloaded it to my computer yet.

Still have lots of green or ripening fruit on many plants, and only a few signs of early blight (mostly on Black Krim). I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a large harvest - since we need all the extras we can get, because of Greg's limited supply.

[Cecilia_MD7a]

Oh, I forgot to mention - the Greater Baltimores are finally coming in. They're not as tangy as I would prefer, but my DH, who likes milder toms, just loves them. They taste like a decent old market variety, which is just what they are! I should have plenty of GBs for MAGTAG - the plant has plenty of fruit.

[Cecilia_MD7a]

Here's the photo of my two-pound Church.

[gflynn]

Deer got into my enclosed garden last night. One slipped under the deer net. I knocked off a Cherokee Purple but didn't do too much damage. I must fix this problem or I am in deep doo-doo :-)

Funny thing is that they didn't touch the squash that I am sick of :-)

I am going to burn a deer in efigy in my yard tonight and see if it helps.

Greg

[veggie babe]

that is a big tomato, I have never grown one that got that size. I may have to try the Church tomato. What do you like about it besides the size?
neva

[Cecilia_MD7a]

Neva, this is only the second year I've grown Church, and last year it was a complete flop. I tried it because it was highly recommended by the late Chuck Wyatt, who gardened in the Baltimore area like me, under similar climate conditions.

And I still haven't tasted Church! I gave my two-pounder to my Dad and asked him to rate it. I'll have to call him and see what says about the flavor.

One thing that I DON'T like about Church is that it's not very prolific (at least for me). If my Dad reports that it's not particularly tasty, I won't grow it again next year, since I'm limited by space to only a dozen plants or so each year.

[cdbva]

Greg, my sister has just written to me about deer. She uses ivory soap.

Here's what she said:

I couldn't find any specifics, so this is what I did: about every 8 feet, all around the perimeter, I put half a bar of soap on the end of a stick about 4 feet high, or about nose height if you are a deer. Robert actually drilled holes in the half bars and tied them on to the sticks with twine. I think you could also just chip some of the soap out with an ice pick and pierce it with the stick.

I've bought the soap, but haven't set it out yet, so I don't know if it will work for me. But she sent me a copy of a study, and my Latvian neighbor at the community plots says they use soap in the old country.

Christine

[Cecilia_MD7a]

Christine, I've heard about the soap trick, too.

Greg, you're already in deep doo-doo because you put your plants in deep doo-doo (equine variety) this spring!