[mudbug]

Sorry to hear about the deer. The only real ways to keep them out are four legged pets or a fence.

Besides that, how's your garden now? What have you been harvesting?

I tasted the Cherokee Purple tomato for the first time earlier this season. Let's just say I never liked tomatoes before, but this was actually fabulous! Not too "tomatoee", not to sweet, rhobustly full of flavor, even a little salty. Superb.

The yard long beans we can hardly keep up with they're so prolific.

[phoebe]

I know your posting was addressed to Marm, but I couldn't help but add that I had my first Cherokee Purple this season too and loved it! Unfortunately, I'd planted only one and it wasn't much of a producer.
It was my first time with heirlooms and tomatoes other than the usual Early Girl, etc., and though a number of them verged on tasteless (could have been the weird weather we had this season), CP was fabulous. My other favorites were Green Zebra--which works great with its slightly more acid/salty taste in salsas as well as pasta sauces--and Caro Rich which was just plain weird! It tasted like a tomato with persimmon undertones? Or a cross between custard and fruit taste? If I'd had more plants (again, it was an experiment and I only had a single, low-producing plant ) I might have tried some sort of desert tart. . . . maybe

Thanks for letting me join in.

[mudbug]

phoebe,

Anyone is welcome to join in... that's what these forums are for....



Are you growing other heirloom vegetables?

[phoebe]

No. In fact, I only learned about heirloom tomatoes last year when I fell in love with Green Zebras at my local farmers' market and decided to try growing them myself. Is there as much taste and color variation in heirloom vegetables? And are they as disease-prone?
What are you growing?

[marmalady]

Well, my herbs are doing phenomenally well! My tiny little rosemary branchling is now about 2 feet tall, and 1 1/2 feet wide! And so fragrant - the oils are so abundant when I strip the stems, my fingers are actually sticky!

Bumper crop of basil, as usual; the lemon basil really, really wants to flower, and I have to pinch off buds almost every day! I planted a basil seed that came from Italy (local garden center had a display of Italian seeds), called - loosely translated - 'lettuce basil'. Lighter green leaves than regular basil, and they're curly like a leaf lettuce leaf. The taste is sharper, and more of a minty flavor.

Chinese cucumbers planted on a trellis are doing well - had to put them in the shade during that horrid heat wave - one advantage of container gardening! They're so sweet and crunchy - love 'em!

And my little bay laurel that has just sat for two years finally took off, and has grown almost two inches this year!

It was my own stupid fault that the deer got the tomatoes. I use a spray called 'Bobbex' that's the best I've ever seen. It was developed as a leaf fertilizer, and discovered to be a 'deer repellent' - easy to understand, as it stinks to high heaven!But it's all organic, so you can use it on veggies. And it lasts for about a month, so you don't have to spray after each rain. But - I got lazy, and didn't get out to spray when I needed to. And it was during the heat wave that the bambis attacked the patio. I think they were just so hungry and thirsty and all those green tomatoes were just too much to resist!

The plum tomatoes are shot - there's not enough growing season time to let them reblossom and fruit again. But the Sweet 100's and yellow plum, and 'patio beefsteak' are all recovering nicely, and have new buds and fruit.

Just bought a hardy hibiscus, a la 'Marsh Mallow'; what an astounding flower - about 8 inches in diameter, and the color I got was a lovely rose.

Also just got some 'Corsican mint'; it's a beautiful little ground cover - don't know that I'll use it culinarily, but it'll look gorgeous planted at the base of my bonsai trees!

I'm so frustrated that I haven't been able to get my 'big' garden going since my son's accident. I just don't have the time for the upkeep. Maybe next year! I've had the Cherokee tomatoes, and brandywines, red and black; a French tomato that I can't remember the name of and an Italian one with all the grooves on it. The Italian one was heavenly; so sweet and full of flavor! All your pictures on the other 'tomato' post just made my mouth water! Never had the green zebra, but would love to try one!

I always wait impatiently for September to roll around, as that's when the farmer's markets start selling green tomatoes! Fried greens, and green tomato pie, and green tomato relish - yum!

And I know what you mean about the yard-longs - we had so many of them one year we couldn't give 'em away! Fortuantely, they do freeze pretty well.

I'm going to try a fall planting of chervil, since it likes cool weather, to see how it'll do. I've never been able to keep it through the summer, even shaded well.

Phoebe, you're absolutely welcome to chime in any time!