Hi There CFDoc, Your garden looks great and I live just down the road (in Oakland). I planted my tomatoes on the 15th of August. So mine are just a few weeks behind yours. In fact, a few are just ripening up now. These are our ripe Sun Golds and the rest is not far behind. We already ate some Yellow Submarines. The rest are not ready yet. TodayÂs menu is Japanese Eggplant and some salad from the below garden picture. Best, Willy

I know your climate is a little different than mine (later frost date for one) but I'll chime in anyway... Ideally, I like to grow many or most of my fall plants in containers so they can be moved around, but I have gotten a bit lazy about that in the last couple of years. That way I can give them a little afternoon shade when they need it, and move to a better sun area later in the season. Plus it provides more flexibility if one needs to protect for whatever reason (frost, storms). I don't have the hurricane problems here, but I do have the intense heat to deal with when they are planted out, plus the same concerns deltacharlie mentioned with the sun angle changing and the days getting shorter later on. A poorly sited fall plant can take *forever* to ripen some fruit (at least for me in my area). Even a well-sited plant can take quite a bit longer to give me a ripe fruit than it would in the spring. Most of the vars I tend to like to grow in the fall are early to early-mid season, although I make some exceptions and grow some mid to even mid-late vars if I've personally found they seem to set well in the heat. After all, earlies may not be so "early" if you can't get them to start setting fruit when you need them to. Also, just about any cherry type is a go for fall crop because they set better in heat and can (usually) tolerate a bit more shade and still produce. Another general comment/suggestion I'll make since you're new to growing in a warm climate would be to plant out transplants that are on the large side. Those little plants that are grown in six packs, two inch pots, etc. usually don't tend to do as well. Short window of time in the spring to get fruitset before mid-late spring heat kicks in (at least here), and also those bitty ones can burn up in the heat if planted out for fall crop if you're not careful. I like to pot up once to at least 4" pots and grow nice, stocky 10-12" tall transplants before I even think of subjecting them to the tender mercies of the garden. A few vars I like for fall crop include: Sweet Quartz F1 - Very vigorous, fast growing (tall) plants, easy to grow, extremely productive. Good nematode tolerance in my experience. Sungold F1 - see above. Black Cherry - love the taste, probably my favorite cherry type. Marizol Korney - Sets well in heat, productive, very good to great taste. Moskvich - very good taste for a decent sized early red. Good for containers, plants get no more than 4.5 to 5' max for me. Black and Brown Boar - great taste, sets well in heat, productive. Mountain Princess - not exactly early, but sets well in heat. Very good flavor, extremely productive. 4-5 ft plants, good for containers.

I put a free sign out by the street. Most goes that way. I also donate to the food shelf. I just got myself a freeze dryer so that I can store food without taking freezer or canning space. I planted about 60 crowns of asparagus a few years back, so I'm expecting a huge harvest season soon. I've heard that it freeze dries well, and when reconstituted, tastes as good as fresh. I'm eager to try it! I also have over 50 kinds of fruit growing on the property, so it will be nice to have that freeze dried for consumption through the winter. I have about 50 blueberry bushes alone...I had no idea how many blueberries that would translate to, so I invite friends to come pick. It's great because I see people I wouldn't necessarily otherwise see and they are thrilled to go home with gallons of blueberries for free. I'm thrilled because I didn't have to pick them all, and I get to see friends and catch up. We also have a town-wide community forum where people post things like lost cats, furniture for sale...whatever. When I become inundated with too much produce, I plan to post free/inexpensive offerings. I finally divided my rhubarb plant and made 14 more; I'm assuming that will be one of the things I'll have plenty to give away! I've got tons of herbs, too. How much sage can one person use?!

That is what caused me to pay attention to that one, with so much Spicebush ST traffic these days.. Nonetheless, If I were forced to make a statement unjustified by sample size, I would say that the blacks are not as large as the yellows. What do you think? Many of the yellows that I see are as large as any Giant (larger than many, because Giants vary). Fanciful thought tempered by appreciation of the real : Although it would be a thrill to have a 10-foot wingspan beauty in the yard everyday, I never would exchange the numerous normal sized butterfiles for it.