What's in Your Garden?

I love pickles, so I have cucumbers.

I yanked out my last peppers today, was able to harvest a few from the fushimi and padron plants.

My garden will mostly hibernate over the winter with the exception of some winter greens which are doing quite nicely with the cooler temps and recent rains.

Already starting a checklist for next year!

OK, that's it, taking out the last of the cherry tomatoes, fall is here. Still have a couple of quarts of ripe cherry tomatoes, but haven't harvested anything for a week or so. One pot of basil still going well, and quite a few Poblano peppers- they always produce late, and often overwinter. Down to an occasional strawberry, and some lettuce and suchlike stuff. Time to pull out the seed catalogues.

Still ticking here- a few tomatoes left that have some chance of ripening, a lot of cherry tomatoes still coming in. It's been hitting 80-85 pretty much every day, but fall is becoming obvious-zukes have apparently given up (more mildew than cold), but I managed one last from the garden, zuchinni/ red poblano/ tomato/basil combo with dinner last night. Older lemons and limes are dropping off to make way for the new; lots of tangerines waiting for some cold weather to finish ripening. Basil that I started in August still hasn't bolted and is excellent, best of the year- I'll be freezing some more today. Saffron up but not blooming as yet. As the "mists and mellow fruitfulness" of fall take over, the seed and plant catalogues grow in fascination.

This is the last white rose of the year. It has the sweetest aroma and gave me one last farwell to summer.

we've been downright cold, ok cool. doors/windows open and house in low 60s. haven't even barbecued much. but, still waiting on my tennis ball sized cantaloupes to show some beige color where there is only green under the webbing. while the bay area might have some sun and heat, we've had marine weather. that's ok because on sunny days it's been bad air from the no. ca. wildfires. even with blue skies it has caused me to wheeze. i'm saying goodbye to summer fruits and veggies. until next year.

Still? Eggplant, okra, fugitive cucumbers, zucchini, and an avalanche of tomatoes.

Summer is officially over, but seems to be just starting here in the SF Bay Area. After a fairly brutal summer (there was about a month and a half where every day was at least in the mid 90's) temperatures have come down to something plants can accept I'm currently awash in ripe tomatoes, zucchini, peppers etc. Currently putting a lot of stuff- peppers and basil especially- in the freezer. Still barbecuing, too- I've found that the best way to roast peppers -which I do-if at all- before freezing. Actually the best results are from putting the grate over a half full chimney starter and grilling them on that- hot enough to easily reach into hollow spots and overcome the heat-sink effect of the internal ribs. In general, while charring over an open flame on the stove is often the only practical way to peel a pepper, a larger flame at more distance (barbecue, broiler) produces much better results. Incidentally, while many methods of resting the peppers after roasting are recommended- paper bag, bowl covered with plastic, etc.- I've found that wrapping them in a damp cloth produces the best results. I've also found it's not really necessary for peppers roasted on the barbecue or broiler- I just let them cool down at room temp. Started watering saffron (crocus sativus) yesterday- hoping for a big crop (they bloom in fall). Lot of tangerines on the tree, but it probably won't get cold enough for them to finish ripening until December or later.

The growing season here, Pacific Northwest, was so incredibly hot and our plants really struggled this year. Still, it was rewarding. Have 3 tomato plants holding on with sone fruit. I'll baby them until the end!
Cleaning out pots and storing away for next year. Have purchased a few little mum plants transitioning into the coming fall season.

Well, here up north the garden season is drawing to a close quickly. Lately it's not been so much gardening as it has been preserving the harvest. The last of this years tomatoes are now safely in jars, in various forms. Bambi and Thumper's cousins managed to get through the fencing, and finished off the late beans for me. The potato harvest was acceptable, though not exactly prolific as I hoped. But what my family refers to as the "Zombie Apocalypse Pantry" is very nearly fully stocked against the coming winter. Now I just await the arrival of the annual apple harvest to top it off. Then it will be time to spread the fall leaves and compost on the garden, tuck in in beneath a landscape fabric duvet, and let it dream of spring.

Come on you guys, there's still most of a month of summer left, you can't quit now. I'm getting better production in squash and tomatoes after a too-hot July/ early August more or less shut them down, peppers and tomatillos are just starting to get serious, third batch of basil seedlings are just reaching harvestable size. Time to be planting onions, garlic etc. as well as perennial herbs such as oregano, thyme, rosemary. Time to plant winter crops like lettuce, broccoli and the like. I don't go in that much for food crops in winter, concentrating more on ornamentals, but I do like to have some stuff going. Big season for composting, especially if you have large trees. In areas with winters too cold for fall planting, it's still a good idea to do some prep for spring now; it's a good idea to give soil amendments time to settle in before planting, and if you want to plant bare roots it's better to prepare your holes now before soil gets too wet or too frozen to deal with. Also important to keep cleaning up plant debris that can provide shelter for over wintering pests- still lots to do in the garden.

Wow! Thank you to all my gardening lovers for sharing incredible tips and stories! This was a great year for gardening. May you all enjoy the bounty of your harvest!🌽🍆🥔🌶🥒

well, a couple of potato plants showed up as volunteers, the unidentified squash has turned into beautiful little pumpkins and we have a couple of volunteer tennis ball sized cantaloupe. went to the farmer's market yesterday and have been getting the best romaine and butter leaf for a buck and gorgeous red leaf for 75 cents. blackberries are an inch long and sweet, and dry farmed tomatoes are outrageously ripe and sweet. corn sweet and crunchy and got a couple of eggplants to play with. oh, and the peaches and nectarines are nothing short of divine. waiting for grapes to show up other than at costco.

Hard to believe the growing season is almost over for this year. It was a bit of a struggle with the extreme heat we had, but I managed to get beautiful tomatoes off many of the plants. Yesterday I roasted a pan at low heat for a number of hours and then store them in the fridge in olive oil, they are absolutely delicious. Now I'm off to the farmers market to see what treasures I can find there.

Fall is approaching, and the Farmwife's Curse is almost upon us- tons of produce to process during the hottest part of the year. Got an early start by roasting a bunch of Tiburon peppers (a variety of Poblano) on the barbecue- really works better than anything you can do with a stove. If I plan to roast peppers, I do it before freezing them.

What's in my garden? Hahah, MUSHROOMS!! We did NOT plant them.../Users/andra/Desktop/IMG_1625.JPG

My favorite plant supplier, Annie's Annuals of Richmond, CA is offering a new-to-me basil variety called "Pesto Perpetuo" that is sterile and therefore bolt free. Pretty late in the season, but I have to try this- I think I can keep it going over winter with cuttings. If interested, Annie's does a really terrific job with mail order. anniesanuals.com- also in their latest promo, a dwarf (6") culinary oregano (origanum vulgare) that could be just the thing for window sill growers, an improved Rugen alpine strawberry and lots of other neat stuff.

so, one of the composted old yellowish cloves of garlic produced a really nice globe of garlic. and for all of you zuch farmers, yesterday was dia de los zucchini or the day you put some excess zucchini on your neighbors porch. i cut one of the little globes of squash that came up from compost as a volunteer and put in gift bag with yellow peruvian lilies for neighbor who is a gardener. it's not too late to gift some squash to your neighbors. if nothing else, it drives them crazy trying to figure out who done it.

Tomatoes are ripening! Picked the Black Cherry and Yellow Zebra. The one marked Purple Bumblebee was apparently mismarked. Lots of marble size yellow! Not what I was expecting but they are looking good!

So today was potato harvest. I had one huge pot that I planted on St. Patrick's Day for good luck and a pot of gold this year. Before I started acting like Little Jack Horner, I somehow lifted the pot onto the table chair. Then, with garden gloves on, started searching through the soil. I thought I had found a freakishly big potato but it felt odd. I pulled it to the surface to find a chunk of an ear of corn the squirrel had buried!
It made me smile that she thought my pot was a safe place. Then the fun began. A truly bumper load of rosy fingerlings! What fun digging and finding potato treasures.
The most potatoes I have ever had in one pot, which is a great sign. That pot of gold may be in my future!

Back to Gardening: I make my own organic fertalizer (in addition to compost) and my husband's Worm Farm "pee". Anyone interested in this stuff?

cv= It wasn't a translation problem (My Japanese husband talking to his Japanese staff) but I think an URBAN one. So many people don't know what the plants look like.
Culturally, I understand your point about soybeans. We used to play in the rows of Indiana soybeans called "pig food". Now soybeans play an important part of Western diet.
And Japan has also evolved. Tomatoes are readily available and even commercially grown on a tremendous scale.
This picture is from the cover of a 22-page magazine from a city in Northern Japan promoting a city-wide Tomato Fair with detailed picture, maps and descriptions of each dish (everything from curry and katsu, ramen, marinades, egg custards to skewers).

Smaug--thank you about the fruit split info. With the typhoon dumping buckets of rain after drought and then the tail whipping around again 18 hrs. later, it is very hard to control the water (planted in about 30cm of excellent dirt, but directly on the top of our cement garage). Followed by this heat wave-- all that would fit what you described. Thanks for explaining it.

I once had a Tokyo guest ask me which tree I picked my tomatoes from.

I looked up the curly-top virus on tomatoes but that's not what I have. Or blossom end rot. My tomatoes get splits from the crown to half way down the sides like the inside is bursting out--anyone know what causes that?

So pleased! I put my hand in potato pot and there are lots of fingerlings in that pot! Pulled out six for now. Will dry them inside for 10 days, then remove the dirt.
Can't wait to eat them. Some of the tomatoes will ne ready as well.

Sorry, I'm late-was busy picking blackberries (grown in 2 pots over a rose arch) what a crop. Always have basil and tomatoes, shiso, and shishito peppers (easy). Spaghetti Squash and Kabocha. Passion Fruits and other citrus fruits. Quince.
If you have some land, plant asparagus- very rewarding when it comes up!

I was checking my tomato plants and freaked when one Italian tomato vine had tomatoes firming dark, brown spots on the bottoms. I pulled off about 8 small tomatoes and checked the other tomatoes and they were fine. Took to the Internet and found out it's a lack of calcium in the soil. I had a fertilizer with calcium and fed it to the plant. Fingers crossed it works.
Anyone else ever encounter brown ends on tomatoes? What did you do? Thanks! BB🌷

You know it's summer when... I've reached the point where the cherry tomatoes (Juliette is the only variety I grew this year) are sweeter than the strawberries, and the strawberries (Elan and Albion, mainly) are pretty good. I also grow some alpines, but mostly for decorative purposes- it's really too hot for them here, and the flavor is very undependable. My grandfather started some Muscat grapes 60 odd years ago, and they are one of the treasured memories of my youth. Unfortunately, the area he planted them in is very difficult and borders on undeveloped land- the vines became serious victims of the gophers, and can't be watered without making it worse. I started a cutting a few years back and planted it in a somewhat safer area, and it's making some grapes this year. Muscats are one of the most flavorful grapes- and extremely sweet- but seem to have fallen into disuse, despite the development of a seedless cultivar (mine have seeds).

well, smaug, i've taken your advice about dry farming and actually have a couple of squashes/cucumbers/melons. as i mentioned on composting thread, i direct compost and a couple of seeds have germinated. i don't dare water them or the gopher will find. one plant is 20 fee long going from n.e. to s.w. with plant in between. several round zucchini green balls on them...did not have any squash like that. the other plant(s) in different location are more delicate intricate smaller leaves. no telling what that is...maybe my french melons have lent their seeds to my very own plants. and yes, i agree, i love hearing what is in others' gardens.

Tomatoes are getting lots of fruit!
Black cherry are the first and only ripened. Bumble Bee pinks should be next followed by all the others. New photo from today.

I have a few vegetables, mostly in containers, in my Atlanta area garden. I have a single tomato plant that has about half dozen Romas ripening with another dozen flowers. The basil and parsley are thriving. The blueberries are gone, we left a handful on the bush and the birds found them. I have a grow bag (see below) filled with strawberry plants that is still pumping out fruit even in the heat; they're truly everbearing. It's too hot for radishes, I'm going to wait another month to plant a crop, but the carrots are still growing. I tried a potato barrel this year and plan to dig into it this weekend.

*MASSIVE* tomato crop this year, the weather conditions during bloom were perfect.

Peppers (five varieties) are starting to come around, the eggplants are slow this year.

Picked a very delicious Japanese cucumber earlier this week; I'm going to stick with this variety for the foreseeable future. The other ones are so bitter (particularly the skins).

We live in a 100 year old urban neighborhood in Omaha. These are 6 foot tall tomato plants in our south facing alley which were planted in April. In our zone it’s really not safe to plant them until Mother’s Day but because of the southern face and the reflection from the concrete we can plant really early. We ate our 1st on July 1 (Early Girl) which is unheard of here. There are a variety of plants there. Lots of our neighbors grow in the alley. We use frames from Gardener’s Supply. I don’t know if you can see them. They are growing against our garage. On the other side of the garage we have raised beds.

BB , this is the best hotline question and you ask it every year. FOOD52 should make this thread into an article.

I garden primarily in a combination of raised beds, the old fashioned ground way, and some in containers. For the soil I use a combination of compost, vermicompost, composted manure from the garden center, and add in pulverized egg shells and blood meal. In the fall, I get bags of leaves from my neighbors, which I spread out on the garden plot and cover with landscape fabric. In the spring it gets tilled in. For spot feeding, I drain liquid worm tea from my vermicompost setup. I got into the red wiggler composting shortly after moving to MN, because for so much of the year a regular compost barrel is not active. Just recently I was gifted a setup of bokashi bran which is supposed to let you compost leftovers, meat and dairy. It really pickles them, and after the pH drops you can add it to the usual compost. I'm not sure how that will work out, but I'm giving it a shot. I really hate putting organic material in the weekly garbage collection, so I am holding out hope.
I did think about getting better soil brought in for the garden area, as our original dirt left a lot to be desired. But that's pricey around here, so I'm going the slow route. I've been at it three years now, and this year things are really looking better.

Alas I travel for work too much to tend to a garden. However, I did plant 3 varieties of cherry tomatoes in a small, enclosed area of what I call my "holding bed", where I put plants that have no permanent home. I laid down landscaping plastic to keep out weeds and heat up our Vermont soil. We are enjoying ride tomatoes - Sungold, Sweet 100, and a purple variety. I also planted parsley in my container pots, along with coleus, dracaena, Arabian ivy and nicotiana. There's a container of rosemary, lemon verbena, and sage. Thyme grows everywhere on our property. That's the extent of vegetables and herbs for me.

i'm a bit south of cv along the coast and the spring was very cool and we had some late rains, but not near enough for the season. then, we've had very marine low clouds (coolest 4th i can recall and if i hadn't turned pilot off on furnace would have turned it on) and then a couple of days of heat. however, my garden only has drought tolerant plants and no cutting flowers or veggies. i'm saving all of my expensive water to keep my 14 or so trees alive. you can see the stress on trees driving around town. mine get monthly watering with soaker hose. however, i was given by my neighbors on both sides some lovely santa rosa plums and aromatic fat white onions. i need some suggestions on what to do special with the white onions...some pico de gallo for sure. farmers market yesterday had some wonderful orange fleshed french named melons, terrific straw and blackberries, fragrant white polar nectarines and some slightly bitter, dense heads of tender red leaf lettuce. wow and pricey but get it while you can and it is still available and grown locally. i do like hearing about everyone's gardens though. my drought tolerant front yard, planted 3-5 years ago, now requires only once a month waterings to look tip top.

Freshly picked in Oregon right now are berries, which were priced way higher than directly from the farm, and cherries. Lavender is ready to pick but I have a beautiful pot on the patio. Corn, tomatoes, melons all next month. Still interesting to see the other vendors and who is participating this year.

Exciting ALL the plants have fruit now! Won’t be ready to pick for a good month so visited the farmers market. Beautiful produce but had to laugh. Many of the signs read ‘Locally Grown’. Got home and noticed little stickers on the peaches and nectarines. I wonder when California merged with Oregon to now be considered ‘local’? No complaints about the produce, it is delicious!

Our annual battle of the Japanese beetles is underway here. So far this year, it's not been so bad though. My usual defense is to use neem oil, which is pretty effective. I know you can use dish soap and water, and knock them off into it, but I hate being caught up in the midst of the flock which flies away. I've also had to fight the squirrels for tomatoes. My most effective defense to date has been a home-made concoction of hot peppers, garlic, and mild dish soap, blended up and sprayed on. Plus I sprinkle the ground around each plant and the plants with cayenne pepper. At the moment, most of my tomato plants have set pretty large clusters of fruit. Plenty of cherry tomatoes as well and leaf lettuce, so nice salads to enjoy. My bean plants should flower this week, and the japanese eggplant has set three or four small fruit on each plant. The sour pie cherries finished last week, and I was pleased with the yield. The tree was planted four years ago, and this is the second year I've harvested fruit. It provided enough this year that I figure I have at least four pie's worth frozen, and we had one fresh cherry pie last week. The red currants have started ripening as well. The basil plants are lush, as are the mint, oregano, marjoram, and sage. I candied some mint last week, plus made flavored oil with the basil, oregano, marjoram, chives and sage. Once I've got some room in my freezer, I plan to make up herb cubes to tide me over for winter. When the chives blossomed earlier in the spring, I made up chive vinegar as well - and this week it will be time to strain off those flower bits. It turned a lovely shade of pink-purple, darker this year than in the past for some reason. And tasty on fresh tomatoes and leaf lettuce. Farmers market had new potatoes this past week, so the plan for this week is to buy and can some of those. I have some blue potatoes and fingerlings in grow bags, but of course we'll have no idea how prolific those have been for a while yet.

Tomato plants have fruit! Many little ones starting and lots of blossoms. End of July and into August should be fun!
How's your garden progressing?

Rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, sage, lemon balm, chocolate mint (for tea), tomatoes, strawberries. Will try garlic this fall and asparagus and rhubarb next spring.

Hella hot, but a little bit of stuff coming to harvest. A few tomatoes (a variety called Juliet, which I suppose would be classed as a grape tomato) remind me why people bother with these ungainly and troublesome plants. The Poquito zukes are quite good- these relatively small plants are looking to be the real deal for people seeking a smaller growing zucchini plant. Getting a few peppers now on live over plants- despite fairly regular light freezes in the area, I usually have some that live over; Poblanos seem to be particularly hardy, and I'm getting some of those; I also have a Piquillo plant in it's fourth year; these are one of the best tasting sweet peppers, but are a little bit of a pain; they're small, and almost comically thick skinned, so they have to be peeled.

With a local Amish market just down the road from me, I try to stay away from things like corn, broccoli and instead focus on specialty items: like heirloom tomatoes, different varieties of cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash and of course, a variety of peppers that range from green to cooking peppers to jalapeno ( which already have processed up 2 jars of ) to ghost to reaper. I also have an herb garden that is in pots and scattered about in the landscape along with a "sipping" garden that I planted for making tea and for drink mixers like lemon balm, chamomile and of course mint. So far everything seems to be doing well here in Eastern Shore Maryland. So much love for this time of the year!!!

I have many herbs and native medicinal/edible plants thriving in my garden. I hang and dry the herbs each fall. My basil isn't growing so well yet, but I let fennel, chives, arugula, parsley, garlic, and Egyptian walking onions reseed themselves each year and I pull the weeds around them as necessary. My sage and tarragon overwintered well but my rosemary is barely growing. I keep hacking back the lemon balm to keep it under control, but it makes a great salad with mustard, parsley, and strawberries. The St. John's wort is blooming nicely and the wormwood is happy to be welcomed into the garden. Alas, my sugar pumpkins and elderberries never sprouted. I'm a millennial, but I'm patient and interested in ethnobotany.

We have several birdfeeders up, and the deer do routinely help themselves to them. Deer damage is just a part of living in my neighborhood, when it comes to it. Some of my more effective defenses have involved hanging old CD's and jingle bells on my younger fruit trees and around the garden fence. They are accustomed to human and pet smells, so the usual fur trick doesn't work. Actually, I fuss tongue in cheek. We've had a small number of does living nearby for several years now, and they routinely leave their fawns in the tall grass I leave to border against the wooded area. I sip coffee on the deck most mornings in the company of two or three of them. Though I fuss at them to leave my garden in peace, in truth I guess I'm willing to sacrifice a few plants. I found it odd they would eat the pepper plants though, given there was a lush patch of leaf lettuce just beside them.

Gardening with kids is always fun. Mine started out with flowers as well, then migrated to other plants. It was so much fun to watch them wonder over the way veggies developed, and how the plants grew.
One thing I plant every year which gives you the benefit of flowers and veggies are Scarlet Runner Beans. Gorgeous red flowers, which attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, and produce loads of long flat beans. It's a nice show on a teepee trellis, or fence.
We tend to have wet springs here, so mildew and fungus can be problems. I use Neem oil spray as a hopeful preventative, and since I started doing that I've had many fewer problems. Otherwise I use pyrethrin spray if I have to. A couple years ago I started growing pyrethrum daisies and chrysanthemums in the garden, and I believe that has helped as well. Fortunately I don't have many bug troubles, partially because my garden sits beside my pool. That attracts a host of toads and leopard frogs, plus the occasional snapping turtle. So when I fish them out of the pool, I relocate them to the garden.
I'd be curious to hear what other gardener's find challenging, and how you deal with them.

Yep, I did. Sorry. As far as the curly top tomato disease, as I understand that's a virus carried by a little critter. Unfortunately once your plant gets it, there's no cure. Plus it acts like a source for other critters to spread around to other plants. I haven't had a problem with it myself, my challenge is blight as a rule. I lost three plants to it last year. This year, praise be to the garden gnomes, it's not been a problem. And though I hate to admit it, I'm radish challenged. Can't grow them, not even with seed tape. And I'd love to grow some of those watermelon radishes. Has anyone tried growing those little Peruvian peppers, I think they are called Sweetie Drops? I ordered some of the seed, but had no luck in germination. I'm not sure what the problem there was, as the other peppers I had did fine. At the moment I'm hoping the replacement Sweet Heat plants hang in there. I mean, I like the deer well enough, and I get grass is kind of bland, but I wish they could add interest to their diet someplace else.

I'm hardly the one to deprecate a good rant or three, but we do seem to have wandered a bit from the subject of gardening here.

I disagree that Americans don't care about taste. I also know that it is possible to get bad tasting food abroad. I lived most of my life in Europe and the Far East, most recently in South Korea. They have bad fast food, and some poor quality stuff in their stores as well. The produce and meat are probably of better quality, but then it doesn't have to travel as far to get to them, and they aren't into mass produced beef, chicken and pork. When I lived in Europe, the produce came from farms within 3-4 hours drive or less, and the meat generally came from farms even closer by. It wasn't unusual to see a card in the case telling you specifically which farm, where the animal was born and raised, and where it was butchered. Plus it gave the dates for all that. It isn't like that here in the States, and hasn't been for some time. Even at the Farmer's Markets in some places, they allow wholesalers to bring in produce from out of the state, because consumers want that produce sometimes before it is available locally. Or somethings which can't be grown locally. There aren't many avocados grown on farms in MN, for example. We are lucky to have local butcher shops which do purchase local meat, but again some of it comes from the large meat processing plants. The only way I can get a pork roast with enough fat to make a nice crisp roast is to go to a local live meat market, buy the animal on the hoof, and oversee the cutting. But that costs a lot of money, and even though my budget is fairly generous, it doesn't stretch that far all the time. For some families, it is a matter of what is available inexpensively at the local grocery store. They don't know egg yolks should be bright yellow orange, because they've never seen, little alone eaten, a fresh country egg. Even our butter is a pale imitation of the real thing. Most people don't realize there are bazillions of different kinds of tomatos, eggplant, corn, green beans, or whatever. Worst of all, too many people don't know how to cook, or have the time to cook from scratch. I've lost count of the times my kids invited friends for dinner, and we discovered they only knew cauliflower as a vehicle for cheese sauce, from a little plastic packet. Or had never eaten it. Had one young man who didn't recognize it in the head form.
Fast food is pretty gnarly stuff no matter where you are- if you are discussing the American style of it. Then again, if you are in Europe, you can also get some pretty lousy offerings at the friteries, soggy fish in England, and nasty noodle dishes in Korea. Their frozen food dinners are not a lot better either, and yes- they exist outside the US. Rich people eat quite well, high quality food. Poor folks, not so much.
While I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from traveling and experiencing life abroad, you can most assuredly get good German, Italian, Korean, and other ethnic food here in the States. We are a nation of immigrants, and all those grandmas brought their recipes in their heads with them. They taught their kids, and grandkids. In some cases, some of the family opened restaurants. Das mehl ist anders, nicht besser oder schlechter. ( The flour is different, not better or worse) But the kuchen I made with sour cherries yesterday is what I learned from my own Oma, and once made for a German landlord. The concept of terroir does not automatically mean a thing is better or worse than the same item from elsewhere. It will be different, that's all. Does that mean it can be transfered elsewhere? No, because the terroir will not be the same. Poulet de Bresse makes some fine roast chicken. You can even breed your own version here in the States. It also makes a nice roast chicken. It's not the same because the environment is different, but gosh- it's still good. But even the best chicken is no good to you if you only know how to microwave stuff. Or can't afford or locate a source of it. Does that mean your local bird is bad? No. You can't get a true Poulet de Bresse here in the States. To make the trip safely, it would have to be frozen, and it would take some time to arrive. It would not be much better than a supermarket bird by the time you got it. Now if you've never had this particular brand of chicken, you probably think your organic, free range bird is just as good. Truthfully it might be. If you've never had such a bird, and all you know is the poor little supermarket bird, then you think that's good too. But if you can't cook to begin with, it just doesn't matter what kind of bird you have. And if you don't know there's a difference, you don't know to demand better. We don't need to import fancy French chickens to get a decent chicken dinner. We need to start raising our chickens for flavor, not for quick growth and large breasts. We need to get people educated about their food, starting with how it is raised or grown, and how best to honor that as we get it to our plates. My neighbor needs to be less squeamish about things like compost and less obsessive about her lawn. She just doesn't know that, yet. The best bratwurst isn't the one made in Germany, it's the one made either in your own kitchen or by a butcher with a passion for great wurst.

I agree that non-season produce lacks taste, and is not worth my grocery dollars. And while composting is an old process, I've discovered it's not a thing a lot of people are familiar with. We are still a country very much accustomed to throwing everything in one bag and tossing it in the refuse container for weekly pickup. We might separate out the glass and metal, sometimes paper- but more than that makes a lot of folks squeamish.

I think the reason people buy produce out of season isn't because they are not concerned with the taste- but because a lot of folks don't know what the good stuff tastes like to begin with. Even the best store tomato will not taste as good as the one from the Farmer's Market, or the one from the garden. But if that's all you've ever known, it's acceptable. Plus there is the misconception that a canned or frozen product isn't as healthy as the fresh one. As long as store produce is grown primarily for the the qualities of shipability and uniformity, and until more people are made aware of the lack of taste and quality, it's going to be a problem. I can and preserve a lot of the stuff my family eats during winter, and I've had different friends tell me it's not as healthy as the fresh stuff at the store. So yeah, I get a little nutty and frustrated myself with it, too. About all I can do is plug on with what I do and teach my kids to know the difference.

Yes, I agree. You would think especially now, with all the attention on going green, eating organic and all- things like composting would be nothing new. I live in MN, so I can't actively compost outside all year round- which is why I also keep the red wigglers. But when I need to reduce their population, and post free worms available on the neighborhood website, nobody ever takes me up on it. I get lots of questions about them, but mostly it's a fascination thing and nobody wants my extras. At the local Farmer's Market, everyone wants organic produce, but they want it to look like what's in the grocery store, and not have any evidence of dirt or bugs. I've actually saw one lady freak out when she discovered a worm (oh the horror of it) on an ear of corn. Others don't seem to get the seasonality of things, so ask why there isn't asparagus in August.

Yeah, during the conversation with the neighbor, there were a lot of things I didn't dare mention to her. I didn't want to shock her too badly, in case her head exploded before she got off my property. Not sure if the home insurance would cover that, and she's got a 4 year old boy at home. I don't need that on my conscience or garden. I highly doubt she's as organic as she claims to be. And my compost tumbler isn't that big.

I have Black Krim, San Marzano, Old German Striped, Yellow Pear, Golden, and Sweet 100 tomatoes, japanese eggplant, korean cucumbers, Ronde de Nice, Italian flat green beans, yellow pencil wax beans, limas, sugar snaps, mix color carrots, celery, and ground cherries planted so far. The Sweet 100's have just started coming in, and two day ago I got the first four of the season. I had Sweet Heat pepper plants, lovingly nurtured inside since February. But unfortunately the local wildlife decided they looked tasty. I kind of hope that with all the hype on food awareness, local eating, etc, things will improve- but I'm not so confident as I'd like to be. When a neighbor saw me at the compost tumbler, she asked me what it was. I ended up having to explain what compost was - and she was rather horrified to discover it was "rotten stuff" that makes my tomato plants so happy. Gosh, imagine how horrified she'd be if she knew about the red wiggler vermicomposting set up I have in the utility room. She's a self proclaimed foodie, so she's got the eating side of it down pat - but the growing side, not so much.

We are into a 90+ heatwave already too. Watered early this morning and used organic soray for the little critters. Didn't see any today. Sprayed last week so maybe it caught whatever they were. Tomatoes are doing great I cannot believe how rapidly they're growing. I also have a pot of potatoes are planted on St. Patrick's Day. I did all fingerlings and they should be ready end of August but I think I let them go until September just to be sure.

I have a lot less space for growing, and a hot summer climate to deal with now -- with the compensation of a much longer growing season. Bit of a learning curve....
Growing tomatoes and herbs -- all going great guns. At least at the moment....

Off to a slow start in NJ. cold rainy weather delayed my usual early start. Hopefully the warmer weather will get the tomatoes and basil growing.

Very disappointing this year. I planted 15 heirloom tomato plants, peppers and zucchini only to discover a"top curly leaf disease" in which I had to remove all plants and now starting over :( hoping for a better garden

There's a 5-year waiting list for plots at my town's community garden so there's certainly no lack of interest.

I do note that there are very few people in the community garden who are under forty. The folks in their 30s and 40s seem to have the highest turnover rate as they move more frequently and have other life distractions such as young children.

From my vantage point, it appears that Millennials are the most instant gratification oriented generation in history. That is decidedly not a conducive attitude for gardening which takes months even years and a certain time commitment without guaranteed ROI. The customers at the local nurseries are mostly middle age and older, the average age is probably 50. You almost never see a Millennial at a plant nursery around here.

Back to the original question. I have a bunch of herbs that survived the mild NorCal winter and have sprung back and some others that reseeded themselves. To these I've added some additional herbs so that part of my plot looks great.

I've developed an appreciation for Japanese vegetable varieties in the past few years so I have taken to growing some of those since most of them are not sold in the farmers market and only a few appear in a couple of Japanese grocery stores.

I also have a trio of tomato plants since even the farmers market tomatoes I often find lacking. None are ready to pick, but it is promising to see a lot of green fruit hanging. These are typical varieties: Early Girl, Sweet 100, Yellow Pear.

I have a bunch of very small pepper plants, some eggplant, some cucumber plants so hopefully there will be something in the future to harvest. We are supposed to have a burst of heat later this week which should help things along.

This year, I'm also experimenting with growing a few things (mostly herbs) in containers at home where there is an abundance of shade as my community garden plot is in full direct sun.

BB Can we be the only gardeners left? I know I've had any number of younger people tell me that they wanted to learn gardening, but they tend to lose interest when they find that you have to go outdoors and dig holes and stuff. So much easier to "have a landscape installed"- one of the most outrageous locutions of an age that seems to treasure linguistic outrages.

Well, mostly the usual stuff- a lot of green tomatoes so far, but coming fast. Time to start a second crop of basil (the season starts early here) and some more lettuce. For some reason, the only nursery I can easily get to doesn't ever have lettuce starts and the seeds I ordered from Park got backordered- hard to believe that Park seeds was out of lettuce in March- anyway, they finally got here and the plants are ready to transplant- time to start the seconds. Trying a new zucchini (Poquito), also from Park- the plants are so far living up to the promise of (relatively) compact plants, but the fruit hasn't so far advanced to a size I'd pick. I've been growing a new strawberry, "Elan", the last couple of years; a good grower and the fruit is the most reliably sweet I've found, but sometimes seems a little watery. I'm a little surprised every year by how deliberate pepper plants are up until they have three sets of leaves or so. Nothing new there for me- several Mexican types, Turkish Aci (a personal favorite), and I've returned to the Italian Long Sweet (far as I know that's it's only name) as the best sweet pepper. Other than that, some mixed color mini bells, mostly for fun, and Tiburon- apparently a cross between Poblano and Pasilla varieties that matures to a dark brown.