N&C Midwest - MAY! Spring has sprung!

farmersgranddaughter wrote:Disregard my question above.  I found Turan's awesome 2017 post about pruning determinate tomatoes.

Do you have to prune determinate tomatoes?

Three of my 4 fruit tree 'sticks' are showing signs of life, the 4th I think has some buds but they have not pushed past little brown nubs to show some green like the others.  But it is early, that stick has the hottest spot with the least tended soil so I am not losing hope yet!

Goosegirl wrote:Three of my 4 fruit tree 'sticks' are showing signs of life, the 4th I think has some buds but they have not pushed past little brown nubs to show some green like the others.  But it is early, that stick has the hottest spot with the least tended soil so I am not losing hope yet!

Funny you posted about this;  I ordered 2 Chicago Hardy Fig “trees” from Stark brothers, plus 2 seedless Concord grape vines and 3 rhubarb corms.  The trees are alive, 2 of the 3 rhubarbs are alive, but neither of the grape vines has done anything.  They guarantee for a year, but I don’t want to lose a whole year waiting on them!  I emailed them about it, just waiting for a reply.  

GG, have you read “Eat Your Yard”?  It has some great ideas, and is region-specific.

OK, hot here...we had a super quick rain yesterday, I don’t think it helped, really.  Set my alarm to get up early to get my maters and peppers out before it hits 90* at 10AM.  I hate this.

Scorpio Rising wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:Three of my 4 fruit tree 'sticks' are showing signs of life, the 4th I think has some buds but they have not pushed past little brown nubs to show some green like the others.  But it is early, that stick has the hottest spot with the least tended soil so I am not losing hope yet!

Funny you posted about this;  I ordered 2 Chicago Hardy Fig “trees” from Stark brothers, plus 2 seedless Concord grape vines and 3 rhubarb corms.  The trees are alive, 2 of the 3 rhubarbs are alive, but neither of the grape vines has done anything.  They guarantee for a year, but I don’t want to lose a whole year waiting on them!  I emailed them about it, just waiting for a reply.  

GG, have you read “Eat Your Yard”?  It has some great ideas, and is region-specific.

SR, I have heard of it but have not read it. Sounds like I need to get myself a copy!  My 4th 'stick' is definitely alive!  Yesterday morning from about 3 am to 5:30 am we had a terrific T-storm with drenching rain and some tiny BB hail to add percussion.  No damage to anything and the good soaking and patience paid off with the bursting out of a few tiny greenish buds on the last stick!

PS - Just ordered Eat Your Yard!

Oh, wow, got up early and spent about 2 1/2 hours out there.  Bulked up beds with vermiculite and compost.  Added side dressing of worm castings.  Planted 6 tomatoes (2 each Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, and Ultimate Opener—new this year to me).  Also planted the 2 eggplants, and 6 of the 9 peppers, 2 unnamed (lost marker) and 2 King of the North, a sweet banana, and one Big Red.  

Watered.

Still have 3 nameless peppers, but they are tiny yet.  Also have cukes, melons and squash up in peat pots.  They will go in the South Annex next weekend.  



GG, tell me what you think of the book!

SR, You got a lot of work done!

SR, I have been out of town at a family reunion and just saw your question.  As to pruning determinate tomatoes, the answer is "yes."  There was even a diagram showing where to prune.  I chose to plant a determinate Roma variety because I heard that they produce one big harvest which will be helpful as I want to can tomatoes and salsa. 

I've heard that determinate varieties may produce a second harvest later in the summer.  I'm not sure if I want to keep the plants in hopes of a second harvest or start new plants indoors and transplant for a guaranteed harvest.  I'd like to try making tomato sauce for use in the winter.  Learning to can is on my "to do" list for this year.

SR - I can't wait until the book comes!  

FGD - If you have freezer space, here is the absolute easiest sauce in the world:

Wash 'maters, cut into quarters (or halves, depending on the size of your tomatoes), drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on whatever herbs and garlic you usually put in your sauce and roast.  There is a thread somewhere here about different temps and times for roasting - lots of input and personal preferences.  After they cool, throw them in freezer zip-lock bags (I use gallon size and suck the air out! ) and toss in the freezer.  When ready to make sauce, thaw a bag and throw it in a blender or food processor, then heat in a pan while you cook your noodles.  You can add some corn starch or such to thicken quickly or you can let it cook a bit to thicken, but you already have the roasted herb flavors in there like you have been stewing your sauce for hours!  

The first time I did this, Hubby couldn't believe I had homemade spaghetti sauce done in 20 minutes, and then he said "That was SOME GOOD SAUCE!"

Thanks, GG, for the recipe!  I have plenty of freezer space and this sounds not only easy but delicious.

farmersgranddaughter wrote:Thanks, GG, for the recipe!  I have plenty of freezer space and this sounds not only easy but delicious.

+1

Oh wow!  Yeah, sanderson, I did get a lot of stuff done...about a month late, but hey, ya take what you get!

GG,  I know you will love the book.  I have taken it out from my local library a bunch!!!  Maybe I need to buy it.  Another great read is Bringing Nature Home, about the importance of planting natives.  I had no idea about the imports....I have definitely made a change of plans for the symbiotic dependent biosphere.  Game changer!

FGD, the only time I grew determinate maters was 2 years ago.  My son’s friends dad gave me 2 unknown tomatoes.  I put them in my “south annex”, containers on the south side of my brick house=HOT.  They did great, they weren’t Roma’s.  They were round.  Lots of them, in clusters.  LOTS!  I made 4 or 5 batches of Easy and Delicious Crockpot Marinara (on here somewhere) because I am not around and really can’t heat up my house.  Still enjoying it, made some tweaks.  

Hot here, gonna mow in about a half hour...thinking melons and squash and cukes going in this weekend!

Finally raining here...weather forecast not so accurate...

I have cukes ready to go in.

My South Annex (large containers) needs help.  Honestly, I have 4 new containers that need attention, and these seedlings are READY!!

Hoping for a cool off.

SR - I am feeling so behind in everything. The temps have been in the record-breaking 90's since last Thursday. Got some much-needed rain yesterday, supposed to drop into the 60's for the next week. So I'm hoping to get my cukes and melons in; I still haven't planted the summer squashes. I ended up buying transplants since I never got the seeds going. Hopefully I can get them in this weekend.

SR - Book came today!  I am having a great read!

GG:  I know you will love it!  We need a thread!!!  Eat Your Yard!

BJW, honey, we have just had one of those “springs”.  Nin-existent,   None of my super-hotties are in..ime will come!

So, we re-group, it’s OK.