Change-ups
Jul. 9th, 2010 19:16![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillSo I ripped out the younger Noir de Crimée today. Neither of the two were happy, and its older sibling is already getting mites... I can try to babysit one, but there's no sense in doing it for two with what looks like mediocre production due to stress. I'll mark this one down as a cool-climate black and take it off my growing list.
I had my choice of what to replace it with, so I put in a clone of Mortgage Lifter (Radiator Charlie). The Estler strain of Mortgage Lifter doesn't seem to be doing quite as well as the RC one, which surprises me... but RC has always been a solid variety here, and it was the first heirloom tomato I tasted and fell in love with, so I'll be happy to have two. I just need to coax it to root before the heat really descends again; I have NdC branches set up to shade it from the sun a bit, which should help.
I also put in the replacement for the unknown determinate, which is maybe halfway through its harvest period. It's already declining foliage-wise, so as it comes near the end I may just rip it out, counter-ripen the mature tomatoes, and fry up the remaining greens. I give it two, possibly three weeks.
The plant to replace it came from the squash bed, some regular-leaf volunteer. There were two, so I took one out and planted it in a hole next to the old determinate. It should be shaded enough that way to settle in, and it'll have a head start by the time I do the full transfer of bed space. Then, when I have better access to the base of the plant, I'll give it the last half fish head I have in the freezer, to give it a good boost. We'll see what it turns out to be. (My bet is that it was a rotted or unwanted tomato from last year that got tossed over there, since I didn't put compost on the squash bed... so odds are good it's an heirloom, probably one I recognize. Aren't mysteries fun?)
I'll be ready to apply the first round of fertilizer by tomorrow or the next day, depending on how well fermented the alfalfa tea is. The half wine barrel is rehydrating well, which has stopped most of the drips; I think it'll be a good brew tank. (Edit 7/10: Everybody got a good dose of tea; I'll repeat in two weeks, on the 24th.)
We're getting more tomatoes every day, with new varieties hitting maturity twice a week -- time to rat-proof the cellar for more storage. :)
I had my choice of what to replace it with, so I put in a clone of Mortgage Lifter (Radiator Charlie). The Estler strain of Mortgage Lifter doesn't seem to be doing quite as well as the RC one, which surprises me... but RC has always been a solid variety here, and it was the first heirloom tomato I tasted and fell in love with, so I'll be happy to have two. I just need to coax it to root before the heat really descends again; I have NdC branches set up to shade it from the sun a bit, which should help.
I also put in the replacement for the unknown determinate, which is maybe halfway through its harvest period. It's already declining foliage-wise, so as it comes near the end I may just rip it out, counter-ripen the mature tomatoes, and fry up the remaining greens. I give it two, possibly three weeks.
The plant to replace it came from the squash bed, some regular-leaf volunteer. There were two, so I took one out and planted it in a hole next to the old determinate. It should be shaded enough that way to settle in, and it'll have a head start by the time I do the full transfer of bed space. Then, when I have better access to the base of the plant, I'll give it the last half fish head I have in the freezer, to give it a good boost. We'll see what it turns out to be. (My bet is that it was a rotted or unwanted tomato from last year that got tossed over there, since I didn't put compost on the squash bed... so odds are good it's an heirloom, probably one I recognize. Aren't mysteries fun?)
I'll be ready to apply the first round of fertilizer by tomorrow or the next day, depending on how well fermented the alfalfa tea is. The half wine barrel is rehydrating well, which has stopped most of the drips; I think it'll be a good brew tank. (Edit 7/10: Everybody got a good dose of tea; I'll repeat in two weeks, on the 24th.)
We're getting more tomatoes every day, with new varieties hitting maturity twice a week -- time to rat-proof the cellar for more storage. :)
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Date: 2010-07-10 05:58 (UTC)