[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;525449]What's it like crossing the border back and forth often? How long does it take by car?[/QUOTE]

It's like going across a toll road, just on a larger scale. From TJ to SD the typical layout is 1-2 lanes for buses, 6 for Sentri, about 8 for Ready Lane, and 6-8 for the category "all traffic." Practically all the inspection booths have the capability to take two cars at a time. There is no commercial traffic here.

[I]Sentri[/I] means thoroughly vetted and screened, the Trusted Traveler Program. It's really cool 'cause you get to skip the awful lines at customs when you enter through air and land, don't know about sea. Biometrics, the works. [I]Ready-Lane[/I] means your documents are relatively new and have a RF chip that transmits your info to the CBP officers' screen, thereby speeding up the process. [I]"All traffic" [/I]means you break out the scrolls to prove your identity and therefore it takes more time.

The queues can be in the 3-5 car range, to as long as 900 cars. So yes, it can be awful at times, in either direction. The border wait is hard to predict.

In the other direction there's about 20 lanes, with bottlenecks going in and coming out. At peak times it can be as long as 2 hrs to cross from SD to TJ at this crossing.

Both the MX and the US side were completely redone in the last few years. Right now they are pristine and pretty, and the architectural choices seem like they might age well.

There is a 2nd one called Otay Port of Entry, more or less at the edge of the first rooftop pic. Smaller. Typical layout 1 buses, 2 Sentri, 3 "all traffic"' and 4-6 "ready lane." Can be hellish and is best avoided.

A 3rd one is exclusively commercial and that one is the real beast. Hell on earth for the truckers, with wait times in the 4-6 hour range into SD, and variable coming back.

A 4th one is almost "shovel ready" and it'll be called Otay II.

The 5th crossing is exclusively via the airport.

There is a 6th one that's best described as a mystery door. Very official business only. Cars stop there and are evaluated remotely, and then voila, the door opens into a secure area. It's near the transnational sewage treatment facility that tries to keep Imperial Beach's coliform counts reasonable.

And then there are the tunnels, and the catapults, and the light aircraft, and the drones, and the ....+...

Here's a few of the very end or beginning, whatever your choice may be. A tour of the southwest corner of mainland USA/northwest corner of MX.

The tip of Point Loma, where Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is located, can be seen way in the back.

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beautiful sky

1st wave of 2016
 

Not exactly sure when it got away from me, it doesn't matter. Here's the late winter-spring potting up list.

My last culling session pointed out the benefits of trench planting, reinforcing Marvin's req via Gordon Graham (Giant Tomatoes, Marvin Meisner p.37, 1st ed, 2007), so I've trained all of the non-dwarfs horizontally.

On most of them I got a nice angle/pivoting node. They will be grown in containers, either growbags, claypots, or converted 5 gal water containers. 25 lucky ones will be in fancy RGGS homes, those producing med to large fruits.

I may chop down some of my 5 gal water containers to make them more suitable for the smaller dwarfs. Although some dwarfs seem to enjoy stretching their legs in a 5+gal container.

Here's the 1st wave of 2016:

Arctic Rose
BHN 871
Birjinitvstky Beet (sp???)
Blazing Beauty
Bosky Chabarovsky
Bundaberg Rumball
Choc Champion
Dora
Fred's Tye Dye
Gregori's Altai
Gribovsky
JD's Special C-Tex
Kazachka
Khirkiv
Kibits
Knopka
Koraleva
Krainiy sever
Krasnodar Titans
Leningradskij Skorospelyi
Linthorpa Prinzess
Maglia Rosa
Magyar Pyros Boker
Mano
Mika's Red Bulgarian
Mikhalych
Mr Snow
Novikov Giant
OR 117
Orange Jazz
Pervaya Lyubov
petrovich
Pit Viper
Purple Reign
Rebelski
Roza Vetrov
Rozoviyi Izumnyi
Sakharnyi Pudovichok
Sasha’s Altai
Seattle’s Blue Woolly Mammoth
Shamrock
Sibirskiy Skorospelyi
Ssubakus Aliana
Sunrise & Pink BB
Sweet Scarlet
Tasm Choc
Tsarkiy Podarok
Uluru Ochre (dwarf)
Uralskiy Rozoyvi
Volovsko Srce Val
Zarnitsa
Zyska

1st ones of 2016 to be potted
 

Here's a few pics from today:

Tasmanian Chocolate Reloaded, 2nd pic has a loaded stem.
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Old school clay home for Gribovsky
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Odoriko still pumping out
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Titan Red sample truss, outstanding fruit set in the middle of our somewhat cold and wet winter (please don't hit me north ppl)
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Bushy Chabarovsky being its usual self
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Dora and Gregori's Altai
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Homemade carrot seed tape coming along (kuroda and mokum)
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Roza Vetrov in a 2.5 gal clay home
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Today's harvest. Citrus trees have been enjoying the tomato leftovers, it's a drop in the bucket of what's hanging and ready to be juiced. I make alliquots that yield 2 gallons of lemonade/orangeade and freeze it up.
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a few more
 

Examining early flowers with a high lumen light.

E. Ssubakus Aliana
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Bushy Chabarovsky
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Sakharnyi Pudovichok
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Ready for trench planting.
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That's an impressive list.

Nice plants and pics.

[QUOTE=Runescape;527178]That's an impressive list.

Nice plants and pics.[/QUOTE]

Thank you Sir! I'll be saving seeds for a fair amount of them and they will be in MMMM.

Titan Red was the surprise star of my high tunnel last spring. I'm glad to see it doing well for you.

Enjoying all your pics Gerardo, keep them coming.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;527181]Titan Red was the surprise star of my high tunnel last spring. I'm glad to see it doing well for you.[/QUOTE]

Very productive plant. Waiting on the flavor, somewhat late compared to others.

[QUOTE=pauldavid;527190]Enjoying all your pics Gerardo, keep them coming.[/QUOTE]

That's a big 10-4, BJ & The Bear style.

I don't know why I can't see your images. I have tried on 2 different devices. Am I the only one who can't see them and how do I fix it?

Yeah, I would call Titan Red a mid-season tomato. It comes in about two weeks behind my earliest varieties.

For some reason, now I can see and enjoy your pictures. That Bushy Chabarovsky looks impressive yield wise. How is the flavor? I'll be waiting to see your RGGS when it is up and running.

Thanks for all the historical and daily life kind of information. It is very interesting and enlightening.

[I]That Bushy Chabarovsky looks impressive yield wise. How is the flavor?
[/I]
I sold a few plants in the spring. Later in the summer, I had a market customer come and track me down so he could tell me that was the best tomato he had ever tasted.

It was one of my favorites, too. I'd say it is as least my favorite pink tomato.

Hopefully, Gerardp likes it too. If the weather was poor and you were on the fence about it, I would recommend trying it at least once more in better weather.

[QUOTE=nancyruhl;527382]For some reason, now I can see and enjoy your pictures. That Bushy Chabarovsky looks impressive yield wise. How is the flavor? I'll be waiting to see your RGGS when it is up and running.

Thanks for all the historical and daily life kind of information. It is very interesting and enlightening.[/QUOTE]
It's good you can see them Nancy. Happy you're digging it.
[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;527390][I]That Bushy Chabarovsky looks impressive yield wise. How is the flavor?
[/I]
I sold a few plants in the spring. Later in the summer, I had a market customer come and track me down so he could tell me that was the best tomato he had ever tasted.

It was one of my favorites, too. I'd say it is as least my favorite pink tomato.

Hopefully, Gerardp likes it too. If the weather was poor and you were on the fence about it, I would recommend trying it at least once more in better weather.[/QUOTE]

B. chavarovsky flavor is mild, cool fuzz. I'm giving them another run right now and plan on gifting to everyone come spring time. It's a low stress high yield plant, just right for beginners. I'd say Mano works along the same lines, better taste to me.