In article >, Todd >
wrote:

> On 07/26/2013 11:34 PM, Billy wrote:
> > In article >, Todd >
> > wrote:
> >
> >> On 07/22/2013 11:39 PM, Billy wrote:
> >>> Cut back on the water to the tomatoes, and they will taste even better.
> >>
> >> Hi Billy,
> >>
> >> Lets see:
> >> Diabetics: food is involved, so check.
> >> Food: tomateos and zukes are food, so check again
> >> Alt: I am a bit (only a bit!) weird, so three checks.
> >> Therefore, I pass the on topic test.
> >>
> >> You are not the first one to tell me this about the water.
> >> Thank you.
> >
> > Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters is a fan of the Early Girl tomato,
> > telling an interviewer "[O]ne of the best tomatoes I¹ve ever had was an
> > Early Girl that was dry-farmed up in Napa at a friend¹s house."
> >>
> >> I am even worse at gardening than I am at cooking. I
> >> have had yield problems for the past three years
> >> and the ones I did get, tasted mushy.
> >>
> >> I finally figured out who to talk to. It is the
> >> farmers at the CSA farm. Duh! Not nursery operators.
> >>
> >> What they told me is this. My pot needs to have drainage.
> >> It does. Tomatoes are an Amazon vine. The get their butts
> >> DRENCHED every day like clock work. Something like 12 inches
> >> worth. The trick is that the roots can't stay wet all
> >> day (drainage). Next, liberally fertilize with organic
> >> compost and amendment (fish head fertilizer). It must
> >> be organic, as organic fertilizers can not burn your
> >> plants if you overdue it. (What? Me overdue it? NEVER!)
> >
> > Cultivated tomatoes originated as wild forms in the Peru-Ecuador-Bolivia
> > area of the Andes.
> >
> > You can kill plants with chicken, or rabbit manure, as well as alfalfa
> > powder.
>
> I will be careful. I don't use anything the CSA farmer hasn't
> told me too.
>
> >
> > Farmers will drench their tomatoes, because it adds weight. It also
> > dilutes the flavor, so beware hot house tomatoes, and farmers who over
> > water.
> >>
> >> Too little water and my flowers turn brown and fall off.
> >> No fruit. I made this mistake in a grand fashion. We
> >> have adiabatic drying winds (means the wind sucks all
> >> the water out of everything) here in the high desert,
> >> so watering takes on a whole different dimension.
> >
> > Yes, they aren't drought resistant. Once they flower, cut back on the
> > water, and no more nitrogen.
>
> Hmmmm. Last year, the CSA farmer had me add their bat poop
> and worm casing compost/amendment and a lot of water,
> then I got my two week bumper crop. Frustrating, before
> that, the plants grew like hell, lots of flowers, but
> very, very little fruit.

Excess water, and fertilizer tells your plant that it is an endless
summer, and that they can grow, and grow, because there is no rush.
Cutting back on fertilizer, and water tells the plants that summer is
coming to an end, and that it had better produce seed (fruit), if it
wants to survive.
>
>
> >>
> >> Last year, when I finally got it right, I had a huge
> >> crop, but it froze two weeks later. S---!
> >
> > Welcome to agriculture.
>
> I really respect what real farmers have to go through.
> A combination of high tech and time honored, old
> fashioned methods. And one hail storm ...
>
> The local CSA farm has added two Franken Carp (that is
> gold fish to non-trout fisherman) ponds to the mix.
> They swim, eat, and poop. Then the poop water gets
> sprayed on the crops, along with chicken poop from
> their local flock of egg laying ladies. Tubes and
> hoses everywhere. You have got to marvel at the
> ingenuity/technology.

Franken Carp? Like Franken Food: GMO?

Irrigation reservoirs aren't very efficient (too much surface area), but
better than nothing.
>
> >> This year, I am using their plants and following their
> >> recommendations to the "T". I already have a huge crop
> >> of green ones. Looks like I and going to have about
> >> 15 ripe ones by Sunday (the day I usually pick).
> >> One of the plants has yet to produce any fruit. It
> >> got drenched in fish head fertilizer yesterday, as
> >> per recommendation.
> >
> > 2 Tbls/ gallon
>
> I have a gallon jug I fill up with water, then guess
> at 2 Tablespoons. I wear tossable rubber gloves to
> keep the stink off.
>
> >
> >>
> >> So far, so good. The six I picked last week made
> >> my wife and my eyes roll in out heads. She said
> >> they actually tasted better than the CSA farm.
> >> Now that is a FIRST!
> >
> > It's not rocket science.
>
> You have never had a black thumb. Yes it is.

Each plant has its own needs for soil, nutrients, sun, and temp. You
just need to get to know them better. Feed the soil, and the soil will
take care of the crop.

>
> >> I have a HUGE club sized Zuke incubating. Plan
> >> on cooking it Sunday. Should fill my entire saute
> >> pan.
> >>
> >> I wonder how much longer these dumb-dumb plants are
> >> going to buy my cock-'n-bull story about taking
> >> their offspring for a drive in the country and
> >> figure out what I am REALLY doing with them.
> >
> > Eat them small, and stop terrorizing your neighbors.
>
> Where is the fun in that! How did you know, by the way?

It's that time of the year, when people start locking doors to their
homes, and vehicles, because they know that gardeners will be dumping
zuchs.
>
> >>
> >> I am babbling.
> >
> > Have another glass ;O)
> >>
> >> -T
> >>
> >> WHAT? Plants don't talk. Oh please! :-)
> >
> > You might want a consultation, if they start telling you that you are
> > the illegitimate son of the Emperor of the Universe, and that there are
> > assassins, which look like your neighbors, who are after you. In which
> > case you may want to commit yourself, or reconsider terrorizing your
> > neighbors with your zuchs, which look like the cocoon of an Antares
> > Dragon Wasp, their natural predator.
>
> They are not? :-)
>
> Thank you!
>
> -T
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