Boron Elgar wrote: ...
unfortunately i live with someone with a very bland set of preferences and requirements so growing odd things like that just doesn't work. also i don't have space or light enough inside for winter tender anything. if i can't grow it outside during a normal season it just doesn't work here. :(
i tried melons for the first time many years ago and did not get very good results and then a friend sent me some melon seeds last year and those were fantastic. so i've planted them again this season. being inside a fence i had no issues from animals getting them, but a few bees and ants did find them good enough once they started to split. we ate melons for weeks and even the ones that weren't fully ripe at the end of the season were still good enough to eat if i put a little honey on them. one day alone i had to give away 7 melons because we could not keep up with them.
we tried to grow some broccoli and cauliflower last year but the groundhogs kept eating it. wasted space for the most part. i tried to talk Mom out of growing it because of past experience with the groundhogs getting into those sorts of vegetables, but she wanted to do it anyways. ah well, at least she didn't want to repeat that again this year. if i put out rat traps they tend to get lost as the critters get snapped and then take the trap away until they manage to get it off. years later i might find it rotting in a hedge or under some trees. once i found out where the mice were getting into the walls and sealed that up i haven't had to put any more mice traps out. it's otherwise a continual thing i'd have to do there are so many hiding places around here outside for mice. we don't have a rat problem at all. there's a fairly regular group of kitties that hunt here. no idea if they are pets or feral or semi-feral kitties, but they're usually able to catch something when they come through.
the worst disease we get is also on the tomatoes but i don't do anything to treat it or prevent it because it doesn't keep us from getting a crop. by the time the plants are badly effected most of the crop is ripe enough and we can that and then keep going until the season is done. the plants can look terrible but it doesn't matter. i'm sure resistant tomatoes would be nice to find but so far the best have been the ones we used to grow that we can't get any longer so we just try new ones each year and see what happens. we really like beefsteak varieties for juice and chunks. the amount of umami flavor (in the juice around the seeds) and acidity is what we're after. some of the newer varieties aren't acidic enough for canning.
it's a lot of fun. :) i need to get out in the gardens tomorrow and check for some beans to pick. i hope some are ready.
songbird