Category: growing vegetables from seed

2024 Seed Starters Taste Test: And the Winners Are…!

On By durhammastergardenersIn cherry tomatoes, Durham NC, edibles, gardening, Gardening information, gardening NC, growing tomatoes, growing vegetables from seed, paste tomatoes, Seed Starters, seed starting, slicing tomatoes, small tomatoes, taste testing, tomato varieties, tomatoes, Uncategorized, urban garden, urban gardening, vegetable gardening

By Bev Tisci and Melinda Heigel , NC State Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers of Durham County

The actual scorecards the Seed Starter team members used for their blind taste testing to determine the best tomatoes they grew over the summer of 2024. (Image credit: Melinda Heigel)

Do you remember a previous post that described how members of the Extension Master GardenerSM volunteer team known as the Seed Starters conducted scientific and delicious taste tests to determine the most flavorful, disease-resistant tomatoes? Click here to revisit that July 31 blog post.1

Well the results are in! Extension Master Gardener volunteer and Seed Starter team leader Bev Tisci studied the comments and compiled the data from their July blind taste test. What were the best tomatoes?

Scenes from the “laboratory,” featuring one clear standout: (left) Chef’s Choice Orange. (Image credit: Melinda Heigel)

Best Slicer Tomato

In the slicers category the top choice was Chef’s Choice Orange. Tasters praised its mild and good flavor, appearance, nice acidity and called it a “Big winner.” Following close behind were Big Rainbow and Marmalade Sky.

Best Paste Tomato

In the paste category the winner was Italian Roma. Keep in mind this was the only entry in the category. Could future testing reveal a tastier contender? The judges noted that Italian Roma was meaty and firm, and Tisci commented that this variety makes great oven-roasted tomatoes.

Best Small Tomato

Taking honors in the small category was Mountain Magic followed closely by Ella Bella. Seed Starters noted the winner’s balanced acidity, sweet taste, firm consistency, and manageable small size.

Best Cherry Tomato

Finally, in the cherry category, Sungold was the winner as the team noted great flavor. Sunrise Bumblebee were also high in the ranking.

Be sure to follow announcements for the 2025 Durham Master Gardener volunteer Backyard Treasures Plant Sale2 where it is likely that you can purchase and grow some of these winners in your own backyard!

Notes

1–https://durhammastergardeners.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=18574&action=edit.

2–To see some pictures and additional information on what tomato varieties the Seed Starters grew for the 2024 Backyard Treasures Plant Sale, check out the list of offerings. Unfortunately, many of the tomatoes that were grown for the 2024 sale did not make it to the taste testing, so no comparison could be made with all of the new tomatoes.

https://www.backyardtreasuresplantsale.org/veggies

Resources and Additional Information

Follow along with another ongoing Master Gardener Program volunteer tomato trial in collaboration with NC State University.

Tomatoes on Trial: The 2024 Tomato Project

Article Short Link https://wp.me/p2nIr1-53H

To Do in the Garden: August 2024

On By durhammastergardenersIn Durham NC, fertilizer, Garden pests, garden tasks, gardening, Gardening calendar, Gardening information, gardening NC, growing vegetables from seed, houseplants, insects, lawn care, monthly garden tasks, pruning, seed starting, seeds, Uncategorized, vegetable gardening

By Gary Crispell, NC State Master GardenerSM volunteer of Durham County

(Image credit: Pixabay)

And it’s August.  And it rained the entire month of July (11.83” in my rain gauge), so the grass has grown out before I can clean the mower and put it away.  The weeds…well. They’re being weeds.  The Accidental Cottage Garden (ACG) is a mostly perennial garden full of domesticated weeds.  It took a hit in June from the lack of rain.  There are real weeds out there to be pulled, but there are also Olympic Games to be enjoyed.  Weeds will still be there after the Olympics.  Fortunately, I can type between events or else this calendar might have to wait until after the Olympics, too.

No?  I must do it now?  Sigh… Okay.  If you insist.  In a minute.

Gold Metal winners in the ACG. Despite drought followed by record rainfall, it’s a two-way tie for first place between the black-eyed Susans and coreopsis. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

As mentioned above, the ACG (what’s left of it) is rather pleased with the month of rain.  There are ten genera in bloom right now.  The coreopsis (C. lanceolata) doesn’t know quit nor do the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).  Both have persisted through drought and deluge to keep the yellow going.  Gold medals for them.  Silver for the longest bloom time goes to the Dakota mock vervain (Glandularia bipinnatatifida) whose dainty purple flowers can get lost amongst the taller species, and the foliage is dainty and of great interest, too.  Bronze is awarded to the purple cone flower (Echinacea purpurea).  I know, with a tie for gold there shouldn’t be a bronze.  You award medals your way, and I’ll do it mine.

Longest bloom-time catapults Dakota mock vervain into the Silver Medal position, while the perennial and hardy favorite purple cone flower comes in strong earning the Bronze. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

Moving on to the honorable mentions; The gallardia (G. pulchella), balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) (Doing a re-bloom after timely removal of old blooms), daylily (Hemerocallis x August Flame), evening primrose (Oenothera lamarckiana), and the two reseeding annuals, French marigold (Tagetes patula) and zinnia (Zinna elegans) all deserve this honor.

Hard to believe that these beauties are representing the Honorable Mention category: the daylily ‘August Flame’ is true to its name while the balloon flower seems nearly ever-blooming. (Image credit: Gary Crispell)

Calendar?  What calendar?  We already discussed this.  There are Olympic Games to watch.  Team USA to cheer on, and you want a calendar.  Sheesh.  Well, I did say I’d do it, so if you really want to go out in the heat here are many things to keep you sweat-covered and happy.

Lawn Care

Look for signs of grubs—smallish patches of yellowing or brown turf.  Dig around in one of them and if you find a grub treat the whole lawn with an appropriate insecticide.

Late in the month, prepare any areas that need seeding with cool season grass seed (tall fescue/bluegrass).

Fertilizing

Give strawberries a dose of nitrogen fertilizer.

DO NOT (as in DON’T) fertilize any trees or shrubs until the weather turns cold and stays that way for a while.

Planting

So, you like to start your own plants from seed?  Here’s an opportunity for you.  Sow flats of pansies now to be transplanted in late September.

Perennials such as hollyhocks (Alcea rosea), delphiniums (D. elatum), and Stokes asters (Stoksia laevis) can be direct seeded now for a bloom show next year.

Repot some house plants.

Plant a fall garden of beets, cabbages, cucumbers, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, radishes, squash, turnips, and rutabagas or some combination thereof.

Pruning

No!  Except in case of emergency (hurricanes and severe thunderstorms) do not remove any pruning equipment from its storage facility until late November.

Spraying

See “SPRAYING” for July.  The same sap sucking little…critters—spider mites on coniferous evergreens, lace bugs on azaleas and pyracantha, and aphids on everything else.

Continue with rose, fruit tree, and bunch grape spray programs.

Check cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower) for worms and look for borers on squash.

Spray only when necessary.  Always identify the pest and apply the proper pesticide.

Always read the label and follow the instructions.

Propagation

Cuttings can still be taken from shrubs.

More Things for August Heat Lovers to do Outside

Update your landscape plan to include changes you intend to make this fall.

Harvest Irish potatoes.

Start composting or turn the pile.

Go to a baseball game.

Hydrate and take breaks from the heat.

It’ll be fall before we know it.  

Resources and Additional Information

Learn more about starting plants from seeds

https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1432&title=starting-plants-from-seed-for-the-home-gardener

Tackle repotting houseplants with this handy factsheet

https://wayne.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/04/repotting-houseplants

Find great tips on fall veggie gardening–and gardening all year round– on our former blog post

Garden Veggies Year Round: One Gardener’s Calendar

Article Short Link https://wp.me/p2nIr1-4TZ