Wednesday, July 25, 2012

When it rains …

the tomatoes grow!

Most of my crop is the Amish Paste variety, an indeterminate that produces over several weeks. I started picking a couple weeks ago and expect to be stuffing green ones in paper bags to ripen indoors in October.

Yes, there are that many. The photo shows only a few of the staked plants. There are four dozen altogether. We've eaten tomatoes in something almost every day since I started plucking the fruit. Not bragging OR complaining, just reporting.

I'm not weighing the harvest this year, nor am I even too concerned about putting by enough tomatoes to last until next summer. That was my goal when I planted the seedlings, and if it happens that would be great. But if not? Well, it's been kind of nice to not be slaving away in the garden every day this summer. Between the storm and my dental issues, it's been good to be less tied to food production.

Keep those comments coming … there's plenty of time for you and your knitting friends to get in on the Summer of Yarn Giveaway action. It's fine for you to enter if you're outside the U.S. and have the yarn shipped within the U.S., as one commenter hopes will happen for her.

I think I'll dig around in the yarn closet to see what looks good for next week's giveaway. There's a TON of cotton in there, and lots more wool. Some coned yarns (no ends to weave in!). Any requests?

3 comments:

denise said...

Great tomato crop. Wish I could say the same. The 5 plants I started with are down to 3. The "Tiny Tim" is producing a lot of tomatoes, though few have ripened yet. They will be good in salads, but not for much more.

The large heirloom in my other planter is a monster - REALLY big - in fact it's pretty much taken over and killed everything else in with it. The marker with it got lost, and I'm only assuming that it is what was called a "German" tomato. There are only 4 actual tomatoes on the plant. Hope they survive all of the tiny predators in my garden and grow to ripen and be usable.

The "Hillbilly" tomato - the only one I put in the ground rather than a container - has grown very tall - probably over 3 feet. It's just one tall stalk - no branching out anyway - and no sign of any blossoms or the possibility of any tomatoes. Not sure what went wrong there. Maybe it's just a late bloomer and will provide something in the fall...fingers crossed. I need to start watching it for the first signs of any of that happening so I can get a taller stake. As it is, it's more like a tall weed and I figure there's no need to make a trip to Lowe's and invest in a stake until/unless it looks like it will need it to support fruit.

Based on the fact I was away from home for 7 weeks, I'm pleased that anything survived, so I can't complain.

My jalapeños are growing - but I'm still not sure how to know when to pick them. Guess I need to get on Google and figure that out. The folks at the farmer's market where I bought them could only offer up the advice to "pick them before they get woody." They showed me an example of what that meant, but it's hard to know how to pick when your criteria is a "before."

Also, no clue what to do with jalapeños - I rarely make recipes that call for raw jalapeños. I'm much more likely to use the canned, diced green chiles. They were a lark - just wanted to see if I could grow them, and now that I have, don't know what I'll do with them...

Also, please do not consider this comment (or any others that I make unless stated otherwise) to be an entry in your contest. My recent experiment to try knitting again - after 30+ years away - was a failure. I didn't enjoy it much and I was quite bad at it, so I've gone back to cross-stitching.

But, as always, thanks for your generosity to your readers (both of us ;-).

Winnie said...

I have two plants and have picked my first red tomato this week. Hubby laughed as I ran out and took a picture of it. They are Fourth of July. It has been brutally hot and little rain. I am glad you mentioned this. I have been watering them by hand, but hope for rain. I have 30 little tiny green ones on their, so hoping they all turn red like yours!

Larissa T. said...

Oh I am so so envious! I love homegrown tomatoes! These look amazing and so delicious! Enjoy them on behalf of those of us who couldn't plant this year! :D

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