To: HELEN PEAGRAM
Subject: HELLO
HP>Hope you have had a nice summer.  Seeds from the mat's wild cherry tomato
HP>have gone all over the world...  Well at least to the states and England.
  Hi Helen, we've had a good summer, thanks. Practically abandoned our
  garden, though, and it shows. 6 foot ragweed among the corn. Ka-choo!
  :-) Since I got the Matt's wild cherry, an awful lot of people have
  gotten it from me. It's rather surprising how people are willing to
  put up with its rampant growth because it tastes so good, but that
  also shows how far modern varieties have come from their sweet
  beginnings.
HP>Everyone loves them and you only need a couple to keep a family supplied
HP>most of the time.
  I put 5 or 6 plants inside cages, and eat them like candy everytime I
  head into the garden. Since the mice and crickets prefer Brandywine
  hands down (and heavy fruit down at mulch level), I am harvesting the
  Wild Cherries and freezing them whole. Their skins are so tender that
  when I drop a handful into soup, the skins seem to disappear. They
  cause me no problems whatsoever.
  Another heirloom tomato that I'm pleased with is Crimsonvee. (OK, so
  it was a commercial offering not too many years ago. :-)) The fruits
  have intensely coloured interiors, and the fruits are quite solid and
  meaty, great for sauces. I do skin these ones.
HP>I also managed to grow 6 "Pretty in Purple" from seed and will be saving
HP>them again this year.
  I still have the original plant from seed that I started 18 months
  ago. At times, like now, it looks pretty ratty and almost dead, but if
  I prune off the withered fruits and dead tips, and judiciously feed
  and water it, it seems to always come back. (I've saved seeds, just in
  case.) However, it's too hot for my family; they're cowards about
  stuff that stings eyes and mouth. 
HP>This year we grew "early girl", "oxheart" and the standard "beefsteak"
HP>tomatoes.  I have been using the dehydrator instead of canning them and
HP>do hope they work well for what I use them for.
  I've been going to dry some, but my ambition exceeds my ability - and
  my ambition is at a low ebb during allergy season. I made a small
  batch of salsa the other day - wouldn't mind a couple dozen jars, but
  between slow ripening and voracious mice, the tomatoes are very slow.
  And we've had light frost already. After this downpour ends, I hope
  the garden dries enough for me to do some more harvesting before I
  lose ambition or get frosted out entirely.
HP>I grew some red sweet shepherd peppers from seed I got from peppers I
HP>bought from the store and they are doing  well too.
  I grew about 6 varieties of peppers, but while we were away on
  vacation (first summer vacation in many years), drought, mice and
  weeds almost did them in. Watering saved them when we returned, but
  that crop was withered and tiny, despite a thick mulch. The new crop
  looks much better. One that has done well is Lipstick, a sweet red
  Shepherd-shaped pepper, much better than the fancy bells. And the
  Delicias hot pepper gives a much more attractive fruit than Jalapenos,
  but WOWEE! I used only the tip of one in some soup, and my hubby
  wouldn't finish his bowl.
HP>Hope you and Jim are both well.
  Other than claiming I'm trying to poison him with hotstuff, and
  despite seasonal allergies, we're doing as well as can be expected,
  thanks. How are you and your Jim faring? Well, I hope.
                      ...Sandra...
---
 þ QMPro 1.52 þ That wasn't my typo, the keyboard went devorak on me.
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
---------------