This Blog is Called Too Many Tomatoes Right?

 So here is another post about all those tomatoes.  I picked again and will be bagging up and distributing more tomatoes.  I picked everything I thought needed to be picked out of the main Indeterminate bed.  It is starting to get a little saggy as it gets over gown and succumbs to gravity, but the Florida Weave method worked great and the plants are very healthy and productive.  I will use this support method again but may add some posts down the sides and modify it a bit so I don't end up with a narrow wall of stems and all fruit trapped inside.  I think three rows of string would give me more options and I have plenty of T-Posts available to experiment.

Lots left to ripen

And some almost ready to pick

I only saved the good examples of every variety and the bruised, cracked and cat faced fruit went to compost.  It is about a 60/40 cut of good to ugly.  Because all of the branches are drawn up tight, you do get a certain amount of fruit that either get missed or are so embedded that they are difficult to remove and end up being bruised or cracked from that process and must be used at once or composted.

Once again I have a good representation of each variety, but the Paul Robesons are beginning to shine.

A basket of Paul Robesons

Above are the "black" tomatoes.  Top to bottom, left to right.  A Paul Robeson, two Carbons.  The green one looked further along than it was when I targeted it for removal but it will ripen fine.  This does a better job of showing how you can tell them apart.  The Robeson is a deep terracotta while the Carbon almost looks like you can see through the color to the green underneath and it keeps this dusky coloring even after ripening on the counter for days.  And finally two of the ripened Black Beauties with full color.  You know... they're not real pretty.  And because they require sun exposure to turn black, they tend to sunburn by the time they fully ripen.  They are a very tasty tomato but I really prefer the hidden ones that are all red to the black and brown colored ones.

Barlow, Lenny and Gracie which is producing like crazy, Pike County ad Berkeley Tie-Dye Green

I really like the green strain of the Berkeley Tie-Dye better than the Pink strain.  The Pink plant was prone to Blossom End Rot and didn't produce a lot.  It is unfair to judge each variety by one example each but since they are so close in characteristic, it is an easy choice.  Green I will grow again and Pink I will not.

The Clarimore zucchini has continued to pump out more squash each day and shows no sign of slowing down.  I am almost at the point of tearing it out.  But, what can it hurt?  I'll let it keep going. 

The volunteer cantaloupes have been a great success.  We have picked and eaten three.  The first was very good.  The second was a little under ripe.  The third was outstandingly delicious and uniquely shaped with flattened ends giving it a more squat, round appearance.  I saved the seeds.  I have given away two others (one of which was shaped the same) and haven't gotten a report back yet.  There are still some good ones left to pick.

My broccoli plants are rallying and putting out sizeable side shoots, some of which look like conjoined whole plants.  So I am back in the broccoli biz again.