HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

I have been beyond busy, but finally put together a list of heirloom tomatoes I have on the benches.

HEIRLOOM TOMATOES - Individual plants - $1.79 each   Warning - For most of the varieties I only grow 6 - 10 plants because of space constraints. 

Alpine:  “Early”, Ind, Oblate, red flesh, outstanding yields. Fruits average 6 to 8 oz. Nice sized fruits of high quality.  

Bounty - 70 Days. High yields of red globe large salad fruits. 

Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry - Also known as ''Husk Cherry'. An heirloom variety from Poland prized for its flavor. Golden-yellow 1/2" fruits - excellent for pies, preserves, jams and fresh eating with a strawberry-like flavor. Productive plants 18" tall and 24" wide start fruiting in late July.

Black Cherry - 75 Days. Look like large, dusky purple grapes. Rich flavor. Large vines yield very well. 

Black Prince:  mid, Ind, 6 to 8 oz., grey-brown, semi-sweet, globe-shaped fruits.

Pink Brandywine (Suddeth Strain) - 80 Days. The most popular heirloom vegetable.   

Burgess Crackproof:  75 Days.  Ind. “Plants are unbelievably productive with an abundance of 6 to 8 oz., red globe fruits which are almost 100% crack free.” 

Burpee Gloriana - 70 Days. Globe-shaped fruit, 6 to 8 oz. A+ yields. 

Cabot - 75 Days. Excellent flavor and performance, 4 to 6 oz. red globes.  

Cherokee Purple - 80 Days. An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890 Large sized fruit. “Real old-time tomato flavor.”  

Cosmonaut Volkov - 75 Days. A smooth and attractive, medium-large red tomato that has a full, rich flavor.     

Earl of Edgecomb - 70 Days. High yield of 6 to 10 oz. globe fruits of vivid orange, usually blemish free, assertive, delicious taste. 

Early Glee - 60 Days, 10 - 16 oz. fruits on the acidic side.

Early Rouge - 70 Days. Huge yields of top grade, uniform 6 to 8 oz. globe red tomatoes. 

Fargo:  early, Det, RL, medium size, productive red slicer from NDSU.  

Koralik - 65-70 Days. Det.  Russian 1“ cherry tomato is bright red and borne on heavy trusses of 6-8 fruit, which are sweet and flavorful.    Meaty pale yellow 1 - 2 pounders. From Indiana.

Manitoba:  “Early”, Det, 6 oz. red tomatoes, excellent yield.   Developed by Morden Experimental Station in 1956

Mountain Magic produces high yields of 2 oz., bright red, round salad tomatoes with very sweet flavor.  Some early and late blight resistance.

Moravsky Div - 60 Days. Golf ball sized fruit. Deep red, and cold tolerant. Rich flavor. Smooth and globe-shaped, 6 oz.

Moskovich:  early, SD, 10 oz. red fruits, round globe shape.

Mule Team:  75 Days.   Ind,  large set of globe fruits near one pound, usually blemish free, “great taste.” 

Olomovic:  “Early,”  SD, uniform 4 to 6 oz. tomatoes, a Czech variety, huge yields. Originally introduced by Abundant Life in the 1980's. 

Orange Minsk - 90 Days. Huge meaty orange beefsteaks. 

Paul Robeson -  early, Ind, RL, greenish red-brown fruits about 6 oz.  

Peacevine - 78 Days. Almost identical in fruit size and growth habit to sweet 100. “Bears gazillions of sweet clusters each with 8 or so 1" fruits.” Has the currant tomato in its ancestry.  

Prudens Purple - 72 Days. Some say Prudens is superior to Brandywine It is is earlier .  A great sandwich tomato. 

Ras:  mid, SD, RL, flat, ribby, bright scarlet red fruits, high yields, Spanish heirloom.   

Riesentraube - 76-85 days. This old German heirloom.  The sweet red 1-oz fruit grow in large clusters, and the name means "Giant Bunch of Grapes" in German.  

Rosabec - 60 Days. Nice, 6 to 8 oz. pink fleshed tomato from Quebec. Tart tasting, excellent yields. 

Rose de Berne - 80 Days. French émigré could be considered the Brandywine of continental Europe. Not quite as large, but same great flavor. 

Russian Bogatyr:  80 Days, Ind, 1 to 2 pound beefsteaks, sometimes slightly oblong globes, excl taste, great yield.  

Soldacki - 80 Days. Excellent large pink sandwich tomato. Originally from Krakow Poland.

Taxi - 65 days.  Heavy yields mild,  nonacid YELLOW tomatoes.   Det.

Urbikany:  70 Days, Det, 6 to 8 oz., red-fleshed fruit, above average yield. Another Czech variety

Washington Cherry - 60 Days.  1 1’4” Meaty and Flavorful.

Whippersnapper:  “Very early” , Det, pink/red cherry, plants seem to have more fruit than leaves.

Yellow Brandywine - 90 Days. Some say more delicious than pink Brandywine. 

Yorkbec - 60 Days. Red globe fruits, 4 to 6 oz. size from Quebec.

Fall Mums in Vermont

The mum season is fully upon us.  Pumpkins and gourds are making their appearances and we have been selling "hardy" mums for a couple of weeks.  I view these plants as living bouquets.  They will be pretty for at least three weeks, cost far less than a bouquet, and certainly brighten things up.

Several customers have told me that their mums over-wintered, and this may be a trend with global warming, but typically here in zone 4 they are a one-shot deal.  I took these photos a few weeks ago and then had a camera melt-down,  so I will be posting updated photos soon.

Mums make a very long lasting cut flower as well.

'Peach Fusion'

Last year we had requests from two weddings and one college for white mums. We didn't have nearly enough. This year I am growing three varieties of white mums, all are lovely, and there are very few customers looking for white mums!

'Cesaro'

'Tamara'

'Granata Red'

'Miranda Orange'

'Beth'

MORE New Plants for the Garden

The National Garden Bureau has named 2012 as “the Year of the Geranium.” Burpees will be offering a yellow geranium. There are so many great long lasting yellow flowers out there already, this introduction does not appeal to me.

Last year I started growing ‘Graffiti Red’ geranium, which is an exotic and unusual appearing geranium that’s been around for a while, but is hard to find.

Graffiti Red’ geranium

They produce loads of wild looking double, star-shaped flowers. I call it my “punk” geranium.

A nice development in the world of geraniums is interspecific breeding. Zonal and ivy geraniums are both grown from cuttings. The zonals are tough, upright and vigorous.

Calliope Dark Red

The ivies are pretty for hanging baskets and window boxes, but are susceptible to oedema (water ruptures the cells of the leaves) and are generally not good in full sun. So the industry has crossed the two (interspecific) and come up with excellent new geraniums, notably the ‘Caliente’ and ‘Calliope’ series.

One new variety that I will reluctantly try is 'Plentifall' pansies. They are fragrant and are bred for hanging baskets with a trailing habit of up to 24 inches. I’m sure they are lovely, but I can’t help worrying about dead heading, once the first bloom has finished.

Photo from www.vanmeuwen.com

Johnnies Selected Seeds is offering “Flower Sprout,” a cross of brussel sprouts and kale. The plant grows like a brussel sprout, and develops decorative, edible rosettes. This is something that will be fun to try, but it is backordered until May.

Gardening is a joy for me and experimenting with new plants is part of the fun.

Summer is Definitely Here - The Sale Continues

The hot weather and high humidity slowed me down last week, although the plants seem pretty happy. I like to water in the evening when it is cooler and the water will have more time to do its job. We have put our shade cloth on the biggest greenhouse, so that makes things bearable inside.


All baskets are now $10 each, perennials in quart pots are $2.50 and six-packs are $2.



I have planted containers for a wedding Aug 6. The requested colors are yellow and white, an informal country look, sand I think these will be fine.



The daylily sale (buy five at $6.50 each, get the sixth free, your choice) is moving right along and quite a few happy campers have left with full cars.

Siloam Ury Winniford is one of my favorites. I like all the 'siloams,' but this one is particularly floriferous and perky.

SILOAM URI WINNIFORD

I love the blended colors on Smokey Mountain Autumn.

SMOKEY MOUNTAIN AUTUMN

I sell quite a few white daylilies, and Gentle Shepherd is probably the whitest, but it also has thin pedals and doesn't hold up all that well.

GENTLE SHEPHERD

Because of the nasty "lily beetle" I no longer sell Asiatic or Oriental lilies. Neem oil is recommended when you first see them and I did manage to control the bugs on my one planting of lilium superbum with one timely spray. However, they have returned with a vengeance.

Researching these insects I learned that they squeek when held. The first beetle was officially sighted in Cambridge, MA in 1992. Females lay up to 450 eggs and it is the larvae that are quite repulsive. They look a bit like slugs with swollen bodies and black heads. The reason they start to look particularly gross is because they secrete and carry their excrement on their back. I wonder what THAT is all about.

LILLIUM SUPERBUM (DBA 'Turk's Cap')

I do love these lilies and with the exception of the lily beetle, they are easy to grow. I guess I will offer them next year, although tall plants are hard to handle when grown in pots.

Our three other greenhouses are filled with ... mums. The seasons march on.

Spring (?) in Northern Vermont

Last year in the beginning of April we were two weeks earlier than normal. This year the weather has put us at least two weeks later than usual. The photo below is our "pansy house." Normally we would have the sides unrolled, tables set up and be filling it up with our hardier annuals. Those bulges in the plastic along the ridge line are huge chunks of solid ice. Until they melt we can't get the darned thing set up.

Our largest greenhouse is packed to the gills, and we have to move plants somewhere, so we are putting them into the "geranium house" where we managed to get the sides down, but it still has snow on the floor, as you can see by the photo below.




Meanwhile the big greenhouse is packed and the plants are happy for the time being, but we are pinching and are going to have to spread things out soon.


The plants in the greenhouse do not know we are having a colder than normal spring outside and they are growing in leaps and bounds. I'm excited about most of the new varieties and will post photos in the next blog.

Color in the Garden - Try Coleus

REDHEAD


Here in northern Vermont we have four distinct seasons, maybe five if you throw in mud season. When it’s finally safe to plant (average May 30 where I live) we look forward to as much color as we can pack into our gardens. Discreet waves of color are pretty, but most of us like big splashes to cheer us through our very short summer.

I am turning more and more to coleus to achieve this effect. Most coleus grown from seed needs and prefers shade, while coleus grown from cuttings likes full sun. In fact, at least here in northern Vermont, the more sun, the brighter the color.

What follows are two photos of the same plant I had hanging in the house all winter. One side was facing the sunny window and one side was facing the inside room.







Coleus benefits from moist soils or regular watering and I always pinch off any flowers to encourage foliage growth. Coleus were popular in the Victorian era as a house plant, and today’s souped-up varieties combine brighter and unusual colors with distinct ruffling and textures. An easy way to show off the colors is to plant them in contrasting color groups.

I grow one novelty type coleus called “tilt a whirl.” It kind of twists as it grows and customers like it.

TILT-A-WHIRL


Fishnet looks sweet right now, and should shape up to a really neat plant.



FISHNET

Florida city yalaha has a bright center.




FLORIDA CITY YALAHA

Coleus are easy to grow and if grown in a pot, they are fine inside all winter. I cut them way back before bringing them inside and continue to trim them back during the winter as well. In the spring I have a huge plant with lots of room for cuttings to pass on the color.




HENNA





REDHEAD

Pleasing Perennials Blooming Now

While my all-time favorite perennial shasta Daisy is ‘Becky’ (great for flower arrangements), I like this shorter version, ‘Snow Cap.’






Heliopsis (“false sunflower”) blooms for a long time in my gardens and it’s another good plant for cuts. ‘Lorraine Sunshine’ is a relatively new introduction to the perennial industry. It holds its variegation, and as one customer said, “It makes me smile.”





Catananche, or “cupid’s dart” isn’t particularly showy, but it is an excellent cut flower and because it’s pretty darned close to true blue, it goes with anything in a bouquet.

Vermont Farmers' Markets ... and me

In my youth (sigh) I was quite good at keeping a daily diary. Somehow I must reinvigorate that energy for this abandoned blog. So I will start the easy way - posting photos with commentary.

Here are early pictures of my setup at the St. Johnsbury Farmers’ market. All of the baskets have long gone to new homes. I placed annuals on the right and perennials on the left and herbs, etc. on the table under the tent.







Here is a shot of the same area last Saturday (July 11). I bring a lot more perennials, no more baskets, and I have started making bouquets.



I have been involved with farmers’ markets for years and love the opportunity for customers to buy from folks who are actually growing the vegetables and plants. Both the St. Johnsbury Farmers’ market and the Danville farmers’ market fall under the “Caledonia Farmers’ Market” umbrella.

I was instrumental in starting the Waitsfield farmers’ market and the Waterbury farmers’ market, both of which I attended for years. I also participated as a vendor at the Montpelier market, but eventually left, as they wouldn’t let me bring perennials.

The Danville market is held Wednesday's from 9 - 1 on the green in town, just off Route 2. Because it is on grass with picnic tables and trees it has a real charm and the vendors are terrific. Many of those same vendors attend the Saturday market (also 9 - 1) at St. Johnsbury. That market is larger and a bit more sprawling and is also a great opportunity to get the freshest produce.

I enjoy both markets, but Danville is my favorite.