Good luck with your tomaotes....

I worry this time of year with frost also.. Easter came really early this year..

Kirts,

Thanks. Oh, I do worry and worry and worry about frost this time of year. Even after we are past the last date of the latest frost EVER recorded in Love County, I still worry. One of my "old farmer" friends (he passed away last year at the age of 97) told me that he remembered snow falling a couple of times in May here in Love County, so that is always on my mind, even though I find it hard to imagine.

Easter was really early, and daylight savings time started really early, and the two of them combined make me feel like I am "late" getting things into the ground, although I am still, actually, a little early.

If I wasn't so worried about a late freeze or frost, I'd have 100 more tomato plants in the ground already. I just won't plant more than I can easily cover up.

Dawn

Dawn,

How do you like to water your plants when you have the landscape fabric in place? Do you have a soaker hose or drip system under the fabric?

Scott,

I have done it both ways, but soaker hoses are easier for me. I prefer to have the soaker hose on top of the landscape fabric and mulch because when it is under the fabric, I can't tell if there is a problem and a plant isn't getting enough water (until the plant begins to look bad).

This year, I am going to use drip irrigation for the tomatoes that I'm going to plant in 10-gallon Sunleaves grow bags . It will be my first time to try growing them in grow bags, and arose as an alternate method of planting tomatoes after last year's flooding rains and drowning tomato plants.

I've been happy with drip irrigation in the past and have even used it to water the hanging baskets on my wrap-around porch.

Dawn

I know you talked about it in a post long ago, but what fabric do you use and does it ever have problems letting water through?

I have about 10 50-ft roles of an inexpensive 6-year fabric that I think is the kind you don't care for. I got it at Atwoods at 75% off a couple of years ago in the fall. It is DeWitt Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric.

Scott,

I don't remember the brand name but when you look at the fabric, it definitely looks like a woven fabric and not a plastic one. It has an odd-looking sort of swirled look to it, sort of like felt (but not at all as thick). I bought the roll I am now using at Lowe's and it came in a row that I think was 6' wide by 50' long or they had rolls they were 3' wide by 100' or maybe it was 6' by 100', I think. Usually I buy it at CostCo in a much larger roll, but I didn't need that much since so many of the beds and pathways are already covered in it.

The use of the fabric landscape cloth has made such a huge difference in my veggie garden that I can't even begin to describe it. It has reduced weeding, which used to be a huge chore for me, to probably 10% of what it used to be, or even less. The most important thing, though, is that it reduces soil splash so I have a significantly decreased problem with foliar problems on the tomato plants--bacterial speck, bacterial spot, early blight, etc. Even in last year's horrific rains, my tomatoes had more trouble from the perpetually wet root zones than from the standard foliar diseases you'd expect in such a rainy year.

The kind of fabric with the perforations that "lets water through" just didn't work for me at all, and I was so disappointed because I spent a long of time and money on that stuff one year. If you have it, though, you might be able to make it work. You could lay down something underneath it like newspaper about 6 or 8 pages thick. The water could pass through the paper, but the weed seeds and grass seeds couldn't. Or, if you mulched heavily as soon as you put it down and planted through it, you might be able to prevent weed seeds from germinating.

My entire garden is on a slope, and our neighbor's land sits higher than ours, and in a heavy rain, weed and grass seed constantly wash down into the garden. No matter what I do, I find myself fighting some sort of broad-leaved grass evey year. It came up right through those perforations in that fabric. Now, with the use of the better-quality fabric, it still washes into the garden and tries to sprout in the mulch, but the roots can't make their way down through the landscape fabric, so it is easy to pull out.

Also, every year I have had trouble with armadillos digging up everything I plant. (I will say it is less and less of a problem every year, so it is getting better.) In areas where I have mixed borders that include trees, shrubs, groundcovers, perennials and annuals, the fabric has put a halt to a lot of their digging. Thank goodness.

I love this landscaping fabric and I avoided using it for years because I didn't want the extra expense. Now that I have used it for a couple of years, I can't imagine life without it.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: The Stuff I Bought Is Like This One

Dawn, when do you put your tomato cages up?

Hank,

I put my cages up the same day I plant. I used to wait until "later", but then I'd get so busy, that when "later" arrived, the plants were too big and it was hard to get the cages over them without breaking branches.

Also, if you wait until later, you will find yourself touching the foliage a lot as you put the cages over the plants. Touching the foliage can be a bad thing, especially in the hot and humid days of May, when diseases are beginning to appear. It is very easy to spread disease (if any is present0 from one plant to another when caging, staking, pruning, etc. So, I keep my handling of the plants to a minimum, and putting the cages on early in the season when diseases have not yet appeared is just one part of that.

Dawn

In case of a late freeze, won't the walls o' water protect the tomato plants?

I picked up 6 more plants at Under The Sun in OKC this weekend:
Fourth of July (new for me)
Cherokee Purple
Brandywine
Homer Homely
Marglobe (new for me)
Delicious (new for me)

They didn't have very many varieties in yet. No Black Krim yet.

Sheri, where is Under the Sun? Never heard of them before. How much do they charge for plants there? Are they in tiny plastic thingys or 3 or 4 inch pots?

hank

Sheri,

If you are using Wall-O-Waters, they will protect the plants from a hard freeze, but not necessarily from a frost. The heat released from the WOWs as they cool helps heat up the air inside the WOW and keeps the plants warm. However, if a heavy frost is forming (or if freezing rain, sleet or snow are falling), you have to close or cover up that opening in the top of the WOW to keep the frost or precipitation from reaching the plant's foliage.

I can't use WOWs, except in one bed, because the garden slopes way too much, and the WOWs fall over. (They need nice flat land.)

Also, our temps get into the upper 80s and lower 90s a lot down here in March and April, (had three days in the 80s last week, and on one of those days it was 88!), so plants inside WOWs can get "too hot" pretty quickly here.

Fourth of July produces a LOT of tomatoes, and quickly too, and they aren't bad for a hybrid. Usually, if I get them into the ground here even as late as mid-April, I'll have ripe ones by Memorial Day. I'm glad you found CP and BW. Didn't you grow Homely Homer last year? Did you like it? I've never seen it here, but suspect it might be Homer Fike under a different name (or a mutation or cross that resulted from a HF, since the 'Homer' name isn't a real common one in the tomato world). Marglobe was pretty good during a really rainy year here, and you already know that Delicious wasn't delicious for us. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Have you planted tomatoes into the ground yet?

Dawn

Dawn,

I did grow Homely Homer last year, it was one of the best-tasting tomatoes we had. I hadn't thought about the Homer Fike being the same. Anyway, I am definitely giving it another whirl.

I haven't planted anything yet, I was waiting until you guys start planting. So, I will get started this weekend. It's down in the 50's here for the next few days, that too cold for me.

My Brandywine died, and the Brandyboy looks bad. I left them out on the porch in 40 degree weather one evening, when I brought them in, some of the lower limbs looked flimsy. Then the limbs started dying, on alot of the transplants. They just shriveled up. I moved them up to a bigger cup last week. Does that sound like damping off? I sure could have overwatered them, I was watering everyday. Sheri

Sheri,

It probably is damping off. Only time will tell. Usually with damping off, you see a specific spot in the stem that looks like it has been pinched and is narrowing. Try to stop watering them so often and let them get dry on the surface before you water again. Temps. in the 40s wouldn't have caused as much damage as you describe, although sudden exposure to full sun, hard winds, etc. in combination might. I'd lean towards thinking it is damping off.

If there is a spring swap this year, and if I make it (my mom is suddenly very ill so I'm going down to Ft. Worth a lot), I can bring you some of my extra Brandywines and Brandy Boys, or I can mail you some. (I don't mind mailing them to you, but you'll have to tell me how Darrel packs his, so I can try to pack them the same way so they'll arrive in good shape.)

OK, so I'm about to head down south to Texas in a few minutes, but I'll check in tonight or tomorrow to see if you want to wait for the swap OR go ahead and mail you some plants now. Don't be shy about saying you want some plants.....I always plant a lot more than I need.

Dawn

Dawn,

I hope your mom is ok.

I would like the Brandy Boy plant for sure! I was so disappointed to find the little guy hanging over the edge of the cup!! The spring swap would definitely be easier than mailing them. I've been wondering if anybody was going to suggest a swap for this year. If everybody wants to do that, I would be there for sure, (but will only be bearing very small seedlings, I'm just starting everything this week) If not, then I will email you how Keith packed my plants. Sheri

Sheri,

So far, I have some Brandy Boy's. If Dawn can't get some to you, you're welcome to some of mine. BUT they aren't very big either(I'm sure you'd rather have hers); so far they are looking okay. I've never been to a swap before, but if there is one, I too would love to come. Otherwise, I'm just east of Tulsa, email me if I can help.

Jill

Sheri,

Thanks. We're still waiting on some test results, and she won't even see the oncologist again for about three weeks, but she may get to come home from the hospital later this week.

I don't know if anyone is working on plans for a plant swap. Usually someone up in the OKC area who knows what's where and how to reserve it does the planning and publicizes the date, and we all bring food, supplies, and contribute the necessary money to pay for the facility if there is a fee. I've only been to one previously, but it was great.

Jill,

Well, come on, girl....your plants are just as good as mine, you silly thing! Mine might be a little larger since I started them earlier, but a plant is a plant is a plant.

Y'all, I got absolutely nothing done in the garden OR the house today, but took care of family business AND fire department business, so it was a good day. Well, except for the big chunk of steel-type road debris that hit our trunk windshield and took it out. So, "get a new windshield" was added to the "To Do" list.

I'd like to "turn off the world" for the day, and do nothing but garden, but real life keeps interfering. Oops, I'm whining. Sorry. I am going to get more of those tomato plants in the ground very soon, but I'm still watching the forecasted low temps. closely too.

Dawn

Dawn,

I hope all goes well with your mom too--I'm sure we all do. For what it's worth I've been there; a lot actually, cancers like my family :( You're not whining, life does interfere with what we'd rather be doing and sometime it just flat out stinks!

Sheri,

I had another thought, you can pick up Brandy Boy (Burpee brand) seed @ Home Depot and I think Lowe's. If you've just started some others, these wouldn't be too far behind and there's really still a lot of time.

It's just a thought in case there isn't a swap or if you prefer starting your own. You're still more than welcome to some of mine, I just started a few other varieties in the last week myself.

Sungold
Sweet Million
Snow White
Porters Pride
Black Cherry

I was afraid that would be the only way I could get them and my seed from Tomato Growers Supply took a while to come in. Not their fault, I was just late getting started in general.

Jill

Jill,

Thanks for the sweet words and the thoughts that go with them. I'm a cancer survivor myself, and I hate to see anyone else go through it, especially my mom.

And, this probably will surprise you and Sheri and others who know well that I start my plants indoors in late January, but I do think it is possible to start seeds in late March, transplant those plants into the ground no later than mid-May and still get a good crop of tomatoes.

Why, then, do I start my plants in January? Because I am racing the heat here, and it is so unpredictable. We are so far south that some years we go from cold to hot almost overnight and I like to have plants that are ready to bloom the very instant the weather hits the right temperature range.

Why do plants started "late" almost catch up with the early birds? Because they are being raised in warmer weather, mostly. When I start plants the last week in January, they don't get to go out onto the porch for some real sunlight until they are quite a few weeks old. When you start seeds this late, you can put those plants outside for real sun almost as soon as they sprout. And, the more real sunlight they get, the faster they grow. Plants grown indoors under simple fluorescent lights cannot grow as quickly as plants grown even part-time in the significantly stronger sunlight.

I ordered Ramapo F-1 seeds as soon as I found out that they were available for the first time in years--mid-February. The seeds arrived March 10th, and I planted them right away. They have been out on the screened-in porch in filtered sun and are growing quite quickly even though they are less than a month old. Another couple of weeks and they can go into the ground. Will they be smaller than the other plants? Yes, but I know from experience that they will catch up quickly too.

I bet that, by mid-May, you will not be able to look at the tomato plants in the ground in my garden and know which ones were started from seed in late January versus those which were started in late Feb. versus those which were started in mid-March. They all will be roughly the same height, have the same number of branches, and all will be in bloom. The only way it will be really obvious which ones are "oldest" is that they will tend to have stronger, stouter main stalks....and, possibly, some fruit coming along that is larger than the tomatoes on the "younger" plants. The difference in the plants at this stage is negligible to all but the most experienced tomato grower.

So, a later start doesn't mean smaller plants in the long run, or even less fruit per plant necessarily. The later start just means later tomatoes. That's all.

And, I always think it is better to plant late and take your chances than to miss out on a chance to try a variety you're really eager to try.

Dawn

Dawn,

I hope everything gets easier for you, and your mom gets better. It seems like everyone is having some kind of trouble lately, I would have liked to turn off the world, the entire last month, pack up and move into my garden. Instead I'm just late starting my seeds, and garden. Thanks for explaining that about starting the transplants in March, it made me feel alot more confident.

Jill,

Thank you so much for offering the plants. I hope we can do a swap, and if not, I will get the Brandyboy seeds at Home Depot. I didn't realize they had it. Dawn said it produces well in the heat, so it will be ok starting it later, if I have too. I just stopped at a home depot this Weekend at OKC, but didn't check out the seed rack. They did have some nice big tomato plants, mostly hybrid though. I started to buy an early girl, but decided to wait until I get everything tilled up, seeing how I have already managed to kill some of my plants. Darn....still so much to learn! Sheri

Sheri,

Thanks. It sounds like last month was rough for you. I hope everything is getting better.

I try NOT to look at the transplants at any of the stores at this time of year. Why? Well, first of all, it makes me want to buy them all and take them home. Secondly, they always seem better-looking than my plants....larger, greener, etc. Then I take a deep breath, say "it's OK" and go home.....and, you know, my plants look pretty good too. : )

Oh, and another thing I forgot to mention....plants that go into the ground early are going into colder soil, say 60 degrees or so. Plants that go into the ground a month later might be going into 70 degree soil. That's another reason that "late" plants grow quickly and often catch up, size-wise, to "early" plants.

And, there ALWAYS will be so much to learn...no matter how much you know. To me, that is one of the most fascinating things about gardening--there is just so much to learn and to understand, so much to experiment with, and so many different techniques to try....It reminds me of one of Thomas Jefferson's quotes (and he was a lifelong gardener): "But though I am an old man, I am but a young gardener."

Dawn

I've got tomato fever/obsession whatever it is worse than ever. I couldn't resist & have bought plants and started some seed to the point I have them everywhere around here. Way more than I have room for or much less need and I'm not finished yet either. I'm planning on making a stop by The Tomato Man & Daughters place in the next week or so to pick up a few more heirlooms, plus I'm sure I'll stumble across another variety or two somewhere else that I just can't resist.

DH who is not much interested in gardening (but does like a good homegrown tomato) has been quite a trooper and big help with all this. I'm having so much fun though; I don't care if anyone thinks I'm crazy.

I'm going to start putting some of these jewels in the ground as soon as it dries out enough that I can. I still think it's a little soon, but I'll risk it with a few and I'm going to try walls of water for the first time to see if that helps any. I agree with everything Dawn says about planting later and will plant most of mine much later probably after the 15th maybe even closer to the end of the month.

Jill

Jill, I am more and more inpressed with WOW. I haven't bought any tomato plants this year, but started a ton of seeds so I had nothing to lose with a little experiment.

Several weeks ago I put some very small transplants in WOW just to see if they would thrive. I am in Grove so it is still very early to put out tomatoes. They made it through a 6 inch rain, a dip to 27 degrees, a hail storm, etc. They have not grown much but are still looking heathy and strong so I am hoping they are putting on roots. When there is a threat of hail or freezing weather, I place an inverted plastic nursery put over the WOW just to hold in a little heat. But you have to remember to remove it early.

Last year I planted a couple of bigger plants very early and when we had the bad, bad freeze, I placed a 2-liter bottle of hot water down inside before I put the pot on the top and they made it fine. Now I can't say that I have ripe tomatoes in April like Dawn, but we did eat the first two on the 3rd of June which I thought was great. Most people shoot for the 4th of July here.

I put out five very small plants this year and four look very good but are small. The other is a potato leaf Brandywine and has not leafed out like the others. It is still alive, but is not as strong.

I think you would be very safe to put plants out now in WOW, but I doubt that our cold weather is completly over. I probably should go buy one and put it under WOW but I only have five and don't want to mess up my little experiment. In addition I will probably have 50 to give away in a few weeks. HA

I would love to be planting today but we are cleaning out a storage shed and trying to get everything back in before it rains again.

I have several new packs of seed so I am thinking about starting some more that would be ready to go on my other cattle panel when the sugar snap peas get ripped out. I can't get enough.....it never ends.......it's a disease.

Hi Jill and Carol,

Welcome to my world! It is the Land of Tomato Obsession. Picture the Land of Oz, but no Emerald City, for us, oh no no no.....only the Bright Red Shining City on the Hill. (Tomato Red, of course.)

If the question is "How many tomatoes are enough?", the only correct answer is that you can NEVER have enough.

If the question is "How many more tomatoes do you want to try to squeeze into that jam-packed garden?", the answer is "Just one more......and one more....and one more....".

I think you see where I am going with this.

Back when I only grew hybrids, I pretty much thought a tomato was a tomato was a tomato. Then, I discovered the many different variances in flavor between the various heirlooms and discovered tomatoes were so much more than I thought they were. When I say that heirloom tomatoes are like wine and each variety has its' own unique flavor, that is just my way of trying to explain why I grow so many different varieties.

My DH loves tomatoes almost as much as I do, but he doesn't really garden. (He does love to mow and weed-eat.) He does willingly do anything I ask, like tilling up a new spot so I can squeeze in two dozen more varieties, or whatever.

Ilene, I do think that June 3rd in VERY IMPRESSIVE in your part of the state. I don't know what it is like there, but here it is very impressive to have the first ripe tomato--a sort of status symbol. All you have to do is show that first ripe tomato to one of the gossipy old ranching guys, and the whole gardening community knows by sunset. LOL

And, if loving to grow and eat tomatoes is a disease, then I hope there is no cure. Last year I planted some "leftover" tomato plants into the ground during early to mid-June, and they had fruit by August. So, more and more, I am leaning towards always having a few seedlings "coming along" in paper cups, so I can use them to replace other stuff when it is done.....sort of succession planting that never ends.

I hope you get that shed done before the rain arrives.

I don't think the cold is really through with us, either. It is supposed to be 42 degrees here either Fri or Sat. morning (I don't remember which). Normally, 42 woudn't bother me.....but twice in 2008, the overnight low has gone a full 10 degrees colder than the forecast predicted, so I am watching the weather conditions VERY carefully.

Have fun, and plant, plant, plant those tomatoes!

Dawn

We almost finished cleaning the shed and it didn't rain today, YET. We got everything back in that really matters. It is just an open shed but I was cleaning it up so I could use one side for a potting area, plus try to get my gardening tools in a little better order. I keep my tiller locked up in another place, but needed a place to work and store 10,000 pots.LOL This afternoon I pushed my little wagon into the shed with its load of potting mix, and SAT DOWN to pot the rest of my plants. They are all in 16 ounce cups or larger now so they should be good until they go in the ground. (Of course, I am starting some more tonight) LOL

I have new packs of:

Sungold
Black Cherry
Principe Borghese
Mortgage Lifter
Big Bite
Sprite (Determinate grape)

Most are new to me, but I have read a lot of opinions on them, such as sungold and black cherry. I can't remember if I have ever planted Mortgage Lifter before, but I don't think so. I ordered a small pack from Pinetree and forgot that I had bought it and ordered more from Tomato Growers. Good thing I made a mistake because TGS backordered that one. They sent me 30 free seeds of Sprite which I had never heard of.

I have planted Big Bite before and looked for them for a couple of years without finding them. My husband and I were talking about them the other day and I decided to look for them again. I was surprised to learn that a lot of places have them now. When I lived in Lone Grove I planted two of them (transplants) and they were amazingly productive. The only problem I had was trying to keep the branches tied up because the fruit was too heavy. Those plants had little nylon slings all over them to hold up the weight. I hope I have that kind of production with them up here.

I am also going to plant a few peppers:

Pepperoncini
Chinese Giant
and probably one of those mixed packs of bells that has about 5 different peppers. I did that last year and got some nice ones. Although I didn't take care of my garden at all because of my foot situation, I still had fall peppers. My first peppers are still under lights but already potted up. My tomatoes moved outside today which I hope is for good. I can quickly slide the tables under the shed in the event of a hail threat.

I also bought Pingtung Long Eggplant although I have never gotten even one eggplant to grow for me. My DH loves eggplant so I sometimes try to grow them. I don't love them, but did learn to eat several eggplant dishes when we lived in Greece. My plants get about a foot tall then the flea beetles hit.

I have been fasinated with the man in Arkansas that owns the "tomato house" and posts on the tomato forum. Someone asked him what kind he grows and he told them, then said his favorite tomato to grow was Mortgage Lifter. I just had to try that one.

Dawn - Your husband likes to mow and weed eat. If you ever get tired of him, don't divorce him, just auction him off.

My DH spent most of the day with me on my shed cleaning project and then built a fire and burned the junk. Don't panic --- we still have standing water everywhere. I am not sure you could get the grass to burn. I am tired but I think I have just enough energy to plant a few seeds. (grin).

Carol,

My "potting shed" is an open area--a paved "patio" covered with a metal roof, and attached to the east side of the barn/garage. I was out there today planting some dwarf and ISI tomatoes, annual flowers and herbs in pots of all sizes (some are huge). It was a pretty day if you like cool and cloudy with misty, foggy skies (the whole day's worth of "mist" added up to about 4/100s of an inch).

You know that I love Black Cherry and SunGold. Mortgage Lifter usually produces really well for me (for a large-fruited heirloom) and tastes great most years, but the flavor does suffer if there is excessive rainfall while it is ripening. (Of course, the same is true of most other tomtoes.)

Principe' Borghese is a smallish plant that makes tons of little tomatoes that are great for drying. I'd say "sun-drying" but you might have too little sun/too much humidity for that in your part of the state. I like to dry them in the oven.

I don't remember ever growing Big Bite or Sprite. You'll have to remember to tell us how you like them.

My peppers are still under lights too, although some of them are getting some pretty good height. There's still the occasional cold night and I don't want them exposed to those low temperatures.

You and I do things so much alike....my plants were on tables out in the open, just south of my "potting area" so I could quickly slide them inside if it started hailing too. (It didn't.)

I'm not growing eggplant this year. None of us are crazy about it, but sometimes I grow it for some of our friends. The one year that it got so dry that I just gave up and quit watering the garden at all the second week of June, (I think it was 2006), the eggplant just kept on growing and producing with NO supplemental moisture for three months. I don't know how it did it, 'cause the rain wasn't falling much either.

Carol, I'll never get tired of DH. He's my one and only. What woman in her right man would let go of a "mowin' and weed-eatin' man"? LOL

Well, I won't panic over the pile of burning junk since you still have standing water. By the way, our worst wildfire in the county this year was just a couple of days after a very heavy rainfall (3" or 4", I think). It was bad because the ground was so soft and muddy that the responding departments were getting stuck in the mud and couldn't get anywhere near the fire to fight it. So, sometimes rain is, ironically enough, not the firefighter's friend.

I am glad to see you have become consumed with tomatoes. An obsession is so much more fun when you have someone to share it with.

Dawn

Well my potting shed is no prize. I had a carport at one time but we enclosed it during a renovation. This building is an old metal building that needs to be torn down. We bought a big storage building and had it moved in beside it so we could tear this one down, but never did that. It is on a concrete slab and has electricity but the building is "the pits". I guess I just wanted to lay claim on a piece of it so I get my share of a new one when it happens.

I may have trouble with Mortage Lifter also because some years we have a lot of rain. Most years we have an adequate amount of rain but have a lot of sunny days in summer also. Today and yesterday were beautiful but we have a lot of rain in the forecast for the next 10 days. That is not unusual for spring.

It is hard for me to wait to plant things in the garden since I spent 12 years in your area (plus my childhood) and I want to go by the calendar instead of the weather history. In the past I have had to run out on cold spring nights and give them some cover and other protection. I am trying to better this year. We will see.

I'll say a prayer for your mother. Be careful on the roads as you travel. Carol

Carol,

Hey, any area that is "yours" for potting and puttering around is a good thing. I keep thinking that we'll "get around to" building a potting shed AND a greenhouse for me one of these days, but the "to do" list is so long, and the days and dollars are so short!

I understand what you are saying about wanting to plant at the earlier dates you remember here. When everyone starts planting in zone 8 Texas where I grew up, of course I want to start planting right then too, even though it is not warm enough here yet. (sigh)

I have been better this year about planting later, too, since I wore myself out last year covering up everything during the late (and prolonged) cold snap.

Thanks, Carol. My mom is the last living parent that DH and I have....you'd think, after going through all this with the other three, that it'd be easier, but it really isn't. In fact, in some ways it is harder....because you remember that with one or two of the other parents, they went downhill fast and were gone so much more quickly than expected.

Dawn

Dawn, I understand about your Mom. My Dad died when I was 16, so of course, that was tough. My husbands parents both died in their early 60's about 26 months apart, with the death of my husband's grandfather in between.

My mother is still living and will turn 97 this July. After my DH retired from the Air Force, we moved back to that area so that we would be there to help out a bit, since my sister has always had to help my mother a lot. Well, we lived there almost 12 years and so did she. We were still young enough to work a few more years and needed to move to do that. Al took a job with the Boy Scouts and covered the three most NE counties in Oklahoma. After a couple of years, he was tired of never being home. I was working at the courthouse so he took a job there. I have not worked for several years but he continued to work until the end of February this year. I stay home but he still has a finger in lots of pies. Oklahoma has a program called "Drug Court" which gives people one last chance when they would otherwise would be going to the pen. He serves on that committee. When he leaves there today, he said he was going to the senior citizens center to help them with a vehicle purchase. He is on that committee also. He heads the male youth program at church. Retirement does not mean relaxing to him, just more time to do what he wants.

Yes, when I first discovered the Oklahoma forum, you were covering plants. You don't need that extra stress this year so it is probably best to wait awhile to plant.

Oh yes, the tomato challenge! I remember a lot of that down there, but I don't know too many people that garden up here. I have some small gardens around me but they are not too serious about them. One did plant a few toms and squash but that area now has a big building on it. The people behind me are gardeners but are week-enders so they have toms, onions, lettuce, and cucumbers most years. We normally get enough rain that it takes care of itself all summer. They pick it on weekends.

A young couple moved in next to them a few years ago, but he is so rude that I can't stand to talk to him. I have tried a few times, but gave it up as a lost cause. Too bad, because he has a large pile of mulched timber in his yard and I know he can never use it all.

However, a few years ago at a wedding I was chatting was our former senator and he "braggingly" told me that he tries to get his first tomato by the 4th of July. The chase was on. Every year I tell his wife to go home and tell Rick we are having our first tomato. Love to beat him.

I had to laugh about the MANY tomato varities. Earlier this spring, my husband said that he thought by now I would have narrowed my choices and just planted two or three kinds. I hated to let him see me plant anymore seeds. LOL Then a couple of days ago, I said that I had all of these new seeds to try but already had so many planted. He said, "Well I would plant them anyway." He knows I will never find a place to plant all of them and I think he enjoys dropping off the remainder to the senior citizens. One year I had so many weird ones, like stuffers and such. Those people grew them in their flower beds and last year wanted to know if I had more of those.

I know this is weird, because this is a paste tomato, but my favorite tasting tomato is Opalka. Everyone talks about planting them to use them for paste, but I am wondering just how many take that weird looking tomato to their table. Most of the winter I buy Roma in the store, but occasionally spring for a $3 box of small grapes. I don't like Roma and have no desire to grow them, but my husband thinks we should always plant them. I told him I would plant 2 in the garden and if he wanted anything else he would have to grow them in pots. He agreed. Can you believe it, with all of those other great choices. Actually Opalka is really his favorite also. This is the only location where I have grown it so I don't know what it is like elsewhere.

I plan to take better care of my garden this year, so by the end of the year I may be sorry I planted so many. During our Air Force years, I didn't always have a garden so when I did I tried to plant everything. I have narrowed that down a lot and I don't try to do that. Some things I just must have tho. In the spring I need lettuce, broccoli, and sugar snap peas, and I usually plant a few onions and potatoes. The summer garden needs cucumbers, squash, okra, a few green beans and lots and lots of tomatoes and peppers. I always think I will plant a fall garden, but I am usually worn out by then. Besides you have to start when it's hot for some of those things. Guess I am too old and too lazy for that. I do enjoy growing things tho.

I have a two new beans to try this year. One is Red Noodle yard long which I understand is really from the pea family instead of bean family, but I have never grown it. The other is called Insuk Wang Kong that a man sent me from Washington. It came from his Korean wife's family and didn't have a name. She just called it a king bean because of the size. Zeedman and "our Oklahoma macmex" named it Insuk Wang Kong. Insuk is her name and the other part is king bean, I think. Anyway, I saw a picture of the bean growing and I just had to get some to try. It is a climber and has red blossoms. I can't wait to try it. It produces the biggest shelled beans I have ever seen.

Carol,

Until we moved to Oklahoma, we lived just up the street from my parents, with only 2 houses between theirs and ours. It was great. I could run down and check on them any time, day or night, and I always drove them places they didn't like to drive to....like downtown Ft. Worth or over to Dallas or whatever. After we moved here, my sis and sister-in-law began doing a lot of what I had always done. I am grateful they are there to do it.

My husband has been very supportive of "my tomato habit". He loves to eat them, too, and is considered something of a tomato expert at work. He has seen/heard me diagnose tomato problems for so long that he now diagnoses his co-workers' tomato problems himself! (And he is good at it too.) He gets all the praise and glory when he carries in our tons of excess tomatoes to share with everyone at work, and he just eats that up. LOL We both enjoy sharing the tomatoes with anyone and everyone.

I think it is great that you DH is enjoying his retirement and staying busy. I think Drug Court is great and understand it is really helping some people change their lives. I think staying busy is the key to a happy retirement. My parents and in-laws both had a very active and happy retirement, which I thought was great. I have noticed that people who "retire from life" at the same time they retire from their career...you know, they just sit at home and do nothing....well, they don't seem to last long after they retire.

I like Opalka and I think Polish Linguisa tastes even better, but it seems much more disease prone. I believe Opalka is a huge favorite of a lot of people on the tomato forum, but there's also a lot of them (like me) who just make sauce and salsa from a mix of heirlooms and hybrids.

When we are taking salsa to a pot luck dinner or other gathering of some sort, I love to make it using odd-colored veggies, like yellow or orange tomatoes and maybe purple or orange peppers. It always tastes good AND looks great (and unusual) as well.

We never have trouble giving away our excess tomatoes, but it does take a little talking to get someone to try a black tomato. The first time, they look at you funny and all but accuse you of giving them old, rotten, spoiled tomatoes. BUT, if you can get them to taste them once, they beg for more of them forever after. Every year I have to plant more and more Black Krim and Black Cherry just so I have enough to share with everyone who wants "some of those black ones".

The hardest thing for me is to keep up on the weeding and mulching. If I pull weeds when I first spot them, and then add a little mulch to the disturbed soil in that spot, I can stay on top of everything and not lose control. But, if I ever lose control of the garden, I can't get it back no matter how hard I try.

I love trying new varieties of all the veggies, which is why I am always running out of space. There are so many varieties of veggies out there, especially once you look beyond the standard seed rack and begin exploring the world of heirlooms.

I haven't grow red noodle, but I've seen it growing and it is a gorgeous plant. The beans are so long and so gorgeous hanging there on the vine.

My favorite bean is a non-edible one (well, technically it IS edible, but not very tasty)--the Purple Hyacinth Bean. I grow it on my porch pillars every year. It has beautiful purple flowers and lush, heart-shaped leaves.

Dawn

hmmmm.....after reading about the possibility of a frost tonight, I think I will wait and plant my tomatoes next weekend.

I did get some more tomato plants today at ACE Hardware.

another Cherokee Purple
new for me:
Early girl
Amish Paste
Bradley Pink
Boxcar Willie (I wonder how this one compares to the
Arkansas Traveler)

I also got a Super Chile
Plant, and a peanut plant, all Chef Jeff's. Does anyone know if the Super chili is very hot? Sheri

Sheri,

First, the pepper....Super Chile is reputed to be "fiery hot" but I've never tasted it.

Now, the tomatoes.....

Boxcar Willie is a pretty goood red beefsteak tomato. I've grown it several times. Here in our garden, it produced late but outproduced a lot of the plants that produced earlier tomatoes. It reminds me a great deal of Mule Team or Druzba.

Bradley Pink is marvelous. You know, it was released by the Univ. of Ark. way back in 1961. It was one of the many tomatoes bred/released under the direction of Dr. Joe McFerran. I think he crossed Gulf State Market x Pinkshipper to produce it. It grows well in our heat and produces huge pink tomatoes with a wonderful flavor.

Arkansas Traveler is harder to describe because it seems like there are at least three different tomatoes sold under this name, and the history is murky and confusing (not uncommon in the tomato world).

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange sells seed for "Arkansas Traveler", a tomato that it describes as a southern heirloom predating 1900 which grew from northwestern Arkansas to North Carolina. I think this particular tomato is where the 'heirloom' designation became attached to the "Arkansas Traveler" tomato plant.

However, I think the tomato commonly sold nowadays as "Arkansas Traveler" is often either one of two tomatoes developed by the Univ. of Arkansas in the 1970s. "Traveler" was released in 1970 and is a pink tomato, great flavor, great heat tolerance but often prone to cracking. "Traveler 76" was released by the Univ. of Arkansas in 1976 and is an improved form of "Traveler" that has better crack-resistance but is otherwise similar.

Amish Paste was a very late producer for me but it has great flavor and great heat tolerance.

You can never have too many Cherokee Purples!

Early Girl has always disappointed me here in Oklahoma and I don't know why. In Fort Worth, where the nights get warmer earlier, it always was early. Here in Oklahoma, where our nights stay cooler longer, it is NEVER my first tomato and often produces after several of the 70-day tomatoes which is odd considering it is a 52 or 53 day tomato. I've just about quit growing it. It does have good flavor though. And, several years ago I grew the shorter Bush Early Girl and it was so covered in tomatoes that you could hardly see the leaves.

I don't blame you for waiting to plant the tomatoes. The cool nights just seem to keep hanging on.

I have held my plants for so long in their paper cups that I really need to get them into the ground ASAP because they have blooms that are about to open. Today will be taken up by fire department business, so the earliest I can hope to plant is probably Monday, and that is if I don't have to go to Fort Worth. I REALLY need to get these things in the ground.

Dawn