Weekly Gardening Thread – 2009 Vol.8 – July 03

FreeRepublic | 7-03-09 | Red_Devil 232

[Red_Devil 232]

Good morning to all of you gardeners. I hope every one of you have a safe and Happy 4^th of July weekend! Since just about everyone grows tomatoes in their vegetable garden I thought I would share some information I stumbled across concerning when to pick your tomatoes.

Every tomato lover knows fresh, “vine-ripe” flavor is by far the best.

At the same time, many don’t know what “vine ripe” means. So, whether growing or buying tomatoes, they may be limiting their access to the top flavor of the season.

Tomatoes develop their optimum nutrition, color and flavor when they’re in the full red-ripe stage. But getting to that point doesn’t have to occur on the plant.

Tomatoes go through specific steps in developing “vine ripeness”:

* A gas called ethylene regulates the ripening process. Tomatoes start producing this gas internally when they reach full size and become pale green.

* When tomatoes turn about one-half green and one-half pink (called the breaker stage), a layer of cells forms across their stem, sealing them off from the main vine. At this stage, tomatoes can ripen on or off the vine with no loss of quality or flavor.

* Tomatoes don’t ripen at refrigerator temperatures. If harvested in the breaker stage, however, keeping them in a cool place (to a minimum 50 F) will slow down their ripening process. Keeping them warm (to a maximum 85 F) will rapidly bring full ripeness. And, once ripe, they can keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

This kind of control allows you to spread out the good eating over a longer period. A breaker-stage harvest also allows you to protect tomatoes from the heat extremes of summer. Tomatoes can’t form their red pigments when temperatures are above 95 degrees. They’ll still ripen, but they’ll end up a yellowish-orange.

Leaving tomatoes to ripen on the vine also increases the odds for cracking and other types of damage. Plus, it puts an increasing weight load on the viney plant.

[madamemayhem]

re: tomato picking.
i have also heard that it is best to pick ripe tomatos in the afternoon for best flavor. evidently the sugars are more prominent later in the day and this improves the flavor substantially. i believe green beans are the opposite but not sure.

[Tarheel]

This is allium. They are from the onion family and are similar in cultivation. The bulbs of this variety are huge and they last forever in the garden. Some of my bulbs are over 6 years old and still blooming nicely each spring.

I have grown some where the flower, as in your picture, is a foot across! There are many sizes of these things but I only grow the big ones. When the flower dries it can be used in dried bouquets in the fall

[Red_Devil 232]

Thanks. I thought they looked familiar. I had some blue allium growing in my landscaping when we lived in Louisiana.

[CH3CN]

These are not necessarily in order. It took a while to get them uploaded and they got a little mixed up as I re-sized them. I left them fairly large so you could see the details. Unfortunately, my disk got full as they placed the anvil and I got the new one in just after the explosion. I'll try to catch the placement and the boom this year.

The first photo is not the anvil. It is a thundermug.

[P8riot]

Whoah! That’s great! Looking forward to this year’s pics.

[girlangler]

Hi All,

I get to spend this week at home, as my sister came from Alabama to stay with Mom. Mom had the chemo side effects last week and was really sick, but she has bounced back and doing well now.

Gardengirl, I LOVE my yellow pear cherry tomatos. I have them planted in the ground, and in big pots everywhere. I planted some at Mom’s, as I knew I’d be over there a lot. I love the shape of these, and think every single seed I planted came up.

The other seeds you sent are also doing well. I have brocholli and lots of green beans to harvest.

I’m planning on buying a greenhouse and would appreciate any suggestions on good choices.

[madamemayhem]

now that is funny!

[madamemayhem]

i just put my first fresh picked green beans of the season on to cook. put in some new blue potatos and some onion (also from the garden) and now it can simmer away. my tomato plants are loaded but nothing turning yet, just lots of green tomato. my cucumbers are out of control. i have way more of those than i need. may have to do some pickles again. its been awhile since we made pickles. the purple cabbage is getting huge and setting some decent sized heads, a couple more weeks and some rain and we will be picking cabbage. the corn is setting fruit and tassels. it is hilarious because it is a red sweet corn. the tassel and silk are purple-ish color. my jalapeno plants are not as happy as i hoped they would be but hey if i make pickles there should be some peppers to flavor them. happy gardening and thanks for the floral fireworks, they are lovely. have a good 4th everyone.

[Red_Devil 232]

It is great to hear your Mom is feeling better!

[gardengirl]

Hey!

Glad your mom is doing better and glad you get a week off.!

Are the yellow pears great or what?! LOL You can keep seed from those as they are an heirloom variety. Just make sure they weren’t planted near another type of mater so they don’t cross pollinate. :)

Turned off hot and dry here so the LIAMs are faring rough. :(

We put up @ 30 qts of green beans and hubby said no more. :) I’ve got peanuts, field peas, butter beans @ to bloom. Squash and zukes and cukes fizzled out. Maters are so-so.

Have a great 4th!

[Marmolade]

Just came in from weeding one of the gardens. Was gone for about 3 weeks (dad died) and hubby got most of the other 2 gardens tended. Pulled a row of turnips and a few beets. Potatoes are flowering. I think we should have been hilling them all along. Not sure if its worth it at this point, as they are pretty tall. We got wonderful strawberries a couple of weeks ago. Looks like they are done for this year. Everything else is coming along, slowly it seems. Then again, we got a late start this year due to all the rain.

The veggie garden looks pretty good, but something is attacking my flowering plants this year. I don’t see any bugs on them, but there are round spots all over the leaves. One of the apple tree’s leaves is covered in rust this year. There are lots of pine/cedar trees around here, so not sure what can be done.

[abner]

Great fireworks!

I have tons of jalapenos and red chilis, a few bell peppers. I managed to somehow kill 2 cilantro plants. The 3rd is still going gangbusters.

Today I noticed that I have one cherry tomato starting to get ripe. Woo hoo!

The other day, I got to eat one green bean that seemed to come from nowhere. Yum!

[abner]

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

[lysie]

[Marmolade]

Thank you.

[Grammy]

Hey girl, welcome home! Enjoy your break.

I guess the best thing I can say about my garden is it is very neat.

I have had several servings of green beans, but they seem to have played out now so I think I will pull them up and start over. I yanked all the cabbage and broccoli I had. It was all being chewed to pieces by something, and wasn’t worth trying to save. So now I have some spaces for sewing new stuff.

The carrots are just plain refusing to grow. Beets and chard as well. I think our soil is just too young, and needs to be built up.

The tomatoes have a number of small ones showing. I am probably several weeks from eating though. The asparagus is doing great. The potatoes plants have started to fade in color and go yellow. I don’t know why.

Cukes, squash melons and zucs are all making nice progress. I have blossoms on all of the above, and very small zucs showing (I am ***sooooo*** excited!!!)

I am sure I won’t be able to put up anything this year, but at least I am starting to learn, and having some fun.

[lysie]

but at least I am starting to learn, and having some fun.

That's what it is all about. ..especially the fun part. :-)

[fanfan]

So sorry to hear about your Dad.
I miss mine too. Eventually the pain will pass, and you'll just have the great memories. :-)

I have round spots on my nasturtiums...it looks like something has eaten just the ‘meat’ and not the ‘frame’ of the leaf in those spots.

Could that be the tomato virus that's going around?

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090703/plant_disease_090703/20090703?hub=SciTech

[Red_Devil 232]

Late Blight On Tomato Leaves

[fanfan]

Thanks for the link Red_Devil 232.

That’s not what I am seeing.

I’ll take a picture tomorrow and post it.