quote:

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Originally posted by peppereater:
My tomatoes do well mostly in variations of the lasagna bed...I thought I had invented that type of gardening the first time I did it! I did that 7 years ago as an experiment! And didn't hear that term until last year, or the description.

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That's funny, cause......
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I THOUGHT I INVENTED IT.. heehee,
seriously...

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Got one word!!!
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COMPOSTTTTTTTT!!!

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

I added 6" of wood chips to the east half last fall, and I have about 6" piled on the west end, and have some more left for the east end.

My compost pile was VERY big. I plan to get some more wood chips from the city this year. I also added some lime, and some 27-13-13 to it to help it.

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.

I have not heard anything good about Totally Tomatoes. These are more reputable sources of tomato seed.

Tomato Growers Supply
Sand Hill
Marianne's
Heirloom Tomatoes
Seed Saver's Exchange

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John - Zone 6

quote:

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Originally posted by weezie13:
I think a member of ours, though I haven't spoken with him in a bit, RICK, grows seeds for there,
I think.. I'll have to find out from him...

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I'm a first year member. I just got their annual yearbook. Over 100 pages of unique OP tomatoes. I've ordered many tomato varieties from their public catalog and have about another 15 varities I'm requesting from the yearbook.

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John - Zone 6

Peppereater,

I didn't save any seed from Aunt Ruby's last year so my stock is pretty low. I do have an excess of Black Plum that I can send you. PM me with your mailing address.

John, I'm so looking forward to joining SSE with all the talk and drooling going on regarding the yearbook. I have to see what all the fuss is about. Of course it just feeds my tomato obsession, lol. It'll have to wait until next year, though. This year the budget's very tight. The big purchase I'm looking forward to in March is a set or two of shop lights for the seedlings.

Weezie, I haven't grown Siberia so I can't speak to whether it's a good variety. Like whoever mentioned before about Rutgers, it's a very decent canning tomato, so it doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't like it as a slicer. Get your hands on some German Red Strawberry seeds. That one doesn't get huge and it's a WONDERFUL fruity tomato for eating out of hand and not too big.

Cheers,
Julianna

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quote:

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Originally posted by weezie13:
With what you posted,
I'd get some kind of manure too...

Pat, with all that wood chips, the manure will
help... it'll ad to the nitrogen the plants need, and help break down the woodchips..

and if for the area for your tomatoes,
I'd lay off the lime....

Tomatoes love acid, like you'd get from leaves, pine needles and wood stuff.....

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I already have a place to pickup a truck load of cow manure. Was going to do that last week, but I didn't have time.

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.

quote:

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Originally posted by peppereater:
Anyone want Cosmic Orange Cosmos seed?

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Sure! I can throw in few German Red Strawberry if you want.

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John - Zone 6

Pat,

quote:

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I already have a place to pickup a truck load of cow manure. Was going to do that last week, but I didn't have time.

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Then you are alllllll set to go...

Try some orangic fert's too, Cotton meal,
blood meal, I think, oh, goshhhhhh, brain drain,
Terry posted some somewhere's around here of some good mixes to mix up too...
Try some experimenting...

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Do you all like Early Girl???? I've started some from seed this year and it's the first time I've tried them.

quote:

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Originally posted by weezie13:
Just fixed your quote mike, that was all!

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Thanks Weezie. BTW, is there a way to reply to a specific message? I didn't see one.

Mike

Let me tell you, My mom planted a few of the tomato seeds from Comfrey, and a few store bought, and Comfrey's are ZOOMING past the store bought!!!! Can't wait to start mine!!!!!!!!!

Ninni

PS. Thanks again Comfrey!

quote:

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Originally posted by johnCT:
Early Girl is very productive, but not much on taste.

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Thanks John, that's just what I wanted to know......

Does your mom like the taste of them Weezie? Do you?

Good thing I also have beefsteaks, romas, and cherry tomatoes to fall back on.

Well if nobody gave them back then they can't be all that bad right!

Well, I guess you never know...everyone likes different things, and different tastes...Maybe I'll like these more than any others...You just don't know. Last year we gave a ton of them away too...to anyone that would take them...Mark took them to work, I gave them to neighbors, etc....

Arkansas Traveler, Costoluto Genovese, Stupice(Very Early) and Homestead 24 are known to be very heat tolerant OP varieties.

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John - Zone 6

I have yet to grow AT or CG. I'm a fan of trying as many new varieties as you have room for. There are just so many better tomato varieties than just the common hybrids. I need to give Stupice another try. I grew it last year for the first time. It was not a great year for tomato growing here in CT. Spring seemed to last forever and then right into the hot summer temps. The early varieties on my list this year are Kimberly, Taxi, Silvery Fir Tree and possibly Siletz if I can find the room.

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John - Zone 6

I am alll giddy over so much tomato talk..
Here it is February and I'm wanting it to be Aug/Sept already to be eating these wonderful TOMATOES we all keep talking about...

You guys are THE BEST!!

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Peppereater/Dave,

You've got mail. I'd love some of your cosmos seeds if you still have some to spare. I'm pretty clueless about most flowers but I have had some success with growing cosmos from a large packet of mixed butterfly garden flower seeds so hopefully that will work again. Mostly I grow flowers thatn I can eat: pansies, nasturtiums, sunflowers.

Regarding isolation distances for tomoto seed-saving. You're right, Dave, I grow a LOT of varieties and I don't isolate them so what I do instead is cover the blossoms with a tule bag, like those sold at wedding favour supply stores. They have a little wee drawstring so you just cover the flower cluster and pull the string carefully against the stem to prevent cross-pollination. Once you see a tiny tomato growing inside the bag, remove it and mark that tomato or cluster with a bright coloured string or ribbon so you can find it later. Save the seeds from several different bagged tomatoes and you'll have yourself some seed that should breed true the following year. Keep in mind this won't work for hybrids so you want to check the package. If it says "F1" that is an indicator that you've got a hybrid. Look for OP or Heirloom on your packaging and save those seeds.

Weezie, you want tomatoes that are like Celebrity or Beefsteak. I've told you what I think of Celebrity, lol. A beefsteak just refers to a large slicing tomato and you've already indicated that you don't like the real huge ones. John's got some extra German Red Strawberry seeds and I think that variety would be an AWESOME one for you to try this year. It's productive for a heart-shaped variety and the fruits are really outstanding.

I have to agree with John, Early Girls are well...just early. They taste like cardboard to me and that's not hybrid snobbery, I really do love Sungold cherry tomatoes and they're a hybrid. I just don't like Early Girls, especially since there are so many other earlies out there that beat EG hands down. Probably the best early we tried last year was Azoychka, a medium yellow, slightly flattened beefsteak from Russia and I'd also have to mention Silvery Fir Tree which gets another go in our garden this year for a really lusty, jump in your mouth red.

C'mon Weezie, come on up to Heirloom Heaven..John and I will keep your seat warm ;o)

Cheers,
Julianna

PS more about seed saving as the season progresses. John and I can help you out on that score. It's messy but fun.

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Dave...everyone (not me) here in Arkansas swear by the Arkansas Traveler, I tried them one year, but I wasn't crazy about the taste. But our weather here is pretty close to what you get Dave...My Dad lives in Oklahoma and I get a weather report every time we talk, at least weekly, so I know the weather is pretty similar...Hot, dry and humid in summer

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Same here BigBoy. I'll be shooting for the weekend of April 1st also. If I can control myself that is! I'm most likely gonna experiment by starting a Silvery Fir Tree, a Kimberly and maybe a Stupice in a couple weeks though to see how early I can get a ripe fruit.

As far as tilling, I do it once a year in the fall to mix in my compost and thats it. Otherwise I'll use a digging fork to turn over soil if I need to. Tilling often just does too much damage to the soil's structure IMO.

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John - Zone 6

quote:

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You scare me with the talk about taking your pruning tool to bed with you. Does your husband know?!

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Ooooooooh yeah, he knows, he's put his foot down.. he won't let me...
and he says I can't wear my MUCK BOOTS either

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

I have some roma, cherry and grape tomatoes sprouted and I got some brandywine from Obywan that I hope to plant real soon I just need to find a spot. indoor space is definitely at a premium now. Once I start planting outdoors it won't be so bad I guess lol.

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Tammy,
Congrats on the "sprouts"
It's still wayyyyy too early for up here..
Afternoon temps are 100+*'s in the greenhouse,
but below 32*'s at night still!!!

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Does it matter if I plant all sorts of tomatoes close together, was wondering about cross pollination?

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I feel more like I do now than I did before I ever felt this way.

Hum so when I save seeds from mine this year they will be just plain tomatoes? I don't have enough space to plant them in different places. Almost wish I did though. But that's ok. Who knows maybe the hybred will be even better next year lol.

does it work the same for the peppers?

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