Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Colorado potato beetles and aphids are other pests that feed on the plant. Control both through
beneficial insects, hand picking, and spraying leaves with insecticidal soap or even soapy water.
Leaf molds, mosaic virus, and wilt are all worse in overcrowded conditions or when plants sprawl
onto the ground instead of being supported off the ground. Blossom-end rot is usually a sign of soil
that is not healthy and lacking in calcium.
Amish Paste.
A great producer in the backyard, these 7-ounce, red tomatoes are great for paste and
sauce.
Cherokee Purple.
A purplish-red heirloom tomato that has enjoyed a renaissance in popularity.
The large fruit matures at about 10 ounces and gets raves at taste-test competitions.
Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter.
Endearing for the story behind the tomato's development
(see sidebar), this tomato produces a huge beefsteak fruit. Indeterminate and disease resistant, the
tomatoes are highly prolific.
Over the Garden Fence
Charlie Byles, the creator of the Mortgage Lifter tomato, sold so many of his seedlings for $1 each, he was
able to pay off his home's mortgage just by selling tomato plants. His breeding goal was a large, low-acidic
tomato with lots of flavor and few seeds. And he succeeded so well people were willing to pay what was in
the 1930s a premium price!
Yellow Pear.
This tomato has been grown for hundreds of years and for good reason. The disease-
resistant plant produces tons of yellow pear-shaped fruits that are 1 ounce in size.
Winter Squash (
Cucurbita
spp.
)
Unlike summer squash, winter squash is allowed to fully mature on the vine and will develop thick
skins that store well for several weeks. The winter squashes include pumpkins, acorn, and spaghetti
squash. They are called winter squash even though they are grown during warm weather, because
the tough skins are so well-suited for long-term winter storage.
Squash can be sown directly into the garden when the soil temperatures warm up to about 55°F.
Seedlings dislike being transplanted, so if you start seeds indoors you'll want to plant them in
individual, plantable pots that will allow you to move them out to the garden without disturbing
the roots.
Winter squash vines tend to grow very vigorously and large—it takes a lot of leaves to produce
such heavy yields of large fruit! Provide your winter squash plenty of room to spread, even when
growing them vertically, or they won't produce as much as they should.
