Mid-May

The Festina beans started coming up yesterday. I had covered them with loose soil after planting in potting soil and watering for a day. Brushed the loose soil away and there they were, about on schedult. Some of the squash seeds also came up. The little stray dog dug a couple of holes in the row. May have lost a couple of plants.

Earlier in the week, I planted into RootTrainers some seeds for fall tomatoes as an experiment. We'll see how it goes.

Wednesday, I planted out my heirloom tomatoes in the side yard: Caspian Pink, Old German, Tomande (actually a hybrid Italian green-shouldered type) and Cherokee Purple. Yesterday, one of the dogs broke off the Old German.

Twice, Troy and Maggie have come to see me as I fed Sparky and Dottie. Maggie behaved herself around Dottie. Troy didn't try to jump the fence. Don't know if Troy unlatched the gate (he used to do this all the time) or if F. left the gate unlatched.

Heat wave predicted for the weekend. F.'s lettuce is bolting. We already have white flies. After blooming all winter, the perennial Scabiosia is setting seed. Time to cut it back. Always a few challenges in the garden.

First harvest, more planting

F. spread unfinished compost under the trees a few months ago, and now we have squash and tomato volunteers. I harvested the first squash yesterday - a sad example of a de-hybridized zucchini. Of course, it was still edible, but it had a yellow/green mottled color, smooth skin (don't think the coloration was due to a virus), and it was tender but a bit pithy.

I also planted Festina beans and summer squashes - Magda (Lebanese-style zucchini - my favorite), a dark look-alike, Burpee's Sweet Zuke (need a knife for harvest), Tigress (virus resistant), Zephyr, Precious II straightneck and Dixie straightneck. Plus Butter Scallop, Peter Pan and a second yellow scallop. And round zucchinis - Eight Ball, Cue Ball and Round (a medium-green heirloom)

Today, the first Romanette and/or Romano Gold which I planted last week broke through the soil.

Also planted tomatoes for David's Mom - day before Mother's Day.

More tomatoes, Seeds for Spring

On the second of May (late here) I planted Romanette and Romano Gold beans. If I don't get some things in the ground, F. will cover the garden with his winter squashes. We can't afford the water, and we would always see him out there fighting with squash bugs.

Orchard Supply had heirloom tomato plants in stock last week. An Anna Russian (oxheart) went to David's parents. I have a Cherokee Purple and a Caspian Pink. I'm going to try grafting in a Big Beef rootstock to see if it makes a difference as far as disease resistancce and vigor. I killed my Porter Dark Pink Cherry somehow.

Today, I sent Mom seeds so that she would be ready to plant after Mother's Day - the typical safe date where she is:

Fortex pole beans

Magda hybrid Lebanese-style Zucchini (bred in France)
Sweet Zuke - a look-alike to the above in dark green - you need a knife for harvest to prevent broken fruits.
Zephyr hybrid - a remarkable summer squash from Johnny's with a little winter squash heritage
Precious II hybrid yellow straightneck squash

Ogen (Ha-Ogen, Israel) melon. I sent some of these seeds to a guy in the Midwest recently. He says that Ha-Ogen is an Israeli Kibbutz. He's been there. He was excited.

Trocadero hybrid Charentais melon

Cool Breeze hybrid gherkin
Diva hybrid cucumber

Both the above cucumbers are "burpless" all-female varieties. If not pollinated, they bear seedless cucumbers. Cool Breeze is a bumpy little European pickling type. Dive is a Middle-Eastern Beit-Alpha type.

Nero di Toscano kale - a tall, dark kale
Piricicaba broccoli - named after a river in Brazil. Heat-tolerant with thin, sweet stems.

I'll have to order some Sweet Success cucumbers for Mom. They're her favorite.

I found a Utah seed supplier with a Utah heirloom tomato called, "Purple Passion". It came from Kayesville. Early for an heirloom beefsteak type. Think I'll order some seeds for next year.

Tomatoes in the ground, other garden news

We finally got the last of the tomato plants in the ground. We've had high winds lately, with a low of 34 degrees last night.

tomato varieties

This year, we planted Big Beef as our main beefsteak - heat-resistant and disease-resistant. Territorial says it stores better than most after harvest.

We also have Better Boy, one Beefmaster (a really big beefsteak), a Bush Early Girl, Celebrity, one Champion - an indeterminate cousin of Celebrity, a SunSugar cherry (couldn't find Sun Gold Hybrid -standard for flavor in a cherry tomato - locally), a Brandywine from David's Mom and a Mighty Tom grafted tomato - it is growing on two rootstocks - one is grafted in. David's Mom bought several plants this year because she wanted to try them. David's brother accidentally took them all home to the mountains. I bought one (pricey) to try it for her, and to investigate how the grafting is done. F. wanted us to plant a variety he got from a friend. We call it the "Mystery Tomato". He brought a dozen plants. We gave most of them away. We have one white eggplant in among the tomatoes, It doesn't seem too happy about the cold, windy weather. It may perk up in the heat this weekend.

Some tomato varieties which sounded good this year, from comments by the tomato fanatics on GardenWeb and elsewhere, included the heirlooms Marianna's Peace (pink), Neves Azorean Red, Stump of the World, Mexican (beefsteak) and Eva's Purple Ball or Rose de Bern (at least in cooler climates than ours) for a smaller tomato. Cherokee Purple and many other dusky tomatores should be picked when the shoulders are still green for best flavor. Pruden's Purple (pink like Brandywine) is said to be a good early heirloom.

A newer Japanese tomato which gets raves is Momorato. Among cherry tomatoes, favorites (besides Sun Gold and SunSugar) were Black Cherry, Green Grape, Yellow Submarine ( a pear tomato) and Sweet Quartz, which is dark pink. It's from Japan - like the famous Sun Gold. Sweet Quartz is a hybrid with multiple disease resistance.

Heartland, a dwarf indeterminate, sounded like a good choice for limited space gardening. Gold Nugget is an early determinate cherry tomato. Green Grape is also determinate, but is a later tomato. Small Fry, a red determinate cherry, tastes nasty. Glacier and Cosmonaut Volkov are recommended for setting well at cool temperatures. Oregon Spring sets nearly seedless fruit early in the season - not one for hot climates, though.

I like Fourth of July hybrid for a really early tomato, and it keeps going in our summer heat. I didn't start any plants from seed this year. It's said to be somewhat tolerant of nematodes. I may also have to start plants from seed next year to get some disease-resistant plum tomatoes which are good as salad tomatoes - not just for sauce and cooking. Classica is one variety to try. Those in cooler climates may want to try Orange Banana for exceptional flavor in a sauce tomato, though it is reportedly susceptible to blossom end rot.

Comments on your favorites are welcome.

This year's tomato-growing system

We planted our tomato plants about 30 inches apart in two rows, surrounded by field fencing (upside down) which is supported about 6 inches off the ground with t-bars. It has "holes" big enough to stick your hand through and pull out a big tomato. This system worked out well last year. Much less work than staking, and the extra foliage protects the fruit from sunburn. You could also make the field fencing into individual cages - 18 to 24 inches across is recommended for indeterminate varieties. Plan on at least 60 inches of fencing for each cage. We had to buy a 330 foot roll of the field fencing. We've given some away. It's about 4 feet tall. It is marketed for people keeping cows, etc. in fields. The bottom rows of wire are closer together to discourage small animals, I guess. If you don't mind rust, concrete reinforcing wire is a little taller and thicker. It doesn't require as much staking. The other recommended support systems include hog or cattle panels (on two sides to make a "hedge") and "Texas Tomato Cages" - Pricey.

Other Crops

F. has planted his favorite winter squashes from Mexico again this year. We find the seedlings everywhere. He gave away dozens of winter squash last year to friends. I think it's kind of nice for a guy with essentially no possessions to be able to give something away. One volunteer squash under the Texas Everbearing fig tree already has a female blossom on it.

We're trying to discourage him from growing onions this year. He's never been really successful at it (he thinks he should "hill up" all kinds of plants), and our water is too expensive.

Fruit Trees

A darling little stray puppy we're trying to place in a home seems to have girdled my little Flavor Grenade Pluot tree right at the bud union. He's teething. The next few days will tell. He also damaged the Geo Pride tree. Temperatures are supposed to go into the 90s over the weekend, which will be a stress test. I wrapped the damaged areas with flexible tape.

The folks at GardenWeb love both these newer varieties of Pluots. Flavor Grenade is said to be a weak tree, and mine is on Citatation, a dwarfing rootstock. It has not grown nearly as vigorously as the Geo Pride planted next to it at the same time. If it doesn't survive, I'll get one on a more vigorous rootstock. It's discouraging to think about losing the tree, though. Both trees were loaded with fruit this spring. Flavor Supreme Pluot, incidentally, is good on Citation because it reduces the vigor of the tree somewhat. Flavor King, another weak tree, should go on a more vigorous rootstock.

I'm still thinning other fruits. A big job this year, most trees have at least some fruit. Even Blenheim apricots, despite the rainy spring and blossom rot. The Flavor Delight Apriums are sizing up.

I am losing my Moorpark and Golden Amber apricot trees on the North side. Probably not enough air circulation. Moorpark is marginal for winter chill here, and the fruit gets pitburn in the heat, like Blenheim. Stark Sweetheart needs too much winter chill for our climate, I need to graft in something else. A gopher may have killed my Celeste fig. Maybe I'll get an Excel - better suited to our climate.

Flowers, fall-planted lettuce

The prettiest noxious weed ever, Mexican Evening Primrose, is in full bloom. Fragrant Evening Primrose, tap-rooted, looks like a good choice for dry areas where an invasive plant would be a problem. It's fragrant at night.

The roses are in full bloom - Just Joey, Helen Traubel and Double Dellight. One of the "Peace" variants - which one I can't remember. Also the big David Austin "English Rose" bushes in the back yard. Thornless 'Iceberg' is almost always in bloom. Scabiosia Butterfly Blue kept going all winter. It is now joined in one spot by a trailing verbena in a darker shade of purple and Mexican Evening Primrose, edged by a row of Francisco's ruffly lettuce. Quite a nice picture. I don't have any idea what we're going to do with all that lettuce all over the yard. One plant is already bolting. I was hoping that he had planned to give some of it away.

Late Bloom - wind and rain

Over the weekend, yesterday and the day before, we had moderately high wind, then rain. Just in time to compromise the bloom and fruit set on Canadian White Blenheim apricot, Blenheim (just finished bloom, susceptible to blossom rot), Chinese apricot, Golden Amber apricot, possiblly the Sugar prune and Emerald Beaut plum (just finishing bloom). Don't know if it will affect the peaches and nectarines. But I wouldn't be surprised if it affected at least the nectarines.

Earlier rain probably reduced fruit set on Royal Rosa apricot, Blenheim, Royalty and to some extent on Harcot. All had damaged fruits. Dapple Dandy and Flavor Queen Pluots. Haven't checked Flavor Supreme. It never sets a lot of fruit, and tiny fruitlets are hard to spot in the big tree.

Flavor Delight Aprium set a lot of fruit in spite of the weather, as usual, and most of it looks healthy. Time to get serious about thinning. This fruit may be the best choice for an "apricot" here for gardeners who don't want to bother with things like spraying copper in winter or other fungicides in spring.

Friday, the high temperature was 79 degrees - 10 degrees lower than the record for the same date. Last night's forecast was for 35 degrees - the kind of temperatures we would like in the middle of winter to chill the stone fruit buds. We're past the typical "frost watch" date here - about March 15. Time to plant some veggies.

Low-acid Peaches and Nectarines

There are thousands of varieties of peaches in the world, and quite a few varieties of nectarines. Our Central Valley is one of the few places where nectarines can be grown successfully on a commercial basis, and it's also a great peach climate. Many varieties developed here also grow best here. Some have wider climate adaptability.

Floyd Zaiger is a fruit breeder who risked his financial future to "go independent", and in his case, it paid off to a modest extent. He has developed some great fruits. Early on, he developed some important hybrid rootstocks for trees. Over the years, he has developed very distinctive Plums, Pluots, Apricots, Apriums, Nectarines, Peaches, Nectaplums, Plumcots and plum/peach hybrids. Which is not to say that all of his varieties are great. There are some knock-off Pluots which are frankly described even in commercial wholesale catalogs as having flavor inferior to the Pluots they resemble.

One of Zaiger's developments has been low acid/high sugar peaches and nectarines. These are attractive for commercial growers because they taste good even before they are fully ripe. Even when they're crispy. They are easy to ship because they can be picked while still very firm. They get even sweeter when tree-ripened until juicy. The first low acid/high sugar peaches and nectarines were white-fleshed. There have long been low-acid/normal sugar white varieties like Babcock, but they don't taste good until they are ripe.

Several of the new low acid/high sugar varieties have become available to home growers. Some of them have commercial drawbacks, but excellent characteristics for home growers. Other breeders are now entering the "low acid/high sugar" field, too. Their varieties are also likely to be available first for commercial market. Some will eventually be available to home growers.

Many home growers prefer the old-fashioned peaches and nectarines which develop a nice acid/sugar balance and complex flavors when perfectly ripe and juicy. The most luscious to many fruit fans are described as having "melting" flesh. But most people seldom taste a peach or nectarine like this. They don't ship well. Zaiger has also developed some "balanced" high-sugar varieties. These tend to get high ratings from fruit tasters, but are less attractive commercially because they are more acid before they are fully ripe.

One of the frequent contributors to the Fruit and Orchards forum at Gardenweb goes by the nom de blog "Fruitnut". The name describes him well. As I have noted earlier, he moved from the Central Valley to the mountains of Texas because of allergies, but build a big greenhouse so he could bring his favorite fruit varieties with him. Not long ago he described the low-acid white nectarine "Arctic Star" as his favorite early fruit. I bought a tree on his recommendation, and have been more successful with it than with other nectarines.

Last night, I read a thread in which Fruitnut gave me some clues as to why I do better with such an early variety: peaches and nectarines require just the right amount of water to produce the best fruit. Too little water and nectarines will be rough, misshapen and will develop "off" flavors. This is my typical experience. Too much water, and they will lack flavor, but will look perfect. Just the right amount of water and they will have a touch of russeting at the tip. My early Arctic Star doubtless suffers less from our inconsistent watering than do later varieties.

Fruit Nut now recommends Zaiger's low-acid yellow nectarines and peaches as 'the best fruit in the world". These include Honey Kist and Honey Blaze nectarines, which ripen at about the same time, and Honey Royale, which ripens later. Others include early Honey May and late Honey Diva. Another contributor noted that Honey Blaze needs high heat in summer, while Honey Kist has a wider climate adaptability. Honey May is a low-chill variety which would bloom too early in many climates. Only Honey Kist is listed by Dave Wilson Nursery for its retail nursery clientele.

The low-acid yellow peach recommended by Fruit Nut is Valley Sweet. You apparently have to "have connections" to get one if you're not a commercial grower. More fruits for my "dream orchard".

In our climate, Japanese plums and Pluots and even apricots are more forgiving than peaches and nectarines. Apricot yield may suffer due to the rain we are currently having during bloom season. This year, our Plum/Pluot bloom is more concentrated than usual. The early bloomers are also closer to the peaches and nectarines in their bloom time. In the past, our earliest varieties of apricot/Aprium and Pluot have sometimes started blooming in January. This year, Flavor Supreme Pluot on the early end has overlapped nicely in bloom with Burgundy, Santa Rosa and Catalina plums and most of the Pluots in the other yard. Emerald Beaut on the late end will overlap by at least a third of its blossoms with Casselman and even to some extent with Flavor King. We may have had more winter chill than usual, or the chill may have come at just the right time to concentrate the bloom.

Apple and Cottage Cheese Salad

I used to eat this salad at work in winter. It reminds me of Waldorf Salad.

APPLE AND COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD

Core and chop an apple and add up to a cup of cottage cheese. Add two or three chopped dates. Add some chopped celery if you like. Mix and eat.

Allergy information: Check cottage cheese carton for corn products.