It's not quite Calvert, but on Indian Head Hwy in Clinton there's a place called Cherry Hill orchards -- great place to get strawberries, apples and other fruit, Peach icecream in season, a good Fall Fest complete with homemade cider doughnuts and homechurned Pumpkin Pie icecream. And here's a website for pick-your-owns in each state. LynnT Here is a link that might be useful: pick-your-owns by state

I'm patiently waiting for my Geffner atemoyas to finish ripening. They're getting a cream color around some of the bumps, but not much give yet to a squeeze. I had a couple fall off the tree split, they tasted ok, but not up to atemoya standards. They're good size, about softball sized. My Thai Lessard sugar apples still have a long way to go, not sure if they'll make it or not. It flowered, dropped its nickel sized fruit, flowered again, now they're 2 to 2 1/2 inch fruit. I've still been getting Sri Kembangan carambolas, have a couple more left. My tree is flowering also, so I'll have a winter crop too. There's namwa and pisang ceylon bananas on the tree, not sure if they're ripen before winter. One pomegranate almost ripe. One 'american beauty' dragonfruit on the plant. Not many barbados cherries, but I see mockingbirds in the tree daily. Not much production going on. On the atemoyas, I've read they might be better than SA, but not good as cherimoya. I've only had one perfectly ripe atemoya two years ago, it was great. Never had cherimoya or sugar apple yet. Gary

Hello! I've been WSing tomatoes for almost 15 years now. I am in zone 6b (NYC) and am strictly a container gardener. The seeds usually go out by mid-March (not necessarily the dead of winter), seedlings up and planted out by the end of April, if all goes according to Hoyle. I've harvested tomatoes as early as July (Early Girl), but most varieties I've grown are ready for picking in August. I don't think Wsed toms grow any slower than store-bought plants; they start out smaller, of course, but quickly catch up to any store-bought plant set out at the same time. There are quite a few folks on the forum who WS their tomatoes, just as there are some who start them indoors. Perhaps some more people will check in on this thread. You should give it a try .....

So, I just bought a 4x8 stand with a commercial grow light. We are selling our house, which means that the garden outdoors is going bye-bye, so indoor gardening is the only option right now. Anyways, this thing is huge and the only place I can keep it is in the garage. While the garage is generally a neutral temperature, in zone 9b the garage can get quite hot sometimes (sometimes 85-90+ degrees). This is perfect for tropical fruits, which I have been growing for awhile now, but what about traditional garden fruits and veggies? I only have 32 sq. ft. of space not including floor space, and would like to pick crops/varieties that: - require as little space as possible - do well in containers - can tolerate heat - can tolerate humidity - can be hand-pollinated or are self fertile - produce high yields - produce as quickly as possible, or have a very short time to harvest - enjoy full sun and could grow alongside tropical fruits - are preferably a bush type or do not require a trellis Currently growing ginger, figs, papayas, dragon fruit, citrus, carambola (star fruit), acerola, and a variety of other funky things. I'm new to indoor gardening with standard vegetables though. The stand is designed for hydroponics, but I'm using soil. The plants have a fan for air circulation, and also have a humidifier. Will strawberries do well, or will they not like the heat/humidity I need to provide for my tropicals? Can some cool-weather crops be grown like root veggies or salad greens? Mainly I'm curious about: - artichokes - arugula - beets - cantaloupe - corn - cucumbers - eggplant - garlic - lettuce - mushrooms (not psychedelic ones) - okra - potatoes - radishes - raspberries - strawberries - summer squash/zucchini - sweet potatoes - tomatoes (beefsteak) - tomatoes (cherry) - watermelon Any personal experience on growing these indoors would be very helpful. Does anyone have any knowledge on growing these crops in a "tropical" environment indoors? Varieties, container size, and chances of growing in these conditions would be great to know! Thanks, Maddie