(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Saturday Morning Garden Blogging Vol.19.5. In Praise of the Garden Sweets & Topics to Discuss [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-04 I belong to another garden forum. I mentioned I like sweet tomatoes. Did not go over well with a few purist gardeners. Not sure why there is a purity of palate for some when it comes to tomatoes. There is a search by many tomato growers for that “old fashioned tomato flavor” and honestly, I don’t know what that is. I think it’s tangy and with depth? *shrug* Feels like a marketing term, to be honest. I mean, so many more varieties of tomato exist now and you can find meaty, juicy, sweet, high acid, low acid, balanced, smoky, sour, and tart. You tell me. What tomato has that “old fashioned flavor?” I need to grow it. Seriously. Is there agreement on what an “old fashioned tomato” flavor is? I like my tomatoes like I like my favorite people, super sweet and a little tarty. DJ misses summer in the backyard ~ Grass. I live in a society. The local mores are not very friendly to things that are different or unfamiliar. I would like to slowly yet intentionally transition my grass lawn to not grass something else. I do not live in an HOA, but not having a traditional lawn is going to apparently doom my neighborhood to city purgatory. I am already that weird neighbor. Not sure how much more WTF I want to get with some of these these new is scary folks. Is this something I should do at all? What is a substitute for grass that looks enough like grass that they won’t notice for a while what I am doing? Has anyone done this? It needs to not look like a weed, be native to the Midwest and be green, like a lawn. I am looking to reduce water use. It will be mowed, as I have city ordinances to adhere to regarding length. City requires that 90% of my frontage be living. It cannot be a noxious weed nor invasive. I do have some clover in the yard, but it flowers while still too low to mow and becomes obvious that it’s not grass. I do not need a pollinator, because I have multiple gardens on my property and it’s bee heaven already. Dahlias, borage, snapdragon, stock, squash, all the vegetables, peach tree, apple tree, cherry trees, iris, lily, raspberries, blueberries blah blah blah. Most of my backyard is already converted to garden. Wish I could convert the front to garden. Husband says no and one day we want to move, hence a full front yard garden will unfortunately impact that ability in these parts. What about an herb? Don’t say mint. We do not plant garden herpes in my yard. ~ Is there any interest in another seed giveaway? I don’t need to run the next one, but I do have some more seeds to give away. What says the community? Herb Spiral — Summer I MISS YOU ~ We have a lot of lurkers who read these lovely Saturday Garden Blogs. Those who post, and perhaps some lurkers who want to participate; can we post some of our favorite garden and landscaping advice or resources, perhaps particular to your region? I’ll start. 1. A fantastic resource for Midwestern gardeners is the Michigan State Horticulture department. Michigan State Plant Science 2. Want to know what plants are invasive or noxious for your state? Invasive Noxious State Resources 3. You will not burn your grass with water if you water at midday in summer. There may be other reasons to not water mid-day, but water fires are not one of them. My husband, normally a wicked smart person, had this argument with me. The man tried to gardensplain me. ME! I had to pull out the research. Yes, I shook my head the whole damn time. 4. If you got the TAD (time, ability and desire), experiment and try new things, just because. I have no reason to have a 2 pound tomato, it’s simply a challenge I find fun. 5. If you like the sweetest of tomatoes and peppers, I have a list of the sweetest tomatoes and peppers I have grown. Sweetest Tomatoes Sweetest Peppers ~ Corbaci Pepper Plant. Thank you for stopping by. oh yes, music. This song is meaningful to me, and the lyrics are just so inventive. I prefer the electronica version, but Imogen Heap’s original shown here showcases the artist and the lyrics best. Music starts at 3:55. Youtube was being fussy with the start time, sorry. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/4/2142445/-Saturday-Morning-Garden-Blogging-Vol-19-5-In-Praise-of-the-Garden-Sweets-amp-Topics-to-Discuss Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/