Mine are really late, too....I bet I've only gotten ten pounds off of a couple of dozen plants so far. We had an early, warm spring and extremely hot temps all summer. The Stupice I've been saving for years have some weird spots on them, I tried Sweeties this year and so far most have split before they got ripe (not overwatered either). I tried Sun Sugars this year instead of Sungolds...they're really late, too (think I like SunGolds better). Back Krims only set a few fruits and the Legends are just starting. Thank goodness we don't have hornworms!

I lost a good portion of my garlic...500 or so bulbs, sighhhh. I thought I had a fungus or something, but it turned out to be Waxy Breakdown....due to extreme heat. They turned sort of amber and well, waxy. Edible and taste fine, but they won't store. Maybe a third of the cloves on each bulb are affected, and you can't tell. So I guess I'll just plant the heck out of it and dehydrate what's left. argh.

The (small) upside is I had basil coming out my ears and decent cukes for the first time ever.

I'm very intrigued by your tomato cobbler. Can you share the recipe?

I'm sorry about your poor harvest. Ours has come and gone. I planted two fall tomatoes, but they shriveled up and died almost as soon as I planted them. I don't know what happened. My best producer this year was lemon boy. I had never planted them before. Unfortunately, even though it was a great producer, it had little flavor. Oh well.

Sally

Yes, annie1992, please tell us about your tomato cobbler. Your picture is marvelous and makes me wonder if tomato cobbler tastes anything like tomato pie. At any rate, please share and thank you.

Good to hear you are getting some finally. We had a hot few weeks with no rain, then three days of rain, so i picked all that were blushing to ripen on the counter. No splits and that is unusual. Just had another hot week and no rain.

This weekend might be time to pick the last few.

Usually my reliables every year are the oxhearts. This year not so. Most had some hollows and not as flavorful.

I even had some sun scald that i've never had before.

The cobbler does look amazing!

I put a note in my seed save box to cut down on 'trials' for next year but i never stick to it as every year has good varieties and bad. Or few and late as you have had.

Still getting some nice BLT slices..

And a lot of catfacing, lol.

Annie, guess something is better than nothing. Yes, please share the cobbler recipe.

Katie, I read good reviews of Sun Sugars on a couple forums and was thinking about trying them next year along with Sun Golds. When I saw fall plants at the nursery I grabbed a couple, but they're slowly losing leaves to leaf miners.

Katie, my garlic did well, fortunately, and I got a ton of cucumbers, finally started just feeding those to the pigs as we couldn't eat them fast enough and I made several batches of pickles before I gave up.

CindyMac, I'm thinking of trying the SunSugars also, andt he SunGolds have become popular enough here that the minute they are set out in the nursery they are purchased. I ought to sell plants!

Sally, Amanda loves Lemon Boy and Taxi, usually either/both are sweet and delicious. This year nothing tasted exactly right.

Sleevendog, I got a lot of catfacing on my tomatoes too, and splits on the tops. I'm just feeling lucky to get any at all.

OK, the cobbler recipe. This stuff is addictive, I swear, and makes even my bland tomatoes taste good. I didn't toss in the cherry tomatoes at the end, just used my big ones as the cherries had already been roasted. I used dried thyme in the filling and some bouquet garni in the topping as I have no fresh herbs except chives and sage. The recipe is from the Food Network, I used theirs because I liked the addition of mustard in the topping.

Tomato Cobbler

Serves 6

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 large tomatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds), cut into 1-inch chunks

1 teaspoon packed light brown sugar

Kosher salt

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

3 tablespoons all-purpose flourFor the topping:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, thinly sliced

2/3 cup milk, plus more for brushing

2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the filling: Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and cayenne and cook 1 more minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, brown sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt. Bring to a simmerand cook until the tomatoes just begin to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, then gently stir in the cherry tomatoes and flour. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter.

Make the topping: Whisk the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal with pea-size pieces of butter. Add the milk, mustard and thyme and gently mix with a fork just until a sticky dough forms, being careful not to overwork the dough.

Drop balls of dough over the tomato filling and brush the dough with milk. Place the cobbleron a baking sheet and bake until golden and bubbling, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Annie

Definitely going to make that. I've been making a zucchini flower/tomato frittata every Sunday for weeks now. And again tomorrow if i have flowers. I line the bottom of the cast iron skillet with slices of zuc and onion.

Sun Golds have done well every year and come early, Rare to split. My Cuban Yellow seeds are from Tomato Growers Supply and also reliable. The best garden snackers...tart and lemony when just turning and transparent...sweet/tart when ripe.

Annie, I give away my extra plants. This year that was about 50. Don't ask me why I grow 3 times as many as I can plant in the garden. I know someone in another neighborhood who sells hers for $2 each. That would be easy cash, but more of a hassle. I set up a table and let people take what they want.

Thanks for the recipe! Sound delicious!

"And a lot of catfacing, lol."

Annie, your tomatoes, I don't see any likeness to cat's face.

However, the red one does remind me of another animal's body part.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb6z59MYHx1qanphi.jpg

dcarch :-)

dcarch, I think those are sleevendog's tomatoes, not mine. Thank goodness. (grin)

Cindy, I do the same thing, start far more plants than I can ever put into the garden. This year, though, I planted, then I replanted. They all died. (sigh) Except a couple of Carolina Reaper pepper plants that are still residing on my front entryway porch. They have blossoms, but now I've been told they grow 4 feet wide and 5 feet high, I don't know where the heck I'm going to put those!

Annie

Just when I thought the remain green toms on the vine were not going to turn red, they shocked me by turning. For the second time, my dining room table is covered in red and the patio has more still turning color. The San Marzano is taking the longest. Guess I am canning more tomorrow. I am thinking some tomato basil sauce would be good as I used the last two jars last night, and more sauce.

Cindy, I put my extra plants on top of my trash cans so that peole walking through the alley can help themselves. And some went to a neighbor this year too.

DC, you made me laugh out loud with that photo!

Horrible blight this year here in Maine. I had been picking any tomatoes that were beginning to color and ripening inside. And tossing any that developed the yucky black spots. I have a table full to go through and process tomorrow. Yesterday I gave up and cut the plants up and bagged them for the dump. I harvested about half the remaining green tomatoes - the rest had spots. And I will probably lose half of what I picked.

It has been a really weird year - very cold spring/early summer and warm late summer/early fall. And fairly dry. Plenty of downpours but not sustained slow drizzles.

I planted squash three times before I got decent germination. Then the plants just sat there forever. Now they are going gangbusters and have set a lot of fruit. But I am not sure many will ripen. Green pumpkins for Halloween.

But there is an incredible bounty of cucumbers apples pears plums this year. Trees are collapsing from fruit overload.

Silver linings....

Amanda

I grew Sun Sugars one year when I couldn't get Sun Golds. They were delicious. The following year, Sun Golds were back, and Sun Sugars were not. The Sun Golds, as wonderful as they are, don't hold a candle to the Sun Sugars. I'd love to find the Sun Sugars again.

If that recipe is good with even bland tomatoes, I plan to make it. I think it would go over well in my family. Thanks, Annie, for sharing the recipe.

Sally