Viewing comments posted by Newyorkrita

I saw these cucumbers listed at Baker Creek Heirloom seeds so decided to try them. So first year growing them for me. I am not impressed so last year growing them for me.

These are smaller cucumbers which do have tender skin and are quite tasty. Still they seem to be set upon by all sorts of bugs and pests so end up with lots of blemishes and bruising. I like a nicer looking fruit although the scarred skin does not affect the taste.

I first grew Kakao last season and I liked it so much then that I knew I would grow it again this season. So this year I have more plants of it.

I have been searching for a slicer size dark or chocolate tomato that has exceptional taste but does not crack or split the way others I have tried have done. At last success with Kakao.

None of the cracking issues that were common in my garden with Black Prince that I grew last season. Kakao is a perfect looking tomato, just perfection.

To make it even better Kakao has great flavor. It is very tasty slightly green but has a wonderful rich complex flavor when ripe.

Kakao is not easy to find and you would need to start your own plants from seed. Seed is available at Johnny's Seeds.

Rita on Long Island, NY Zone 6B

La Vie en Rose is a lovely pink slicer introduction from Secret Seed Cartel. I grew it for the first time last season and I am growing it again this season. It is Open Pollinated so I was able to save seeds.

Although a modern creation La Vie en Rose has the rich flavor associated with many heirlooms. It was my favorite tomato last year of all the tomatoes in my garden. All in all a winner and big hit for me.

Rita on Long Island, NY zone 6B

This is the first year I am growing the Romano type Algarve beans. They are a climbing pole bean type.

I planted both Algarve and Northeaster Romano type pole beans on the same day. Both vines grew well but the Northeasters started producing beans about two weeks before these Algarve gave me a harvest. So they seem late to me.

But a very nice bean. Large pods so that they are easy to pick and fill up the bowl quickly. Very tasty and not at all tough or stringy even harvested at their larger size.

Rita on Long Island, NY Zone 6B

Monte Gusto is a yellow pole bean, very quick and easy to grow. I found the beans themselves a very nice size of about 6 inches. They held well and did not easily get too big and tough to pick. Nice flavor. The young beans tasted great raw when I ate them from the plant as I was picking my harvest to bring inside and cook.

This is my second year growing Monte Gusto pole beans.

Fushimi grow elongated to at least 6 inches and narrow at about half an inch. These are one of the Japanese peppers and I pick mine green. But if left on the plant longer they do turn red. They may look like a hot pepper but they have no heat, only flavor.

These are usually eaten whole, including the inside with seeds and all.

These are extremely productive plants.

Rita on Long Island, NY zone 6B

Shishito peppers are one of the Japanese Peppers that are commonly picked green and eaten whole by grilling or roasting. They taste great green when raw but even better once grilled to a nice char. If left on the plant they will eventually turn red.

These plants set many, many peppers and just keep on producing fruit.

Rita on Long Island, NY zone 6B

Golden Rave is a small roma shaped golden tomato. For me plants are healthy and productive.

I would say it is slightly sweet. Well not sweet compared to Sungold or Sunsugar which are really sweet but I consider it a lovely one to toss in salads or add to a grilling skewer. Of course good to just plain eat.

Rita on the North Shore of Long Island, NY Zone 6B

This is my second year growing Alexandria. I personally do love the light green coloring and very thin skin of Alexandria squashes. I find them similar to Magda but much more elongated in shape. Nice flavor. Medium production in my garden. If you don't watch out and pick often they can grow very large.

Rita on Long Island, NY Zone 6B

Zephyr is unusual in that it is a mostly yellow zucchini but has a light green end. Almost as if the very end was dipped in paint vertically. Other than the novelty of the looks of the fruit there is nothing else unusual about this variety.

Not a great producer for me.

Rita on the North Shore of Long Island, Zone 6B

I would say this is my very favorite Pattypan Summer Squash due to its unique appearance. Highly variable, sometimes showing more yellow at the scalloped edges, other times showing none. However, it seems to always show green stripes and those scalloped edges.

Rita on the North Shore of Long Island, NY Zone 6B

This spring I bought seeds for Hurakan and started my own plants inside about 3 weeks before time to plant out in the garden. Little seedlings grew well and after transplant took off. Now I am picking nice size zucchini every few days.

I like the looks of it, light green background with striped mottled darker green markings. They don't grow long but rather nice and fat. Turns out to be a very favorite of all the ones I am growing this season.

Rita on the North Shore of Long Island, NY Zone 6B

This is my first season growing Ramapo and I only have one plant. As I understand it, this is supposed to be a late variety and that is how it has been working out in my garden. Ramapo only started producing ripe, ready-to-eat tomatoes a few days ago.

So far, so good. Nice tasting, lovely tomatoes on a disease-free plant.

Tried Amish Paste for the first time this year. Never had grown it before. I thought the taste was quite good for a paste-type tomato. I actually like it because it is not too dry and seedless. I like my paste tomatoes not to be totally dry, like a San Marzano, for instance.

My plant of Amish Paste is currently producing quite a few ripe tomatoes that are perfect for making fresh salsa.

First year in my garden for this variety. I bought it as a single plant this spring and decided to try it because it was supposedly an early maturing variety, and the plant was pretty big at planting time. It did try to set some early tomatoes, but those aborted. Not sure why. Afterwards the plant grew like crazy and now at least I am getting some ripe tomatoes.

Taste is excellent and this plant has no disease.

This is my first year trying the Bush Variety of Beefsteak tomatoes. I will be comparing the Bush Beefsteak to the regular Beefsteak. So far I have noticed from the mostly green tomatoes that the Bush Beefsteak are more uniform in size than the common Beefsteaks, and mostly not as large.

This is the first year I'm growing the Ball's Beefsteak. I picked them up at a local nursery as seedlings after reading that they are supposed to be an early variety. Mine have not been early, as today was the first real picking.

They are really perfect-looking tomatoes. No cracking or blemishes. My tomatoes usually aren't all this perfect. The plants have grown really well with no disease issues at all.

The first one I tasted had an average taste. I will wait for them to get riper before trying the next one.

This is the first year I am growing Jubilee in my garden. I decided to try out various yellow or gold tomatoes and my local nursery was selling Jubilee plants this spring. I find Jubilee tastes exactly like Sunray to me as I am growing that one also.

But Jubilee has been pumping out ripe tomatoes day after day since the first of the season got ripe. Nice size and mostly pretty uniform in size. I find the taste mild and slightly sweet. I plan to be growing Jubilee again next season.

Sweet 'n' Neat Yellow (or really any of the Sweet 'n' Neat Varieties) is just made for growing in a small pot. The plant stays exceptional small and compact. but in spite of this gets loaded with cherry tomatoes. They taste really good and, as the name implies, the tomatoes are sweet.

I grew this zucchini from seed this spring along with other varieties. My seeds came from Parks Seed and I decided to grow this one based on their claims that it was an early producer. Not for me. Northern States started to flower at the same time as my other zucchini varieties and actually produced zucchinis later than some of the others in my squash patch. All in all, I am not impressed by this variety and will not be growing it again.