Lena, check out Totally Tomatoes.com for your heirloom tomatoes, peppers, etc. They have tons of them. Ask them if they will send seeds to NZ. Bet they will. If not, go thru their catalog online and make a list of what you want for the next year and I will get them and send them to you.
But, I will bet you won't have any problem getting them. Also. Request a printed catalog.
Jeanette
General Discussions 2008 - Chapter 24
I second Jeanettes message. I have been very happy with Tot. Tom. except for last springs freeby. They sent a packet of Giant Tree Tomato seed, Weren't very good and didn't grow well, Anyway didn't cost me anything except time.
Donna
I had a look through totally tomatoes last night, they have a few varieties that I would like for next year. Those websites are always so much fun, all those wonderful looking tomatoes. Makes me want more when I already have way to many! Im just starting to organise my tradelist finally, hopefully I can trade seeds with other gardeners and get what Im after that way, while helping out others. I still have alot of seeds left over from last autumn, would be a shame to waste them.
Donna: Im growing Giant Tree tomato for the first time this year, a freebee from a recent DG trade. Why were they not good, did they not taste so good? Ive noticed that they never mention taste in the plant description for this variety, just how big and sturdy the plants get. 10 or 15 feet or something, thats about 3-5 metres! Huge! its hardly necessary for a plant to get that tall, but will be interesting to see. And interesting to hear about how yours got on.
Lena
LOL, Russ sent me some seeds for the tomato tree. I put it in a pot on my deck. It got pretty big, but hardly any tomatoes, blossoms or anything and because I was having the house painted I decided to get rid of it. It was taking up too much room and energy moving it for the painter for the few blossoms it had on it. So I am not a good judge of it. Ask Russ.
Jeanette
Mine are still tiny, but slightly bigger than the others that were sown on the same day. And they are potato leaf, a nice surprise. I like potato leaf tomatoes for some reason, dont know why. Did anyone actually get to eat a giant tomato? And how giant were the plants really? Hurry up and grow little seedlings!
Lena
Hi Jeanette- Lena;
The Italian Tree Tomato, did get a little taller than some of the others I grew last year. I can't say that it was any more sturdy or even had any larger
( trunk) than any of the others. It did have more toms on it though. Not as big as the big beef or boxcar willie or even Dr. Wyche's yellow. They all tasted great. Naturally the yellow was more mild for flavor. But I liked them too. My daughter brought us some Mr. stripey and some white tomatoes. Not much for flavor but we ate them anyway.
We are still very fortunate in that it looks like we have at least another good week that will still help the garden. Still have a lot of tomatoes, but I'm more interested in the sweet potatoes at this point. I've been picking and pealing apples like crazy. Freezing the apples and cooking the pealings down, for apple butter. Think I'll start making some apple sauce. The freezer is getting full.
Jeanette; I have been checking in once in a while but not saying much as I've been pushing hard trying to get things done.
Too many irons in the fire, for my age. LOL
Russ
Thanks for your feedback on the tree tomato Russ. Ill let you all know how mine went later in the season. What do you think of Box Car Willie? I have heard some good things about it but havent tried myself, it think I would like to though. Maybe trade some seeds with somebody who has it. Any takers?
Its cold and windy and raining again :-( I planted my first 4 tomato plants in a very sheltered position amongst my spring bulbs. 2 Yellow Plum and 2 Brown Cherry. It was so warm lately, I couldnt help myself. The Tulips and Irises are beginning to open, Ill post a picture soon when the weather improves. Thats if they havent been destroyed by the storm! Tulips are smart how they shut when theres no sunshine. Irises dont seem to do that, might bring a few inside.
Lena
I think my BCW got mixed up with some San Marzano plants or seeds 'cause they sure don't look like the picture so I won't offer to trade with you Lena. LOL
Jeanette
It's 5:00am and tomatoes are blanched and cooled now , so will go and peel , bag for freezer .Blocks , concrete , and morter is in driveway .Will have help today to pour and Iwill cook lunch . Chicken strips , biscuit , gravy , pears , and cottage cheese , sweet cole slaw and top it off with biscuit pudding . It's been like a long trip , once the footing is down , it will be like half the trip is over, and on the downhill to home . sally
Lena, The seed packet doesn't say much about Giant Tree Tomato, "Indeterminate variety reaching 10 ft. or more. Pinkish-red fruit, 80-90 days from transplant.. The tomatoes were odd shaped, and smallish, I didn't care for the flavor, not a whole lot of tomatoes, vine was only about 5 feet tall and not very healthy, ever, now dead. Planted in same row as rest of tom. same care. I have quite a lot of seeds left if anyone wants them. Donna
Hey Sally, sounds like you have been so busy. I used to just freeze my tomtoes whole on a cookie sheet, not peeled, just rinsed off. Then I bagged them in gallon ziplocks and worked with them in the winter when the weather was cooler and I had more time. With all you have going on I would think that would be easier.
Your dinner sounds delish. Jeanette
Thanks , jnette ,it was good but again , it's something I've been putting together many years .And thank heavens , we got the footing poured today .85 bags of concrete . My little sgs is only 11 yrs old and small for his age , but that sweet kid loaded almost all those 80# bags and rolled them down hill about 80' . I raised h- - - with dss not to let him do that kind of work , he could injure himself , but the kid said he had no problem with it being that hard . Grrrrrrr, but when he was 3 yrs old , he insisted on helping dh to unload about 40 2x4's from a small trailer . He has always helped , and always wanted to .I find that it's easier for me to blanch tom , so that they are ready to use when i need them .Can cut through the zip lock and cut off what i want , then put the rest in another zip lock ,first bag and all , 'till next time . Scald them good , then the skin just slips off . My toms are about over , but would keep producing if the weather would stay hot . It's been down to 59 at night . my okra is really putting on still, and the bales are about gone ,shriveled to nothing . Need to get new bales now , because next year , I'll want to get plants in before hay is baled .
Wow Sally, why didn't you have the cement brought in by truck? How many yards would that have taken? That little guy is really a worker isn't he?
What do you mean you want to put the plants in before the hay is baled? You lost me on that one.
How long will it be before you are ready to plant again? Hope you have a break. I know nothing about gardening in GA.
Jeanette
the plants will be ready to plant before the next years new crop of hay is ready to bale . a truck can't get into my back yard close enough to unload cement and a pumper truck wouldn't want to fool with that small amount , and we'd still have to wheelbarrow it from the truck to the site, the truck would be there too long , and we have a cement mixer . the guys did it all on an assembly line . one brought bags , (the dgs ) his dad was hosing the mixer ,opening the bag , mixing it , builder ,friend was dumping and wheeling it to dump and dh was smoothing it into frame . then they all switched jobs . I'm taking pictures and builder friends dw will post and teach me how , next tue , when he comes to start block work. hugs , sally
Sounds great. Would love to see the pictures.
Jeanette
Sally; That is usually the way my little projects are. They don't always need enough concrete to warrant having redi mix bring it in or it is where they can't get to.
I did use Ready Mix to pour the floor of my attached garage. I had to fill deep trenches later where they had to get their front wheels on the lawn in a shaded area. For the patio in behind the house, I did that all by my lonesome. My mixer is not a cement mixer, it is a mortar mixer. Sometimes with the larger stones in the gravel it will stop the paddles. Then I have to un plug it and turn it backward and re-start it but it gets the job done.
Sounds like you had a good crew though and it all went smoothly. Or at least moderately, without too many hitches. LOL
I too will be waiting to see the progress pictures. I like to go back and look at progress pics of the garage as I built it and moved the one kitchen wall at the same time. I had fuse box hanging from a beam as well as other wires. It was quite a project for a one man crew. lol
So a lot can be done when you set your mind to it.
Jeanette; The begonias are doing well. We have had humming birds visit them. Thankfully they are faster than our resident cat. He has tried to catch them. I would like to give him a new home, as I would be upset if he were to catch them. Those hummers are special to me. The cat isn't. He came and claimed my yard and that is my only connection to him.
I am going to have to try propagating the begonias, so I can keep them going. Did you say that I should take cuttings, and do it that way?
Russ
russ , you can also take them inside . if they are in the ground , dig them up , cut some of the rooys back and also the tops need to come off , at least the larger leaves . that way , you have a well rooted plant to put out next spring . sally
Thanks Sally;
Some plants, I know more about. These are new to me, and I need to protect them the best I can.
Russ
keep in sunny window and water just like any other house plant . they are expensive to buy every year , and then you have to spend several months to get them big . easier to just hold them over til spring . sally
LOL, those were pretty big tubers as I had already had them 4 years. Remember Russ the sprouts in the spring that we were talking about on the ornamental sweet potatotes I thought it was. And we thought you might do the same with some of those on the begonias.
I emailed the Begonia Society in Canada and got a very rapid response from them and he said that those make the best new plants. He was very nice and very helpful. Had some neat pictures of their get-togethers too. Looked almost like a roundup. LOL
Up here in the north we normally take all the tops off in the fall after the frost hits them and let them dry a little and then just toss them in a bucket with some peat or anything just to keep them from drying out too much and in an area that doesn't freeze. I've even just left the soil on them and put them in a bucket that way and forget about them. That's normally when you get the sprouts along about February.
Jeanette
Jnette's right , I thought you had purchased little plants and was trying to get cuttings . if they were only one season old , then i'd hold them as house plants , but if they were older ,and larger , then jnetts way is better . the was she says is the way i hold over my elephant ears . because I'm not here in the winter , I can't have house plants . sally
That is what I will do then. Though I may try keeping one cutting alive this winter. I have several sweet potato sprouts that I left on a potato. I think I will see if I can keep them going too. Winter gets so boring without gardening.
LOL
Russ
You're a true gardener Russ. Always have to have something to watch grow.
Jeanette
I miss all of you- hope you're still harvesting the last gifts of summer. I have tons of acorn squash and tomatoes- that's about it right now. Oh, yes- and zinnias! They have been such a joy!
The leaves are turning and it's time to start taking everything I've learned this summer and put it into planning next spring's layout. Kent, I can never thank you enough for the gift of Bale Gardening!! It has really changed my life, and I'm sharing it with everyone I can!
Not only that, but I feel like I've made a whole new circle of friends- and you can NEVER have too many friends!
xox Suz
Oh yes- and DON'T FORGET TO VOTE NEXT MONTH!!
Oh, and one more thing . . .my new boyfriend- cute, ain't he??
Hey Suzan;
Saw one of your new boy friends; Waiting outside the door on the hand railing. That was over by the church. One of the members spotted it and asked me what it was.
I could have had a lot of fun with that, but instead I just told him what it was and the benefits of keeping them in your garden. LOL
Yep, He's a good lookin fella, I'd keep him around.
Russ
Hey Suz, you can send your boy friend my way next summer. He would have a picnic in my garden. LOL
Jeanette
been waiting awhile to get these pictures of room started . will try
laying foundation .dgs was the best worker of the bunch , loaded and hand trucked 80 bags of concrete mix from up the hill .
my other helpers , gracie , sam , harry , pepper .
Going to be so nice for you Sally. Is this your new camera? I Would like to see more. Jeanette
jnette just posted on t to t under stained glass windows by gordo . shows my glass painted wine bottle and brown bag walls . yes this is my first camera and a friend put it in my folders and got help to post on dg .
What is t to t? jeanette
trash to treasure , jnette . i spend a lot of time over there , have made some cool stuff and the dg'ers are so helpful . if you like projects , instead of itty bitty crafts , you'll have a ball . russ would enjoy that forum too . sally
Getting kinda long here, moved to:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/911101/
Doug
This message was edited Oct 9, 2008 10:57 AM