Plants

I shall post all of the veggies that we plant for the spring season here and will do a comparison/evaluation at the end of the season on how they did.

For descriptive purposes I will use whatever is on the plant or seed packet, lacking that, I will use the info sheet handed out at the Sunshine Community Garden Sale.

Black Krim Tomato (Austin Organic Gardeners Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $1.50): (from the plant) Indeterminate. 75 days. Large brown-red fruit with rich sweet flavor. Sets well in heat. Heirloom from Crimea. (from the info sheet) Dark-brown, red fruit, large (10-12 oz), Russian. Heavy Producer, prone to cracking. Likes hot weather. Rich complex flavor, sweet-tasting fruit. Indeterminate. 75-90 days. Status: Heirloom

Brandywine Tomato (Austin Organic Gardeners Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $1.50): (from the info sheet) Pink-red beefsteak tomato (1-1.5 lbs), rich tomato flavor. Amish. Excellent balanced taste and production. Indeterminate. 80 days. Status: Heirloom

Roma Tomato (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Red, pear-shaped tomato. This is your classic paste and salsa tomato! Thick-walled, solid with good flavor. Determinate, 78 days. Status: Paste

Viva Italia Tomato (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Red, elongated tomato. Italian. Very firm flesh, great for canning, freezing and making yummy pasta sauces! Determinate, 75 days. Status: Paste

BHN 444 Tomato (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Red Tomato. Resistant to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus. Excellent quality and size, perfectly smooth, globe shaped fruit. Determinate, 75 days. Status: Easy Grower

Cloud 9 Eggplant (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Mild, white, tear-drop shape. [note: okay, this isn't very descriptive, so instead I will use google for this one] (from Google) Pure white colored eggplant, usually growing to 6-8" long. Fruits have a teardrop-pear shape, with a non-bitter flavor. Plants grow to about 3-4ft, with a 2-4ft spread. This variety is resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus. This variety is one of the few pure white colored eggplants. Maturity: 75 days

Corno di Toro Gold Sweet Pepper (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Italian "Bull's Horn" colorful sweet peppers are 8-10" long and curved like a bull's horn. Ripen to bright yellow and are delicious fresh in salads, but more often are sauted or grilled. Prolific tall plants. Maturity: 68 days

Large Red Thick Cayenne Pepper (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Concentrated set of wrinkled, very pungent fruit, 6" long by 1 1/4". Very pungent, even when small. Useful for sauce and drying. Maturity: 76 days

Yellow Manzano Rocoto Pepper (Sunshine Community Gardens Plant Sale, 3/7/09, $2.00): Extremely hot, 2-4", yellow pepper. Known both for its tasty fruit with a spicy, apple-tinged flavor, but also for its growth habit. The Rocoto pepper plants can live for many years and grow into a small shrub. Sometimes called the Tree Pepper. Maturity: 95+ days.

I would still like to get a squash plant of some sort and a cateloupe and watermelon plant, but I don't know if I'll have enough space (since the tomatoes are likely large plants, and at least one of the pepper plants turns into a bush).

types of Tomatoes:

Determinate: Determinate means plants have short vines, are bushlike and compact. Most produce fruits in a short time span while others may produce all season. If you are planting in pots, you are better off with determinate tomato plants. Determinate plants are also great for canning.

Interdeterminate: Indeterminate means plants have long vines and grow big. You will need to stake these. They will produce tomatoes for a longer period of time than the determiantes.


Plants bought at Zilker Garden Fest (March 28):
Bat Faced Cuphea - $2.50
Passion Flower (2) - $5.00