The 2017 Chronicles of a Newbie Gardener

[Banadoura]

These plants are vigorous and healthy, it's too bad the weather is not helping, I seriously wonder if I'll get to eat tomatoes this summer. It has been raining a lot!


When will I get to taste these fruits?

[Banadoura]

GGWT has some very nice fruits that I am patiently waiting for!

[Banadoura]

These fruits are deformed, maybe because of the rain or the stress experienced when I transplanted them out. Remember, this has been a cold and rainy spring spreading into the summer.

One of the fruits looks like a heart!

[Banadoura]

Also waiting on the Taxi fruits to ripen:


I wish the weather would cooperate

[Banadoura]

This LLK is a beauty, loaded with fruits as well:

[MissS]

Those plants and tomatoes sure look great. It should not be too much longer to wait. Perhaps a week or two. ~ Patience

[Banadoura]

Originally Posted by MissS

Those plants and tomatoes sure look great. It should not be too much longer to wait. Perhaps a week or two. ~ Patience

Fingers crossed

[taboule]

Marhaba Banadoura,

Yes to patience, need plenty of it. I am south of you (Boston area) and only recently started seeing red on the larger varieties.

All looks good, especially GGWT: it was the last plant that kept producing and ripening for me in late fall a couple of years ago.

Nice avatar ;-)

[Banadoura]

Originally Posted by taboule

Marhaba Banadoura,

Yes to patience, need plenty of it. I am south of you (Boston area) and only recently started seeing red on the larger varieties.

All looks good, especially GGWT: it was the last plant that kept producing and ripening for me in late fall a couple of years ago.

Nice avatar ;-)

Ya Ahla Taboule

You guys probably have a slight advantage on us in terms of weather. This has been hands down the coldest/wettest summer I've known. I'll be lucky if I get to taste the first wave of tomatoes before frost hits.

As of today, I only have 2 taxi tomatoes starting to turn yellow, that's about it!

Looking forward to tasting GGWT, thanks for the heads up

[carolyn137]

How did I ever miss this thread?

I don't know but I certainly have enjoyed reading it very much.

Carolyn

[taboule]

Greetings Carolyn,

It could be because it is in the less traveled forum, most of us spend more time in "general" and elsewhere.

I found it by chance too. I must admit, I just read the entire thread only now, instead of replying mid-stream.

Banadoura, here's a couple more comments to add to the great feedback you've already got.

1) I don't fuss too much (= not at all) with helmet heads. They have to manage on their own = Survival of the fittest, I seed enough specimens and keep only the strongest 1/3.

2) Smart use of your girls space and belongings, I wonder if they had any say in the matter A few years from now, you can show them the pics and thank them for their contribution ;-)

3) I have learned that strong light at all stages of growth is a major requirement for high performance. Every second counts, so start early and strong -natural/window light isn't nearly enough, especially at your latitude.

Update from my end: first meaningful harvest, around 20 pounds (~9 kilos) from ~10 varieties. But I also pulled out a few plants due to disease(s) I know too early, but you gotta know when to cut your losses and focus on the healthy ones -maximize your ROI

[Banadoura]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

How did I ever miss this thread?

I don't know but I certainly have enjoyed reading it very much.

Carolyn

Carolyn, I am happy to see you on my thread!
Please feel free to share any observations or advice you think of, this newbie gardener would be forever grateful

[Banadoura]

Originally Posted by taboule

Banadoura, here's a couple more comments to add to the great feedback you've already got.

1) I don't fuss too much (= not at all) with helmet heads. They have to manage on their own = Survival of the fittest, I seed enough specimens and keep only the strongest 1/3.

It makes sense Taboule, I will simply plant more seeds of the same variety to avoid stressing in such situations next year

Originally Posted by taboule

2) Smart use of your girls space and belongings, I wonder if they had any say in the matter A few years from now, you can show them the pics and thank them for their contribution ;-)

They did not have a say: lol: In fact, they even complained via their mom that I was giving my seedlings more attention at some point
Since then they are impressed that dad started all these big plants from a seed, overall a good experience. Hope they will remember that when they have their own gardens!

Originally Posted by taboule

3) I have learned that strong light at all stages of growth is a major requirement for high performance. Every second counts, so start early and strong -natural/window light isn't nearly enough, especially at your latitude.

That's what I discovered early on as well and added a second light to the setup. Next year the plan is to start in March rather than throughout April. Start them all by Mid-March.

Originally Posted by taboule

Update from my end: first meaningful harvest, around 20 pounds (~9 kilos) from ~10 varieties. But I also pulled out a few plants due to disease(s) I know too early, but you gotta know when to cut your losses and focus on the healthy ones -maximize your ROI

Congrats on an excellent first harvest! I can see a handful of Jaune Flammee and ISPL blushing as of yesterday so looking good for a first harvest in a few days

Cheers,

[Banadoura]

...and we can finally pick some tomatoes!

Since my last post, I got to taste a few varieties:
Taxi, ISPL, LLK, JF, PR and CV

I have to say that the first batch was grainy/mealy and bland. It was very disappointing. It could be because of the cold wet summer we had. This was particularly true with Cosmonaut Volko, Paul Robeson and Jaune Flammee.

Subsequently picked fruit for ISPL was just tart, LLK tart with a hint of smokiness and PR not sure yet!

I started to suspect that I lost my taste palette, that is until I tasted my first cherokee lime yesterday, a tangy but fruity lemony flavor that everyone adored in the family

First Tomatoes On Aug-12 - Cukes + LLK and ISPL


Notice the mealy texture of the first ISPL

[Banadoura]

Taxi is an interesting variety, it's basically a bush that doesn't need staking, just a cage.

It produces beautiful yellow tomatoes:


I love the shape, color and texture of this tomato. It has no taste really, just a fresh light taste so far.

Taxi, ISPL and Jaune Flammee



I have yet to taste a hint of sweetness on the Jaune Flammee. They are beautiful to look at and I love the size but the taste is just not there yet.