September 23rd

Nan Sterman, Olivenhain, CA (zone 10)

The air feels different this week.  We had a brief (very brief) rainfall, the first in San Diego County since last April.  My garden got all of  .02,” not even enough to dampen the soil surface.  But, the cooler air and cloud cover sharpened the colors in my garden and gave us all – plants and people – a measure of relief.
Fall is the best planting time in California.  While folks across the country are preparing to put their gardens to bed, we are just gearing up.  The combination of cooler air, still warm soil and rains (hopefully) on their way are ideal conditions for plants to establish strong root systems to support next spring’s branches, leaves, and flowers.

My vegetable and annual flower garden is about to transition from summer crops to the kales, legumes, and greens of winter.  Before I tear out tomatoes, eggplants, zinnias, and the like, I did a short inventory.  What worked well this summer in my zone 10 garden?  What will I grow in the future?  What goes into the “never again” pile? 

My top favorites were all veggies, including a small, boxy red pepper called ‘Pritavit,’ a funny looking tomato called ‘Ananas Noir,’ and some tiny plum ‘Una Hartsock’ tomatoes.  ‘Pritavit’ pepper fruits had a richest flavor of any sweet pepper I’ve ever eaten.  Not only were they great fresh, they were equally good roasted. You know how some peppers get slimy when you roast them?  Not these.  Their fleshy walls that held up extremely well to the heat.  For years, I’ve struggled with peppers.  Finally, I’ve found a keeper.
“Ananas Noir” (which I believe is French for “black pineapple”) tomato plants weren’t particularly prolific, but their lobed, green/red fruits (typical of a “black” tomato) were quite large and very sweet.  Their odd shape and thin skin would never hold up to shipping, but they traveled quite well from my garden to my kitchen.  And sliced with a layer of buffalo mozzarella, a basil leaf, a spritz of balsamic vinegar and some good olive oil – they were heaven!
“Una Hartsock’ tomatoes were sweet and just the right size to pop into my mouth as I pinched and tied tomato branches to their supports, or snipped eggplants off their stems.  They were prolific and wonderful.  I even cut them in half (long ways), stuffed them with herbed cheeses and roasted them on the barbecue for a neighborhood potluck.  They were a hit!

I asked my fellow seed testers for their top picks and to share their greatest gardening challenge this season.  Here is what they had to say:

John Gutkowski, Chicago, IL (zone 5):
Tomato – ‘Aunt Gertie’s Gold’: Very sweet and meaty, when ripen a medium to dark gold color. ...this was a slow developing plant but worth the wait and I will definitely plant it again. Unfortunately my plant suffered from not being in the best position for sunlight in the garden.  This was my favorite OG tomato for this year.  I like the fruit as much as Brandywine.

Viola – ‘Skippy XL Plum Gold’:  This flower is still going as I have trimmed out some of the portions that died out from the summer heat.  However, I grew it in a pot and kept it in semi shade all year.  This plant bloomed quite quickly and produced a great pot from about two seedlings.  These were my favorite flowers from this year's test group.

Michelle Zettel, Challis, ID (zone 3):
My favorite was the ‘Peacock’ broccoli.   What a wonderful plant.  It was beautiful (edible landscaping) and the taste was good, both the leaves and the actual head.
My biggest challenge this year was the awful hailstorm.  There is not much I could do about this time as the damage was done.  However I am actually planning on getting some kind screen that I can roll out from the fences across the garden if we have something like that again.  I don't think it would take much to do this so I can let you know if it happens again, but I sure hope it doesn't.

Don Boekelheide, Charlotte, NC (zone 7b)
My top two are ... both of the zinnias, ‘Apricot  Blush’ and ‘Polar Bear,’ and ‘Orange Peach’ celosia.  Veggies this year were good, but none really caught my attention compared to past years - my tops would be  ‘Tomenta’ tomato and ‘Emir Beit Alpha’ cuke, with the ‘Orange Chiffon’ Swiss chard a contender.

My biggest challenges were a late frost (Easter Sunday), outbreak of potato and bean beetles early on,  and the long drought and hot conditions of summer.  the big lesson is that you're better  off _waiting_ until after the frost-free date here, no  matter how nice early spring appears to be.
The beetles were largely controlled by scouting and  hand-picking, especially egg clusters. Also, don't  freak out if you have a few holes in your leaves.
The key to weathering the drought is good soil prep, not overly tight planting distances (at least for  veggies), weed management, and mulch, mulch, mulch.  Drip systems would be good too for large gardens, but  hand watering is the most precise and allows you to  scout - and to just to enjoy your garden, standing  around being "in" it.

Pam Ruch, Emmaus, PA (zone 6)
Here are my top picks: 
'Flavorburst' pepper, an amazing producer. A hefty plant, big peppers, thick walls. They're a nice yellow-green color turning to gold. Not as sweet as 'Saigon', the orange pepper we tested, but mild and nice tasting.
'Japanese Trifele' tomato. A funky shape and a smoky flavor, juicy but meaty, and it NEVER cracks or splits. It's still producing. 'Tomenta' and 'Polbig' (tomatoes) are runner-ups. Both small plants and BIG producers. Both done, now.
Our challenge was squash bugs this year. We went after the nymphs with cedar oil, and tried to squish the eggs, but they kept on coming. The oil did work (that is, the nymphs died on contact) but there were so many it hardly made a difference. Next year I will try to take a hiatus from squash. The good thing about this sort of problem is that you can discover varieties are the least bothered by the bugs ... this year it was 'Sunbeam'! The bugs did not engulf it (like they did 'Tristin') and it was so vigorous that they weren't a problem.

Leslie Doyle, Las Vegas, NV (zone 8)
The greatest challenge in my desert garden this year, more than other years, was the extreme high heat, without relief, that lasted for a couple of months.  Vining plants grown up, instead of near the cooler ground, suffered the most from hot winds.

Linda Crago, Wellandport, Ontario, Canada (zone 6a)
My absolute favourite plant of the test varieties was the ‘Purple Peacock’ broccoli...a stunning , tasty plant that blew me away when it headed.  Here in mid- September I am stilling harvesting some lovely side shoots. I also am partial to the Osteospermum ‘Asto White’....it did very well for me here in our drought, and is still flowering with multiple flowers per plant.   It is very pretty and people definitely comment on it.

Debbie Leung, Olympia WA (zone 8)
...among the test varieties, I think the prize will go to ‘Paydon’ acorn squash  for its flavor and texture because I don't usually like acorn squash and I  like this one! The hard part was that my overall favorites were not test varieties – ‘Kamo’ eggplant and ‘Momotaro’ tomato!

  My greatest challenge this year was not having the time to thoroughly harvest the garden on a regular basis. Even with a friend coming over weekly to help and take goodies home, I have been inundated by oversized zucchini  and lumpy beans.

I am, however, reaping the rewards from dealing with last year's challenge  -- deer. A sturdy fence that will outlast me was built during the winter/early spring. The result included beans galore and with the first heavily laden pole bean vines in years, the realization that I had forgotten how to efficiently trellis them!

Stephanie Van Parys, Decatur, GA (zone 7)
My faves from trial:
Flavorburst Pepper: gorgeous peppers
Una Hartsock Tomato: perfect pasty sweet cherries that almost melt in your mouth
Hansel Eggplant: love eggplant and love the “prolificness” of this variety
My challenge was no rain for a month and record breaking heat for three weeks straight at the same time.  The best way to handle that was to hunker down like the plants growing in the garden and wait for relief.  However, I knew that I had prepared them all for the coming drought of summer.  Each bed received an inch of compost, after coming out of cover crops in the spring.  On top of the compost, I laid down 12 sheets of newspaper to keep the weeds down and moisture where it needed to stay.  Planted my plants in holes I poked in the newspaper.  Spread straw or partially broken down leaves on top of this. When the rain stopped in August, I lost a few plants, but the majority had the root protection they needed to get to the next rain.  I also saved sink water and gave it to the lucky plant of the day.

Bill Nunes, Gustine, California, (zone 9)
First off, I agree that ‘Hansel’ (eggplant) is a winner. Much more prolific than ‘Black Beauty’ or ‘Rosa Bianca’ though not nearly as pretty. ‘Snowy’ is out producing all of them, but, maybe because it is white, ‘Snowy’ has a lot more cosmetic problems and also more insect damage on the fruits (at least in my garden).

Andrea Ray Chandler, Olathe, KS, (zone 5)
My favorite flower was ‘Cameo Elegance’ morning glory. I seeded this in a large clay pot that had an inverted 3-ring wire “tomato cage” (spray-painted black) as a tuteur.  The variegated foliage filled in very nicely and looked great even before the flowers began in early July.   
Tops in vegetables was ‘Honeybee F1’ tomato.  I'll grow this cultivar again for sure, because the trusses of golden fruits ripen evenly, great flavor with an excellent sweet-tart balance, and NO cracking unlike most cherry tomato cultivars.

Weather-wise, a major challenge was during the first week of April, when we had several nights with temperatures well below the frost point.  These killed all the tree fruit blossoms, damaged emerging perennials, and stressed most woody plants.  My only saving grace was that I hadn't gotten around to seeding much outdoors yet.  An unexpected issue this year was my reduced ability to do gardening for extended stretches of time, due to arthritis.  I got some enabling hand tools, and will be mulching more heavily next year!

Ann Caffey, Walsenburg, Colorado, (zone 4)
My 2 favs were the ‘Monnopa’ Spinach and the Calendula ‘Solar Flashback.’  Both kept going for a long time.  The Osteospermum ‘Asto White’ and the Viola ‘Skippy XL Plum Gold’ get my vote as well.  None of the tomatoes, cuke, eggplant or pepper performed in my garden, but I had an unusual year weather wise.... I like the Tatsoi and the Pakchoi and this was my first experience with those.

Comments

[Mira]

There is a ton of good info here. But, I just dont understand why nobody is talking about plant nutrition. I read an article on about.com about Dynamite Plant Food. The editor talked about its 9 months of feeding and how it is 100% slow-release so I gave it a try this past spring and fall and I am hooked. Go to http://www.dynamiteplantfood.com to learn more about the blend that fits your garden.