tomatoes

Friday the garden looked fine. Saturday we were gone, Sunday it rained. On Monday I asked my husband to dig up some new potatoes for our supper, and he discovered the garden was infected with Phytophthora infestans, commonly known as late blight. Late Blight Factoids Ideal conditions for late blight are days in the 70sF [...]

Low of 44F this morning. Yes, this is July. No, not Siberia, or Alaska. Tomatoes prefer 55F-75F at night. Peppers will not set fruit if temperatures drop into the low 40sF. And eggplants? Pollen production is curtailed when temps fall below 55F. But we can eat peas in July!

A reader contacted Cold Climate Gardening recently to ask: I live in area between Syracuse and Ithaca... near Cortland. I have tomato seeds--many different varieties. When should I start the seedlings to grow in peat pots inside the house? Is it too early? While I am at it...what else should I be starting? Thanks a [...]

Tomatoes the Old-Fashioned Way I've been reading the The Little House on the Prairie series to my six-year-old at bedtime. We just happen to be on The Long Winter and were reading "Fall of the Year" just a couple of days ago, where the Ingalls were surprised by an early hard frost. Ma and Laura [...]

Does this qualify as a ripe tomato? If it does, I think the vegetable gardeners at Purdyville have beat out Carol of May Dreams Gardens for the first tomato. My 23-year-old daughter started the seeds indoors and potted the seedlings on until they were in gallon size pots, maybe larger. Then my husband planted them [...]

This looks like a bee visiting a corn poppy, but really it's a fly. This comment explains.Perhaps, like me, you've noticed there haven't been as many bees flying around this year. If you're the sort of person who gets nervous around bees, this might even seem like a good thing to you. But perhaps, like [...]

As I've said before, this is my first year trying wall-o-waters. But, before I get to my experience, I noticed that some guy name John Delaney had a few words on Wall O Waters. Too expensive? Yes, most certainly. Almost everyone I've asked about wall-o-waters has said "I've never tried them, they're too expensive. Overrated [...]