Annual / Perennial [1] Genus: Ocimum Species: basilicum Variety: Green Ruffles Open Pollinated Full Sun Soil pH 5.5 to 6.5 Hardiness zones 3 to 9 as Annual 10+ as a perennial Days to Germination: 7 to 14 days [2] Days to Maturity: 65 to 70 days [2] Foliage Color: Deep Green Bloom Color: pinkish-purple / … Read more
Good soil, adequate nutrients, water and sunlight are vital to a successful vegetable garden, these are indisputably the primary factors in the development of any plant. It is your job as the Gardener to put all these elements together for the end goal of a bumper crop. Making a schematic or map of your garden … Read more
Most early producing tomatoes are small varieties, Moskvich, a Russian heirloom is a rarity in that it is a full sized tomato that produces very early fruits. It is considered a semi-determinate and fairly cold hardy as are many Russian varieties. In warmer regions it produces tomatoes like a determinate – one large crop – … Read more
The Basinga tomato is an Old heirloom from unknown origins. It produces average 6 – 8 oz pale lemon colored fruits with a tinge of pink near the blossom end. On rare occasions that tomatoes have been recorded as being up to a pound. It is a beefsteak style tomato that is 3 – 4 … Read more
Hawaiian Pineapple tomato is a bi-color heirloom beefsteak style tomato. It has an orange – yellow -red mottled skin and flesh. The plant produces average one pound fruits sometimes a tad smaller some a bit larger. I find this tomato best when eaten fresh in salads or straight off the vine. Some folks say they … Read more
The so-called “tree” known as the Italian Tomato tree and various hybrids thereof, such as the Sprut f1 hybrid from Estonia in the former USSR is not really a tree, it is a very large tomato plant that grows in a prolific vining fashion. The vines can reach 15 – 25 feet in length. Naturally, … Read more
How to Harvest and Save Cucamelon Tubers Cucamelons are cousins to cucumbers, melons and other curcubits, however unlike most curcubits they produce a subterranean tuber similar to a potato. The tuber is not edible but is useful in growing more cucamelons the following year. Cucamelon has two modes of reproduction, first and foremost they reproduce … Read more
Striped Toga Eggplant Plant Profile Striped Toga Eggplant doesn’t bare much of a resemblance to the eggplants we are accustomed to, It looks like some sort of strange exotic fruit – till you cut it open and see that its beauty is only skin deep. The eggplants are borne in small clusters on a 3 … Read more
Purple Sweet Potatoes are a recent addition to the North American Gardening realm. According to the LA Times, a sweet potato farmer in the Carolina’s received some as a gift, and began growing them. They were later patented as Stokes Purple Sweet Potato. However, they had been growing in the pacific region where they are … Read more