Last Years Seed Swap

[halleone]

To the unknown person who participated in Heather McDonald's seed swap last year and sent in seeds of Ernie's Plump: you are my hero, I can't thank you enough. I just cut up the first one and it is......wonderful!! Such an un-assuming little character it is, but what a taste, and it was the first of them, which usually aren't the best. I do believe that Ernie will now be on my permanent list. Bless you.

Lynn

[JoeP]

Which side of the cascades are you? How did you get a ripe mater so early? Are you growing in a greenhouse?

Congrats on a good find that will ripen so early. I am looking at small greenies for a while.

[halleone]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Which side of the cascades are you? How did you get a ripe mater so early? Are you growing in a greenhouse?

Congrats on a good find that will ripen so early. I am looking at small greenies for a while.

I'm on the Sunny Side of the State, in Walla Walla. No greenhouse, just a backyard garden in full sun (not always a good thing, when it's 110 out). I've still got plenty of small greenies, too, but we are slowly getting a few ripe ones - we ate our first German Johnson and a Goose Creek last night. The rest of them have a ways to go yet - it's an odd year, again.

How 'bout you?

[JoeP]

I am just south of Olympia. We've had a cool wet spring and just a little bit of summer. We had a very light frost sometime in mid to late May that got all of my plants - even a couple that I had under cover. I had some backups and bought some replacements from the farmers market. We'll see how things go. Not a great start.

I have an Orange Minsk that, even though was burned by frost, started new growth from around the soil line and has a few small greenies. I went ahead and planted the few that came back that I did not have backups for. I'll be pleasantly surprised if I get any.

So far, Jaune Flamme has the largest greenies but SunGold and Stupice are catching up. I just can't wait for the SunGold to ripen. My 5 year old son is looking forward to tomato sandwiches whenever the larger reds and pinks come in.

I probably should be embarrassed to admit, but I tried growing Cantaloupe and Watermelons last year. Those are a iffy in a good year and last year was terrible. Surprisingly, the watermelons actually produced a few. They were a little bland but not bad considering. I bought a nice, ripe cantaloupe grown on your side of the state and it was the best. I won't even waste the space for melons. After three years of terrible summers, I am beginning to think tomatoes are a fools errand on the west side too. At least I like potatoes and collards and carrots. Those do well in nasty years.

Maybe the heat will even out....we'll get some here and the rest of the country will get a little cooler.

[janezee]

I hear you, Joe, and I feel your pain!

It's even cooler out here on Whidbey, and I have given up on getting anything without cover all summer. I'm investing a lot of money on plastic, and ways to support it. Between the blight and the cold, it's more than a fool's errand. It's impossible!!!!

I had such high hopes, that have all been dashed. Peas are a great crop here, but that's about all. I'm really sick of cole crops at this point. Still love peas, though. Lettuce and spinach don't taste nearly as good in the summer if it's only 65º. Might as well have hot soup as cold salad without tomatoes or peppers. <sigh>

Maybe next year?

j

[halleone]

Originally Posted by JoeP

I am just south of Olympia. We've had a cool wet spring and just a little bit of summer. We had a very light frost sometime in mid to late May that got all of my plants - even a couple that I had under cover. I had some backups and bought some replacements from the farmers market. We'll see how things go. Not a great start.

I have an Orange Minsk that, even though was burned by frost, started new growth from around the soil line and has a few small greenies. I went ahead and planted the few that came back that I did not have backups for. I'll be pleasantly surprised if I get any.

So far, Jaune Flamme has the largest greenies but SunGold and Stupice are catching up. I just can't wait for the SunGold to ripen. My 5 year old son is looking forward to tomato sandwiches whenever the larger reds and pinks come in.

I probably should be embarrassed to admit, but I tried growing Cantaloupe and Watermelons last year. Those are a iffy in a good year and last year was terrible. Surprisingly, the watermelons actually produced a few. They were a little bland but not bad considering. I bought a nice, ripe cantaloupe grown on your side of the state and it was the best. I won't even waste the space for melons. After three years of terrible summers, I am beginning to think tomatoes are a fools errand on the west side too. At least I like potatoes and collards and carrots. Those do well in nasty years.

Maybe the heat will even out....we'll get some here and the rest of the country will get a little cooler.

Been there, done that with the melons. As Jane knows, I was born/raised here in Walla Walla, then spent 35 years in Seattle/South King County, so I have first hand knowledge of the summers in your area - or lack of them. It made a difference when I chose my retirement area, for sure. While my lettuce season is short, and I can't grow cole crops too well, it is more than made up for in the great tomatoes and melons we can have over here, if we choose. I quit growing melons myself as the Hermiston melons are grown about 50 miles from here and they are really hard to beat!

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by halleone

I quit growing melons myself as the Hermiston melons are grown about 50 miles from here and they are really hard to beat!

I think last year's great cantaloupe had a Hermiston sticker on it. It was fantastic. I grew up in Georgia and took for granted how good (and earlier) the melons and tomatoes and Okra were then. I sure wish I could grow those here. The tomatoes do well enough but I'll have to substitute potatoes and cole crops for the Okra and melons.

I keep hearing that every third year is supposed to be a good summer in PNW. I think we are over-due.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by janezee

Might as well have hot soup as cold salad without tomatoes or peppers. <sigh>

Maybe next year?

j

Peppers! I have 5 pepper plants just daring me to pull them. They just sit there with a few leaves and thin, little stalks taunting me. They refuse to grow and they laugh at the absurdity that they might produce peppers in my garden this year. They'll be composted soon enough, but not until the end of summer, perhaps after the first frost.

But next year....I'll grow them in black pots and maybe even build a miniature greenhouse....only three or four feet high.... to keep them toasty. Then I'll have peppers in my salads and for roasting. Buaah Ha Ha Ha Ha!

[halleone]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Peppers! I have 5 pepper plants just daring me to pull them. They just sit there with a few leaves and thin, little stalks taunting me. They refuse to grow and they laugh at the absurdity that they might produce peppers in my garden this year. They'll be composted soon enough, but not until the end of summer, perhaps after the first frost.

But next year....I'll grow them in black pots and maybe even build a miniature greenhouse....only three or four feet high.... to keep them toasty. Then I'll have peppers in my salads and for roasting. Buaah Ha Ha Ha Ha!

You are BAD!

Tell me more about okra; there was a recent thread here about it, and I am curious. I have had it pickled, but never fresh - probably because the occasional "fresh" ones at the store look pretty sad, and because my husband thinks he hates them. But then he didn't like kohlrabi until I grew some, either.

[JoeP]

Some people will serve it boiled as a side dish but its far too slimy for my tastes. I only eat it in vegetable soup, gumbo, or, my personal favorite, fried. Fried okra is cut into rounds and rolled in cornmeal and then pan fried in a little (or a lot of) oil. That's the best! Reminds me of home, growing up in Georgia. It would be perfectly normal for my mom to serve us sliced tomatoes and fried okra with any meal during the summer. I'd never turn my nose up to either.

You might have enough heat over there to try some Okra. If I ever do try it here, I'll grow it in a black plastic pot and might put a tomato cage around it and wrap in clear plastic early in the season. I am no expert, but I don't think you can get Okra too hot as long as it is watered. Someone from the hottest parts of the country (Arizona or Texas, etc.) where the summertime temperatures can be over 100 degrees for weeks at a time may know differently.

I purchased seeds of a dwarf variety from Victory Seeds down in Oregon. I was hoping that, if they could grow it there, then maybe I might have success here too. Maybe in a better summer. I never started the seeds this year because I was too gunshy about the terribly wet and cold springs we have had these last three years. Maybe next year.

[halleone]

Originally Posted by JoeP

I never started the seeds this year because I was too gunshy about the terribly wet and cold springs we have had these last three years. Maybe next year.

You got that one right - we've had the same terribly wet and cold springs on this side of the hill, too. I grumble about it, and wish you folks would keep it over there, thank you.