It is time. My garden this year will be my smallest in decades.

[NewHendoLib]

Last year I had 70 tomato plants at my house, and another 120 at a nearby Veterans Healing Farm garden that I managed with my volunteer tomato team.

But...I just turned 68 - the knees aren't great - and I don't want to miss perfect hiking or kayaking days.

So this year - 12 tomato plants. That's it! It will be the most significant in my collection - our favorites. There will be a few peppers, a few eggplants, cukes, summer squash, and bush beans.

Also working to finish my third book....and it has been a busy speaking season (Zoom or local in person).

But it feels weird to be so caught up and not transplanting thousands of seedlings!

[Chipper Chat]

1. What tomatoes are you planting?

My favorite is burpie big boy. But last year, some of them died.Or didn't do well because I had planted them in the same spot.That I planted tomatoes the year before so I learned my lesson. Last year I did have a good luck with german johnsons and cherokee purples and also celebrity grew well for me

[NewHendoLib]

3. Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Green, Captain Lucky, Abraham Brown,

Potato Leaf Yellow, Sun Gold, Egg Yolk, Earl, Lucky Cross, Lillian's Yellow Heirloom, Polish

So - 1 purple, 2 brown, 2 green, 2 orange, 2 yellow, 2 pink, 1 yellow/red

all are flavor favorites. Only Sun Gold is a hybrid (and is irreplaceable!).

Captain Lucky, which I tried a few years ago for the first time, is just unreal - so delicious. It is green and purple mottled outside, mostly green with some bright red inside. I've had Cherokee Purple since I first received and named it in 1990.

[niyad]

2. You are entitled to not have a huge garden. You have quite enough

going on! How is the book coming? Will want to alert my library to get a copy. Your first is always out in circulation.

[NewHendoLib]

4. Hi pal! The third will be a self publish - hopefully will be done by year's end.

I didn't expect to get so many speaking requests this year - but Zooms let me reach distant places!

Hope all is great with you!

[niyad]

5. Zoom is wonderful on so many levels, but I can see it keeping you

very busy! Will look forward to your book, whenever it is ready.

Doing okay here, looking forward to our little community garden, which will be weeks yet. Our growing season is late, and short. It snowed today. Ah, well, a friend is nurturing seedlings in her greenhouse for me!

[woodsprite]

6. That sounds just fine! Love all the varieties you listed!

I wish we could grow at least tomatoes, but I'd also love to add in peppers, eggplant and zucchini. Our soil is rocky clay, and even with doing raised beds and filling them with good soil, we weren't very successful due to the amount of sun we DON'T get in our yard. We did really well with butter lettuce though.

Hubby has done hydroponics in the basement and been successful with spinach, a few cherry tomatoes, and basil.

Best of luck on your beautiful garden! And have fun with the hiking and kayaking. I've never tried kayaking. I figure I'd tip it over or get stuck in it (I have knee issues as well )

[NewHendoLib]

7. Getting in the kayaks isn't bad. Getting out....means tipping into the water on occasion!

Always hoping someone is not filming my wife exiting our kayaks!

[C Moon]

8. There's always tomahto.