Thursday, August 04, 2011

Zone 1 Cherry Harvest!

It was a good year for cherries in the north. Tart cherries, that is, and don't call them "sour" either, because the cold-climate cherry enthusiasts think "tart" sounds nicer. We planted our Carmine Jewel cherries about five years ago and this is the first year with a substantial cherry harvest. That being said, we only have 4 trees and the two in the shade of larger trees don't bear very much and one got major damage in the severe winter of 2009. Carmine Jewel is intended to be a zone 2 tree, so any cherries I get here are a bonus.
A nice little tree full of cherries:

Tart cherries are superior to sweet cherries in baked goods and I would certainly try growing these cherries again, even in a warmer climate.
The greater yield came with slightly smaller cherries this year:

Container zucchini is producing a fat one:

Nasturtium "Cobra" - a red-flowered nasturtium with unique purple-tinged leaves:

Have you eaten any nasturtium flowers yet? They make great additions to salads and have a spicy peppery-flavour. They are very simple to start from seed. I start mine indoors and plant out in June.
My mutant "Black Plum" heirloom tomato:

I don't remember where I got this tomato seed, but there has got to be something wrong with my plant. Though the leaves look healthy and it is making flowers, it seems to be determined to stay under 4 inches tall, producing dense curly foliage that looks more like creeping ground-cover than the description of a 6 foot tall indeterminate plant. What is the world is happening here?
Creeping tomato?

7 comments:

Grey.and.Vis.Mom said...

That tomato plant is hilarious! It's going through an identity crisis:)
If it fruits, can I have a few seeds?

Mrs.Pickles said...

wonderful cherry harvest. We have some Carmine Jewel as well. However, they didn't produce this year.

Clayton said...

Good for you on the Carmine Jewel. I have not had success here in growing cherries. Pin and Choke cherries yes. But we don't get many since we have a ton of robins and they are there at the break of dawn and till the sun goes down.

Your tomato looks like an outcross from another plant and the baby got the wrong genes.

Good harvesting.

Gardenista said...

I think Clayton has it there - this must have been an open pollinated seed that crossed with something very short. Not the black plum I was expecting.

Barbarapc said...

You are so right about the tart cherries making better pies. Had a black cherry (sweet) pie yesterday - my first. While delicious just not as good. Not only is that cherry producing, it's got a really good shape. I bet the tomatoes are going to stand taller than the plant! At least you don't have to stake it.

Chookie said...

Your cherries look delicious!

I am worried that your tomato might have a virus of some kind -- the leaves look slightly distorted to me. Hope I am wrong!

Becky said...

My tomato plants this year have also stayed close to the ground, it's very weird. I am growing "Centennial Rocket" and "Prairie Pride" here in Manitoba, and neither of them have gotten over 2 feet, planted in my pretty well-fertilized garden. Weird!