Anyone Garden?

[bnorth]

I am about to harvest some Heirloom Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes for seeds for growing next year. If anybody wants some let me know and I will save some extra to send out to anybody that wants some.

Chocolate Cherry tomatoes have a little less acid and a little more sugar than a red cherry tomato making them super sweet. They are by far the best tasting cherry tomato I have ever had. They are an indeterminate variety.

If you want some PM me your address and I will send you out some for free in a couple weeks when they are ready.

[earlywynnfan]

I'll second his recommendation, these are the only tomatoes I eat!

[Matthew80]

I'm an aspiring gardener, but I'm limited to 4-5 hours of sun each day in my southern CA condo. I'm going to try a hanging herb garden, see how it goes

[bnorth]

Anybody else interested in some free tomato seeds? They are drying now and will be ready to ship Nov 3.

To answer a couple frequent questions.
Yes these seeds will still be good in the spring. If stored properly they will last several years.
Plant the seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before you plan on putting plants in your garden in the spring.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

I wish I had the space.

[bnorth]

Those that asked for seeds yours will go out in the mail tomorrow morning. I still have some extras if anybody else would like some.

[nebboy]

Sent PM - love to try them and THANKS for the offer

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by nebboy

Sent PM - love to try them and THANKS for the offer

Never got your PM. Send it again and I will get you some seeds in the mail.

Everybody else your seeds are in the mail.

[Romahawk]

Got mine today. Thank you, I'm looking forward to spring and giving these guys a try..

[digdugdig]

Package arrived, Ben.
Much appreciation for your time and the gesture!!

Thought some baseball card shop owners would get a kick out of this. I got creative with an old display cabinet with a broken top glass, a child sat on it. It was not worth the replacement costs, so I turned this 6 foot cabinet into a greenhouse. It works surprisingly well with southern exposure, pretty easy to regulate temperature with 5 gallon buckets of cool/warm water. Still growing jalapenos in November, it was 20 degrees yesterday.

[Aquifer]

Ben,
count me in. anybody from South Dakota has my vote anyway. My dad's from Viborg, in Turner County. He's long gone now but I was back this summer with daughters to see the old place and visit the descendants.

5289 Winifred Drive
Castro Valley, CA 94546

Eric Nelson

thx

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Aquifer

Ben,
count me in. anybody from South Dakota has my vote anyway. My dad's from Viborg, in Turner County. He's long gone now but I was back this summer with daughters to see the old place and visit the descendants.

5289 Winifred Drive
Castro Valley, CA 94546

Eric Nelson

thx

Eric I will put them in the mail Monday.

Ty that is a cool way to keep the peppers going a little longer.

Here is a pic, of my greenhouse from last march..

[GoldenAge50s]

I like to plant, but my girlfriend is a hoer.

[billyb]

Fred.........LOL
Only you would come with that.

[Rayl]

I love to garden especially giant pumpkins. This one is 1,216 pounds. This year I grew 1,204 lbs. Also grow giant tomatoes.

[LuckyLarry]

I use to have a big garden, but it just became to much work. I even sold my troy built tiller this past Spring I have a small area that I plant lettuce throughout the winter, but that's about it.
In this small lettuce area, I planted some Mammoth sunflowers and here how they look this AM as the heads are just starting to form. I plan on just leaving these for the Cardinals that are around my place:




Eight or ten years ago I started my orchard with four Tangerine trees and they are doing well with lots of golfball size fruit that will be ready in December. These trees are on the left in this picture, apple trees down the right:




Then four or five years ago I planted two peach trees, two pear trees, and eight apple trees. I got good peaches this year, but the pear trees didn't even bloom. Growing apples in Florida is quite the trick, the only varieties that do any good are Anna and Dorsett as they require very few hours of freezing temperatures. For the first time I am harvesting a good crop of apples and I've picked at least 40 pounds. The apples are ready now, and there are more on the tree waiting to be picked, some apples on the ground too. One of the pear trees on the front right, the apples are in line on the left:




Since I don't have to go out and weed the garden, I think I might just hang out by the "cement pond" today:

[pawpawdiv9]

Thanks guys for the replies. You ALL got some very nice trees!!!! My dad cant wait for our figs to produce. As for our plum trees..He went and picked the green ones that were left, some old lady at the market mentioned she can make wine from those. My dad swapped some jelly he made for her blackberries.
Today my dad, took down some of his tomatoes, and cant wait to plant those choclate ones to arrive. He mentioned them at the market, I don't think they have heard of them.
He does got some nice cucumbers growing. They make a good salad.

[LuckyLarry]

Sunflowers now 5.5 feet tall and just starting to flower. The bees are everywhere!
Larry

[bnorth]

Larry, Very nice looking sun flowers and trees.

Pumpkin plant is growing great. It is getting small pumpkins, got 3 about the size of baseballs.

[pawpawdiv9]

Update on my seed project (thanks to Ben)--its been 2 weeks and my very 1st poppage.
Hoping for more.

[bnorth]

Took this picture yesterday. I am down to just this 1 pumpkin on the plant and you can almost watch it grow. It is weird shaped and much larger than a basketball.

[Runscott]

nm

[ggary]

Thanks Ben for the cherry tomato seeds that you sent out to me months ago. The tomatoes are delicious. Is there anything I have to do besides dry out a few of the tomatoes to get seeds to plant next year?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ggary

Thanks Ben for the cherry tomato seeds that you sent out to me months ago. The tomatoes are delicious. Is there anything I have to do besides dry out a few of the tomatoes to get seeds to plant next year?

Harvesting seeds is not as easy as drying out a tomato. Here is how I do it and have had great luck.

Cut a few in half and squeeze the slime/seed combo out into a small steel screened strainer. Then rinse as much of the slime off the seeds as possible with just the water flow from your sink faucet. Then take the remaining seeds/goo and put it in a glass or plastic glass. Add around 1/2 cup of purified or spring water. Do not use tap water because of the chemicals in it. Now cover the top of the glass with a paper towel and hold it on with a rubber band. Sit it someplace out of direct sun light for around 5-7 days. It will mold over and stink a little. It needs to do this to get the seeds to separate from the goo. Then get the strainer out again and rinse all the nasty stuff off the seeds. Now spread the seeds out on a double layer of paper towels. Let them sit for a few days to completely dry. Now you have seeds to plant next year. This only works with heirloom seeds, the seeds I sent to everyone are an heirloom variety. If done with hybrids there is no way of knowing what type of tomato grow from the seeds.

[Republicaninmass]

I got a late start, but the first flower showed up today

[ggary]

Ben,

Thanks for the seed advice. I had dried out a couple of tomatoes last week. I guess I'll save a few more and try out your method to get seeds for next year.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ggary

Ben,

Thanks for the seed advice. I had dried out a couple of tomatoes last week. I guess I'll save a few more and try out your method to get seeds for next year.

Happy to help. Never tried to dry out a tomato to save seeds. I get 95%+ germination with the way I described and usually use them for 2-3 years and then collect new ones.

[pawpawdiv9]

Last week, I transplated mine into a big pot. It is doing very well, since I planted July 2.
I am just happy I got 1 plant out of the few seeds I did plant, got the rest for next year.
Ben, thanks for the added fertilizer. I just mixed up my last gallon.
Also, thanks for the tip on drying seeds..Kudos.
I have not any buds/flowers yet, but will inform you once I do and post a pic of it.
I guess, my question is about when I can expect some product?? Its still HOT down here in Georgia..in the 90's but I keep it under the porch and rotate to get the direct sunlight.

[pawpawdiv9]

doublepost

[LuckyLarry]

Picked 55 pounds of tangerines this morning!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by LuckyLarry

Picked 55 pounds of tangerines this morning!

That is cool, how many pounds do you get a year off the 4 trees?

[LuckyLarry]

Originally Posted by bnorth

That is cool, how many pounds do you get a year off the 4 trees?

Ben this is only the third year of heavy production so my trees are pretty young. But I would guess 75-100 lbs per tree.
Larry

[Republicaninmass]

Seeds started too late to get more than one or two ripe ones. Tasty!!

[pawpawdiv9]

I have had a handful or so down here. Probably was too late for me as well.
I have tons of green ones producing and still.... but not getting enough sunshine I guess to turn color.
I attempted fried-green tomatoes with these and not too shabby.
I did have a issue with the thin skin cracking early on a few.
Last night we dipped into the low 30's. But I keep it under the front porch.