A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Is it Fall or second Summer?

Nothing is slowing down here! It's been in the 90's this past week. Thank goodness none of the greens have bolted. Spinach, lettuce and other salad greens are going great guns. I'm bringing in hefty salad makings just about every other day.

The heat forced my hand into bringing in the first fruits of the fall tomato harvest -- an early girl and a silvery fir tree. They both were starting to blush red, so they should ripen just fine in the kitchen the rest of the way.

peppers? Yeppers! Still bringing in poblanos and serranos.

Feels like second Summer.

Wow, that all sounds great !
It was so hot here too, but cooled suddenly and dramatically this afternoon.
Are you close to San Diego county?

I'm up in LA county.

OK ! Just curious !

And how do those silvery fir tree tomatoes taste? I'm liking how they look, but taste would be the deal-maker on whether they are in my "consider" or "don't consider" list for next year's 1 or 2 tomato plants (smallish in-ground garden). I'm looking for a good slicer. Thanks for your input, and congrats on living in a world of long seasons.

Terri (where the only green left is the lawn grass.... yeah, the grass that was brown all summer.... :p )

Funny you should ask, I just had one as a mid-day snacker. It was a very good tomato.

It's a handsome tomato with deep rich, red coloration and a roundish shape but with a slightly flattened top and bottom side.

The flesh is meaty with a fair amount of juice, and not overly seedy. Taste wise I would say it falls to the acid side (rather than sweet), with a faint "citrus/lemon" finish, but with a fairly rich tomato flavor overall.

It is as thick-skinned as you will ever find. To most folks that's a negative, but for my money thick skinned toms seem to have fewer splits and stink bug damage. It's a real winner in my book.

:p :p :p

Funnnny we've been asking over here on this side
if it's Fall or WINTER ALREADY!~

Lucky you on the second summer...

I'm so jealous Mr Clint! It's like winter here and oh how I wish I could pick myself a fresh tomato!

OK, uh, don't throw anything at me, but....I cut my lemon verbena to the ground for "winter" and uh, calm down now, it's shooting back up and leafing out like crazy and PUT DOWN THAT BAT !!!

Year-round gardening would be hard for me to give up.

lol @ Deborah L. Good one. I enjoyed your comment.

I dont' envy 90 degree temperature. By the end of summer here in Virginia I'm ready for the cooler temperatures. Not that I want to have to deal with snow but I do need a break from the heat.

Thanks for the information on the tomatoes. I'm looking for the compact sweet slicing tomato that will produce early and then just keep on producing. That's my dream tomato.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="3" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Deborah L.:
<strong> OK, uh, don't throw anything at me, but....I cut my lemon verbena to the ground for "winter" and uh, calm down now, it's shooting back up and leafing out like crazy and PUT DOWN THAT BAT !!!

LOL, Weez !
Glad you like it too, TK !
My dream tomato would be a patio type that would give me big, tangy beefsteaks for sandwiches.
And thick slices that I would sprinkle with salt and d-e-v-o-u-r.....

Hey, TK, that sounds like a good new thread-your comment about your dream tomato.
Start one !

How does it feel to want?
The early toms that I've grown that produce heavily are large indeterminates. You may want to look at some of the bush type determinates and do some succession planting to keep production going.