Mix of ripe Captain project tomatoes I am so, so sorry for the huge delay in blogging this summer. Once the garden got planted, life took over - caring for Eli, activities with Sue, maintaining the garden, and reporting progress on Instagram in a flurry of pictures and weekly Instagram Lives (all of which are viewable and are very informative on garden progress). This seems a good time to fire up…
Marlin patrolling the completed garden Lots of bags of potting mix and filling and positioning and planting grow bags later, we have a completed garden. On May 8, I mapped out the locations of the various varieties. The following were planted on May 5 and May 8 (all captured in my log so that days to maturity can be calculated). Here is the list of indeterminate varieties in 5 gallon grow bags. In…
Finally! Some much needed rain - view of the garden on May 6, 2026 April 27 saw the first planting of seeds into the strawbales. April 30 followed with tomato, and a few pepper, seedlings, I did my first batch of grow bag plants on May 5, but I will cover those varieties in the next blog. Potato Leaf yellow, planted in the strawbale on April 30. Here are the varieties that were direct seeded on…
Our backyard saucer magnolia in full bloom on March 10 This is THE time of year for us - it isn’t just having a love of gardening, but the whole process of observing nature wake up. The weather has been wild - and that shows no sign of letting up. A week of 70s and 80s brought a whole array of blossoms - forsythia, magnolia (shown above), spirea (shown below), quince and daffodils. Then we had a…
Spring is anxious to arrive! Volunteer crocus in our front beds On February 3 at 10 AM I was wheeled into surgery to get my new left knee. A few hours later I woke up in the recovery room, had a nice chat with the nurse (little of which I remember), then it was off to my room to be greeted by Sue. They got me out of bed to use the bathroom at 2 PM, meaning the leap of faith to put some weight on…
Walking in the snow with Sue yesterday, overlooking the field, and, beyond, Ecusta trail at the end of our street Many of our neighbors would not agree with this statement, but we love snow. Growing up in Rhode Island, grad school in New Hampshire, living in the western Philadelphia suburbs - even a few surprise whoppers while we were in Raleigh - there is something magical about a snowstorm. With…
Devils Food cake with vanilla bean frosting - made by Sue today to enjoy tonight Well, that was fast. 70 years old - it is only a number, but that number is becoming substantial! It was a perfect day - blueberry muffins for breakfast, a sandwich from Hendersonville’s Mountain Deli for lunch, and crab cakes, roasted potatoes, and broccoli for dinner - and that cake! - thanks to Sue. In between the…
Eli reading with his gramma First - on March 21, I will be in Shelby for the Cleveland County Extension Master Gardener Symposium. Link to my event page is here . OK - back to garden planning. This is fun! Visioning ahead as tomorrow’s forecast temp is 15 degrees warms one’s soul. In my last blog, I discussed what will return, what will leave, and what will arrive as to the straw bale…
Part of the gorgeous display at the NC Arboretum annual garden lighting event - mid December 2025 Hello fellow gardeners - happy New Year to you all. 2025 was a year - and 2026 is starting out to be just as busy and unpredictable. A few news items - Sue has recovered wonderfully from her October right knee replacement. We celebrated Eli’s birthday on December 27. And my own trip to the operating…
Fall flower garden It’s been over a month since my last blog. With a few frosts over the last few weeks and a deep freeze coming in the next few days, our garden is now completely removed. As you hopefully read in my last group of blogs 2025 was fun and interesting - as well as delicious. By the way, my own knee surgery was delayed for a year. Sue took my spot - on October 14 she got a new right…
The garden in early September. The last three blogs summarized all of my tomato growing efforts for 2025. But there is more to life than tomatoes for a gardener. This blog will report on everything else that I grew in 2025, in a bit less detail than for the tomato sections. Beans! Goldilocks is obvious. Fowler are the fatter green beans, Maxibel the slender ones Bush Snap Beans Goldilocks - We…
Valdichiana, normal (purplish) stem, stem end Here we go, folks - the third - and last - part of the 2025 garden tomato update. This one will focus on everything not yet covered, including the various family heirlooms sent to me by other gardeners over the last few years. It was time to try them out and get some fresh seeds saved. Test planting of seeds from fruit from purplish stems - all were…
Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green and Cherokee Chocolate - favorites for decades Moving on through the 2025 tomato efforts, it’s time to cover the tried and true - for many years, or for a few. These are the workhorse varieties, the ones we avidly look forward to slicing and eating. It was a great year for tomato flavors - we miss them already! Cherokee Purple (top left), Cherokee Green (right),…
Captain Family results - second from left Sun Gold hybrid, then Captain F1, and two F2 selections - potato leaf, and regular leaf It is time to begin my review of my 2025 season. I will start with tomatoes, divided into a number of parts. This first part will be quite complex, as it will detail work done on a number of breeding projects - some new, some ongoing. I hope you enjoy reading these…
The butterflies have been abundant in August into early September In a recent Instagram Live, one of my good gardening friends, Dan in Colorado, asked a great question. Since I wrote Epic Tomatoes in the 2012-2013 time span, was the Top 250 Tomatoes list that I created for that book still hold? If I were to update the book, what changes would I make? I’ve grown hundreds of tomato varieties in the…
June 30 - 2 weeks from harvest. Mission accomplished! We love great sweet corn, but it has been a long time since we’ve grown it ourselves. It was in our very first garden, in West Lebanon NH in 1981. We grew it in Villanova PA in 1984, and in West Chester PA from 1989-1991. Deer and lack of sufficient sun meant no corn in our Raleigh gardens. Since strawbales are working so well in our…
View of the garden from the deck on June 17 It’s happening! It’s time! Rampant growth, good looking plants, a few crop harvests imminent. This is my 44th garden (the first being in 1981 - and only 1992 was skipped as we were making our way from Pennsylvania to North Carolina). Here is a brief overview of progress on each crop type. By the way, I am continuing to do my daily garden minute, as well…
The garden in late May Time just slips through my fingers these days. Part of it is watching Eli - an utterly delightful task. The other is playing catch up in the garden and yard. As those who watch my new Instagram Daily Garden Minute - or my weekly Instagram Live shows know, the garden is planted and thriving. The layout this year is three columns of straw bales with adjacent flanking grow…
Eli chilling out in late April during one of his days with Sue and I Hi all - Sue and I are deep into week day Eli care, which is utterly delightful. It has scattered by focus on gardening a bit, so I find myself behind on responding to emails, on transplanting, on yardwork. The strawbales are treated and ready, and lettuce and other greens reside, along with scallions, in our raised beds. It’s…
Tomato seedlings up and growing - planted March 1, view on March 7. It is that time of year - germination is well under way. Most everything that I wanted to grow from seed has been planted (I always forget a few things and will likely plant a few more). I have quite a few varieties, but less plants, just as planned. I am starting juggling flats - which to start easing outside for hardening off,…