RE: [tomato] Beautiful Pix
margaret lauterbach (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Thu, 08 Jul 1999 14:20:46 -0600
At 01:01 PM 7/8/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Margaret,
>
>>>I grew Black from Tula last year and did some tomato canning.<< I grew
>it and several others of the "black" type but I must say that I wasn't
>impressed. Of the dark tomatoes I feel Cherokee Purple is the best by a
>long shot.
>
>>> I was surprised that Dr. Male thought potato-leafed varieties were more
>disease resistant than regular leafed. I'm sure she's referring to blight
>since she has no experience with curly top virus. That's an equal
>opportunity destroyer, I think, << Carolyn has been advocating that for
>years and I certainly wouldn't be presumptuous enough to dispute her.
>
>>>What's that made of in case a little would disintegrate in the garden?<<
>It's just a cardboard like material which looks to be easy enough to gather
>up and throw away at the season's end. I'm not an organic purist but that
>stuff appears to be "kosher" for those who are.
>
>>> I think I sent you seeds for Lennie and Gracie's
>Kentucky Heirloom, didn't I? How did that work for you?<< It didn't. An
>apparently stunted plant produced tiny withered fruit. Is there a
>possibility of crossed seed?
>
>Come home with your new leg soon,
>Chuck
>
There is a possibility of crossing, and in that case, I'm growing it too. I
noticed a VERY determined bumble bee shaking, excavating, sticking his head
inside tomato flowers last year and thought, I might be getting some
crosses I'm not counting on... rats. I think it's still being offered by
SSE, and I think it's a truly great tomato. He's going to do some more
fine-tuning, and we'll pick it up tomorrow. I'll be in the hospital Mon
through friday next week, then I'm free, I hope!
Byron told a guy he'd been fighting with to contact me about "organic
gardening." I told the fellow that I had been quarreling with Byron because
of his advocacy of toxic -- sometimes lethal -- solutions to insect
control. The fellow turns out to be a retired MD who wants to garden
organically. I told him that I mostly do organic gardening, but not 100 %
-- Byron doesn't know there's anything in between lethal and organic. The
fellow is very nice, and did sign up for the OGL list.
I've been told by plant pathologists that fungi such as the blights are
spread by splashing water. Now Byron has a number of "causes" but I'm
raggedy tired of fighting him. Margaret L