From what I understand, tomatoes don't do very well on the heat because they will Bloom but the blooms will fall off and no fruit will develop.
It seems as though you can grow tomato plants here all year round if you care to watch sticks and leaves grow but only a certain time of year will they set fruit. I want to say it seems like October or maybe September would be the right time to start them from seed
Yes, I start regular tomatoes in October. The Everglades variety is supposedly fine in the summer. We shall see. They are small, like grape tomatoes . https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/monroeco/2020/04/20/everglades-tomato-a-summer-tomato-for-the-keys/
Yes, we were eating tomatoes until mid April. The plant itself was almost 100% brown, but still gave me fruit for a couple of weeks. Now, those plants have all composted down. *walks away singing Circle of Life*
I lived in northern Indiana. One year had frost. June 5th. But my soil was fantastic. Grew the best head lettuce.
I believe they're good to Zone 11. I'm all too familiar with that problem. We've got heavy clay soil that doesn't drain well so I break it up with a spade or small tiller and then amend it with lighter garden soil and compost to reduce water retention (and keep the tomato fruit from cracking). If I don't do that the water will pool in my beds after heavy rains. The only complaint I have with Virginia Sweets, and I'm really nitpicking here, is that they take a long time to bear fruit, but if you're growing other varieties that's kind of a good thing because you'll be harvesting tomatoes at different times during the growing season. I get my seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange here in Virginia and I've always gotten great results from that co-op, regardless of what seed I buy.
Yup - they'll stop pollenating and drop their blooms. HOW TO GROW TOMATOES IN HOT WEATHER https://bonnieplants.com/blogs/garden-fundamentals/how-to-grow-tomatoes-in-hot-weather https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/growing-temp-for-tomatoes.htm Our veggie garden gets sun all day so when we get a real bad heat wave we'll bust out the shade cloth to keep them from getting frizzle-fried. We've also used garden fabric to shade the base of our pumpkin plants when it gets brutally hot. The like a lot of water so that helps maintain moisture in the soil around their roots.
I'm jealous - you're a month ahead of us. We're growing Carbons, Cherokee Purples, Virginia Sweets (all heirloom indeterminate) and Sungold Hybrid cherry tomatoes, and I'm experimenting with an "heirloom marriage" Carbon-Cherokee Purple hybrid I've never grown before.
I used to have clay soil as hard as a rock. Tilling was my problem. No matter how much "stuff" I put in the soil there was little improvement. I was so busy tilling and weeding it was like spinning my wheels. I decided to quit tilling ....My soil now has earthworms and is soft and friable. Weeds are now worm food and goat food.
The only time I use a tiller is when I do the initial cut on the beds to break up the hardpan. After that I'll work compost and manure into the soil with a spade, but that's it. Speaking of earthworms, my wife has been kicking around the idea of starting up a little worm composting operation for the garden. This year is the first time we've amended the soil where we plant our veggies with worm castings and I'm interested to see how that pans out. If it works as nice as it looks I might encourage her worm hobby.
What happened to US beef in recent years (like the last 10 yrs)? Are the animals fed something different? I used to love a good rib-eye, but recently its inedible, and we have even thrown then in the garbage. The only red meat I buy from Publix these days is hamburger. Everything else is garbage.
Could be the antibiotics and growth hormones. They are the reason US beef isn't acceptable to the EU.
That should only the meat more marbled, and softer, but nowadays its so hard its difficult to cut. Is the meat from cows that died of old age? Maybe eating less red meat is a good thing. I'm down to a nice hamburger every now and then, and imported beef from Argentina on special occasions. Now THAT meat is tender. There is nothing like an Argentinian "Vacio".
Have you tried a raised bed? One of the several benefits is the drainage, if you get too much rain, especially if you plant in mounds. You can also try a cover of plastic over row hoops when you are expecting days of rain. You just have to remember to take the plastic off when the rain is done.
Not all beef is treated as such. Commercial beef, probably. But thankfully we have 'local' beef available where you actually know the farmer, and what the cattle have been fed. We bought half a cow, and split that with the SIL. We've got good, fresh meat locally grown, at about a 1/3 of the price and healthier.
That's the ticket. We can find locally raised beef and pork, too, and for folks who live in the city or suburbs they can look online and find a farm or farmer's market in their area where they can buy fresh meat.
I have raised beef in the past. I bought the cows at auction and raised them up and had a local butcher process them. It was good beef. I also raised a few pigs in the past. The best pork I ever ate was my own hog. We fed him a lot of acorns and chestnuts. Excellent taste.
Yum. I get the best pork sausage I've ever eaten from some friends of mine who raise hogs in our area. The flavor and texture is WAAY better than any sausage you get at a supermarket.
Ours get split into 1/8s to make them a bit more manageable. There's only a small herd here so only 2 or 3 go to the butcher each year. Most is bought by friends and neighbours with the rest going to the various camps we have here in the summer.
