Congrats Frank. This has been my first year for Tomcot too. It was disappointing here. Mind you, few cracks and no BR, but flavor was disappointing (specifically sweetness). However, we had torrential rains, which can ruin fruit flavor. The best tasting cot so far is Sugar Pearl, but as mentioned in a previous post, the spray regimen is ridiculous. I still have a few Harlgo and Harlayne to ripen. However, I'm looking to pull all the apricots out and put in peaches. I'm tired of fighting what doesn't work here, without heroic measures.

Oh no, Leisa! I'm SO sorry to read about your tomato plants. I think I just had beginner's luck this year to get so many gorgeous plants from the seeds I either started indoors or WS. The two plants that are 6 ft. tall were started indoors; all the others were WS and I was impressed with the germination rate. I gave away a dozen plants to friends and neighbors as well as to the migrant workers who've been doing work here on weekends. Even so I still have a dozen plants, half grape tomato and the rest Stupice which is a small tomato that Diane Linsley (Diane's Flower Seeds) recommended for its flavor + short DTM. Those plants are also heavy with plump green tomatoes. Alas, I can grow zucchini PLANTS but generally only get flowers that fall off and never become squash. My neighbor is a beekeeper so I don't think pollination is at fault. As further proof of my incompetence, they let me plant my zucchini plants in their HUGE vegetable garden the last two seasons, which is right near the beehives. I got MAYBE two zucchini. One squash developed, grew about 4 inches and stopped. Even they couldn't believe their eyes. Maybe I should start the seeds in gravel instead of potting mix. My mother told me years ago I pampered them too much. Lucky for me a woman at work has a community garden that produces more zucchini than she can use or give away so as of now I have a reliable source of zukes the rest of the season even if I fail (again) to grow my own. They say play to your strengths and I seem to have a knack for lettuce & tomatoes. Could be worse.

I just had my first from the garden too. A delicious Momotaro! YES!!!!!!!!!! July 1. That's pretty good for here. I started earlier this year....

"You can get some metal posts and deer cloth pretty inexpensively" This! It's the only thing that allowed me to harvest toms in Wisconsin. I used 2"x 2" tall stakes around my raised bed(about two feet out all the way around) and tied the deer netting to it, leaving one corner loose for access which I secured with clothespins. The deer can't see it but they can feel it and leave it alone.