Tomato 2022

[digitS']

@Zeedman, can you tell us about Quebec 1121?

Is it the same as Doucet's Plum Producer / Doucet's Plum? Those two might be different tomatoes. I can imagine some paste decribed as being good in a salad.

You listing it as a short-Days To Maturity caught my attention. I have grown very few paste tomatoes. The last try was a variety that ripened most of it's fruit after frost. That's okay but it comes at a very busy time. Nearly all pastes have a DTM that is later than that variety (from Fedco, if I remember right).

Steve

 

[Dirtmechanic]

@catjac1975 Spring equinox is March 21 and our last frost day is around March 30. But average temps, and soil temps specifically will not really be conducive for warm weather plants until about a month after, or the next moon if you howl at it. However, I have come know my BBQ thermometer as a great soil temp tester and am perfectly willing to be seen by my neighbors while checking my lawn to see if it is done yet.

 

[Zeedman]

Is it the same as Doucet's Plum Producer / Doucet's Plum? Those two might be different tomatoes. I can imagine some paste decribed as being good in a salad.

I believe those two are the same tomato under different names. Doucet was the breeder of Quebec 1121. It is a fairly good paste tomato, but IMO calling it a salad tomato is a bit of a stretch.

You listing it as a short-Days To Maturity caught my attention. I have grown very few paste tomatoes. The last try was a variety that ripened most of it's fruit after frost. That's okay but it comes at a very busy time. Nearly all pastes have a DTM that is later than that variety (from Fedco, if I remember right).

One paste tomato I grow ("Salas") is perhaps even faster than "Quebec 1121", although I have never done a head-to-head comparison. It is a determinate small plum tomato (1.5-2"), thick walled & meaty, and keeps well for several weeks after picking. I grew it last year for seed, there is a photo in the 2021 tomato thread. Although small in size, I consider it to be the better of the two varieties for paste due to its very low juice content. If you'd like to try it, just send me a PM.

 

[flowerbug]

@catjac1975 Spring equinox is March 21 and our last frost day is around March 30. But average temps, and soil temps specifically will not really be conducive for warm weather plants until about a month after, or the next moon if you howl at it. However, I have come know my BBQ thermometer as a great soil temp tester and am perfectly willing to be seen by my neighbors while checking my lawn to see if it is done yet.

i hate to be pedantic (well not really ), but this year it is March 20th. i know this only because i happened to look it up earlier this morning as i thought it was the 21st also.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

i hate to be pedantic (well not really ), but this year it is March 20th. i know this only because i happened to look it up earlier this morning as i thought it was the 21st also.

Even though I have heard it before, I seem to always forget that Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon after the Spring Equinox. And we basically plant around or after Easter. No, there will be no pagan rites in my garden. We only observe nude gardening day, and at that, from inside the house while we dress.

 

[ducks4you]

I would be more concerned about persistent herbicides than seeds. I was all set to use hay mulch this year but (thankfully) learned that there is one broadleaf herbicide in particular that is commonly used on grass hay... crop and manure from animals eating that crop should not be used around plants for 5 years! (according to mfg literature) Many gardeners are reporting a total loss of their garden after using tainted manure, hay, or straw and the soil is unusable for years. This chemical is banned in the UK.

If the hay grower is selling to livestock HERE, the livestock that eat the pesticides would get sick. Horses, especially have sensitive digestive systems, and my hay man sells to horse owners.
I see some weeds in my hay, and I am pretty sure that there isn't any herbicide used on those fields. I haven't seen a problem in My gardening, and as you know, I work in used stall bedding which often Has their hay (bc I am too generous when I feed).
But, sweat equity works, too. If you have any fear, use your own grass.
Just a suggestion. My parents lived in a subdivision where they plowed flat and left clay to grow your lawn.
Do as you wish.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

If the hay grower is selling to livestock HERE, the livestock that eat the pesticides would get sick. Horses, especially have sensitive digestive systems, and my hay man sells to horse owners.
I see some weeds in my hay, and I am pretty sure that there isn't any herbicide used on those fields. I haven't seen a problem in My gardening, and as you know, I work in used stall bedding which often Has their hay (bc I am too generous when I feed).
But, sweat equity works, too. If you have any fear, use your own grass.
Just a suggestion. My parents lived in a subdivision where they plowed flat and left clay to grow your lawn.
Do as you wish.

The majority of these chemicals being talked about are aminopyralids from Dow Chemical. They are awesome for pastures, killing poisonous for a grazing animal weeds and lasting 5 years to save time and money compared to annual treatment. They bind tightly to grass and pass straight through the animals with very low toxicity to mammals. Some rules are being attempted, such as materials stay on the farm and materials from horses cannot be used. I do not have an authoritative source for the new control efforts, but obviously a backlash has occurred and efforts to integrate the chemical into the recycle system that existed previously are at least underway. I think the loss of nutrient value in compost over time may be a sticky point. I suspect regulators fail to recognize and therefore do not integrate the breakdown of proteins in manure in a manner that is timely for growing. This adding amino acids and nitrogen to soil via manure breakdown and its resulting superiority to organic matter alone as a result is related to the natural composting time frame of a season in forest litter. Its not just the carbon in the organic matter that counts. The natural cycle of composting dead forest animals and other materials with high protein levels has been interrupted by this newish chemistry. If the fields are sprayed year one, the manures may make it to commercial compost piles that year or next, and then may spend a year or two in the compost distribution channel. What I have experienced is the second part of that 2.5 year half life so at least that is "less worse" situation.

 

[R2elk]

We only observe nude gardening day, and at that, from inside the house while we dress.

World Naked Gardening Day

 

[meadow]

If the hay grower is selling to livestock HERE, the livestock that eat the pesticides would get sick. Horses, especially have sensitive digestive systems, and my hay man sells to horse owners.
I see some weeds in my hay, and I am pretty sure that there isn't any herbicide used on those fields. I haven't seen a problem in My gardening, and as you know, I work in used stall bedding which often Has their hay (bc I am too generous when I feed).
But, sweat equity works, too. If you have any fear, use your own grass.
Just a suggestion. My parents lived in a subdivision where they plowed flat and left clay to grow your lawn.
Do as you wish.

Yeah, we have plenty of grass so we're 'making our own', so to speak. 😅

This particular chemical isn't the typical herbicide. It is designed specifically for pastures and hayfields that are used to feed livestock, and it doesn't seem to harm them in any way. @Dirtmechanic has said it so much better than I could.

ETA: You're correct though, your garden would have shown it if you'd gotten a batch of tainted hay.

 

[meadow]

World Naked Gardening Day

Good heavens! That is one bell that cannot be unrung. I'd rather not know my neighbors quite that well, thank you very much. 🤣