This gardening season has been as non typical as any I've seen. From setting record high highs in June to setting record low highs in July and back to setting record highs from August 10th till Sept 10th. This type of temp swings along with the constant high winds in May and June really separated the boys from the men this year. We have had some more rain. And the plants that have survived are starting to look better since the cool temps and rain arrived Tuesday. I've emptied 1.45 here but at the plant where I work out of there has been over 4 " and a coworker two miles south has had over six inches. Overall a better year than the last two although to this point my tomato production has been less than last year. I feel blessed for every drop we receive. The last heat spell really stressed a lot of plants and done several in as they were loaded with fruit from the cool spell in July and the first ten days of August.

I grew more hybrids this year than last. More than I plan on growing again anytime in the near future. The temps have limited fruit size a lot. And then after the rain, hail and really cool temps in early August a lot of the plants showed purple veins. The smaller fruit at that time that has been ripening over the last week or so has had some BER problems. Even on the in ground plants. The most I've ever experienced. I know it is from the lack of needed nutrient uptake at a critical point in the development of the fruit. The fruit growing during the July cool period was average to above average in size. The latest fruit overall has been smaller again from the same plants. The hybrids that so far has stood out have been Beefmaster and Big Beef. Early Girl was my first for a change and has been steady every since. I planted 8 grafted plants. I lost one to wind damage a few days after setting it out. I lost one to grower error and then 3 to some type of wilt. I had an in ground plant show wilt one morning after I watered the night before. I lost several stems on it but it recovered and still growing. Then in about two weeks a grafted plant to the north of it 4' wilted. I watched it a few days and then pulled it. Again after I watered the night before. Then a week later the Goliath hybrid grafted plant was loaded and fine when I came home from work and it was 107. I waited till almost sundown and set the time for the low flow drip tape for an hour. Around ten I was out there looking at things in the dark and noticed it was wilted bad. By the morning it was a goner. A week later the Cherokee Purple did the same thing. But besides that the grafted plants have handled the heat and drought stress well and set fruit well. Those I have left look better than anything else after the last heat spell except for the plants that had at least some shade(mostly container plants) and the plants I planted in early to mid July. They are producing now and survived the heat well. Of course they didn't have the foliage or fruit load the early planted plants had. Knocking on wood I haven't had anymore in about two weeks. Several of the plants have shed a lot of foliage. My Black Cherry plant looks pathetic but the fruit is ripening and since the cooldown it is showing new foliage growth. So far the varieties that have impressed me has been Burrell's Special, Glick's 18 Mennonite has been a trooper like normal even though it was beat up by the hail and other things. Cody's Paste and Cow's Tit are the first wispy varieties I've had any results from. I will continue to grow them and select seeds from the best plants. Ambrosia Gold has been unstable for me like some of the other J&L varieties I've grown. The one plant I have in a container has smaller fruit about the size of Sungold and as good or better flavor. Sweeter than Sungold. I'm normally not a sweet tomato lover but sure like these. So will be saving seeds. Brandyboy in the new raised bed had over 50 fruit and around 8' tall when the heat set in. It struggled during the heat. It survived. I have picked some and will be picking a few almost everyday now till frost probably. Size is varying greatly depending on when the fruit was set. I grew 4 Heinz varieties this year. 1350, 1439, 2653 and Heinz Classic. 1350 has been the most impressive. All but Classic are in containers and it took me a while to figure out how to water the new planting medium I used. Burrell's Special had done well. A nice sized all around type. Glick's 18 Mennonite has been a trooper like normal even after being beat up by the hail. Several keep telling me that Amish Canner does better for them. It hasn't for me. I am picking some fruit this year. It is smaller. Sweet Treats like always has performed well and many of those who have sampled it prefer it too Sungold. Not my preference but I will continue to grow it because it is so reliable and many like it. Due to my throwing my #1 tray list away this year I'm not for certain what I'm growing out of that tray except for Randy's Brandy. It is doing well again. I have two unknown pink beefsteak types that are doing well. I'm sure one of them has to be Greek Rose but I've never grown it before so not certain which one if either. Again not certain that I'm growing Grandma Suzy's this year but will for sure next year. Rutgers was one of the grafted plants and just now producing well. Started picking KB this week. Been picking Cherokee Purple for 3 weeks or so. So I'm in tomato heaven now that I have at least one of them to eat everyday. MOX311S is one I will continue to grow and select from. A good fruit setter. I also ate my first Mortgage Lifter fruit this year. From a grafted plant I purchased on sale in June at a local nursery. I'm growing 2 J&L Select plants this year. The first has large salad sized fruit but with just some blue at the top of the fruit. Better flavor than most blues though. Adds some color to salads. The second plant was planted late in mid July. Has set well but haven't picked any yet. The fruit are very pretty. Lots of color. Can't wait to taste it. If it tastes good I will save seed and continue to grow and select it. I purchased a Cheff Jeff's Homely Homer plant in the spring. It is producing well. I'm not impressed at all with the flavor or texture. Won't be growing it again. Top Gun fell victim to disease early. Two different plants. This is the 2nd year for that to happen. Probably won't be on my grow list for a while. Health Kick, 4th of July and Better Boy were just dependable performers till the others started producing. Celebrity and Jet Star haven't did as well as normal,
I planted fewer varieties of beans. Four Hopi types. Although 3 of the varieties are listed as pole and one as bush I would call all of them runners. They did well during the last heat spell. Woods Crazy Mountain is loaded. I haven't picked any yet. Was making sure I got plenty of seed first. I should have extra seed for anyone desiring any. Blue CoCo has done well although not as good as the Hopi varieties. Swiss Weinlander is the best tasting bean right off the vine I've ever tasted but it along with Landfruen and Fortex didn't handle the last heat spell well. The Yoeme Purple String, Hopi Pink, Hopi Yellow and Hopi Light Yellow didn't seem to miss a beat during the heat spell. Fowler and Eva's Chow Chow bean slowed down but survived and looking better now. I have one plant of White Settler Bush bean I hope to save seed from. So far it has done well.
Lemon Lime is a new cuke that I like. The cukes have done well. I will pick the first Armenian cuke today. The spaghetti squash has done well. I have a bug problem now. I haven't sprayed or used anything on the garden all summer. Going to see if I have any Garlic spray left I can use. I had a very good garlic harvest and have one bed ready to plant the first of October. I tilled under 3-4 ft tall Buckwheat last week. My peppers are disappointing mainly because I didn't start any plants this year and none of the varieties I really like. The okra has done well. The Grandfater Kurtz Cowhorn has stood out. I have finally got some Stewart's Zeebest. It hasn't done as well as some of the others though. Hill Country Red, Beck's Gardenville and Emerald Velvet have done well also. All of the seed I planted this year was 2-5 years old. Had good but slow germination on all of it. I hope to have Heavy Hitter seed to grow next year. The sweet potatoes were planted from mid June through mid July. The plants have really took off. Will see how many and what size of tubers they produce. I started all of the slips myself. I'm growing Hopi Red watermelon. I have 2 different colorings on them so will see how they taste and if they are both the same color. I picked my first Burrell's Jumbo melon last evening. My Cornfield pumpkins have 50-60 ft of vines but only 2 small fruit that I've found. So don't think I will pick any again this year. Next year I will plant them a lot earlier. I did take a lot of pictures right before the last heat spell. My computer has a new program to handle them and I haven't figured out yet how to move them to where I can upload them to Photobucket. If I ever do I will post the link. Jay