Mr. Clint, I'm not trying to chase you off, just try to make you understand your ability to crank out food comparatively easy for 365 days a year is a direct function of where you live, not from colossal cultural practices. Yes there are some tried and true methods of agriculture that have been around for ages that continue to be practiced and help in the struggle - crop rotation, trashy cultivation, trap crops, etc. But keep in mind none of the "natural" methods was rarely ever the sole means for protecting crops under Midwest conditions. Along with all that timeless advice, it was not uncommon for lead arsenate, Paris green, and other nasty things to be used to protect food crops. All I'm saying is here growing food is more of a battle and aged agricultural principles, although they may help, won't take care of the problem. Heck, last summer an orchard near here lost 100% of its apple crop due to fungus (black rot I believe). Seriously, I'm on their email list (as part of the Kansas Fruit Growers) and they sent an email indicating they canceled all sales. It is more of a battle to grow food here. Farmers around here have experienced it. Dare I mention it, but even the "evil" chemical companies market their crop protectants accordingly (Warrior, Pounce, Ambush, Assail, Stinger, etc.) I'm sure you'll argue the chemical companies are just doing that to keep the war mentality going, but I disagree. They are appealing to experiences that are already there (i.e. losing a whole apple crop to fungus) That growing food here is more challenging doesn't automatically make it unenjoyable. Perhaps an analogy would be rock climbing. It can be very difficult along the way, but can also be rewarding if successful.

hi beesneeds. I have a couple varieties of lavender and anything on my list your welcome to. I would like some of your ... Beans: Gold Marine Green Crop Tenderpick Tomatoes: orange santa kellogs breakfast sausage gardeners delight please email me if interested demarini09@gmail.com

I have been eating large tomatoes for quite some time now. I think I may be running out of fresh tomatoes in about a week or so. Plenty of Cherokee Purples this year. I'm in North Jersey in Morris County. I have been fortunate to buy a house that has a terraced garden which gets full sun. I mean full sun until it gets dark. I gave plenty away and froze plenty and still have some in the fridge and some on my kitchen counter. I'm glad to say I'm not in your company this year. Last year was just as good. Microclimate plays a large part in your harvest.

Scott, Salsa! Yum! We haven't made any yet, but today we had BLT sandwiches made with a big, yummy tomato from the garden. Now that was a good lunch! Then I told DH that we probably wouldn't have any more big ripe tomatoes for a few days, which bummmed him out. (He could eat BLTs every day for lunch, in spite of his cholesterol!) THEN, after he left for work, I walked out to the garden and found two more big maters about 2 days from being fully ripe. Yippee! Of course, we have more ripe cherries pretty much every day, so we've been eating them as snacks, on tacos, and in salads and stuff. I try to eat tomatoes every day during the season and usually more than once a day in June through August. And, I do think that leaving a very early tomato on the plant early on can slow down overall plant growth, but....true confession here.....I do it anyway! To me, having an earlier ripe tomato is well worth having a stunted plant! Would I feel the same way if I had only 10 or 20 tomato plants? Probably not. But, with 140 plants, I can afford to let some keep their early fruit. With all the rain you've had, are you finding the taste of your tomatoes has been impacted? I wouldn't think so, if the rains are falling while the fruit or young, but guess the excess moisture could be affecting the flavor (i.e., watering down the flavor) if it falls while they are ripening. With all that rain, though, I would think your plants should be big old monsters by now. I know that a lot of people in zones 5 and 6 (and maybe some in cooler parts of zone 7) pinch off all the early blossoms in order to give the plants time to make a little more growth before they begin diverting energy to setting fruit. But, in our climate, I think pinching off blossoms is risky because, if it gets hot "early", you may end up with all plant and no fruit, at which time you'll be regretting pinching off the early fruit. I had a next-door neighbor in Fort Worth who tried to grow tomatoes the "northern" way in what was already a pretty shady back yard. Appararently she had a book that talked in detail about pruning off suckers and pinching off blossoms. I tried to tell her that we grow them differently in Texas, but she wouldn't listen. (We grew up on the same street, and she wouldn't listen to anyone else when she was a kid either!) So, to make a long story short, she had 7' tall plants consisting of a central leader with all the side branches pruned off, and nothing else. She pinched off blossoms until probably mid- to late-July, and by the time she stopped pinching, it was too hot for fruit to set. She had about 6 or 8 or 10 plants and got zero fruit. I felt sorry for her.....but I'd tried to tell her how to do it correctly and she wouldn't listen, so I didn't feel THAT sorry for her. LOL Dawn