My first trial with growing cucumbers in San Francisco was with Straight Eight. It grew to several inches tall and withered to nothing. The next year I tried the same variety with the self watering RGGS and it grew, very slowly. Over 6 months a total of 7 cucumbers were picked totaling 1.4 kilos. Not very…
Category: Gardening
Urban Garden 2014
The 2014 balcony and indoor garden has been coming together well so far. Instead of a ton of varieties of tomatoes, we’re adding some variety to see how other stuff grows that we would like to eat. The increase in the quantities of seeds we now posess have necessitated a trip to Daiso to spend…
Potting Soil Recycling
Since I live in an urban area, managing potting soil used for growing vegetables means recycling it in the most efficient way for re-use. My garden consists of eight 3 gallon pots and eight 5 gallon buckets for a total of 64 gallons of volume, which is about 8.5 cubic feet. After a year of…
San Francisco Fog Tomato
Talk about a cold weather tomato. It totally lives up to its namesake. They taste like typical hot-house tomatoes from the grocery store. Medium gel, with a mealy texture. That said, I only rate it 5/10…however, I would consider growing it again. Why? This plant produces loads of tomatoes that after 5-10 seconds in boiling water, the…
Black Prince Tomato
This was one of my all time favorite tomatoes (rating 9/10). The flesh is dark and multi-colored, flavors are complex, yet sweet, medium gel and tender flesh. Nearly no blossom scar, the stem anchor is shallow, almost non-existent, the skin is blemish free on most, and no cracking…except when there was some inconsistent watering. The…
Ispolin Malinovyi Tomato
Rating 4/10. 160 days from seed to first pick. Total lifespan 178 days. Average weight 252 gr ams. Total harvest weight 6.3 kilos. I’m not that thrilled with this tomato. It’s going to go towards many bottles of sauce however. Freshly sliced, this tomato was crunchy, and the skin super thick. Flavor was really mild….
Gigantesque Tomato
I rated this 6/10. It has pinkish/red half pound fruits with very little gel, kind of mushy with a bland flavor in some tomatoes and a delicious flavor with notes of strawberry in others. Most of these tomatoes are destined for sauces, rather than slicing and eating raw. Total lifespan from seed to compost, was…
Azoychka Tomato
This is by far one of my favorites (9/10). For a colder weather variety, this produces some amazing flavor. It has medium gel, great wrinkled flesh, and a citrusy flavor that makes it unique. It is a Russian heirloom that is rated as one of the best yellow tomatoes you can grow. From seed planting…
Stupice Tomato
Stupice 30 days Stupice 63 days Given some of the descriptions that others have for Stupice grown in San Francisco, I didn’t have any expectations that I would like this tomato, but it’s actually pretty good. It is one of the two main varieties that are supposed to do well in San Francisco. Read more on…
Beaverlodge Slicer
This plant was supposed to be a compact, determinate plant, that above all, was short. It even says you could grow it from a hanging basket. Ha, yea right. This guy has grown to 7′ (with no sign of stopping) and is very lanky. The fruit of this plant doesn’t even look like the fruit…