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We have had a fabulous gardening season here in Alabama so far. The first tomatoes of the season, Persimmon, Black Brandywine and Big Zebra have ripened and once again they have exceeded our expectations. The sweet and full of flavor Persimmons were first, second were the Big Zebras, which taste like "green" tomatoes (we fry them around here), but with a complexity all their own, and third were the Black Brandywines that are smooth, sweet and acidic. The texture, taste and sweetness of the heirlooms is just wonderful and makes all the hard work worthwhile.

We are busy trying to keep our tomato cages from falling over and picking our early Sweet Corn which has already been quick frozen to preserve the sweetness. Picking squash, Okra and cucumbers is a daily chore which is already getting difficult with our warm summer weather. French Filet beans and Pole Beans are coming in now...oh good more canning to do! A quart of Pesto was made yesterday and we have been eating Tomato Bruschetta all week! Read more about tomato supports here.

I know it is difficult to think about planting again for fall, but true gardeners never rest!

Our catalog has been updated with our Fall tomatoes, or "second summer" tomatoes, which are possible to grow in many areas. Why have everything ripen during the summer and then by fall they are all gone? Try a second crop planting by calculating back from your "first" frost date in the fall, subtract about 90 days, and then plant at that time. Fall tomatoes will begin shipping August 4th and continue until they run out in September. View our fall tomato selection here.

Our full line of fall vegetables, that mature in cooler temperatures, are online now and can be ordered anytime. "Fall" or "Cool season" Vegetables will begin shipping August 18th and continue through September as quantities last. We have a beautiful selection this year including Mustard Greens, Golden Beets and French filet beans, all in 4 1/2" pots shipped right to your door. At The Tasteful Garden, we are all about happy, healthy plants and you can count on us for success in your garden. Read more about fall vegetable gardening here.

We get so many questions this time of year, we want to share them with you along with our best guesses at the answers. Gardening can be difficult for newbies and we hope to always give common sense answers. There will always be as many opinions as there are gardeners but we hope these answers help.

Q. I am growing tomatoes and eggplant in containers which I purchased from you. One tomato plant already has 4 nice tomatoes. The other plants have flowers, but the flowers are dying and falling off. The same with the eggplant. Any ideas what could be the cause of this and how to correct it? I am in North Carolina and the nightime temp is averaging in the 60's and daytime in the 90's.

A. The flowers of tomato plants will fall off if they are not "set" as fruit. Setting will not happen with temperatures in the 90's. This is why they have to be planted so early in the south, so fruit can set before the heat of summer comes in. When plants are in the ground, they are cooler at the roots which helps with the setting of fruit. In containers, it is very hard to cool them down except with more root space and more water and mulch and compost. Read more about growing in containers on our website here: http://www.tastefulgarden.com/store/pc/viewContent.asp?idpage=9

Q. I received my plants a few weeks back...they seem to be very slow in taking off and there seems to be some small black spots on some of the leaves. Is this something I should be concerned about?

A. I wouldn't worry about a few spots, that can happen from rain or sprinklers or lots of other things. Keep in mind that the first few weeks, the plants will work on their root system building it up to support the plant. You should see it start to grow fast within the next couple of weeks or so.

Q. We bought 4 tomato plants and 3 pepper plants from you which arrived about a month ago. We also bought the Magic Soil. When do we need to fertilize the plants, and is there any special kind of fertilizer you recommend? They are all container plants.

A. We always recommend using Organic Vegetable Fertilizer for any kitchen garden plants. In our "Magic Soil" we have already added some of the fertilizer as well as worm castings which feeds for about 6 weeks. After that is used up, fertilizing your plants needs to happen about every 6 weeks when you use organic vegetable fertilizer. There are also slow release products called Osmocote or other name brand which will feed your plants throughout the whole season. View the fertilizers in our catalog here.

Q. I discovered 3 of these worms on my tomato plants this morning. They, not deer, have been eating them, apparently. Some plants have no leaves left and I guess will not survive. What are they? How did they get there? What do I do to prevent other worms like these from eating these plants?

A. The Tomato Hornworm is definitely the scariest pest in the garden, growing up to 5" long, they resemble something from a bad 70's movie. They are very heavy feeders and can eat quite a lot of leaves. Female moths lay eggs under the leaves of the tomato plant and once they hatch and start feeding they grow quickly. They eventually make their way into the ground and stay until they become adult moths. Tilling in spring helps prevent worms and moving your tomatoes each year can also help. The best way to get rid of them once you know you have a problem is to look for them at dusk when they are most active. They can be very hard to find because of their coloring. They leave black droppings behind and that can help with tracking them down. Usually picking them off does the trick, just keep checking for new damage through the season. Many people like to use an organic product called Bacillus Thuringiensis, or BT, which is a powder that you can spray on the underside of the leaves to kill the eggs. It washes off in rain and must be applied about once a week.

Harvesting now in our garden!

Corn was planted very early in our greenhouses this year and then transplanted into the garden. I know many of you are saying "why would you transplant corn?", but we had the earliest corn and it was so sweet although the ears were smaller than normal "regular season" corn. We have now direct seeded another crop of mid season corn and hopefully we will have perfect August ears.

Potatoes have harvested and we got about a half bushel from 5-6 plants. We will plant more next time as they were very easy to grow and they are fantastic to eat.

Our Nantes carrots are finally harvesting and they are incredible little jewels of flavor. Some were very small, only for chefs to deal with but some got perfectly large enough to eat and will be accompanying dinner tonight! The cucumbers got planted late but it is amazing what a little warm weather will do for them. They have exploded with fruits dangling on the fence we planted them on. The Japanese and English cucumbers are over 14" long and so sweet! You really cannot get that real cucumber flavor in the grocery store, no way.

Tomatoes are trickling in, we should be ready to do some serious picking after the 4th of July. I guess we have to have the patience of Job, even with early tomatoes. The Early Girl and even our Cherry tomatoes have been slow, while tomatoes that are supposed to take 80+ days have come in early, such as Black Brandywine and Big Zebra! Last year the Cherokee Purples were the first ones ripening and they are supposed to take 85 days! Just goes to show you that the heirlooms have a mind of their own and can come in anytime, so take those maturity dates with a grain of salt.

Green Beans were planted very heavily so I know we will have tons of them to can in a few days and for the next several weeks. We love the French filet beans just lightly steamed and then saut�ed with a bit of Mrs. Dash. YUMM!

Squash always seems like a good idea when you get it started but there are only so many things you can do with it in the kitchen. Fried Zucchini, Yellow Squash casserole, Ratatouille, etc. Then you just feel like the scene in Forest Gump...shrimp salad, shrimp cocktail... Next year we really won't plant that many squash plants.

NEW ITEMS For your Kitchen and Garden! (click the photos to view these items in our catalog)

For the Garden:

and new Books too!

Please send us your heirloom tomato and vegetable photos. We would love to put your photos in our next issue for everyone to see the results of your hard work! The best photos are against a white background, like a paper plate, sliced or whole and outdoor indirect lighting. Show off your bounty with that digital camera you bought last Christmas! It is always difficult for us to find photos of the heirlooms we sell and we love to show everyone what to expect.

Happy 4th of July! Have a safe weekend, watch out for your fingers with the fireworks. Fire up the grill and take a cool dip in a pool and celebrate the founding of our country.