you take the good, you take the bad…

…and there you have the facts of ‘maters.

The Terra Cotta is promising: full healthy plants with large clusters of fruit, slow to ripen.

The Black Beauty had a great start, but the most mature fruit just rotted on the vine. The plant looks perfectly healthy.

The San Marzano are prolific, even if the lower leaves are dying off. They are a keeper for the garden. I also found a volunteer growing randomingly in the garden from last year’s crop. It’s lagging behind, but putting out the stuff.

I found numerous volunteers dotting about the garden. Some still unidentified.

Last year, Brad’s Atomic Grape was difficult to sow and the fruit would split wide open with every moisture shift. But they are beautiful, and likely our only grape this year.

Oddly, the two Brad’s volunteers are drastically different. One is light and wispy but producing plenty of fruit. The other is bushy and leafed out with barely a blossom.

Finally, Black Prince has an amazing taste, possibly our favorite, but the plant fries out shortly after the summer heat peaks. Four out of four years. Next year, I’m planning a shade screen. I suspect our summer is too hot for the variety.

The amount of fruit the plants produce is impressive in a shortened life. I will find a way to make them happy in our garden.