naturegirl_2007 - I have heard nothing but bad news coming out of Michigan regarding fruit tree production. Apples bad, cherries bad, peaches bad. I have not heard how the Michigan blueberry crop has fared. Minnesota apple orchards were hit hard by late frosts last spring as well. I have been seeing news reports that state that the growers do have apples but they are telling customers not to delay their purchases because they will be running out quickly once the harvest season goes into full swing. Add together all the nation's fruit and vegetable losses, corn losses, high feed prices, high fuel prices, and inflation of the fiat dollar (that the gov't says is not occurring), and we have the makings for a huge spike in food costs this winter. I am canning and freezing triple the usual amount of fruits and vegetables this year, just to be prepared. I do not need it but I know of others around here who might. I make the harvest boxes. They are multi-purpose. The ones without handles I use to hold my individually potted starter plants in spring until they go into the gardens, then I use them for harvesting summer/fall and storage winter. The bottom is made of slats for drainage and ventilation. The ones with handles I use for planting (a standard 1020 seedling flat fits inside - hated carrying those floppy flats out to the garden), harvesting, and then I use them for storing my onions and potatoes in a shelf system that they slide into. The bottom is made of slats for ventilation and the sides have holes for ventilation as well. The general dimensions of the crates are approximately the size of a standard 1020 seedling flat: 21"l x 13"w x 4" deep. I have made many of these two crate designs over the years and sold some and traded away a bunch of them for other stuff. :) I am always urging gardeners to network - find out what neighbors or friends might want and grow extra if you have the space. It is great to give stuff away and I do a lot of that because sometimes it is just the right thing to do, but I often get something in return as a thank-you down the road when I least expect it. But it is also nice to barter for stuff you want but do not have, or do not have enough of. I also suggest folks do some division of labor and use your strengths to your advantage. One lady near me has a pear orchard. Every year I grow tomatoes for her because she does not like to garden but wants tomatoes for processing. In return I get so many pears that I often have to give some away myself. She takes care of her orchard, and harvests my pears when ready, and I take care of my gardens and harvest her tomatoes when they are ready. Been a great arrangement for both of us. Production failures have occurred on both sides of the deal occasionally, but things have generally evened out over the years. -Tom

>>How old is your plant?Around 10 years, it doesn't grow very large, it keeps freezing back every winter, some sucker are coming up and have given away some plants. You can grow them from the seeds too. >>It looks like vineyNot really, this one is growing on a fence but it doesn't seem to wind itself around a wire. What do you do with the berries? Konrad

Snappers do not have the floating deck that the simplicity line does and the floating deck was the primary reason I wanted the Simplicity. The dealer I took delivery from also had Massey's but they were larger models. When I called the dealers on the simplicity site, all had switched to Snapper. I sent an e-mail to simplicity for help and they replied with an e-mail that I should try different zip codes in my area. I wrote back that it would be easier to input a larger search radius and that they should update their web site. They did not respond and have not updated their web site as of this posting. A friend who is a large user of Simplicity and Massey helped me locate a dealer.

Hi all, My 2008 Summary Overall, a pretty disappointing year. In 2007, I had 10 earthboxes and harvested over 600 tomatoes from twenty plants. For 2008, I built 18 additional boxes for a total of 56 plants and only harvested 400 tomatoes. I grew 17 varieties from seed (see below)...some were heirlooms and some were hybrids. I started my seeds six weeks before planting in my boxes on 1 April. My seedlings were on the "leggy" side but seemed to do fine once transplanting them. Ive decided that my great tomato variety experiment for 2008 ended up a "bust". I guess IÂm a heretic because 2008 taught me that I like the hybrids much more than the heirlooms. To me, the heirlooms donÂt taste any better than the hybrids and canÂt say IÂm wild about the catfacing, heavily ribbed/malformed fruit, and small fruit I got from the heirlooms. My hybrids produced much more fruit, larger fruit, and "prettier" fruit than did the heirlooms. The hybrid exception was Brandy Boy which had a lot of catfaced and malformed fruit. I understand beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I like big, round, smooth fruit...and plants that produce a lot of it. The hybrids give me the fruit IÂm looking for, the heirlooms didnÂt. Have included my list of varieties planted, how they did for me, and my Journal for the year. There may be a few useful tidbits in there you might find helpful. Also have some PICS at the end of the post. Some Thoughts: Spring 2008 could not make up its mind as to whether it wanted to be nice and warm (normal) or cold/windy so we got bothÂon a day to day basis. April and May are normally beautiful months for growing with warm days in the 70Âs and nights in the high 50Âs to low 60Âs. Our April had days from the high 70Âs down to the high 30ÂsÂright in the middle of blooming, pollinating and setting fruit. IÂm sure this probably accounts for a lot of the malformed/catfaced fruit I experienced. June was much hotter/humid than normal with temps that were more normal for July than June. I pruned heavily in the beginning so did not get my first clusters of fruit until about two feet up the stem. Next year I will rebuild my trellis system into a box so I can use a Florida weave around the perimeter of the plants because I donÂt plan on pruning next year. IÂll also build my trellis higherÂto 7 feet. I may also rethink two plants per container. IÂm convinced it doesnÂt affect production at all but it sure ends up being a jungle come mid-June when the plants are over 6 feet tall, very robust and growing into and around each other. I will use plastic truss supporters next year. Lost a few clusters I didnÂt catch in time which got so heavy from fruit that they broke the stems. Got hornworms first week in JuneÂjust like always. Bought a "Dustin Miser" from TGSÂworthless IMO!! Still had some problems with BER, especially with the Whopper CR from Park seeds. Had the same problem with them last year. Used some lime in my soil mix but it did not seem to help the problem. Wanted to try some cherry and paste types this year. Was not impressed with any of them (Linguisa and Rocky did the best) so will concentrate on all beefsteaks next year. My boxes and fertilizer strip worked fine just as they did in 2007. The fertilizer...couple cups epsom salt, couple cups of lime, couple cups of Fertilome tomato food. So hereÂs next yearÂs list: Supersteak, Big Beef, Beefy Boy, Better Boy, Whopper CR, Lemon Boy, Brandy Boy, and maybeÂCherokee Purple. Hope all of you have had a fun and bounteous gardening season. Cheers, Bing 2008 VARIETIES NUMBER TYPE NAME COMPANY 1-51318 BEEFSTEAK SUPERSTEAK BURPEE 2-61101 BEEFSTEAK BRANDY BOY BURPEE 3-6301 BEEFSTEAK PORTERHOUSE BURPEE 4-5433 BEEFSTEAK BIG BEEF PARKS 5-5339 BEEFSTEAK BEEFY BOY PARKS 6-5380 BEEFSTEAK WHOPPER CR PARKS 7-5600 BEEFSTEAK LEMON BOY PARKS 8-3722 BEEFSTEAK MARIANNAÂS PEACE TGS 9-5207 BEEFSTEAK CHEROKEE PURPLE TGS 10-5618 BEEFSTEAK AUNT GERTIES GOLD TGS 11-5833 BEEFSTEAK KELLOGGÂS BKFST TGS 12-54965PASTE BIG MAMA BURPEE 13-5045 PASTE OPALKA TGS 14-5070 PASTE ROCKY TGS 15-6260 PASTE POLISH LINGUISA TGS 16-6148 CHERRY BLACK CHERRY TGS 17-5645 BEEFSTEAK MEXICO TGS RESULTS: SUPERSTEAK FAIRLY LOW PRODUCTION BUT VERY LARGE 16-20 OZ FRUIT BEAUTIFULLY SHAPED TOMATOES NO CATFACING OR MALFORMED FRUIT TASTE WAS GOOD BRANDY BOY VERY ROBUST PLANTSÂLARGE TOMATOES (10-16OZ) PRODUCTION SEEMED TO DEPEND ON THE PLANT SOME GOOD SOME WITH LITTLE PRODUCTION ONE PLANT WITH ONLY TWO TOMATOES A LOT OF MISHAPEN FRUIT AND CATFACING MOST FRUIT WERE PRETTY HEAVILY RIBBED SOME NICELY SHAPEDÂLITTLE RIBBING VERY GOOD TASTE PORTERHOUSE LOW PRODUCTION BUT VERY LARGE FRUIT (14-20OZ) HEAVILY RIBBED FRUIT LARGE AND DEEP STEM SCARS BIG BEEF VERY GOOD PRODUCTION VERY NICELY SHAPED FRUIT LARGE FRUITÂ9-11 OZ BEEFY BOY GOOD PRODUCTION NICELY SHAPED FRUIT 8-10 OZ FRUIT WHOPPER CR NICELY SHAPED FRUIT GOOD PRODUCTION ALWAYS SEEM TO GET BER ON QUITE A FEW TOMATOES VERY GOOD SIZEÂ10 TO 14 OZ LEMON BOY VERY GOOD PRODUCTION VERY NICELY SHAPED FRUITÂ7-9 OZ TASTES GOOD MARIANNAÂS PEACE VERY POOR PRODUCTION SMALL FRUIT---3-4 OZ RIBBED AND SOME CATFACING PLANTS GOT SOME KIND OF DISEASE AT TOP OF PLANT IN CHEROKEE PURPLE MEDIUM/LOW PRODUCTION MOSTLY SMALL FRUITÂ3-5 OZ; ONLY 1 GOOD SIZED TOMATO GOOD TASTE AUNT GERTIES GOLD NO PRODUCTION AT ALL FROM 2 PLANTS KELLOGGÂS BKFST LOW PRODUCTION MOSTLY SMALL FRUITÂLARGER ONES VERY MISSHAPEN/CATFACED THE TASTE DID NOTHING FOR ME BIG MAMA VERY LOW PRODUCTION OPALKA LOW PRODUCTION SICKLY LOOKING PLANTS ROCKY BETTER PRODUCTION 5-6 OZ FRUITS POLISH LINGUISA BETTER PRODUCTION 5-6 OZ FRUITS BLACK CHERRY GOOD PRODUCTION PLANTS NOT VERY ROBUST LOOKING TASTEÂNOTHING SPECIAL FOR ME BUT FRIENDS LIKED IT MEXICO VERY LOW PRODUCTION 2008 JOURNAL ENTRIES: 17 FEB 108 POTS PLANTED IN 30 AND 42MM PEAT PELLETS. TWO SEEDS PER POT. PLANTED 5 PELLETS OF EACH TYPE TO GET 4 PLANTS PUT ON HEAT MAT TIL GERMINATED THEN TO LIGHT RACK THINK ITÂS BETTER TO JUST PUT ON REFRIGERATOR 24 FEB PLANTED ANOTHER 35 POTS DUE TO 80% GERMINATION RATE ALSO PLANTED 5 LEMON BOY AND CANTALOPE CANTALOPE GROWING VERY QUICKLY-SPROUTED 3 DAYS 26 FEB ABOUT 80 PERCENT GERMINATION RATE. BRANDY BOYS DID VERY WELL. NONE OF THE WHOPPERS GERMINATED. REPOTTED 64 PLANTS INTO 2X3" POTS ALLOWING THE OTHER 20 OR SO TO GROW A LITTLE MORE 42MM PELLETS MUCH EASIER TO TRANSPLANT THAN 30MM 6 MAR TRANSPLANTS SHOWING SOME SIGNS OF DISTRESS NOT DARK GREEN BUT SOMEWHAT PALE GREEN CAN SEE SOME VEINS WILL WATER AND FEED TODAY WITH NITROGEN MIX 15 MAR REPOTTED INTO 4X4 POTS SEEDLINGS "LEGGIER" THAN IÂD LIKE 25 MAR TOOK FLATS OUTSIDE TO HARDEN OFF FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS BROUGHT BACK INSIDE LEFT OUTSIDE WHEN LOW AT NIGHT S IN THE UPPER 50ÂS SEEDLINGS IN THE SHADEÂNO SUN 29-30 MAR REPLANTED INTO CONTAINERS ALL SEEM TO BE DOING WELL WILL LEAVE IN FULL SHADE UNTIL 6 APRIL 5 APR BAD THUNDERSTORM BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF SEEDLINGS. FIXED THEM THE BEST I COULDÂWEÂLL SEE 6 APR PLANTED THE OTHER 10 BOXES. SEEDLINGS IN POTS PRETTY BEAT UP SO TRIMMED ALL LOWER LEAVES. ON A FEW, ONLY HAVE TOP GROWTHÂWEÂLL SEE. BOXED PLANTINGS SEEMED TO RECOVER SOMEWHAT 7 APR BRIGHT AND SUNNYÂFULL SUN FOR FIRST TIMEÂWEÂLL SEE 13 APR SEEDLINGS PLANTED 29 MAR ALL DOING VERY WELL BEAT UP SEEDLINGS ALSO DOING WELL..NO PROBLEMS SO FAR SET UP THE REMAINING 10 TRELLISES AND STRING 25 APR PLANTS THAT WERE DAMAGED ON 5 APR HAVE RECOVERED NICELY HAVE SOMETHING ON SOME OF THE LOWER LEAVES OF SOME PLANTSÂCANÂT IDENTIFY WHAT IT IS FIRST BUDS STARTING TO APPEARÂALL LOOKS GOOD 30 APR FED PLANTS LIQUID BLOOMING FERTILIZER ON 28 APRIL HAVE A FEW BUDS BUT THEY ARE HALFWAY UP THE 3 FOOT HIGH PLANTSÂNEXT YEAR DONÂT PRUNE ALL THE LOWEST SUCKERSÂLET SOME GROW OUT PLANTS ARE DOING WELLÂNO PROBLEMS SO FAR MORNINGS ARE A LOT COOLER THAN I REMEMBER FOR LATE APR 1 MAY FIRST TOMATOES SET 7 MAY LOTS OF FLOWERS NOW 10-15 MAY LOTS OF TOMATOES SET NOW ALL PLANTS LOOK GOOD EXCEPT THE TWO PASTE PLANTS (OPALKA AND ROCKY) PORTERHOUSE -UGLY FRUIT (HEAVILY RIBBED) BUT A PRETTY GOOD FRUIT SET-BIGGEST TOMATOES SET FIRST CASES OF BER SEEN ON A COUPLE OF TOMATOES FED WITH BLOSSOM FOOD AND CALCIUM SOME PLANTS ALREADY OVER TOP OF TRELLIS AT 6 WEEKS 23 MAY-27 MAY REMOVED 9 WHOPPERS WITH BER-RETHINK FOR NEXT YEAR CATERPILLARS HAVE SHOWED UP-WILL TREAT WITH BT BIG BEEF HAS BEST FRUIT SET-20 OR SO FRUITS PORTERHOUSE FRUIT LOOKS GOOD LEMON BOY ALSO LOOKS GOOD NOT IMPRESSED WITH ANY OF THE PASTE TYPES LOTS OF BLOSSOM DROP AND NOT SETTING FRUIT SOME PLANTS 7Â PLUS MAYBE ONLY 1 PLANT PER BOX NEXT YEAR WITH NO PRUNING 28 MAY TREATED CATERPILLARS WITH BT 3 JUN PICKED FIRST RIPE TOMATOÂA SMALL BEEFY BOY WITH BER!! FIRST TWO BLACK CHERRIES ALMOST RIPEÂA DAY OR TWO CATERPILLERS A PROBLEMÂKILLED 2 BIG ONES PORTERHOUSE ARE GETTING REALLY BIG NOW SOME MORE BER ON PASTE TYPES SOME LEAVES STARTING TO SHOW PROBLEMSÂESPECIALLY BOTTOM LEAVES 10 JUN PICKED FOUR RIPE TOMATOESÂ1 PORTERHOUSE, 1 BRANDY BOY, 1 BIG BEEF, 1 BEEFY BOY AND ABOUT 12 BLACK CHERRIES 11 JUN LOTS OF TOMATOES NOW STARTING TO RIPEN. CUT AWAY A LOT OF FOLIAGE SO I CAN SEE ALL THE TOMATOES. REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE SIZE OF THE SUPERSTEAKSÂNOT A GREAT DEAL OF FRUIT BUT THE FRUIT ARE VERY BIG AND WELL FORMED. DEFINITELY REPLANT NEXT YEAR. THE PORTERHOUSE ALSO PRODUCE A NICE BIG TOMATO BUT ARE HEAVILY RIBBED. NOT A GREAT DEAL OF PRODUCTION WITH THEM. THE BEEFY BOY AND THE BIG BEEF HAVE BOTH SET A LOT OF WELL SHAPED FRUIT. THE LEMON BOYS HAVE ALSO SET A LOT OF FRUIT. NOT IMPRESSED WITH MEXICOÂTHINK ONLY ONE OR TWO TOMATOES. BRANDY BOY SEEMS TO DEPEND ON THE PLANT. SOME HAVE A LOT OF FRUIT AND OTHERS HAVE NONE. A LOT OF THE FRUIT IS MALFORMED OR CATFACED. WHOPPERÂSOME GOOD AND SOME BAD. THINK IÂLL FORGET ABOUT ANY PASTE TOMATOES FOR NEXT YEAR. NOT IMPRESSED WITH OPALKA. SPINDLY PLANTS AND NOT A LOT OF FRUIT. THE ROCKY AND POLISH LINGUISA ARE THE TWO BEST. BIG MAMA PRETTY MUCH A DUD. THE BLACK CHERRY TASTE TO ME WAS NO BIG DEAL. HAVENÂT SEEN TOO MUCH CATERPILLER DAMAGE LATELY. 14 JUN TRIED THE FOLLOWING: BRANDY BOY---VERY GOOD FLAVOR LEMON BOYÂVERY GOOD ALSO CHEROKEE PURPLEÂALSO GOOD KELLOGGÂS BKFST----NO FLAVORÂDID NOT LIKE IT MUCH 19 JUN CUT STEMS ON ABOUT 8 PLANTS CATERPILLARS ARE GETTING BADÂHAVE NOT SPRAYED AGAIN SUPERSTEAK ARE HUGE TOMATOESÂ1-2 POUNDS PORTERHOUSEÂALSO BIG BUT HEAVILY RIBBED MOST OF CHEROKEE PURPLE VERY SMALL-ONLY ONE BIG ONE AGGÂLOSER! KELLOGGÂS BKFSTÂLOSER MARIANNAÂS PEACEÂLOSER PASTESÂNOT IMPRESSED, POLISH LIGUISA AND ROCKY THE BEST 25 JUN ABOUT DONE FOR THIS YEAR ESTIMATE ABOUT 70 TOMATOES LEFT ON THE VINE CUT STEMS ON A BUNCH OF PLANTS LESSONS LEARNED: PLANT ONLY 4/5 WEEKS PRIOR TO PLANTING GROW IN COOLER TEMPÂGARAGE TRY "SUNGOLD" CHERRY NEXT YEAR DONÂT PRUNE AT ALL NEXT YEAR BUILD SQUARE PVC TRELLIS TO GO AROUND OUTSIDE OF BOX AND BUILD TRELLIS ANOTHER FOOT HIGH MAYBE ONLY ONE PLANT PER BOXÂVERY CROWDED BIG BEEF LOOKS LIKE A WINNER WHOPPERS HAVE BER AGAIN BUT NICE 11OZ TOMATOES LIKE PORTERHOUSE AND SUPERSTEAK FOR BIG FRUIT CATERPILLARS SHOWED UP AROUND 21 MAY LIKELY CANDIDATES FOR NEXT YEAR: LEMON BOY BRANDY BOY BIG BEEF BEEFY BOY SUPERSTEAK-BIG TOMATOES CHEROKEE PURPLE WHOPPER BETTER BOY CELEBRITY