I've picked five Italian Heirloom tomatoes and they have been off the scale huge for some reason. Last one almost 2#. Lots of fruit set as we go into extended "swelter." Everything shuts down until it cools off a bit.

Shishito peppers also pickable. Seeing some red on a Carmen. Tons of good sized peppers but I want red.

I normally use hybrids, if I buy tomato plants, which is what I did this year. I was under the weather, when I should have set up my lights; so it didn't get done this spring. Next year maybe. If so, I will try to start Glacier and Delicious (IMO probably the best of all the heirlooms and very well named) and probably still buy a couple of well started 4th of July and probably another Big Beef, both of which generally do real well for me.

The only peppers I have this year are Sweet Banana and they are going gang busters, but then they usually do. They started setting real early and have just kept it up regardless of the vicissitudes of the weather.

There is just me; so my eyes always tend to be bigger than my needs and so bigger than my garden space too. :-)

Me, too. I have 12 tomatoes this year which is crazy. I start the Italian Heirlooms (Seed Savers) because no one else does. A neighbor starts lots of toms and peppers, so I get whatever from her. The Italian Heirlooms are always the first large tomato to produce which makes them great fun. Have never heard of your others. Well, except the Big Beef.

Look up Burpee's 4th of July for some of the earliest small (two bite) tomatoes in the garden. Glacier is supposedly quite similar. Both can have ripe tomatoes even in the north country by Independence Day. They are very early and I know 4th of July sets fruit through a variety of temperatures, which Glacier is also supposed to do. This year 4th of July missed by a week and that isn't too bad for Zone 4. Glacier is open pollinated, while Burpees 4th of July is a hybrid. Both of these are smaller sized plants, supposedly determinant but both are known to keep on setting and fruiting all season long.

Delicious is a Burpee open pollinated variety from almost a century ago. Nice smooth, round, essentially crack free slicers that can get huge. This variety IIRC still holds the record for largest tomato ever, and it still is as good tasting as the name suggests. I did not grow this one this year; however it has done well for me in years past, on and off going back easily 40 years.

Big Beef is just plain dependable.

This year Bush Champion is not doing so well. While the rest stood up to some pretty dramatic temperature fluctuations, Bush Champion did not.

Just now looking and drooling over a Cheroke purple getting ready! We planted late due to a trip to Hawaii. Didn't want to overwhelm the house sitter with vege matters!

Tons of squash as usual and green beans are just starting to form! Lots of cukes and the tomatillas are huge with plenty of lanterns. Peppers are flowering and just starting to show a little fruit.

Thank goodness we have a long growing season! (Into October and sometimes November) Nancy

Dutch - you beat my brother in Wisconsin by several weeks I think. He didn't have any green tomatoes much bigger than a golf ball on the 4th. He is growing Rutgers, Black Krim, Sungold, and SS 100 that I started for him and he planted out Memorial weekend. He also has some Wisconsin 55 which are yellow fruited and some Amish Paste and Better boy bush I believe.

My tomato harvest is going to be dwindling down soon because the June heat wave here completely shut down new fruit set from June 9 to June 27. Over the last 2 weeks I have picked 81 tomatoes off of 4 Big Beef and 21 off of my one Black Krim. Only a few first flush Black Krim are left and maybe 40 Big Beef but no complaining here! The plants did manage to set several dozen more fruit during a cool stretch from June 28-July 4 but I don't hold out much hope for them to get very big as the late fruit never seem to for me. I threw some fertilizer at them a couple days ago anyway and the plants are still looking surprisingly healthy (knocking wood).

I have a lot of fruit on my Peppers and have picked several ripe Carmen and Cornito Giallo already as well a couple yellow bells. I am not seeing much recent fruit set on the peppers but we are supposed to get a cooler period starting Sunday and I am hoping that they can set some more fruit next week before another heat dome settles in.

I just planted out my Brussels Sprouts and have some 2 week old Broccoli and Cauliflower growing. Need to seed the fall carrots this weekend.

LOL I tend to plant very early varieties. It is pretty hard to beat 4th of July for earliness, not at a reasonable quality. Not just tomatoes either. I look for early peppers on Sweet Banana (I have grown Ace successfully as well), eggplant is Japanese or a similar hybrid, squash is ButterBush. Most of them are smaller plants too, which fits my available space.