Photos from my neglected 2012 garden (ie., blame the baby)

[OneDahlia]

Here are few photos from my 2012 garden. I planted 21 varieties, and got probably an average of 2 tomatoes per plant. The last photo shows my excuse. It was fun anyway, and helped with narrowing my choices down for next year.

My first tomato was a Sophie's Choice -- picked July 1, which was by far the earliest I've ever picked a tomato. No photo because it got eaten as soon as I realized it was ripe three days later. It was a good-sized tomato and I really liked its sweet taste and texture.

The next one I picked was Moravsky Div the next day, followed by Ludmilla's Pink Heart, Moskvich and more Moravsky Div on July 11. They were all pretty good but suffered a bit from early-season blandness. Moravsky Div was good but I prefer a sweeter tomato. Ludmilla's was disappointingly bland -- later tomatoes from that plant were better. Moskvich tomatoes were beautiful but had tougher skin and a lot of seeds and gel. The M's were quite productive all summer.

Sometime in mid-July I got the first Kosovo. LOVED that one -- great texture and sweeter taste, with few seeds.

At the end of July, I picked my second Kosovo, Rumi Banjan and Little Lucky. I loved the light taste of Rumi Banjan, but it had a little more gel than I like. Here's what I wrote about Little Lucky: "Little Lucky may be perfect tomato! Gorgeous texture and taste."

On August 1, I picked 2 Gary'O Sena, 2 Fish Lake Oxheart, 1 Siberian Pink Husky, 4 Rumi Banjan, 5 Moskvich and some Chocolate cherry, Sungold, Isis candy and Matt's wild cherry tomatoes (the Matt's from volunteer plants that I either allowed to grow or missed noticing). None of the cherry tomatoes did much or tasted very good except Matt's, which grew from volunteers. My favorite from this bunch was Gary'O Sena -- great texture and I loved the taste. My husband preferred the two pinks from that batch.

And after that, I pretty much totally ignored the garden, being too huge and uncomfortable to wander over there and get depressed over how the weeds were strangling everything and growing taller than me. Along with the weeds, a groundhog wrought some serious damage on the garden -- he got through our new fence and enjoyed some of my large early tomatoes, including a gorgeous huge KBX. I got just one or two of the other tomatoes I planted, or none at all. Baby was born 8/28.

A note on peppers -- I grew Carmen, Melrose, Aji Crystal, Jimmy Nardello, Corbaci, Poblano, and one or two others. By far my favorites were Aji Crystal -- we loved the light, citrusy, mild heat -- and Melrose, which was extremely productive and had a nice sweet taste. The others didn't produce anywhere near as much.

I have a few more photos to illustrate my novel above, but we're off to a conference for kid #2, so that's all for now.

[nicky]

Your garden sounds like it did well considering your condition! We grew a lot of the same varieties. I loved Kosovo & Little Lucky too.

I think your best harvest of the year was in that last picture. Congratulations! What a gorgeous photo

[Redbaron]

I agree, the 5th variety is clearly the best I have seen.

I tried growing that one year, but it sprouted, turned into weeds, and before I knew it was gone!

[kilroyscarnival]

Are you trying to list that adorable baby among your garden's pests?? Congratulations on all counts.

On a tomato note, I was going to grow Matt's Wild Cherry, but went with some others instead based on descriptions, including chocolate cherry which it doesn't sound like you were wild about. Taking notes on the peppers you liked too.

[OneDahlia]

Thanks all! We do think this one is a keeper. I am all too familiar with the weeds they can develop (see note about conference!), but they're so sweet as little seedlings.

Kilroyscarnival, Matt's wild cherry is a tiny, sweet and very tasty tomato in my garden. We weren't going to grow it this year because the tomatoes are so tiny, but I'm glad I left some volunteers to grow. I loved chocolate cherry and sungold at the farmer's market -- their poor performance and taste in my garden are probably due to slightly shady locations and lack of care. Chocolate cherry will probably do better for you!

[remy]

Nice pics! I was expecting to see the neglected garden. It is great that you got some nice fruit before the garden went downhill, but it was worth neglecting the garden for that cutie though!
Little Lucky is one of my favorites too.
Remy

[OneDahlia]

Remy, I bought Little Lucky from you based on your description, and thought you were right on -- luscious is the right word for it! I plan to plant several next year.

I have a photo of the garden on my phone, but I avoided saving much proof of my neglect. Maybe I should change my title. (OK, I changed it!)

[remy]

you didn't have to change the title! I was just having a little fun.
You got it from me. Well, I'm glad you agree on how wonderful it is!
Remy

[dustdevil]

I don't think one baby will keep up with all your weeds...perhaps a couple dozen more would suffice

[whistech]

Congratulations on your new little helper!

[OddBall]

Congratulations OneDahlia,
Your baby is such a cutie

[kilroyscarnival]

Originally Posted by OneDahlia

Kilroyscarnival, Matt's wild cherry is a tiny, sweet and very tasty tomato in my garden. We weren't going to grow it this year because the tomatoes are so tiny, but I'm glad I left some volunteers to grow. I loved chocolate cherry and sungold at the farmer's market -- their poor performance and taste in my garden are probably due to slightly shady locations and lack of care. Chocolate cherry will probably do better for you!

Hope so - I also got red currant and Mexico Midget. I forget exactly why I chose those and passed on Matt's. I added Lollipop also. I am a first-time grower, so who knows whether it will all work out?

[clara]

Congrats to the little cutie - it has the same birthday as my eldest daughter. All the best to the little girl or boy! clara

[clkeiper]

What a wonderful addition to your garden, a new baby plant! Congratulations.

[OneDahlia]

Thanks everyone!

Dustdevil --! That's all I can say about that one!
The older two and I worked on reclaiming the garden today, and I planted my garlic. I'm back in business and it feels great to be out there again!

Here are a few more photos. The last one was from my last check for salvageable veggies before Hurricane Sandy hit, and represented my entire eggplant harvest from 7 plants, lol. Eggplants do not appreciate not having their containers neglected, I guess. (And yes, I harvested the last potatoes in November, lol!)