Dawn,
I compiled this list everytime I got a few minutes and knew I would miss something. Purple Haze F5 is the first one I know I missed. Sure as I have time there will be more. I will add another Goliath or so also I imagine. If I finish the greenhouse will start more of them and then share with local gardeners.

The seeds I have for Carmello are OP. I might try to obtain a few for the hybrid version for a comparison. I'm told very productive and disease resistant.

Keith I have bought from many different sources. And there is only a couple I would hesitate to order from again. I will add a couple to the list of Dawn's above. Totally Tomatoes has as many varieties as anywhere I've found. I look there first. When I was purchasing several varieties I would buy there first and then buy the remainder where I could find them. A few of my favorite sites are places some don't like. So again it is where you personally have a good experience. In probably ten plus years of buying from TT I've never had a bad experience. Skyfire seeds a smaller Kansas company is good but not near the selection. Also like Dawn said. Please post what you might be interested in. There is a chance someone on this forum might have it. I do have seeds for several varieties myself. Besides those you see listed on my too grow list. And always willing to share a few.
I will paste a list of recommended tomatoes for Kansas in 2009. Dawn has listed a link to a list for OK in the past. This might be of interest to a few.
Rebecca McMahon, Sedgwick County Extension Agent " Horticulture, K-State Research & Extension

*All standard slicers recommended have the compact semi-determinate plant habit and disease
resistance to Fusarium wilt races 1 & 2.*
Standard Slicers (Red)
Amelia - Large fruit, excellent yield; resistant to spotted wilt virus, very disease resistant
Celebrity " All American Selection; Very disease resistant, large fruit
Conestoga " Large ruffled fruit; good disease resistance; indeterminate vine
Crista " Large fruit; very disease resistant, nematode resistant
Fabulous " Large fruit; very disease resistant; good flavor; large vigorous vine
Floralina " Resistant to Fusarium race 3.
Florida 91 " Heat set type with large fruit and good yields
Florida 47 " Similar to Florida 91 but not a ‘heat set’ type
Mountain Fresh Plus " Same as Mountain Fresh but with nematode resistance
Mountain Glory " Good flavor; good disease resistance
Mountain Spring " Crack resistant
Red Defender " Large vine; good disease resistance; good flavor
Scarlet Red " Deep red interior fruit color; good flavor; very good disease resistance.
Sun Leaper " Heat set type with large fruit and good yields
Sunmaster " Similar to Sun Leaper
Jet Star " Older indeterminate variety, very good yield, very crack resistant
RFT-6153 " Good yield; medium-sized fruit; good disease resistance
Standard Slicers (Yellow)
Carolina Gold " vigorous vine, darker and larger than Mountain Gold
Lemon Boy " Lemon yellow fruit; 6-7 oz; indeterminate vine
Mountain Gold " smaller vine, crack resistant
Plum Type/Roma Type
Margherita " Firm, cylindrical fruit; 5-6 oz; compact plants; good raw, roasted, or broiled
Plum Dandy " Determinate habit; 3-4” blocky fruit
Plum Crimson " High lycopene type
Roma " A classic, basic paste tomato
Super Marzano " Roma type great for sauces
Grape/Cherry Types
Juliet " All American Selection; Resistant to cracking
Navidad " Determinate habit; sweet
Sugary " 2005 AAS Winner; sweet 2 oz fruit; red-pink skin; indeterminate
Suncherry " Very sweet; red version of Sungold; ½ oz. fruit; vigorous vine
Sungold " Orange-gold color; very sweet and juicy; early; large vine
Supersweet 100 " 1” fruit; high in Vitamin C
Sweet Olive " Sweet cherry type; determinate habit
Tomatoberry " 1” strawberry shaped fruits; thicker walls; vigorous vine

Dawn, I'm thinking that TT had a Goliath Collection in the past, but I don't see it now. Do you remember that or did I dream it?

Carol,
Yes TT has a Goliath collection. Just go to their site and click on tomato seeds. It will come up as one of the options to click on. Then it will open up all of the Goliath varieties. Jay

Susan, That's a lovely list. Of course you should reserve the right to change your mind and add/drop varieties endlessly like the rest of us.

I always list and plant more than I have room for, which leaves me spending the next few months trying to figure out where to put them all.

Jay, If you or I ever, ever manage to make a complete list the first time without coming back to revise it later, the world may stop revolving. It just isn't going to happen. : )

Carol, I thought that they did offer a Goliath Collection a few years ago and it seemed like it included 4 or 5 Goliath types. Maybe they stopped offering it because there aren't a lot of people (other than you and me) who would buy such a large collection of all Goliath types at once now that there's so many of them.

Jay, I think she means in a 'packaged collection' where you could buy the collection of all the Goliath varieties they offered at the time and it was a better deal than buying individual packets.

Keith, Jay might have a tomato variety or two you want...or a hundred or two hundred. For me, Christmas Day isn't December 25th....it is the day my 'surprise' packet arrives from Jay.

Dawn

Aa-huh, Christmas all over again!!! Jay we love ya.

2011 Grow List:

I'll start with my standard hybrid favorites.

Superfantastic
Betterboy
4th of July

adding for 2011,
Celebrity

Heirlooms,

Mortgage Lifter
Mule Team

adding for 2011,

Black Krim
Black Cherry

Other OP vegetables adding for 2011,

Stewert's Zeebest Okra
Anaheim Chili Pepper

2010 was a very trying year for my garden starting with the mid May hailstorm. Up til the storm I had tomatoes that looked every bit a pretty as those you see in the Tomato Forum, grown by some of the folks in California.

Then came 2 flooding 10" rains which took out 3 or 4 plants. I started getting fairly good production in late June which is early for me except for the 4th of July's. I think the early production was because the plants had already gone through so much stress that they kicked in overtime trying to perpetuate themselves.

Then by the early part of July came the heat and high humidity that pretty much halted production until around the 1st of September. I was able to keep plants alive and production slowly picked back up starting with the 4th of July's then Superfantastic and Betterboys.

This year is only the second year I've grown any Heirloom varieties and I think I'd be better suited not even trying any of the late season varieties with the exception of Mortgage Lifter. The Mortgage Lifter produced several before the heat/humidity then surprisingly picked back up in Sept almost as strong as the 4th's. I have about a dozen nice green ones on one plant right now. I also was pleased with the flavor. One that I didn't get very good production from is Mule Team. I will be planting it next year because of the great flavor. I only got 3 or 4 from it early and have one nice green one out there now. The flavor was almost like it was salted on the vine!

Two heirlooms that didn't satisfy were Hillbilly,(not a single bloom set fruit) and Homestead, (beautiful plant with very little disease or insect problems, but no fruit set until about 2 weeks ago.) Probably won't even get big enough to pick green before I do get my first freeze.

Jay, I'm familiar with Totally Tomatoes as I bought from them last year. I've got an order list made from TT for Black Krim, Celebrity, and Superfantastic. Last years order from TT came with free College 64 pepper seed which I grew and enjoyed on the grill when charcoaling but didn't like raw as the skin is too tough raw. Also I'm not really a "Hot Pepper" fan but do like a little more heat than the Coll 64. I'm planning on ordering the OP Anaheim Chili along with Stewart's Zeebest from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.

I want to thank you and Dawn for the offer of seeds but I really don't have anything much to trade other than Clemson Spineless seed and the standard deep purple morning glory and a red morning glory seed. I've saved seed from the Mortgage Lifter and Mule Team and still have habanero, cayenne and jalapeno seed saved from 2009. I also bagged the bloom of the crossed Cayenne/Jalapeno and am waiting for it to ripen fully then save it's seed too.

I know about offering seed on the internet as Peggy is a member of that unmentionable garden forum and some of those mooches over there always have their hand out wanting and some wont even offer to pay postage!

If any would be interested in what I've got, I would gladly trade for a few Black Cherry, Black Krim, Stewert's Zeebest and Anaheim Chili seed and will gladly pay postage both ways.

One thing I'm gonna do next year is start another round of tomato seed around the first of April to replace plants that don't survive the Oklahoma spring. Probably just Betterboy and Celebrity, seed that I can buy cheap locally.

I covered up again a couple of hours ago hoping to ward off the "Black Ghost" again in the morning...

Keith

______________________________________________________
No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. -- Thomas Jefferson

Keith,
I don't expect or want anything in exchange if the seeds are going to someone who will appreciate them. Ask Carol and Dawn. Better to be used than to get old in my seed stash. I should have the Black Cherry and Black Krim seeds. And I should have some extra chile seeds. I have some from NMSU. So should be able to help you out there. I will be going through seeds soon. May also send an extra or two for you too consider growing sometime. I don't have the Zeebest okra so can't help you out on that. Jay

Thanks for the stamp of approval, Dawn. I really needed it cuz I'm still a novice at this, and now I feel more confident about my list.

I might add for the rest of the folks on this thread and those who might be lurking here, that I am planning to order all my seeds from Remy's web store, The Sample Seed Shop. One of the reasons I said that I would reserve the right to change my list, is because Remy's entire list is not up yet, but she's shooting for the 16th of November. She offers smaller packets of seed at $1 per packet, sometimes a bit more depending on the rarity or quantity of seed she has available. I'll attach a link in case someone wants to look at her site. She also carries seed of annuals, perennials, and other veggies, too.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: The Sample Seed Shoo

Keith, I'm not looking for a trade and one isn't necessary when I offer seeds to someone. I generally have extras and am happy to share them with GW friends. Like Jay and several other regular posters here, I like seeing seeds go to folks who'll use them and appreciate them.

I'll let you know Sunday if I have extras of some of the ones on your list (I think I have Black Krim, Black Cherry and Stewart's Zeebest) and maybe some of the others. Tomorrow's a fire dept. function that might or might keep me tied up all day, but I know I'll have time to check the contents of the seed box Sunday afternoon.

I hope your garden escapes damage tonight. Mine looks so depressingly sad today, with yesterday's green foliage all brownish-black and drooping.

Susan, I think Remy's website is wonderful and I'm sure I'll be ordering some seeds from her too. I love that a person can get a smaller amount of seeds for a very reasonable price. Not everyone wants 30 or 40 seeds of any given variety.

Another great source for heirloom tomatoes is the recently resurrected Gleckler Seedman, still operated by a member of the Gleckler family.

And if any of you are looking for a specific tomato variety that is rare or hard to find, you can visit Tatiana's Tomato Base. Near the bottom of the page for each variety, she lists seed sources if she knows them.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Tatiana's Tomato Base Website

Dawn, I still had a catalog from last year and the Goliath Collection was 13 packages of Goliath tomatoes and peppers for $28.75. I don't see that on the web site, so maybe it is only catalog or maybe they don't do it all of the time.

I try to buy as many things from one place as I can because the postage is normally so high. I think I only placed a couple of on-line orders last year, but that is mostly because I went crazy at Baker Creek (twice), we had a great seed swap, and I have great friends that share.

Thanks Jay and Dawn,

I don't do facebook and I don't tweet or text but I believe in the short time I've been here at GW that I've found several genuine friends. I always start extra tomato and pepper plants to give to friends who I know will use them. This last spring it was getting well toward the end of May and I still had several nice tomato and pepper plants that needed planted so I took them to the small bar where Peggy and I meet friends occasionally for happy hour.
You see, I couldn't just toss the plants and I wouldn't just let them dry up and die, and even if those who took them did, it wouldn't bother me cause I didn't do it.

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this great Oklahoma Forum.

Keith

Keith, Just wait until Spring. We have a Spring Fling and we all meet in a central location and trade plants, eat, trade seeds, eat, laugh, eat, award door prizes, etc. Did I mention eat? So be prepared to bring your extras if you have them, and come pick up a few if you don't. Just watch for the announcement and make sure you get your request in so you can be included. It will probably be in April.

It is likely that we will have a 'seed trade by mail' in January and if you want to play, watch for that announcement. Some of us save seeds, others share a pack that they have bought, and a few just buy them for the swap. A lot of otherwise wasted seed are adopted and find happy homes. LOL

Dawn
The flavor of the few Woodle Oranges I got was about average, but they were at the point where everything tasted average, when it was very rainy here. That's another reason I want to try them again. I'll get in touch with you about the seeds. Thanks for offering.
Loretta

Loretta,
I'll paste the description I gave in my review of them.

Woodle Orange - A good producer with very good flavor. On the tart or tangy side. Similar to my Juane Flammee's. Fruit size around 3 times the size of Juane Flammee'. Will grow again next year. 2-3 plants.

I will say I experienced a wider range in flavors from the fruit from the same plant along with sizes or fruit this year than I can remember on many different varieties. Early on I would say the intensity of the flavor of Woodle Orange was greater than late in the season. If rating the flavor I would say it varied from a 7.0 to a 7.75. Not near like some. Barlow Jap early in the season would of been a 7.0 and late at least an 8.5. I had a several others the same way. One time you thought they should be used in salsa and a few weeks later you didn't make it too the house without eating all of them. If Dawn don't have seeds just send an email. I have some I bought and some I've saved seeds. Just remember that our personal taste preferences vary a lot. So just because I like a variety it might not suit you. It is like Brandywine. I've yet to taste that "to die for" flavor so many rave about. That and the low production issues are why most years I don't grow the original Brandywines. I do grow several crosses most years. And although I like several like Brandyboy none make my top five list. Jay

I am so excited to see everyone's lists already. Glad to know I'm not the only one thinking about next years garden. I am definitely going to try the bush goliath and some of the other goliath varieties. None of my tomato plants produced very well at all. Matter of fact, I had some that didn't even produce. I was extremely disappointed with my garden this year. It just didn't do very well at all.

Carol, Even after you gave me those tomato plants with a headstart. They still didn't do well. I was so excited to have an abundance of tomatoes only to be disappointed. I did however get some produce from the black cherry tomatoes, which I will plant again.

I was just getting ready to dig out my gardening books to start working up my list of varieties to order.

Anyway, I always depend on reading from you Dawn, Jay and Carol to help me decide! lol
You three are like my encyclopedia of gardening. I keep waiting on someone to post about another seed exchange. I can't wait.

Melissa

Melissa, If I am your ecyclopedia of gardening, you had better turn another page. LOL I am not EVEN in the same class with Dawn and Jay, but I am sure that I will again have too many transplants, and I'm pretty good at that.

We talked about the possibility of another seed exchange and seedmama, Dawn, and Lynn have already expressed an interest. We are thinking that January might be a good time for it. I guess this means you want to play also.

Since we are just a few miles apart, I don't think it is the climate that is causing your tomato growing problems, so maybe your soil just needs a little improvement. I have chickens so I know that helps, but I also like to add mushroom compost. I didn't add any last year because I didn't have a truck to go get it, but I plan on several truck loads before planting time.

I didn't have plants that lasted all summer, but I could barely keep up with what I had early in the season. I made all the salsa I wanted and I'm sure it's more than enough until the fresh tomatoes and peppers are ready again. I picked my last peppers yesterday and the freeze got the plants last night. Neither of us can pass a Black Cherry or Sungold plant without stopping to eat a few, and we seem to eat them at every meal for about six weeks, then start to tire of them. Then it starts all over again the following Spring.

Carol,
I think we are all in the same class. It is just that Dawn is at the top and you are close behind her. I'm the caboose. LOL. Jay

My mouth is already starting to water just thinking about next year's tomatos.
Awhile ago, I had bookmarked Gleckler's and Tatiana's database in case. I started kinda going thru Tatiana's database, but it is very extensive. Really good reference material, though.

Sometime in the future, I hope that someone who grows vegetables in containers, will post a list (or lists) of those that do well for container gardening. I have to grow them this way, and I would like to branch out a bit from tomatos. I like most all veggies, am particularly fond of Okra, squashes, cukes, and, well, you name it. Thought I might start out with cool season veggies and when they're done, move on to the warm weather ones. Just a thought in case anyone else might be interested. I'm just a wee homeowner, and not a landowner.....drat!
That said, I might have to add Jaunne (sp?) Flammee to my list. I keep thinking about it, and when I think about something over and over again, it usually means I'm gonna be tryin' it.

Does anyone save seed from Black Cherry? Was thinkin' I might try to do that and at least save having to purchase one of the seeds I want to grow next year.

I think I'll give the tomatos another week, and when next week's freeze comes in, I'll have to say "done".

Susan

Susan I have seeds of both Black Cherry and Juanne Flammee'. I will say this. You will either like JF or won't. I haven't seen anyone who thought is was just average. There are several that way.

Another hybrid that did very well a year ago for me that I might bring back is Jetsonic. Lots of big fruit. A little on the hard side but everyone I gave it too liked it. A heavier producer and in my opinion and overall better mater than Jet Star. Here anyway. Jay

Susan, I have had better luck with summer squash in containers in the last few years than I have in the ground. This year I planted them in the ground and had SVBs for the first time since I've lived here.

I'm surprised that I didn't send you Black Cherry seeds last year. It is one of my favorites. I will have to go through my seeds and see what I have. I started a lot of Black Cherry plants last year and gave a lot of the transplants away. I wasn't much of a seed saver this year. Life kind of got busy and I just let that slip by. BTW, I think you're hooked on tomato growing.

Dawn, My son and DIL are having a grasshopper invasion this year like you are. At first I didn't think they were grasshoppers because they had wings and could fly, but when I saw them on the ground they looked like normal grasshoppers. They are getting fed up this month with fighting off the ladybugs. I read that besides the bad bugs that they eat, that they also like bean plants. Their property is almost surrounded with soybean fields so I guess that is why they have so many ladybugs. They had been cutting beans when we went to visit so I guess there were a lot of bugs looking for new homes.

I was away for one day and look how much I have to catch up on with this thread!

Keith, I don't do Facebook or Twitter either (I am barely computer-literate enough to post here) but I did finally have to learn how to text when our son when off to college so I could communicate with him. I have firmly resisted DH's and DS's efforts to get me a smartphone (which would be a phone that is a million times smarter than I am) which is much more complicated than anything I want to deal with. I stubbornly stick to my basic little phone, which I use only as a phone or for simple text messages....not as a camera or a computer or a GPS or whatever.

This is an amazing online gardening community we have here and those of us who are able to attend the annual plant/seed swap in the spring become like family members. We may not see each other often, but our once-a-year get-togethers are just like a Family Reunion. We swap plants and seeds, we have a covered dish meal and we bring door prizes to share. We have a blast together. Since we all can't live in the same neighborhood and share our gardening experiences face-to-fact, this forum is the next best thing!

Carol's seed swap last year was amazing. When my envelope from her arrived, it was just the most wonderful day and I was so thrilled at the amazing variety of seeds it contained.

OKlavenderlady, You're welcome. I answered your e-mail last night. Thanks for offering to swap seeds in return. As you can tell, I have a serious seed "habit".

Jay, I remain in awe at your ability to garden in such a hostile climate.

Melissa, It truly was about the most difficult gardening year ever for many of us here. The weather did all the wrong things at all the wrong times. Surely 2011 will be better.

Now, all of you must stop placing me at the head of the class or whatever. It embarasses me and I feel there are many, many talented gardeners here that I continue to learn from. I'm just an 'ordinary ole dirt gardener" like my dad and grandfather before me and y'all give me way too much credit.

Susan, I'll post a list with a few container varieties ASAP. You really can grow just about anything in containers if your containers are large enough or if you have enough of them, but some things aren't really practical for containers.

Carol, To a certain extent, we always have massive numbers of grasshoppers in rural areas, especially in comparison to the numbers seen in cities. That's always going to occur because they are range/grassland insects and we are surrounded by lots of their preferred grassland acreage. Since they are highly mobile, they just keep "moving on" to new areas where they've eaten all they like in any given area.

The grasshopper population does cycle up and down though, and I feel this was very definitely one of the worst years I've seen here although not as bad as the year early in the 2000s when they arrived early enough to eat the fruit on the fruit trees before it could ripen, and ate fruit tree bark, fiberglass window screens and cotton rag rugs on the wraparound porch. This year they mostly ate bean plants...they ate every bean I grew except the ornamental purple hyacincth beans.

Lots of grasshoppers can fly long distances. We have some here that have orange wings that look like they are butterfly wings when the darned things fly.

As rural as your DS and DDIL's property is, they're likely to have a grasshopper problem similar to ours most years. The population cycles slowly up, peaks, and cycles slowly down. We had a peak in the early 2000s, then cycled downward a few years and then back upward in the late-2000s and hit a big peak this year. I hope the cycle starts moving back downward in 2011, although it is possible 2010 wasn't the peak and we could see more in 2011. In a 'downward' year y'all might not see many hoppers in city areas although we'll still have plenty in the country---it's just we won't have quite as many. I never have a year when grasshoppers are not a problem to some extent.

When APHIS releases the results of their Fall 2010 grasshopper surveys, we'll have a better idea of what to expect in 2011.

Ladybugs love to come indoors in fall to overwinter. Some years I have huge numbers of them seeking to come inside. This year I don't have any. I don't know where they went, but it was, in general, a poor ladybug year here from about late July onward. The ladybug population cycles up and down too, but I don't think I've ever seen it drop as low as it did in 2010. If it doesn't resurge on its own early in 2011, I'll buy and release some.

I confess that I don't mind missing out on the annual fight to keep the ladybugs out of the house this year. Most years I spend all of November vacuuming them off walls, curtains, etc. and releasing them back outdoors (and feeling guilty about it because I know they need to overwinter somewhere warm). Most years they cluster near doorways and fly inside every chance they get, but I haven't seen a single one in the last month. It could be our heavy rains here in July and in September hurt them or drove them away. Either way, our house is lady bug-free this year.

Dawn

I finished up removing the last nineteen plates of tomato seeds and putting them in baggies last night while watching the KSU/TU game. I have several baggies of some varieties I need to group together in a larger bag. I keep the seeds each time I save in a separate bag for several reasons. One reason is if there is poor germination on a batch that I saved it isn't mixed with all the seeds I saved of that variety. Another is I may save seeds from the largest fruit, one with more color, one with a different shape, I keep seeds from different sources of the same variety separate, ect. I then mark each bag. I usually start seeds from several bags and mark them and then compare. So as soon as I group the varieties I'll have all of my tomato seeds ready to either plant or send to some unsuspecting soul. LOL. Still saving some pepper seeds. Have some still drying and a few okra pods yet to deseed. Then should be finished with seed saving for the year.

Dawn I'm not sure my climate is that hostile or if I just make it seem that way. LOL. I'm no different than any gardener. You can't change your climate so you have to adjust. No matter where you live you will have to change your methods some to be successful. It is like farming. Methods used here doesn't work as well in central or eastern KS and vice versa. The extended drought the last few years has been the biggest hurdle I've encountered in several years. There is always next year and new dreams, new challenges, new varieties and new hope. That is what keeps us going. Every year there will be failures and also surprises. And there is always rewards just sometimes we have to look harder to find them. Jay

"There is always next year and new dreams, new challenges, new varieties and new hope. That is what keeps us going. Every year there will be failures and also surprises. And there is always rewards just sometimes we have to look harder to find them."

Jay, your thoughts above are so true. The 2010 season was very challenging for so many different reasons. In the midst of it, I was so disappointed over how many plants failed and how many I had to start over. Sadly, many of these didn't produce either. Flooding, humidity, disease, borers, you name it... it all took a huge toll.

But when looking back on the season as a whole, we did bring in much more produce than in previous years. This was mainly due to planting many more plants overall but the outcome, despite lower production per plant, was a good harvest despite all the obstacles.

So yes, looking harder to find the blessings is a perfect way to look at this gardening season. Thanks for the thoughts to keep everything in perspective.

Lynn

This is an amazing online gardening community we have here and those of us who are able to attend the annual plant/seed swap in the spring become like family members. We may not see each other often, but our once-a-year get-togethers are just like a Family Reunion. We swap plants and seeds, we have a covered dish meal and we bring door prizes to share. We have a blast together. Since we all can't live in the same neighborhood and share our gardening experiences face-to-fact, this forum is the next best thing!

This sounds like a great time, count me and Peg in! While I don't have much in the way of seed to share, I'll start several ornamental peppers, sweet potato vine, and red morning glory plants to share. Look forward to meeting everyone!

Keith

Jay,

Trust me. Your climate is hostile! Not only do you have low rainfall (even in what you'd consider a good rainfall year there, your rainfall seems terribly low to me) but you have those never-ending winds! Add the late freezes and early freezes, and your climate makes me appreciate my normally hot, dry, droughtly and erratic climate.

You're right, too, when you point out that every climate has its challenges. I have to say that in Fort Worth, we were on "Easy Street" with relatively early last frosts in spring allowing MUCH earlier planting than I can do here in southern OK a mere 80 miles north. But, then Fort Woth can get way too hot way too early which results in poor fruitset, so that was more of a challenge there than here.

If we still lived in Ft. Worth, I'd undoubtedly be unhappy about the constant watering restrictions in the D-FW metro area. They've grown so much without building new water reservoirs that now they implement lots of water restrictions by calendar date whether it is a dry year or not. That's hard on gardeners.

Lynn, My experience was like yours in that I managed a reasonable harvest this year, but only because I planted a whole lot of plants and wasn't shy about succession planting to make up for plants that got off to a slow start.

When DS's and DH's coworkers heard I had 140 tomato plants this year, they all had visions of bushels of free tomatoes coming their way all summer long. The reality, though, was they only got a few bags of surplus tomatoes in June and July because it took a massive number of plants to give me what I wanted for fresh eating, canning, and dehydrating. I STILL had to buy some paste tomatoes to have enough to make all the salsa I wanted too.

In other years, that many plants would have given me enough plants to freely share tomatoes with everyone we know.

We won't even discuss what grasshoppers did to the green beans either! At least we had lots of snap peas to make up for the lack of green beans.

I rarely have a 'great year' from every single type of vegetable in the same year, but if you plant a lot of plants and a wide variety of different veggies, you'll have a good to great harvest of 'something' every year.

Dawn

For a city dweller, I had my share of grasshoppers, too. But, at least they totally overlooked the tomatos.

Dawn, now that you mention it, I had very few ladybugs this year, too. I did have plenty of praying mantids, though. I have mixed feelings about some of the beneficials in they also eat the good bugs (case in mind, my butterfly eggs and caterpillars). That's why I bring a lot of them in to hand raise. One thing I was glad to see was lots of honeybees this year. With the CCD issue, I had seen fewer in 2008 and 2009. This year made up for the diminished numbers in those 2 years. Even though I don't live very close to a water source, I had a lot of dragonflies, too. An organic garden is always teeming with life, and I like it that way.

Carol, I guess you could say I'm hooked, but just a little (yeah, right), You did send me seeds of Black Cherry, and mine is still producing now. That's why I want to grow it again next year. Thank you so much for sending those seeds. I had a Burpee Supersteak that finally produced this fall, too. They didn't get very big fruit, but they sure are cute! The Lime Green Salad bit the dust, so I never did get to taste it, darn it! So, I'm gonna take your word for it that it wasn't very good flavor-wise. I really struggled with tomato seedlings this year due to our weird spring.

I grew Jet Star this year. It pooped out in August. I never got very many tomatos from it, so I wasn't very impressed with it. It was one that my BIL recommended, and perhaps it was my newness to tomato growing or the summer we had, I'm not sure. But, I'm gonna forego it next year. Too many others I want to try, and want to include 2 I grew this last year, the Rutgers and the Black Cherry. I think Rutgers will stay for awhile because it seems to be a very dependable tomato. I loved the Red Currant, but am going to instead grow the Hawaiian Currant to see if the tomato clusters will ripen at the same time. It's time consuming to pick them otherwise.

Carol, squash is something I do want to include next year, probably a yellow and Zucchini, and maybe a scallop, too. I love all three. I'm an Okra lover as well, and Okra can be incorporated as an ornamental because it's a very attractive plant in the mallow family.

Jay, Western Kansas is like a desert to me. I'm from Southeast Kansas, born and bred. Nothing at all like where you're from. It's close to being like Northeast Oklahoma, lots of vegetation, rivers, hills, good soil. I don't envy your growing conditions at all, but I'm sure you've learned to cope and adjust. You're at the top of the list for being able to grow veggies in that area.

Susan

Susan,

Today, Tim and I have been working out on the back porch--currently a screened-in porch that we're coverting to a glassed-in sunporch. Guess who's been hanging out with us? Yep, some ladybugs. Just because I said we didn't have any, they are sunning themselves on the south wall, probably planning to fly in the back door to the house when we open it. If I'd known that saying "we don't have any ladybugs here now" would have made them appear out of nowhere, I would have said it weeks and weeks ago.

The good thing about the cold is it has killed most of the grasshoppers. We've had as many as about 15 per square yard this summer, and today I've only seen a total of 2 or 3 in the whole yard. Yippee! I hope the hoppers all froze, I hope their eggs all freeze this winter and I hope to see fewer of them next spring.

We have had a good population of dragonflies and damselflies this year too, but fewer bats. The up and down population cycles we see in nature amazes me. We've only had one "down" year with bees since we moved here and it was the earlier bad grasshopper year. Everyone went crazy with pesticides, which didn't kill many hoppers but certainly put a big dent in our bee population, and killed off or chased off all the bluebirds as well. The bee population rebounded quickly here, but it was 3 years before we saw a bluebird. That population has since rebounded.

I keep a hummingbird feeder up year-round and filled for the bees. I do try to remember to bring it inside on cold nights so it won't freeze and break.

I think all okras look pretty enough to incorporate into ornamental beds, but especially the ones with red foliage, stems or pods. I grow Little Lucy mixed in with purple, pink and white Laura Bush petunias and they look mighty fine indeed!

The Laura Bush petunias have mostly withstood the freezing weather thus far, so at least I have a few flowers left for the wild things.

Dawn

To quote Jay, "There is always next year and new dreams, new challenges, new varieties and new hope."

....and a new greenhouse. LOL I think that is really going to change your gardening success, but you are so determined that you may be out there sleeping in it.

Dawn, I didn't realize that grasshoppers were so migratory until I started reading about them. Those at my son's house looked like a normal light colored grasshopper until they jumped. Then they actual had wings that were black with a white edge. They didn't fly a great distance but the wings sure seemed to help them maneuver in the wind.

Keith, you will probably have early requests for those sweet potato plants, because we all like those. I can't visualize you haveing more of them than you will have 'takers' for.

Dawn grows wonderful tomato plants. I had tons of transplants last year but I still had to bring home a couple of Dawn's. Her weather gets warm much earlier than mine, so her plants are always larger at Spring Fling time. (And probably all summer too!!)

I have never had red morning glories, so that sounds interesting also.

Just keep reading the forum, and at some point you will see a 'sign-up' sheet for both the seed swap and the fling.

Dawn I think I'll do mostly black or gold cherries. I love black tomatoes. Yum.

Jo

Jo, If you're going to participate in Carol's seed swap (to be officially announced later) in January, I'll be sure to send you some packets of all the black and gold bite-sized tomato varieties I have....and I have more than just a couple!

I love the black tomatoes too. I've grown maybe 20 or so different varieties of black tomatoes, and there hasn't been a bad black variety yet.

The first one I grew was Black Krim (I think) and I either grew Southern Night the same year or one year later. After that, I just kept trying all the black ones I could find.

The first time I gave a gardening friend some black tomatoes, his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids thought I'd given him "rotten" tomatoes and wouldn't even try them. After he said "OK, more for me!" and wolfed them down in front of them, he told me they changed their minds!

Dawn

That red flowering Morning Glory does sound enticing! You're not talking about Scarlett O'Hara, are you, Keith? That one was not red at all for me, and I was really disappointed. I love the Japanese MGs. There are so many now in lots of different color combinations and shapes.

I had another Black Cherry yesterday and it was YUMMY! Even this late in the season when flavors aren't supposed to be at peak. Had it along with a sliced up Rutgers. I really enjoyed them and probably had juice dripping down my chin as I gloried in this late tomato feast. Friday, I am going to pick the remaining tomatos and bring them in to either ripen......or not. Can you just throw some tomatoes in freezer bags and freeze them, both red and green?

Dawn, too funny about the Ladybugs! I had a Painted Lady and a few skippers flying around today. Don't they know it's getting late for them here? I expect to see the Goatweed Leafwings, Mourning Cloaks, etc., but not Painted Ladies. Saw a couple of grasshoppers, too, but they act like they're drunk or something. Must be the cooler temps getting to their brains. Saw I still had a couple of milkweed leaf beetles on the Tropical Milkweed......squash! I'm sure all this green will be gone next week. Ah, well..........a garden never really dies, it just takes a long nap.

Susan

Susan, Maybe he's growing 'Split Personality'? It's my favorite red MG. I love the Japanese MGs too but haven't grown them the last couple of years because I now grow pole beans on the garden fence where I used to grow them.

You can throw any tomatoes into freezer bags and freeze them, but when they thaw, they are mushy and only good for cooking. That's why I dehydrate so many---so I can toss the dehydrated/rehydrated ones into salads all winter and not have the same mushiness (not that rehydrated ones are the same as fresh, but they're not as soft as those that were frozen/thawed).

Despite being below freezing for two nights last week and having a very hard freeze, we still had all kinds of butterflies, moths and MOSQUITOES all day long today. I think as long as the days stay warm, they can seek shelter at night and last quite deep into fall....maybe all the way until December.

I noticed today that while most flowers froze, a lot of the four o'clocks under the pecan tree did not and even a few Texas Hummingbird Sage are still fine because they were protected by taller plants that did freeze. There's a few Laura Bush petunias still going in containers on the patio, and a couple of petunias in the ground where a taller plant protected them, but the rest froze. The upper portion of the black-eyed Susan vines froze, but the lower parts were protected by the now dead upper portion and still are blooming. All the wildflowers in the pastures froze though.

This morning while dragging the six big molasses tubs (planted mostly with brugmansias underplanted with peppers and petunias) outside from the garage to the patio, I was thinking how much I appreciate having a little bit of green in winter.

Dawn

I have a question...I bought some Blacks from Tomato Man's Daughter and they called them Black from Tulsa. Elsewhere I read Black from Tula. Are they 2 different tomatoes, or the same one with a slightly different name?

I forgot, but that was a fave here too and will be repeated next year. And Cherokee Purple. I believe I saved seeds from both.

So my grow list is (based on flavor and success this year)
Juan Flamme
Jetstar
Black from Tulsa (Tula)
Cherokee Purple
lots of cherries.
I may also give Kellog's Breakfast a whirl.
I will heavily favor tennis ball or smaller tomatoes since my large ones were a huge disappointment here.

I still want to see a true top ten from all you experts. As if, someone has your garden hostage and DEMANDS that you pick TEN only TEN, or they will set your garden on fire!

Pick now or lose EVERYTHING ;)

Jo

Susan, I love to see the butterflys also and every year I keep an eye on the sky hoping I will see a real migration, but I never have. Last week my DH said, "Oh I forgot to tell you, while you were down with your mother (Aug), I walked out into the backyard and we had about a hundred butterflies."

I never expected to see any in the sky because we have huge trees all around and not much open sky for viewing, but I guess they finally came my way, and I missed the show.

I asked Peggy about the morning glory and she couldn't remember a name and couldn't remember if she got them from Burpee or a friend. They are red and not pink and they grew in a whiskey barrel that only recieves partial sun. They were later in the season to bloom but might bloom better in full sun.

This google image from Swallowtail Garden Seed is close to what I remember..

Keith

Oh, my, Keith, those are a really hot, hot red! Beautiful! Will have to check out Swallowtail Garden Seed to ID them.

Carol, I have never seen them in the sky either. I did have a roost one year in my backyard, so keep you eye out in the evenings during migration time cuz you might, too, one day. It's amazing. I thought the trees were alive at first, or it was wind or something, but there was very little wind. Finally realized they were Monarchs. Let's hope they have a good winter in Mexico.

Thanks for the info on the tomato freezing, Dawn. Since I don't have any other way/method to save them, freezing them will be fine, to use for sauces in the winter. I will be working on getting a dehydrator during the winter months, and perhaps even a pressure cooker. How do you "store" your Salsa? Canning? My mother used to can a lot when I was young, but she never made Salsa or any ethnic foods either. We were pretty plain folks, even in our diets. There weren't any pizza joints, Mexican or Chinese restaurants. We grew up on Dairy Queen if we ate out at all, cuz that's all there was. I do have a delish Salsa recipe, but it's for fresh Salsa.

Jo, I've never heard of Black from Tulsa either, just Black from Tula. Maybe it was a "play on words" by the Seller???

Four days and counting til tomato pickin' time......

Susan

Jo, If someone put a gun to my head and said I had to choose only ten varieties (and I wouldn't be happy about only ten either!), I'd pick 5 OPs and 5 hybrids and they'd be these:

1. Big Beef
2. Beefmaster
3. Brandy Boy
4. Celebrity
5. Goliath
6. Black Krim
7. Indian Stripe
8. SunGold
9. Black Cherry
10. Tess's Land Race Currant

"Black From Tula" is a well-known black variety that's been around long time. I've never heard of Black From Tulsa, but think maybe someone is referring to Black from Tula as Black From Tulsa.

FYI--We love Cherokee Purple but Indian Stripe is almost identical and for us it produces heavier yields, earlier fruit and fruit that are less prone to concentric cracking during high rainfall periods.

Carol, We had a major roost of thousands of monarchs on a big dead elm tree that sat on the edge of the woods about our 2nd or 3rd year here. It was the most spectacular sight and I hope for a repeat of that every year, but haven't ever had one and likely won't. I suspect it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

My best times to see migrating ones in larger numbers is when they're coming in to roost around 6 to 7 p.m. during their migration, and for me the best time is normally the first week in October.

Susan, I think the MGs in Keith's photo must be Crimsom Rambler.

I used to store all my home-canned goods in the tornado shelter, but this summer the thermometer kept inching up close to "too hot" for that, so we put in a fancy shelving system (cinder blocks and boards) in the downstairs coat closet and moved all the canned goods there.

The "new" canning closet has about 550 filled jars in it right now (down from a high of about 600 a couple of months ago). We'll be gifting our family and friends (including many of DH's and DS's coworkers) with oodles of home-preserved goodies this Christmas.

Dawn

Yes, I went to the Swallowtail garden website and figured it was Crimson Rambler. Very pretty, but I wonder if it is an Ipomaea purpurea because if it is, it may be as invasive as 'Grandpa Ott's' and 'Scarlet O'Hara'. Could be an I. nil, I'll have to look further.

Susan (claiming to be a long lost cousin who might get just one "oodle" of Dawn's canned goods)

Dawn, I know you freeze tons, dehydrate oodles, and also can, but 600 jars is a huge amount. I did about 175-180 this year, and I felt like I was busy. I just can't imagine how you do it all.

Susan, I would suggest that you either invest $6 in the latest Bell Blue Book, or go to the library and read it. You might find that you can cold pack and freeze everything you are interested in doing, and pressure cookers can be a little pricey. I used mine once this summer and everything else in jars got cold packed. In fact, part of the time I didn't even dig out the canning pots. If I was just doing a few jars, I did it in a deep kitchen pan. Dawn has good luck with dehydrating, but I have not been satisfied with the way mine turned out. I have a new stove with the drying feature so maybe I will like it better. I haven't given up on the idea yet. When I lived in Denver, I dehydrated a lot of things, but with this years humidity it took days in my 'cheapie' dehydrator.

I use my home grown tomatoes for fresh eating and salsa, because I like my own salsa better than what I have bought. I don't mind using commercially canned tomatoes to cook with so I don't normally can any. I just stock up heavy in the fall when the warehouses are full and the prices are best. If I grew 300 plants, I would probably look at it differently. Actually, I must confess that I had one batch of salsa that I thought was just too thin this year. I canned it anyway and have already used two jars of it to cook with and it made great spanish rice. No work, since everything was already in there.

If you had a really big garden, then you might find a pressure cooker necessary, but to me it seems like 'overkill' for one person with one small garden. Just my 2 cents worth.

I received one half-pint jar of Dawn's Apricot Habanero Jam and it was wonderful. I rationed it out so it would last as long as possible. I think seedmama ate hers with a spoon during one TV show. LOL Okie Dad and Okie Son have some lucky co-workers. In fact, I think they are two pretty lucky guys.

Susan,

Not only has Crimson Rambler not been invasive here, it hasn't reseeded well at all. So, I switched to Split Personality because I was planting a 'wall' of red (Split Personality), White (Pearly Gates and Moonflower) and Blue (Heavenly Blue) flowers and I wanted bright red and I thought I wouldn't mind if all three colors reseeded every year the way Granpa Ott's does.

Of those, only the moonflowers and a couple of Heavenly Blues reseeded. However, for me, Grandpa Ott's reseeds in millions of places all over creation, including in the driveway, in cracks in the roadway and in the neighbor's pasture. I guess it all worked out, because now I've started planting pole beans on the garden fence instead of morning glories, although my pole beans always have some Grandpa Ott's mixed it with them as they grow.

I have a pressure cooker but rarely use it. Anything that ought to be pressure canned, I tend to just freeze or dehydrate instead.

With only a boiling water bath canner, you still are able to can any kind of jelly, jam or other soft spreads and you can make pickles, salsas, many canned tomato products and all kinds of straight pepper products.

I know I should do more pressure canning, but I am only one person and there's just so many hours in a day. On just about any given day in summer, if you stopped by our house I'd be 'putting up' the garden produce using one method or another: dehydrating (my convection oven allows me to do six cookie sheets at once!), canning or freezing. Some days, I was doing all three pretty much at the same time.

My favorite produce to put up is the root crops like potatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes that you harvest, cure, and throw into the cellar. Winter squash is equally easy.

Carol, It is a really huge amount. Looking at it now, I ask myself "What was I thinking?". lol

However, the items that produced well (like plums, peaches, peppers and some tomatoes) produced really, really well and I had to do something with all that stuff! I didn't think I could convince Tim to buy another new deep freeze this summer after talking him into one last summer....and, really, how many freezers does one family need? (The answer at all house is 'one more than we have'.) So, I canned like a little Suzy Homemaker maniac.

Batch by batch it didn't seem like so much except when we were in the middle of Plum Madness, and it did seem insane but I couldn't stop. What in the world do you do with over 300 lbs. of plums except can and dry them? So I did it. I do confess that once it started accumulating in the jelly closet, I started wondering if those jars were reproducing at night.

The really sad thing? We had so many plums (I bet we never have that many again) that I boiled them down and extracted enough juice to make over 100 more jars of plum jelly. That's after I'd already made well over 100 in the first place and then declared "no more plum jelly". I didn't want or need another 100 jars of plum jelly, so I froze all that 'extra' plum juice and next year I'll be able to thaw it and make plum jelly even if my plum trees don't produce a thing. I also froze bags and bags of plum pulp left over after extracting the juice. I can use those to make spiced plum butter next year.

I think everyone at 'work' at D-FW will get 4 jars of something, probably 1 jar each of a salsa, a canned pepper, a hot jelly and a sweet jelly. For most people, it will be Annie's Salsa, Habanero Gold Jelly, Candied Jalapenos and Plum Jelly. For the guys' co-workers who I know especially love a certain kind of jelly or jam, like Apple Pie Jam or Blueberry-Lime Jam, I might sub that kind in for the Plum.

Our family members will get a little bit of everything.

Two quick notes on the joy of sharing./

1) Canning it first allows us to share our excess produce equally with everyone. In the old days, when Tim was a detective, he could carry in fresh produce and distribute it pretty evenly to the 12 or 15 folks in the detective's division. After he moved to the Patrol/Rescue division, that became an impossible task to duplicate because we're talking about dozens and dozens, if not 100 or more, folks and trying to make sure everyone got "their fair share" or excess tomatoes or plums would be difficult. So, canning it and giving everyone about the same thing at the same time ensures no one feels left out and gets their feelings hurt.

2) Twice this year, somebody who works with Tim expressed a desire for a particular fresh or canned goodie they've received from us in the past. Both times, I was happy to send them what they had a hankering for, and they were thrilled to receive those goodies and most appreciative.

Unexpectedly, in separate incidents, both of those people faced a life-threatening illness. In both cases, I was happy and grateful that I hadn't put off fulfilling their 'wish' because, you know, you don't always get a second chance.

One of those two people has fully recovered, and will, I assume, be eating Apple Pie Jam for years to come as long as I remember to make it and send it to him periodically.
The other is facing a more challenging illness with an uncertain prognosis, but I'm happy to report that when her adult child drove across the country to visit her last week, some goodies from our garden when with him. I didn't find out about that until he was already on the road and it just happened that I'd recently sent him some stuff and he decided to take it on the trip. Had I known he was going to visit her, I'd have sent more stuff to him.

I guess my point above is that sharing with all those folks does give me joy, and that's primarily because it brings joy to them. You never know when the last jar of jelly you send someone, for example, might really be the 'last' jar. So, I'm glad I have been able to share our bounty with our friends this year.
I do think I tend to take for granted that there's always another jar of jam, jelly, salsa, tomatoes, pickles or peppers in the jelly closet--or frozen peppers or tomatoes in the freezer, because at our house there always is. But for the folks who only get a couple of jars a year, it is a 'big deal' to get them. I forget that sometimes.

Dawn

It will be sometime next spring before I decide what I will grow out next spring for my tomato trial. I have my regular listing already listed on my website (2011 season) of what I will grow. I am cutting down on varieties this year. I have to grow some of these out this year as I am running out of seed and need to replenish my stock. I am also tinkering with the idea of offering OP tomato seed.

Gary,
Please let me know if you decide to offer seed. You have a few varieties I would like seed for. Jay

Now that's a switch.... Jay wants tomato seed for himself.
I guess I would be interested in seeing that list since I didn't know there was anything Jay hadn't grown. LOL

Carol,
Think back to last spring really hard. Remember when I was wanting some varieties that Tomato Man's Daughter sold. He has the varieties that Tomato Man sold and there is a couple more I want to try. I tried 2-3 this year that I was able to get seeds for and they all did well. Jay

Click on the link below and then click on his plant list to see what varieties Gary is planning to grow in 2011.

For those of you new to this forum, Gary's a terrific source of plants and sweet potato slips. He's also involved in the trials of many varieties. You can see his info at his website which I've linked below.

I see some very interesting varieties on his list that are making me think I need to make a trip to Tulsa some Saturday next spring.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Duck Creek Farms

Thanks, everyone! A bath canner it will be. Seems canning has come a long way since my mom did it in the 50s. I also read that a pressure cooker isn't sufficient to can acid foods anyway. I had a pressure cooker at one time, but I'm a bit skeered of them!

Carol, I'm hoping to eventually get enough tomatos to can just for me anyway. I don't sufficient freezer space to store frozen veggies. I know, which is better? I might be able to find a small freezer that could be the equal to the amount I'd pay for a canner, who knows? Something I'll have to study a bit for the next few months.

Crimson Rambler sounds like a very nice MG, then, Dawn. Will have to get some seeds. Do the hummers like it? They aren't attracted to my purple, pink, and white MGs, but the sphinx moths are.

Susan

Susan,

Modern-day pressure canners vent properly and won't blow up like Lucy's did on the "I Love Lucy" show. I don't think there's much to worry about there.

If you watch Craig's List, you might find a freezer someone is getting rid of. Our "garage refrigerator" is one our son found on Craig's List for $50 a couple of years ago and it is very handy for keeping lots of watered bottle, Gatorade, etc. cold in the summer, and even for holding the overflow of fresh produce we often have. Needless to say, I keep the freezer compartment full too.

When I grew Crimson Rambler, it was on a fence with two other morning glories and nearby I had honeysuckle "Pink Lemonade", cardinal climber, Grandpa Ott's morning glory and cypress vine. Also nearby were daturas and four o'clocks as well as hollyhocks and many other flowers. That area was always buzzing with hummers, bees of all kinds and lots of butterflies but I don't remember if I specifically noticed hummers visiting the Crimson Rambler flowers or not. My memory isn't what it used to be.

Here at our house, it seems to be the honeysuckle the hummers visit most, and the mimosa tree always has hummers in it when it is is bloom. We have so many flowers for the wild things that I don't necessarily pay attention to what they're visiting, but I sure enjoy having them around.

Dawn

Jay, I do remember that.

Dawn, Thanks for the link to Duck Creek Farms. I had looked at the website but had never read the varieties and didn't realize they were listed.

Gary, What a wonderful list you have. I know for sure that if I were a small backyard gardener in the Tulsa area, I wouldn't buy seeds for much, because it would be much easier to shop with you. In fact, you have Creole tomato listed, which is one I have wanted to try. I also hope to start a nice herb bed this year, so I will probably have to come find you on one of those market days.

We have been having really nice weather but today it is windy and overcast. After Church on Sunday we went to a friends house for lunch. One of our neighbors was raking leaves into the ditch and by the time we came back, he had already burned them and his yard looked great. Yesterday it looked like he had never raked. It made me laugh out loud as I passed. The only places that you can see the ground is on the lawns that got mowed yesterday. There's no shortage of leaves here. LOL

Carol, You're welcome. Gary has a wonderful assortment of plants, and if I lived anywhere near Tulsa, I'd visit the Farmer's Market and other places where he sells plants so often he'd probably think I was stalking him.

I've been outside mowing up leaves this morning, collecting them in the grass catcher, and then dumping them into black lawn-and-leaf bags. It takes a lot of lawnmower grasscatcher bags full of mown leaves to fill up one big lawn and leaf bag. I hope to fill up 150 of those bags in the coming weeks so I'll have oodles to dump onto the garden beds.

The wind is blowing hard and bringing down lots of leaves this week, so I should get a few bags done this week, but it is still warm enough during the day that I have to watch for snakes. My most recent snake sighting was a little skinny non-venomous snake in the garden on Monday. Even after the first few freezes, the ground is still pretty warm and the snakes come out on warm days. I usually don't see any snakes after December 1st though.

My plan is to mow leaves all day, taking periodic rest breaks which double as housework breaks---so I can come inside from mowing leaves, sit down and rest a minute while I drink something cold, and then do laundry or vacuum or whatever before going back outside. I can get a lot done when I alternate back and forth because it keeps me from getting too bored. If I tried to mow leaves all day without a break, I'd get bored and just stop.

I noticed a few onions in the garden today. Guess I missed a couple when I harvested, so I'll have to dig in the soil around them and see what I've got.

With all the wind blowing and the grasses dormant and dry, I've been somewhat concerned about the prospects of grassfires, but so far it's been pretty quiet with only a couple of them lately. In the meantime, I'm a leaf-mowing maniac.

Dawn, I grew AAA Sweet Solano last year and it did well in our hot, but drier, climate. Beautiful little tomatoes, firm in texture and sweet. Didn't have a lot of "tomato" flavor - more fruity. Might be one to share with friends who aren't real wild about tomatoes. Next year, I plan to try it in comparison to "Little Lucky". Bet they'll be distinctive from each other.