How did I miss this post.... Winners: Red Haven Peach - Still my favorite peach so far Muscadine grapes (All of them) Blueberries (All of them) Violette de Bordeaux fig (Always delicious).. but it dies back to the ground each year.... Black mission fig (Always delicious) American plum (Magically delicious jelly) Yates apple Horse apple Loosers: Brambles - Bitter.... All of them (Black, Rasps, Boysens, etc..) 2013 is going to be their make or break year.... Sugar queen peach - Worthless rotten ball of bugs.... Dug it up. Esophaus Spitzenberg apple - Fireblight destroyed it. Still on the bubble: Rebecca's gold Pawpaw - 3 years old and 12" tall... It's going to go away next year if it doesn't kick into grow... Pakistan mulberry - This is going to be it's last year if they don't taste better.... Concord grapes - I think it's too hot. Don't get reliable ripening. Fuzzy kiwis - 3 years old and no flowers... Roadside dug up peach - Small, green, and very bitter/inedible fresh till it's fully 100% ripe... but bugs and rot don't bother it... Ripe flavor is getting better every year.... "Elberta" peach - I don't think it's actually an Elberta... No fruit this year. Methley Plum - Reliable, but I'm not real enamored on it's flavor... I classify this plum in the "A bird in the hand" category so to speak... Italian prune - Too hot in full sun. Transplanted to the shade and it seems to be recovering. 2013 is it's make it or break it year... LSU purple fig - tastes "Grassy" until LATE in the season, then it's barely on par with all the other marginal figs... I don't like it - except that the kids like eating fresh figs off the tree early - and this gives them some fruit.... Thanks

In my opinion, I think they are starving to death. Yes, the bedding is food for them, yada yada yada, but I think they need some food. Some coffee grounds and a piece of lettuce isn't going to cut it. If you don't eat much fruit or veggies, do you have any friends or family members that do? Any time I go to a family get together, I take home produce that is going bad in their frig (with their permission). If someone at work is eating a banana at lunch, I ask if I can have their banana peel. I explain that I compost, I don't go into the whole worm thing. Some grocery stores will give you produce that is going bad and they're going to throw away. Going to a picnic? Take a couple gallon ziploc bags and put the watermelon and cantaloupe rinds in it to take home, along with any leftover veggies from veggie trays. After Halloween, ask your neighbors if you can have their pumpkins when they're ready to throw them away. Cut them up and put them in your freezer for worm food. Worms LOVE pumpkin. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I started out with one worm bin, and now have 6. Deanna

Californian (OP) said: "Black Cherry-OK, but not sweet enough for me" Funny how different tomato lovers have different taste. Frankly, I absolutey love the acidity of Black Cherry, and can't pass it w/o taking a handful when out hunting hornworms. Somehow they remind me of my boyhood in New Jersey in the Fifties stopping at the veggie stands for fresh tomatoes on the way home from the shore. Btw, veggies in New Jersey - you bet and I dare say they're terrific, but I digress ..... Our worst tasting diasppointment this year has been two Yellow Pear - mushy and tasteless. No, I didn't intentionally plant them, unfortunately, the nursery (or their supplier) had them mismarked as Lemon Boys. Aah you say, Lemon Boy isn't exactly a big winner in this forum either but it sure has been good to us over the years - prolific, disease resistant and on the acid side, too - yummmmm ..... Another surprise is Kentucky Beefsteak, not prolific but mighty tasty.

I havent watched the show in a few years because I think it does a disservice to the general public and is very unrealistic. These people are eating 1,000-1200 calories a day and exercising 6-8 hours a day. They are at the ranch for around 16 weeks and then I think they are home for 2-3 months before the finale. I did hear Rachel interviewed on tv and she lost 155 lbs in 7 months(which would mean 4 mos at the ranch and 3 at home) ...that's an AVERAGE of 22 lbs. a month. Even Dr. Oz came out and said it is unhealthy to lose at the pace they do....and all his show seems to be about now is the latest weight loss diets/gimmicks. When you see people losing 12,15, 17 lbs in a week and then you get on the scale and see 1 lb, it makes YOU feel like the biggest loser..in that, how come you only lost a lb.? There's no way these people can keep up these routines when they return to their normal lives and are working again so of course they put weight back on. I also read an article a few years ago that what they don't show you is all the injuries they incur because they are pushed so hard from the get-go. You cant take a sedentary 300 lb person and expect them to walk a mile first time out or do 45 minutes at 3.5 on the treadmill, etc. without developing knee, hip and other injuries. I don't find the show inspiring at all because it is so unrealistic.