It’s Tomato Season!

Posted on August 20, 2026 by Dave @ HappyAcres

The tomatoes have been rolling in here lately, and I thought I would share pics and details of what I have been harvesting. I have been busy turning them into sauce, and my wife and I made a batch of ketchup a couple of weeks ago. We have also been eating them fresh at every occasion. I’ve harvested a little over 100 pounds so far, and it is looking to be a pretty good year for them, at least in yield.

early August tomatoes

homemade ketchup jars

The taste of the tomatoes this year is quite variable though. Last year, Harvest Moon was outstanding in taste tests. This year is it pretty bland tasting. It’s lovely, but that’s about all it’s got going for it.

Harvest Moon tomato

Black Angel has been quite variable too, with some tastier than others. It has yielded well though, which is a plus. The jury is still out on whether it will be back next year or not.

Black Angel tomato

Garden Treasure remains a favorite of both my wife and I, and it has not disappointed us this year. The fruits are large and well shaped, and the flavor has a good mix of sweet/acid that I love in a tomato.

Garden Treasure tomato

Purple Zebra is another favorite of mine, and it has done well this year. The fruits are medium sized, and have a good flavor.

Purple Zebra tomatoes

Chef’s Choice Purple and Chef’s Choice Orange are my two favorite varieties of the Chef’s Choice series. They have been quite prolific, and tasty as well.

Chef’s Choice Purple tomato

Chef’s Choice Orange tomato

I grew Beefy Purple last year, and while it was not one of my favorites I decided I would give it another try this year. It has not impressed me again! While pretty to look at, it doesn’t have the rich taste I prefer and get from other varieties. It will not be back next year.

Beefy Purple tomato

Pink Delicious is an AAS Winner I’ve grown since it was released back in 2022. The fruits are large, though sometimes irregular shaped, and tasty. It was also one of the first big ones to ripen this year, which is another bonus.

Pink Delicious tomato

And speaking of Winners, Badabing is a 2026 AAS Winner that has done extremely well here in its first outing. It’s listed as a large cherry that is ‘almost cocktail’ sized, and that describes the ones that I’ve harvested. It was bred by the same folks that gave us Purple Zebra (and Beefy Purple), and it has earned a place in the 2027 garden for sure. I used some of these in a gnocchi dish I made earlier this month, and they added a lovely flavor and color.

Badabing tomatoes

Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Sweet Prince is a variety from Row 7 Seeds that I am growing for the first time this year. It is a versatile tomato, good both for fresh use and for cooking. They have fairly thick skins that have resisted splitting, and an almost crunchy texture I find quite pleasant when eaten raw. It has made a good addition to the lineup of small-fruited tomatoes, and I plan on growing it again.

Sweet Prince tomatoes

Another one I’m growing for the first time is Bellini. It is in-between cherry and cluster tomato size, with bright orange skin and flesh. It has a great flavor, much like Chef’s Choice Orange, except in a smaller package. I plan to grow it again too.

Bellini tomatoes

This year I decided to try Better Boy Plus instead of my long-time favorite, the original Better Boy hybrid tomato. What a disappointment! They have not done well here at all, and I’ll go back to the original next year.

Better Boy Plus tomato

I’ll close my tomato review on a positive note. Last year I had great results with two new varieties (Queen Bee and Honey Bee) bred by Johnny’s Selected Seeds in collaboration with the late Fred Hempel (Artisan Seeds) . Both are pink and yellow striped and late-blight resistant, and they have done quite well again this year. I can see them being on the permanent tomato lineup here going forward.

Honey Bee and Queen Bee Tomatoes

I hope you have enjoyed this update on our tomato crop this year, and I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!

 

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July 2026 Update

Posted on July 26, 2026 by Dave @ HappyAcres

July is almost over, and it’s time for another harvest update from Happy Acres. Our harvests are in full swing now, and it’s keeping me busy bringing them in and preserving them. It has been a good year for cabbage here, and I have brought in over 20 pounds in total. I’ve made a lot of sauerkraut, and I pulled the last cabbage plant in Mid-July which we used for fresh eating. It’s also been a great year for the container eggplant, and we have enjoyed it for many a meal. The in-ground plantings will begin bearing soon, so we should have plenty to eat for some time to come.

early July harvest

It’s also looking to be a good year for the cucurbits – the summer squashes and the cucumbers in particular. I have the cucumbers growing in the greenhouse where they usually keep producing until early August. We’ve enjoyed eating most of the squashes, plus I’ve frozen some and given a few away to friends. One new favorite is a hybrid white pattypan called Moonbeam. It is tasty when cooked and it has been productive for me as well. It has certainly earned a spot in our future plantings.

July harvest

Moonbeam squash

Another new plant I’m growing this year is an AAS Winner called Murasaki Fioretto 70. It’s a sprouting cauliflower with a bright purple color and is quite tasty. The flavor is a bit hard to describe – not exactly a cauliflower and not exactly a broccoli either, but delicious all the same. My wife and I both enjoyed eating it and I’ll be growing this one again for sure.

Cauliflower Murasaki Fioretto 70

top of Murasaki Fioretto 70

The harvests in late July have become quite varied, with squashes, cucumbers, tomatoes and a few hot peppers making an appearance. It’s nice to have a variety of homegrown goodies to choose from when planning our meals. I baked one of the Goldilocks orange acorn squashes last week, and it was tasty as usual.

late July harvest

The summer lettuce is still keeping us supplied for salads. It’s not as pristine looking as that grown in cool weather but we are enjoying it. And on the positive side, it’s not giving us cryptosporiasis either! That’s one big bonus of growing your own food as far as I’m concerned. You know where it’s been and who has been handling it.

summer lettuce

I always look forward to tomato season, and ours are beginning to come on strong now. I’m getting a nice selection of small ones as well as the big slicers. I love tomatoes and nothing beats a ripe homegrown one in my opinion. Pink Delicious was one of the first slicing types to ripen this year, and it’s an AAS Winner I’ve grown since it was released a few years back.

late July tomato harvest

Pink Delicious tomato

There’s always new tomato varieties to try, and this year I’m trialing several. Mimosa is an orange grape tomato that has been early to fruit and prolific so far. It’s a colorful addition to our mix for sure.

Mimosa tomatoes

Honey Bee is one I grew last year along with the slightly larger Queen Bee. They were bred by Johnny’s Selected Seeds in collaboration with the late Fred Hempel (Artisan Seeds) . Both are pink and yellow striped and late-blight resistant, and quite tasty. We loved them last year and I have no doubt we will enjoy them as much this year too!

Honey Bee tomatoes

The lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes are joining up for our July salads. I can afford to use the veggies liberally when they are plentiful as they are now!

salad with homegrown goodies

In non-harvest news, we have quite a few of the hardy hibiscus blooming now. The blooms only last for a day, but new ones come on to put on a show that lasts for many weeks.

Luna White hibiscus

Midnight Marvel hibiscus

Peppermint Flare hibiscus

And last but definitely not least, my wife planted Becky Shasta Daisies around our mailbox back in late May. They are blooming now, and quite lovely to see when we go to get the mail or pull in or out of our driveway. They will only continue to get more beautiful as time goes on.

Becky daisies

closeup of Becky daisy

I hope you have enjoyed this update, and I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!

 

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June 2026 Update

Posted on June 26, 2026 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time for another harvest update from Happy Acres. The month of June is almost over, and our harvests are slowly but surely picking up now. Speaking of slow, first I will mention our blueberries. We’ve had these bushes for several years now and lost over half of them over the years. We’ve just got a few berries this year, but we have enjoyed them when we had them.

blueberry harvest

The lettuce harvests have not disappointed though, and we have been well supplied for months now. Bergam’s Green is a green leaf lettuce that always does well for me in cooler weather. I’ve been planting more heat-resistant varieties lately like Cherokee, Muir and Tehama and these should be ready for cutting soon.

lettuce Bergam’s Green

The squash and eggplant are starting to come in now, and are a welcome addition to our diet. The Green Machine zucchini and yellow Tempest are two of my favorites and were early to produce this year.

first summer squash

mid-June harvest

Recently I used one of the zucchini and one of the yellow squashes to make Baked Ziti & Summer Veggies, along with mushrooms and a bit of onion and tomato. Riccotta and mozzarella cheeses and an egg hold everything together, and lots of fresh basil from our garden gives it a lovely flavor. The leftovers are tasty too, and this is one way we enjoy using our summer squashes.

baked ziti casserole

I’ve got Fairy Tale eggplant growing in containers, along with Gretel and Icicle. The Fairy Tale has been the first to give us a harvest, and we roasted some of these to go on an eggplant sandwich we enjoyed for lunch one day this week.

Fairy Tale eggplant

eggplant sandwich

I’ve been hauling in kohlrabi since early in the month.  I set out about 30 plants in a bed behind the greenhouse, and this year I’m growing Beas, Terek, Konstance and Kolibri. We have been enjoying these smaller ones for fresh use, and fermenting the larger Kossak variety I have planted in the main vegetable garden. I’ve hauled in over 20 pounds of them already, so it looks to be a good year for them.

early kohlrabi

Kossak kohlrabi

Also looking good are the cabbage plants, and I cut the first head this week for fresh use. Quick Start seems to be aptly named, since it was the first to head up for me this year. This one weighed a bit over two pounds, and we cooked it up as a side dish one night for dinner.

cabbage Quick Start

I also cut a bigger head of Green Presto this week, and this head weighed just shy of three pounds. I will use it to make a jar of sauerkraut. I set out ten cabbage plants this year, and we should have plenty for fresh use and fermenting.

Green Presto cabbage

I hope you have enjoyed this update, and I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!

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Mid-June Garden Update Part 2

Posted on June 18, 2026 by Dave @ HappyAcres

I’m back today with part 2 of the update on the vegetable garden here at Happy Acres. One of the last things I always get planted are the sweet potatoes, and this year I got them in on June 4th. I set out the usual varieties – 29 slips in all, planted in a ridge I made of loose soil. I grow the slips myself from the the previous year’s harvest, and pot them up so they get off to a good start in the garden. I’m mulching them with cardboard and shredded pepper, which helps keep down the weeds and conserve soil moisture.

row of sweet potatoes

sweet potato plant

One of the first things I got planted outside this year were the container eggplants. I’m growing Fairy Tale, Gretel and Icicle again this year, and all are AAS Winners that do quite well for me in containers. I sow these seeds earlier than the main crop varieties, and potted them up outside in mid-April when danger of frost had passed.

container eggplants

blooms on Fairy Tale eggplant

Those plants have already rewarded us with the first eggplants, and should keep us well supplied until the main crop varieties start producing.

Fairy Tale eggplants

I’ve also got a few hot peppers growing in containers, mostly test varieties but also a few tried and true favorites. Like the eggplants, they give me a jump on the season until the in-ground plantings begin bearing.

container peppers

One of the latest things I planted was some heat-tolerant lettuce in the cold frame bed behind our greenhouse. So far I have Cherokee and Tehama planted, and I have seedlings of a few others to go in when space is available. Last year we had lettuce throughout much of the summer months and I hope to repeat that again this year.

heat tolerant lettuce plants

And in another bed behind the greenhouse the kohlrabi I set out in late April is sizing up and ready for harvest. I set out 30 plants, so that should keep us supplied for quite a bit!

kohlrabi plants

kohlrabi harvest

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of the garden here in June, and I will be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres!

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Mid-June Garden Update Part 1

Posted on June 15, 2026 by Dave @ HappyAcres

It’s time for another update on the vegetable garden here at Happy Acres. I’ll break it up into two parts since I have quite a few photos to share. To start, the weather here has been fairly dry this spring with rainfall running a bit below average. We have gotten enough rain to get things growing though, and the vegetable garden is looking pretty lush at the moment.

Vegetable Garden in June

Brassicas are usually the first crop to go in, and this year I got ours planted early in May. They have taken off since then, and I have been spraying with Bt and neem oil to keep the cabbage caterpillars under control.

spring brassicas

The cabbage plants are heading up, and the big Kossak kohlrabi will be ready to harvest soon. We mostly use these big kohlrabis for fermenting, and the cabbage for fresh use as well as for making sauerkraut.

cabbage plant

Kossak kohlrabi

I got the pole beans planted in late May, and they have really taken off! My main trellis has quite a few of my old favorites planted. I’m trialing a couple of test varieties over on the other side of the garden, using the remesh trellises I use for the vining squashes. Last year was a terrible year for the beans and I am hoping for a better harvest in 2026. In 2025 much of the seed rotted before sprouting, but that has not been an issue this year and I have a good stand of them.

pole beans

trial beans

And speaking of the vining squashes, they are taking off and climbing up the supports as well. I’ve got a couple planted by the fence that surrounds the garden as well as the ones on the remesh trellises.

Tromboncino squash vines on trellis

Centercut squash vines

I got the tomatoes planted in Mid-May, and they are over a foot tall now and climbing up in their remesh cages. They should begin blooming and setting fruit soon. The first ripe tomatoes are always a treat for us! I set out about 50 plants in all, so hopefully we will have plenty for eating fresh and for processing into sauces and such.

tomato plants

I got the eggplant and peppers planted in late May, and they are just now getting established and starting to grow. Some of the hot peppers are already starting to set fruit though, and the rest shouldn’t be too far behind. I’m using folding cages to support all these plants.

eggplant and peppers

young eggplant

hot pepper with fruit

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of the garden here in June, and I’ll be back with part 2 of the tour soon!

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