hey...that first pic looks a lot like my tomatoes after my friend jack from lynchburg,tn stops by. ;)

"Yall are killing me. We have slipped back to the high 50's!"
earthworm73, at least it'll get warmer for you--here its slipping past the 90's so my tomatoes are dropping their blossoms 'cause it's so hot! And it going to get worse!
You're lucky.

primavera, I guess "luckiness" is relative.

archerd, ah Costoluto Genovese. I want to try those one of these days. I heard the taste is not all that but I don't really eat maters only in salsa. I will post pics of my cold babies in a few.

Here are pics of my cold maters. C'mon summer! In order

Siberian
Kellogg Breakfast
Stupice
San Marzano

Nice lookin plants, earthworm. My San Marzano's are about the same size as yours. :) Any buds yet on yours? They have a long growth period before harvest. I figure i'll definitely see a few buds by the end of the month though.

I believe there were one or two but I snipped them at transplant. I want them to grow more roots and leaves before fruiting. It is hard to do but it is neccessary if you want a good crop later on. BTW...all maters are about 8 weeks from seed.

tn_veggie_gardner

I feel like I didn't directly address the title of this thread and I should have been much more specific: "Maters very soon!"

Sorry, but you ain't gonna' get maters "very soon"! :-) They all have different days to maturity listed, and as imprecise as it is, it still pertains to when you set the plants out if you set them out when they're six to eight weeks old. But the real time span IS between flowering and mature fruit, and for me it's usually been about 45 to 60 days for the beefsteak indeterminates. That's a LONG wait! Nothing will hurry them; they grow at their own rate, though of course different varieties have different rates.

Anyway, I didn't want you to go on thinking you are going to get maters very soon! I wish!

DaveDirt: Sounds like advice from experience.

Earthworm and TN_Veggie: I've wanted to try San Marzano as I hear they are the best option for sauce. This year, I hope to make a sauce from the CG shown above and whatever comes off a couple of Romas I have. Hopefully I'll get enough all at once to do that. I think my goal is to come back in from the back yard and say, "What am I going to do with all these dang tomatoes?!!? And what are we going to eat for dinner tonight?

annie: Very funny...who said the pic of post #1 was a San Marzano? lol...It's a Cherry tomato plant. I guarantee you, in fact I bet my best plant against yours, I will have a picture of at least 2 wee maters on this plant by 2 weeks from now. =)

Anyways...archerb: Once the Chipotle's are made, they will go in many things. ;) Wineberries might make a good sauce with some brown sugar, molasses...in fact, that will be mixed in a bowl with some other things and made into a bbq sauce now that I think about it. :) Yea...I can't wait either, dude.

I am also getting excited, but I'll be concerned until they blush and I pick em--disease, bugs, and birds are worthy foes.
I have fruit set on San Marzano, Black Cherry, Rutgers, Indian Stripe, Stupice, Burgundy Traveler, Giant Belgium Pink, Cherokee Purple, Polish Linguisa, Eva Purple Ball, and Super Beefsteak. I haven't seen fruit set on Azoychka, Ponderosa Red, or Marianna's Peace.

pete

veggie,you better be thinking about a much bigger pot,more sunlight and some support for that lil feller before the first breeze comes along and snaps it clean.
and as far as tomatos soon............you will be buying tomatos from the store for your 4th of july picnic.

danmato: Thanks for your opinion, but I have no concerns at all. We had 30+ mph winds come through the other day that blasted any of my plants which weren't potted up to their final containers yet (just really knocked 2 over and bent a few about 10-20 degree angle...nothing bad/big at all). I was out on the porch for a bit that night watching all the wind & how the plants were handling it. These plants have now been outdoors for about 3 weeks. The two Cherry tomato plants in those 15x12 baskets (yes, they are that big...just confirmed it on web...plant just makes them look tiny...lol) barely moved. They laughed at the very heavy winds, rains, etc.. =) I imgaine those baskets are at least 5 gallons (they are filled to about 1 inch or less below the top). Perfectly fine, IMO, for a Cherry tomato plant, which btw, if you don't know already, will produce much much quicker than a medium to large variety.

I imagine you are joking about the 4th of July comment. It certainly did make me laugh...lol...all you non-believers stand-by & keep watching this post. Not sure why you think it will take over a month and a half for me to get Cherry toms off a bud set already lightening & showing signs of at least one bud opening. Might want to check your Cheerios for a urine smell. =) I'll try to remain friendly about this, but use some common sense before you say something that ridiculous, k?

Peace - Steve

My Costoluto Genovese is blooming but has not set fruit yet.

I do have tomatoes on: Black Krim, 23 on David's cross (cherry type), 3" tomato on Yellow 1884 Pinkheart, Texas Wild Cherry, Saljut...had tomatoes all Winter from this one, Jaune Flamme, 8 on Yamal, have tomatoes on 3 of the 6 Principe Borghese, Raad Red, Southern Night, Santa (grape), and Coyote.

Lots of blooms and buds on: Hugh's, Lucky Cross, Trigovy, Black Sea Man, Old German, Thessaloniki, German Breault, Azoychka, Kelloggs Breakfast, Hawaiian Pineapple, Costoluto Genovese, Japanese Trifele Black, Bear Claw, Thessaloniki Oxheart, Italian Market Wonder, Rutger's, Royal Hillbilly, Yellow Lemon, Cherokee Green, Moonglow, Cherokee Purple, Black Prince, Earl's Faux, Rio Grande, German Johnson, Persimmon, and Golden Egg.

Waiting on blooms from: Pearly Pink, Granny Cantrell's, Polish Ellis, De Weese Streaked, and Ponderosa Pink.

Chocolate Cherry was broken this week when we had high winds during the night. Hoping it will put out from the suckers.

I goofed and gave away my last Baladi and San Marzano (thought I had already planted some) sigh! :( Hope I can swap for more seeds for next year.

Peggy

digdirt, ksrogers & other tomato experts...weigh in on this. These people saying it's gonna take my Cherry tomatoes 2 months to produce anything with buds already over a cm long are getting on my nerves a slight bit. ;-) I wouldn't be starting to think i'm wrong if anney hadn't said this in the first place. Just really curious as to why they think it will take an insanely long time for this plant to produce. Heck, I might have a frickin' ripe Early Girl by the 4th of July.

- Steve

Re: TN_VG_GDNR (Steve)

Let's see, this picture of my Black Cherries was taken on April 8,2009:

This next picture was taken on May 12, 2009. It's also not the fruit in the first picture as that had been eaten a few days before. These black cherries are from the blooms you see in the first picture:

So yeah, it's certainly feasible that you could get fruit in a month or so, since you have blooms now. Provided, of course, that those blooms set. Not really a problem with cherries. Also, I don't think Black Cherries are known for being particularly early. Mine were actually about a week late. They were planted in February but didn't really bloom until the top picture in April. The Sungolds were not even blooming at the time the first picture was taken.

Oh, and before you ask, the tomatoes were delicious :-). The penny, not so much.

haha...i'm hoping you didn't eat the penny. ;-) I will probably grow Black Cherry's next year. The posts about them on here have interested me quite a bit and they look yummy! How does the taste differ from a "standard" Cherry tomato?

So, 1 month, approximately, from open bloom (look to have been open for a day or two) to fully ripe Black Cherry. That sounds about right...far from 2 month timespan between about to open bloom & still no ripe Cherry's, huh? (meant to be smarta** comment...lol) Also, not to mention, "Also, I don't think Black Cherries are known for being particularly early.". Want to do some sort of seed swap with me later on this season (or even as soon as you have seeds)?

Peace - Steve

Yea, but I don't see any eggs on my tomato plants. :-P~

Steve - I want to see an indelible red heart drawn on the side of that tomato so come eatin' time we know it is the same one. :^)

In the tomato barnyard the chicken hawk's name is BER and he's circling, flapping his old soggy wings, and soon to rear his ugly head for all of us.

Dave

archerb, I appreciate your pictures. I am growing black cherry for the first time (in a new, more southerly garden) and was wondering how long it was from flower to fruit.

I'm very excited about my garden...of about 20 varieties, many of them are flowering and a few are setting fruit (black cherry, sungold, sweet 100). I'm surprised to see flowers on Orange Banana and German Johnson Pink, I assume those blossoms will fall off...

You gotta be careful playing with those flowers - I was trying to show my husband a set fruit on a tomatillo and I PULLED IT OFF by accident. I was all "I wanted to taste it...?"

TVG

Sorry, don't mean to put a damper on your excitement. I know how you feel, all impatient and excited, but after growing tomatoes for so many years, you're willing to let them ripen when they will and not be antsy about it! :-)

Is {{gwi:1332328}}?

Here's the blurb: Tomato
Red Cherry Large Fruited 590MG

Deliciously sweet, bite-sized red tomatoes can be used in salads or served on toothpicks as appetizers. Tall, indeterminate vines provide bountiful harvest all season. High in vitamins A and C. Packet will plant approximately 48 plants. 70 to 75 days to harvest after transplanting.

If it fruits and ripens in approximately 70-75 days (after being set out), that's pretty close to being an early tomato, though some tomatoes are listed at 50 or so DTM. Some other tomatoes have DTM given as 80-90 days! Now, we know these dates are imprecise, so just relax and take notes, and tend your babies with the best care possible, and see what happens! I'm willing to eat crow if you get ripe tomatoes in two weeks!

I've got a question. Are you thinking that because the cherry tomato fruits are small, they'd ripen quicker than large tomatoes because there's just less of them as individuals to ripen? Well, not true, as logical as it seems!

Please let us know, when they DO ripen, if they're good cherries. It looks like it's an old reliable.

I'm posting the link to the discussion below about how long from first blossom or first fruit to maturity it takes, but am VERY disappointed that the link to the photographed timeline of that tomato fruit is missing. It was a Big Beef tomato, DTM listed as about 75 days. I'm including the link because some of the timeline is mentioned.

Here is a link that might be useful: Making sense of Days to Maturity malarky

Earthworm 73,

Everyone has their own "mojo" about planting, but may I ask why you put your plants at the extreme rear of the containers, rather than centering them where the root ball would have a more symmetrical access to the potting mix, moisture, and nutrients?

Raybo

Anney:
I really would like to know what the expected bloom to fruit time is. I posted that first picture on here asking how long it would take between that pearl-sized tomato and eating fruit... and someone told me a week or two. The Bastards! Maybe they thought it was a currant or something. I don't know what they were thinking but gullible me was out there everyday on my knees screaming in agony, "WHY WON'T YOU RIPEN!???!"

Kterlep:
The same thing happened to my wife yesterday... sorta. I was asking her how to tell when Serrano peppers were ripe. There's like 30 on the plant. She reached down, touched one with the palm of her hand and it fell right into it. She said, "I think this one is ready"

TnVG:
I understand you have San Marzano? I'd gladly trade for that. If you don't get any fruit or some disaster happens that prevents you from getting seed, I'll still send you some. You'll just need to send me the salsa that you make from the plants. Just E-me your address and I'll send those as soon as I get 'em fermented and sufficiently dried. There's more red fruit out there now.
I should give you fair warning that the seed I received was from another seed swap (gift, actually) from a girl in CA. One of plants that was supposed to be BC... isn't. It has plant leaves that look PL, but they are not when they are small. I'd call them "mitten leaved" as they are more mitten shaped than anything else. The plant has full size fruit starting (another way I know it's not black cherry). When they get further along, I plan on taking some pictures and posting them here if I can't ID it.
Anyway, I'm telling you this because I plan on sending some of the seed she sent me as well as some "fresh" seed. I'm still new at this and would hate to screw up your seed or something so I'll send some of hers as a backup. I don't know if this plant was an errand seed or some sort of cross. Who knows. We'll know more as it grows out.

Sorry, that was Earthworm that made the salsa. So, TNVG, you're gonna need to beg some salsa from Earthworm if you don't get the San Marzano seeds. :-)

anney: Close, but no cigar. Those are not the Ferry Morse seeds I got this year. I truly don't remember where I bought them, as I bought, received, traded, etc. many seeds. Nice try though. =) I've grown these same Cherry Tomato seeds for 3 of the past 5 years. Never have I seen them grow anywhere near this fast. They are usually half this size, maybe a bit more after 2 months. I don't know what did it (but I have a few ideas), as I did some things different this year.

Anyways, this is what I said that caused the pee to apparently land in your Cheerios, "I will have a picture of at least 2 wee maters on this plant by 2 weeks from now. =) " I don't see the word "ripe," do you? You misunderstood what I said. The picture in my mind was of two 1/2 to 1 cm diameter Cherry tomatoes with maybe a dead flower hanging off them.

"I've got a question. Are you thinking that because the cherry tomato fruits are small, they'd ripen quicker than large tomatoes because there's just less of them as individuals to ripen?"

No, I passed thinking that when I was about 6 years old.

So, how about you take notes and hope one day you can have a Cherry tomato plant as wonderfull as my Monster Cherry Tomatoes. Start Googling crow recipes.

Make some sense? =)

archerb:

Deal...on my usual bi-weekly trip to HD today, I actually found ahealthy plant (lol) and bought what they call a "World's Hottest Habanero" plant. The salsa just got hotter. ;) I'll e-mail you my address sometime this weekend. Peace - Steve

TVG
this is what I said that caused the pee to apparently land in your Cheerios, "I will have a picture of at least 2 wee maters on this plant by 2 weeks from now. =) " I don't see the word "ripe," do you?

No, I don't. I did think from the THREAD title you were anticipating getting *ripe* tomatoes "very soon" because you had blossoms. If I'd understood you meant you'd have tiny unripe tomatoes soon, then I'd certainly agree. Once the blossoms are pollinated, the tiny tomato shows up pretty soon, not months later, as I see now you obviously know!

=====

archerb I really would like to know what the expected bloom to fruit time is. I posted that first picture on here asking how long it would take between that pearl-sized tomato and eating fruit... and someone told me a week or two. The Bastards! Maybe they thought it was a currant or something. I don't know what they were thinking but gullible me was out there everyday on my knees screaming in agony, "WHY WON'T YOU RIPEN!???!"

LOL! This was the fate worse than death I was hoping to save TVG from!

I'd also like to know an average of how long it takes from the appearance of the first tiny tomato to its full maturity by variety, but maybe that will always be anecdotal information, since many factors go into the equation.

In my notes about that Big Beef recorded maturity time-line, there were five days between first color appearance on the fruit and full ripening, so that's an important patience-factor for me, since I grow mostly larger tomatoes, rarely cherries. I'd like to know if that's true of cherries, too.

As I said in an earlier post, I think it's much harder (if one has Tomato Madness Disease, anyway :-) ) to wait for the tiny tomato to grow and ripen to full maturity than any other stage of their growth!

Hey, we have something in common besides living in middle Tennessee!

SunGolds

Husky Cherry Reds

anney: No hard feelings. We just misunderstood each other. I apologize for some of my slightly uncalled for comments. Got a little snappy at your original reaction to my post, (which is understandable now that I know we weren't on the same page/timeline). =)

sirdanny: Lookin' nice! Yours are about a month or more ahead of mine, for sure...save me a few so I can take pictures of them to make anney eat crow. ;) How much those SWC's run you total, if you don't mind me asking? I'll reading all the Earthtainer & SWC posts I can find to study up cuz I want to do a few of them next year, probablt for tomatoes.

Peace - Steve

Actually Steve these are the cheap Wal-Mart product versions of self watering containers. I had this one last year before I seen rays posts about how to make em better. The tubs were about 4.00 each, the pond basket was 2.50. The tube was 2.00. So it was about 12.50 plus the cost of the potting mix. I planted me seeds in February and transplanted them into the swcs in March. The great part was that I could pull it out doors in good weather for sun and if it was going to get close to frost conditions, I could pull them in. Of course I had to plug the drainage hole when I did this to avoid getting water all over the place.

Now in hindisght, I soort of wish I had installed the cages, but I will just pull the suckers off the Sungood.

There is just TONS of tomato-loving enthusiasm running rampant through this thread and I'm not about to try to squash it. In time and with experience, Mother Nature will take care of that all on her own. ;)

Anney has tried to present some more realistic perspectives out of an honest effort to help. But it hasn't been well received so I'll content myself with merely pointing out that some very basic facts may have been lost in the shuffle.

On the average tomatoes have a 6 week internal biological clock - that means 6 weeks from actual fruit set (not bloom but actual little green blob) to ripe.

But that clock also varies by

variety
weather (and archerb's zone 8's weather is nothing like your zone 6 weather)
sun exposure
food and watering cycles
growing conditions (and containers can't be compared with in-ground), small containers to large, etc.
and so on.

So TNVN, you cannot, with any degree of accuracy, compare and draw conclusions, sorry. The photos and notes and claims of others and 95 cents will get you a cup of coffee some places. Shoot! we can't even draw specific conclusions by comparing to our own gardens from year to year and I know you'll agree that your tomatoes are growing in a somewhat unusual and stress-prone set-up. So we are beyond apples and oranges here and into comparing things like kumquats and water buffalo and I hope your blurry little bloom grows into one hell of a water buffalo for you. ;)

It is normal and fun to talk about and anticipate of course as long as you also recognize (not admit out loud but at least recognize) that the odds right now in early spring are not in your favor. We all wish you well of course but you'll forgive us please if we have been there and done that and never got the shirt to show for it.

Best I can offer is that a little green nub of a set fruit like the one on the tip of archerb's finger (not a bloom) will, if all of the forces of nature combine to cooperate and the gods smile on you, will, in our zones, give you a ripe cherry tomato in approx. 6 weeks +/- 72 hours and 17 minutes. ;)

Dave

I see lots of posts on newly forming cherry tomatoes.

Who would I be not to pitch in?

{{gwi:1332345}}

My first Black Cherry blossom. I can't wait....

Dave: Set me straight, why dontcha? ;-) I completely agree with everything you said & am well aware of most of the facts you stated. I believe the one plant I took a blurry picture of the bud set on in the first post of this thread has all the pluses and none of the minuses. Literally pest free so far, disease/fungus free, etc.. I realize other factors (weather, pests, etc.) can still contribute to bud-to-harvest time and will pay special attention to them for all my plants as all of us gardner's tend to do. =) The reason I believe the normal 6 week period for this one will be shortened by at least a week, if not more, is for many reasons. Like I stated above about the health of the plant.

Scroll down about 6-7 pics on the May 11th pics post on my site & you'll see a picture of it from May 11th. Steve's Garden. I have grown Cherry tomatoes before, like I previously stated. By compiling previous data, averaging factors together, etc. I can get a good educated guess as to how long certain processes will take on the plant. The reason I point out the May 11th picture is that 7 days after that, it is now 3 inches from the ceiling. It grew a little over a foot in one week, with half rain. The bud set on the picture in the first thread now has almost completed the typical length and is showing signs of bud seperation & opening. Never, with any of the Cherry tomatoes that i've grown, have I ever seen one grow so fast & be so healthy. The plant is 3 & 1/2 feet tall at 9 weeks from seed in the dirt (not from seed germination).

I know your level of knowledge on this subject and very highly respect that...you should know that by now. :) I appreciate your input and normally would agree with you, but, being that I am in a different zone (catman's picture can attest to how the current TN weather is working for mater plants) and all the other factors I mentioned, plus one or two i'm sure I forgot, I doubt it will be 6 weeks before I get my first ripe Cherry tomato. I'm not going to be dumb & say i'll have one in 2 weeks or whatever. Like I originally intended to specify on this post, in 2 weeks, I will have a few wee green Cherry's poking out where the flowers used to be. I would say, considering everything, that I will indeed have at least a handful of ripe ones by the 4th of July. So, even though I may have been midunderstood & wrong about a few things, so were others & that's the important thing to remember about my initial reaction to a post on here. I am a very peaceful dude & quite easy to get along with, but when someone tries to tell me about something so off-the-wall, that's it's painstakingly obvious it's not true (not you, btw), I must insist on correcting them. Especially, when it's a metter of long-distance opinion. For example, I will continue to pay extra attention to catman's posts, as he is about 20 miles away from me. I will update this thread with pictures of that same bud set when I get the chance. We all will see if I have wee green maters in 2 weeks and if I have ripe ones by the 4th of July. =)

Peace - Steve

You know that you have TMD when you argue about fertilizers and dates that ripe 'maters are anticipated amongst folks that are equally infected and only trying to help ;)
It is just an affliction ... and an affectionate passion. Lord grant that they ripen soon so that we can all be more compatible! ;)
Very few things can counter TMD outside of a homegrown BLT vaccine!

Here is a link that might be useful: TMD

Cozy, no foolin! I'm already scheming for how I'm going to have a tomato plant indoors this winter. Wouldn't it be nice to move a tomato out this time of year that was loaded with tomatoes???

The only decent tomatoes I can get here are those little red grape ones. We were at Jungle Jim's in Cinci two months ago and they had heirloom toms on clearance. I never thought a Golden Jubilee could taste sooooo good! (and I think they are good anyway)...

mmmmmmmmmmmmm...BLT *drool*

cozy

I had quite arrived at the same conclusion independently -- it's a symptom of TMD. In turn, the TMD is caused by either the absence of tomatoes in our diet during the winter months or the inclusion of cardboard tomatoes in restaurant meals and in grocery aisles. Not enough lycopene, and look what it does to people!!!!!

I nearly posted my conclusion yesterday, but feared that nobody would think it was funny except me and I'd be crucified! Anyway, after all TMD victims eat their fill of tomatoes this spring and summer, I predict the agita will just disappear. Why squabble when there's maters to be eaten?

Anney,
It is bad stuff. I am in desperate need of my "fix" ;) But it is not many moons away where the "battle" will be won and almost immediately after the vaccine thoughts will turn back to sharing and seed swaps and purdy pictures .... it is just a REALLY tough time at the moment. Different zones do not help either :( I'm addicted and need that BLT!!! ;)

Annie,

It's not the lycopene....or at least not just the lycopene:

Since getting involved in this I've been planning to dry lots more tomatoes.

Chuck

Here is a link that might be useful: dried tomatoes

chuck60

For several seasons, I had TMD too, in the sense that I was terribly impatient for my tomatoes to ripen. But since I started freezing fresh tomatoes and using them at least twice a week in cooking during the winter, I'm much more relaxed about when the first ones of the season will appear, in fact nonchalant is more like it. I really have thought that's because whatever it is in tomatoes that makes some people crave them fresh is available all year to us now. NOT kidding.

I think drying them and using them in the winter might have a similar nutritional effect, so good luck!

anney, this time of year, I'm always panicking trying to figure out how I'm going to use up all the left-over jam, salsa, and sauce that I hoarded over the winter. :)

kterlep

LOL! You must be a real homesteader! I wish I had the patience and equipment to do more than freeze things, but still, it isn't too bad. (The salsa is what I'd love to be able to put up!)

We ran out of frozen green and Italian beans though. I thought I'd frozen plenty. We still have frozen blueberries, maybe ten quarts, about five gallons of frozen tomatoes, and about six more meals of corn on and off the cob.

I'm SURE you'd be able to find somebody to take some of those goodies off your hands...

Now that we're on the subject of TMD...I realized that we are all drawn to tomatoes as a cat is drawn to catnip. Now we all should plant catnip in our gardens so the cats can keep us company while we are out spending time with the tomatoes - it would make us not feel so alone with our disorder.

We only have a small chest freezer (best investment we ever made, though!) and the freezer in our refrigerator. Someday maybe we will get a bigger chest freezer.

I think that the problem is I make it, and then I want to save it for special. :)

Salsa is soooo easy to make...our salsa's all gone, 'cause I ate that! I have a lot of pickled things left over...

lol...good one, catman.

kterlep: How exactly do you go about freezing the tomatoes? Just throw them in a sealed Ziploc and toss in the freezer or is it way more complicated than that? Sounds like a good idea that would hopefully be much easier than canning.

yup that is exactly one way that you can freeze them - throw them in a bag & toss them in the freezer. They sound like billiard balls clacking around in the bag when they are frozen. This method has the added benefit of helping you remove the skins - you just drop the frozen tomatoes in a bowl of hot water and you can rub the skins right off after a minute of soaking. The tomatoes will be of a softer texture, but not as bad as tomatoes from a storebought or home-preserved can.

Canning salsa and tomato sauce is really very easy, you don't need a lot of space or equipment (you could get started for less than $20 if you have a big spaghetti pot and a normal equipped kitchen (spoons and bowls and such) and it is a lot more space and energy efficient way to store the tomatoes.

Making salsa is easy and makes great gifts and saves a lot of money (I love salsa). Making sauce takes a lot of work, though, and saves fairly little money. But it tastes a LOT better than storebought, and you don't have to pay income tax on your savings.

I just bought a dehydrator and I'm hoping that will be an interesting way to preserve the taste...

Principe Borghese had one ripe tomato today and my husband and I shared it...was SO good! I make notes in my tomato notebook every 4 days...have many more with tomatoes today! Gotta get out there and water. Been trimming the lower leaves and suckers off so I can weed. Have several suckers that are rooted.

Peggy

Yea, I want to invest in a dehydrator soon, before I have too many veggies on my hands! =)

I'm catching up to y'all. ;-) And, for anney's sake (lol...), i'm still sticking to my original prediction. 5 & 1/2 days from the first post on this thread, I have two fully opened flowers now. I'll help pollinate them later when I get home and still quite sure i'll have a week mater or 3 starting to grow in the 8 & 1/2 days I have left on my prediction. In my experience, after flower pollination, it dies off and you start to see a little pea mater forming under it about 4-7 days later (for most varieties).

- Steve

Oh but how close my fix doth draw nigh ;)

{{gwi:1332347}}

Even my most dearest of friends Sir Brandywine teases the imagination ;)

{{gwi:1332350}}

Lookin' nice, cozy. :-P~~~ lol...This is all I have to show, for now...

Some dummy (probably me...lol) accidentally set the picture resolution down to the smallest available, so that's why one pic is huge & blurry and the other is tiny. =) These were taken Saturday.

Unfortunately, for all you non-believers, I already found one wee mater this morning before work. I'll take a picture of it & any others I find when I get home, since my original 2 week prediction ends tonight at midnight...hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah! =)