I was pleased to find 3 nice red tomatoes today on a 4 foot high caged Stupice plant. Each tomato was about 1.5 inches in diameter which is what I think should be expected from that variety. This is exactly day 52, The plants were grown in a two year 50/50 mix of top soil and leafgro compost supplemented this year with a bit of composted cow manure. No fertilizer of herbicides. Weather conditions have been perfect except the need to water. Early girl still green fruits. The other varieties (13)are fruiting well also. The peppers are big and green but none changing to colors yet. The beans are ok with Smeraldo having rust issues due to overhead watering I suspect. Sprayed with a Bacillus Subtilis spray. The sugar peas did poorly this year. Lots of snap and snow peas. Okra is at 2 feet with a few pods each. Eggplant doing ok despite serious flea beetle damage. Onions are crowded by weeds. Need to be less lazy. Asparagus is 7 feet high. Cucumbers are sweet and non-bitter and coming in nicely despite some deer damage to the end growth. Picked last cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower (fremont)and they did ok. Corn (Honey Select) has managed to survive the deer so far. Now 3 - 4 feet high. No ears or tassels yet. Some with side shoots. Not surewhat to do about the side shoots? Would enjoy hearing how others in the mid-Atlantic are doing. Scott Owings Mills, MD

Bob I am here how hahaha but I have to take a minute cause I am laughing so hard that I can not hit the right keys roflmao. Ok here are the answers as they came to me while time passed by. 1. we are both o so slow..Dorothy ;-) good guess hahaha 2. OLD...PC is thank goodness a lot older for HIS years on his back lol 3. confused on what to do. At least I do not take as long...YET 4. we do what WE want and not what someone wants us to do 5. we are both finished! Told hubby to bring the sledge hammer home from work. And while I waited, I crochet a whole pair of potholders! He can just be lucky that I need him so I can be with the one thing that relaxes me ....YOU ALL! Have a wonderful evening Lucy

Gesila, you appear to have found the secret: keep 'em well hydrated. I'm a little concerned about the leaf @ the sort of 4 o'clock position, looks as if there might be a foliar nematode issue here. If that brown strip I see is strictly interveinal, you got them nasty worms, sorry to say. Take a closer look at that leaf, for your sake I hope it isn't... Pieter

I use 12 Texas cages and another bunch of the concrete wire homemade ones. I am growing 23 plants this year. The wire ones I don't even try and clean. They are all rusted. The Texas ones don't rust. I never prune unless I have a wayward branch in my path's way. My plants now are well over 6 feet tall now and bushy and loaded with fruit. Here's a pic I took on July 3. They may be a foot taller since then!