California Gardening: What's up?

[Kouign Aman]

The munchkin dug up the basil sprouts. Round II is in progress.

The carrots have sprouted. And the weather got hot. It will be interesting to see if I can keep them damp enough to survive.

Anyone grow strawberries? We have a plant, its sent out two runners.

Once those root, do i cut them free from the mama-plant?

This weekend, the munchkin and I just beat a raven to the one ripe berry. It smelled & tasted like strawberry candy.

[Toliver]

It seems that the freeze has done wonders for roses. Every rose bush in my mom's neighborhood is bursting with blossoms and the neighbors are a-twitter over the blossom bonanza. So some good has come from the bad...

As for my mom's tomatoes, it turns out that the third plant didn't take, leaving her with just two plants in pots. One plant (don't know what type it is) has fruit but seems to be stunted. It just isn't getting any bigger so it may be a loss if it doesn't show signs of improvement. My brother will be planting two more for her soon, one being a cherry or grape (she hasn't decided which, yet).

But the one tomato plant that is going like gang-busters is the "Whopper". It's already about two-thirds as tall as a fully grown normal tomato plant. I am in awe and almost alarmed by it's thickness. Just looking at it you get a feeling of strength and vitality. The fruit it grows must be huge. Or at least I hope so...

[annecros]

My poor virginal tomatoes - covered with yellow flowers and no bees to dally with. They are getting moved closer to the rosemary soon.

The quince is just beginning to leaf out, and the peach has fruit already ripening. I didnt realize how different were the 'microclimates' in our yard. Herbs have been seeded and fingers are crossed they dont dry out mid-germination. Its been weirdly windy here. Spring is good.

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Oh don't worry. Most varieties of tomatoes are self-pollinated, and are actually pollinating themselves before they even bloom.

The only time to worry about tomatoes and bees would be if you wish to save seed and have several varieties growing close together, or if you are growing a first generation hybrid type tomato that you wish to save seed from. If you are a seed saver of an open pollenated or heirloom variety, then you have to bag the blossom so that the seed will be true to the parent. Hybrids won't be true to the parent no matter. Your open pollenated toms should be just fine and set fruit without the bees doing the heavy lifting.

There are one or two varieties of tomatoes that I have heard of that have a long stamen. Those almost have to be manually pollenated to get a prolific harvest

Spring is wonderful!

[mukki]

It seems that the freeze has done wonders for roses. Every rose bush in my mom's neighborhood is bursting with blossoms and the neighbors are a-twitter over the blossom bonanza. So some good has come from the bad...

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I noticed the same thing with my roses and the roses in my neighborhood. I was wondering what the cause was.

[Kouign Aman]

Last year, the potatoes just wouldnt get started. This year, I have 4 volunteers from tiny spuds that accidentally got left in the ground.

The carrots have sprouted, and the basil refuses to.

The gophers got the last remaining rose bush. The lavender decided to revive.

[Kouign Aman]

Most varieties of tomatoes are self-pollinated, and are actually pollinating themselves before they even bloom

I've been told this before but it doesnt match my experience.

The Early Girls were in bloom at the same time as the rosemary in the same location. There are a ridiculous number of tomatoes on those two plants. The other three varieties bloomed later, and have almost no fruit set (1-2 each): Mortgage Lifter, Big Beef and Mr Stripey.

I've tried pollinating them myself, but unsuccessfully. (It worked for the peppers tho, oh my!). So I'll be moving them to bee-happy locations this weekend.

Basil still reluctant, tho I'm getting sprouts from my third try at seeding this year. I may have to go to Trader Joes and buy one of their lovely $3 plants.

The lemon grass is in the ground - fingers crossed. Even dying it stays green a while so I wont know if it made the transition until it starts some new leaves (or doesnt).

I found a piece of trellis, so I may try planting some yard-long beans. Since I cant do that til July, Im not sure there'll be time enough for them.

[Toliver]

My mom was surprised to find two volunteer tomato plants growing in a pot she was using for a fern. My brother transferred them into new pots for her. She has no idea what kind they are. She says she's just hoping they're not the currant tomatoes from last year.

Her "Whopper" tomato plant is growing like gangbusters. She's got fruit on it in all different stages and lots of blossoms on the higher branches. It looks like she'll have tomatoes through Summer and early Autumn on this plant. The tomatoes at the bottom of the plant could start turning if only the June Gloom would go away.

[dockhl]

My Black Cherry tomato that I got from Cal Poly Tomatomania is beginning to ripen !

I've got fruit on two Early Girls, none on Rad Red, Purple Cherokee and German Strawberry. Flowers, happy looking , no fruit

BUT, I have an apricot tree that hasn't fruited in the two years that I've been here that is LOADED with tiny peach colored fruit that may be ready in the next few weeks. What the heck is this? My other apricot is just green as all get out.........

[mukki]

I had about 6 volunteer tomato plants crop us this year, but had to pull them all out since I had no room for them.

My nine Babcock peaches were ripening nicely, but I just went out to find the gardeners stole 5 of them this morning. Did they think I wouldn't notice? I suppose most people don't keep count of each piece of fruit. And we had just spoken to one of the guys today about the boysenberries someone took last week (which was everything that was ripe). A part of me feels miserly, but, really, I wait all year for this stuff and I'm rather pissed off to find it gone.

Edited to add some pics:

Venus Grapes (supposedly will have a "strong, foxy flavor")

Babcock peach (hope that spot doesn't indicate a worm)

Boysenberries

Blueberries from my 3 plants (O'Neal, Misty and Star varieties)

Edited June 10, 2007 by mukki (log)

[dockhl]

I'd be furious. One year I had 12 pomegranates ripening and the damned squirrels got every one the day before I was going to pick them.

Squirrel stew, anyone?

[Toliver]

It's the same with my mom's tomatoes. Last year she had a night critter gnawing on the not-yet-picked-but-ripe-enough fruit. They didn't even have the courtesy to take the fruit off the plant. It's as if they left the partly eaten fruit on the vine to taunt her.

[Octaveman]

Very nice looking fruit Mukki. I'd be pissed too if people were stealing the goods.

[dockhl]

It's the same with my mom's tomatoes. Last year she had a night critter gnawing on the not-yet-picked-but-ripe-enough fruit. They didn't even have the courtesy to take the fruit off the plant. It's as if they left the partly eaten fruit on the vine to taunt her.

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RATS.........both expletive and noun !

We had fruit rats in Diamond Bar. Love avocados, too. (Farmer once told me that the best way to trap them is to "go up in a tree and make a sound like an avocado" !!)

Little (sometimes not-so-much) bast***ds..............

[mukki]

I've had rat problems in the past but OC's vector control will come out and install a bait station. Works really well. The roof rats are kind of cute little buggers, though. I've watched them eat my tomatoes at night from an upstairs window.

I tasted my first peach off my tree and... it wasn't very good. Smelled great, but the flavor was very watery. I wonder if I've been overwatering a bit, or if the tree doesn't get enough sun, or if it's because it's the first year. Maybe losing most of my crop (the window washers stole 2 out of the remaining 5 peaches the other day even after I put up a "please don't pick" sign!) wasn't so terrible after all.

[Kouign Aman]

We've gotten 3 delightful strawberries so far, and a 4th is soooo close to picking. We're in tight competition with a local raven. He's sampled 2 of the 3 so far, but not taken the whole berry. We continue to experiment with various scarecrows. He stole the first one (a foil flag), we think because it was shiny!

Those pics are mouthwatering.

[Octaveman]

Kouign, sorry, but that kind of cracks me up with the 3 strawberries. We spend all this time watering, babying, protecting the precious strawberry plants only to get a small handfull of fruit. I had a miniature SB plant once and I was all excited when I saw fruit coming and after all my patience and nurturing, I got a few berries that were about the size of a dime. Most definately not worth the payout.

[Kouign Aman]

Octave, no need to apologize. It is funny.

The munchkin was given the plant as a gift, I stuck it in a windowbox type planter, its sending out shoots and flowers and fruit in all directions, but there is only so much one plant can produce. On the other hand, the munchkin enjoys watching the flowers become berries and the berries become red. And I'm frankly stunned it produced anything at all. I thought for sure it would just sit there, and die slowly.

[Toliver]

My mom pulled two red "Whooper" tomatoes off the vine only to find black bottoms. One was quite bad but the other didn't have as much. She was quite disappointed. The soil in the planter pot was fresh. It was Mircale Gro soil, in fact. My brother told her not to worry, that the rest of the fruit on the plant should be okay (the plant is loaded with immature fruit and flowers). So she's going to hold off on adding calcium until she sees more fruit from this plant.

Given how virile this plant looks I wouldn't be surprised if it's already sucked all the nutrients out of the soil.

Meanwhile, she's amazed at the two volunteers that are growing like gangbusters. She still thinks they're currant tomato plants. She said she'll yank them if they are but I suggested (again) that she give them to her neighbor with the grandkids since they fell in love with them last year. At least they'll do someone some good.

edited to add that she is far enough inland that the June Gloom hasn't hurt the tomatoes too much. It burns off mid-morning and doesn't come back in until between 4pm and 5pm. That seems to be enough sun.

Edited June 18, 2007 by Toliver (log)

[annecros]

My mom pulled two red "Whooper" tomatoes off the vine only to find black bottoms. One was quite bad but the other didn't have as much. She was quite disappointed. The soil in the planter pot was fresh. It was Mircale Gro soil, in fact. My brother told her not to worry, that the rest of the fruit on the plant should be okay (the plant is loaded with immature fruit and flowers). So she's going to hold off on adding calcium until she sees more fruit from this plant.

Given how virile this plant looks I wouldn't be surprised if it's already sucked all the nutrients out of the soil.

Meanwhile, she's amazed at the two volunteers that are growing like gangbusters. She still thinks they're currant tomato plants. She said she'll yank them if they are but I suggested (again) that she give them to her neighbor with the grandkids since they fell in love with them last year. At least they'll do someone some good.

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Park's Whopper Improved? I voted it out. Yes, a lovely big virile vine. I pulled a "Whopper" yesterday that was the size of a golf ball. Won't do that one again.

My favorite is a stupid, generic "Pink Beefsteak" that came from a plant I bought at a big box store. The birds and I are daring one another to touch it...

[Kouign Aman]

Early Girls are usually pretty mid-sized, about half the size of a tennis ball. But this year there is one, hiding behind the normally sized others, that will rival the beefsteaks when its ripe. And dadnabit, its going to ripen for the housesitter. Lucky gal!

The tomatoes are turning orangey red, the basil is finally growing. July 4th might be allowed to happen after all!

[annecros]

Early Girls are usually pretty mid-sized, about half the size of a tennis ball. But this year there is one, hiding behind the normally sized others, that will rival the beefsteaks when its ripe. And dadnabit, its going to ripen for the housesitter. Lucky gal!

The tomatoes are turning orangey red, the basil is finally growing. July 4th might be allowed to happen after all!

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If it is showing any color at all, pull it and take it with you. Any windowsill will ripen it out.

Forget the housesitter. You will appreciate it more than she will, and gosh darn it, you grew the thing.

[VenerableBede]

so, am in san francisco (inner sunset if you are familiar) and ground is very sandy. moved in last year, a tree in the backyard, thought nothing of it since it didn't do anything last year and the backyard had been neglected for who knows how long. cleared the back yard, and this spring the tree blossomed with what looked like cherry blossoms (used to live in d.c., so that's my only reference).

for the garden, tried several starts and planted them, only things to have taken in the backyard are onions, squash, thyme and cilantro. replaced everything else, and tried again. this time the 4 tomato plants are taking off (cherry, roma, early girl and something else), but the peppers (red bells and anaheim) are having a tough time of it.

back to the tree. . .after 2 months or so, we notice green fruits starting to show on the tree, all over the place. couldn't figure out what it was. . apricots? plums?? something else??? over the past 2-3 weeks, the fruits changed color to reveal themselves as plums. they are much smaller than plums i'm used to, and are beginning to fall off the tree. so, i'm shooting to start picking this week.

[Kouign Aman]

A gift plum tree - what a treat! Plum jam/jelly is lovely stuff.

The housesitters got the first two tomatoes (including the giant) but we picked one last night to have with our burgers. It was delicious. Classic Early Girl - excellent flavor and body texture, with the skin being a bit more resilient and thick than optimal.

We're gonna overwater those babies the next two days and try to stretch the skin tight before we pick a small pile for the first B&Ts of the summer. Fortunately, the bacon texture overrides the skin texture. For burgers, we can always blanche and peel before slicing.

[Toliver]

The fruit from the Whopper tomato plant my mom planted is wonderful. The tomatoes are meaty (hardly any "goop" inside) and full of flavor. While they aren't "Whoppers" in regards to their size, they are in flavor.

Homegrown tomatoes rock.

My brother is a mail carrier and saw that one of his customers was growing rather large tomatoes in his garden. My brother asked the customer what his secret was to get such large tomatoes. The man replied "What are tomatoes mostly made up of?" "Water" my brother replied. That was the guy's secret...to water them every day instead of every other day like my brother had been doing. My brother changed his watering pattern and since then, he says his tomatoes are quite a bit larger than they had been. Go figure.

[Kouign Aman]

The week-long visit to the bees worked. That plant has a couple dozen tomatoes, all the same size and stage. Mr Stripey has only 4, but they are starting to ripen. MortgageLifter has a whopping two medium sized fruits. I'll look me up some 'Whopper' plants next year.

The munchkin is asking for tomatoes for a snack, and wolfing them down. :happy dance:

Bacon/Tomato sandwiches are back in the rotation - summer is really here!

And there are 3 budstalks on the over-wintering tuberrose!