We’re trying Muscovite tomatoes for the first time this year. Sounds like they aren’t much different.
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My sunflowers are getting taller. And all of the lettuce is starting to flower. The grape vines are flowering, too!
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Well that photo looks like juicy red fruit!
Lol @abasket! We will see how they come out IRL.
I just did a little inventory of the varieties of tomatoes I have going on my windowsill. 
- Kahuku Gold (bought the seeds in Hawaii last year)
- Black Crim (aka Black Crimea)
- Siberia (as disclosed above)
- Cosmonaut Volkov ( Ukrainian variety; got seeds at a local nursery)
- DB Cooper (lol, I just liked the name)
- Anna (this is supposed to be heart-shaped and looked pretty)
- Altai (5-7 came from Renaissance Farms)
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They do sound similar. Last year, I bought a Moskvich (Muscovite) plant from Molbaks (our world-famous local nursery) - it did not like our heat wave, lol, so it almost kicked the bucket, but then it took off. The fruit was on the smaller side, but the plant kept on producing well into late October, and the fruit did not crack (major problem with some bigger tomatoes in our neck of the woods).
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I’m hoping for one that produces tasty tomatoes into the fall. Time will tell if this one works. We also have Romas and like those. I don’t eat any tomatoes raw, but H likes them. I prefer mine stewed or in sauces, so we freeze a bunch to use throughout the year in soups, stews, sauces, and casseroles.
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We eat lots of them raw in salsas and salads, but I also freeze a bunch! A sliced heirloom tomato layered with mozzarella and basil and drizzled with some balsamic… yum.
(With all of my tomato posts I sound like a crazy tomato lady. 
)
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I took a class tonight and used power tools and made my own rain barrel! Need to buy one more pice of tubing for it and I’d like to paint it (spray paint, I’m thinking one of the stone look finishes. )
Hopefully it works to save some run off and save some rainwater for all my plants!
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I am loving my rain barrel. I get excited every time it rains. Enjoy!
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what kind of set up do you have?
Well, it is not visually great, and I will improve it over time. I will take some pictures and reply later. But the first thing I did was bought a barrel from Lowe’s and a little stand from Wayfair.
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I don’t even care what it looks like! I’m curious how the water drains into the barrel, do you have any screens for filtering out leaves/bugs… and I’m curious about the stand!
The name of the little stand, which we painted brown is:
Riser Pedestal Rain Barrel Stand
On Wayfair.
The gutter installer told us it will fill up with one rainstorm, so we added the extra downspout. We have times of oak leaves and debris, so here is the picture of the top.
And I drilled several little holes in the top to let in water from the front puddle holder. Long story, but I am happy.
Ours have a excess release on the side where I’ll put some tubing to redirect in the yard.
I can’t tell where your rainwater is going into the barrel - but clearly you are happy and using it!
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The first downspout has a water exit just above the screened opening in the top. But fearing it would overflow lead us to add an extension drain pipe to divert away to the side yard.
Ours has an exit spot, too, so once I rig that up to another slightly lower rain barrel, I will remove the extension drain pipe. Then I will have two barrels and that should be sufficient. Everything I do requires several more steps than I anticipated.
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One more relevant piece of data: I went to a Rain Garden/Water Quality class today, and they said a 1-inch rainfall creates .6 gallons of water per square foot of roof. On the side of my house with the gutter, there is roof area of 582 square feet. That means in a one inch rainfall, my roof will drain 349 gallons of water. My rain barrel is only 55 gallons. Now I do not want want 6 rain barrels, but I do need to do some more planning.
Anybody interested in rainwater harvesting should check out Brad Lancaster’s books. He’s the guru in this sort of thing. Lots of lectures and Ted Talks online on Youtube of his. He’s a legend in the Tucson area.
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Wow that’s a lot! My spot is sort of a smaller spot - not from the direct house roof - I guess I won’t know until I hook it up.
