I Was Told It Would Happen...But It's Still Surprising

In September we were warned the cold weather was coming. Why wouldn't it? It comes every year. Each time I passed my little garden, I looked at my tomato plants and thought about all the food that would go to waste.

There were many green tomatoes that I knew would never ripen in time.

Then I heard that you can pick the tomatoes and they will ripen on their own.

Because I'd never personally done it or seen it, I wasn't quite sure it was true.

Turns out, it is...at least, so far.

This month, we pulled up the plants and laid out all the green tomatoes on our counter. For the first week or so, I saw no change. Then, the hues began to change. I wish I could set up a time lapse camera and film the transformation as green changes to orange then to red.  So far, three are turning--one was pretty much ripe when we brought it in--and the rest are still green.

I'm sure if I did an on-line search about how best to preserve tomatoes, there would be a lot of suggestions. Maybe I should freeze them. Maybe I should have not kept the stems or cut the stems longer. I don't know, but I do know that when I hear tomatoes will ripen after picking them, I'll definitely believe it.

Time Is Running Out...On My Little Garden

This is a picture of what may well be my entire squash crop.

Time is running out on my little garden.

We were late in planting. In fact, we weren't planning on planting any vegetables this year since we've had such poor results lately. But when your friend owns and operates a greenhouse, and he talks you into taking a couple of tomato plants, a pepper plant, and a squash plant late in the planting season, you do it and wait for the results.

Turns out, the results were not good. Oh, all the plants have produced produce, but--especially the tomatoes--the season's cooler temperatures are going to be unhelpful for our crops. There's several green tomatoes on the plants but I doubt they're going to make it.

Of course, the small garden was never meant to be a main food source for our family. We live in a world where it's more economical--especially with our time--to just go to the store and pick up a squash, a few tomatoes and a couple of peppers, than it's been to plant/weed/harvest what's grown.

All in all, it's been a fun exercise, so much so, I think I'll do it again next year. Hopefully, I'll start sooner, and perhaps clear more space for more plants. Who knows where this will lead? Probably with the same results. But the squash in the above picture would never have existed (at least, on our land...) had not I took an interest and acted on it.

My First Garden In Like...Almost Forever

If you know me at all, you know I'm not a fan of yard work. I'm allergic to almost every plant out there. When I mow our lawn, I need to set aside at least a couple of hours afterward to try and cool down so I don't suffer too much. It's a struggle, but it's a necessary one.

One thing I haven't done in years, many many years, is plant a garden.

That changed last week. Last week we visited my friend's nursery business and we left with flowers, and vegetables plants. We ended up racing the sun to get them planted. The next couple of days, I would check my little plants to see how they were doing. A couple of the plants closest to the driveway needed more water than the rest.

I have to say, seeing those little plants alive after a week or so is exciting. Four of the six vegetable plants are tomato plants. The others are a squash and a pepper plant. Years ago we planted tomato plants and the results were mixed. We used to get bumper crops, but then each time we tried growing tomatoes, we couldn't get any to grow. The last time we tried, we planted cherry-type plants. I think the number of tomatoes we actually harvested could be counted on two hands.

I'm hoping this time is different. I can't recall if we used this particular area for tomatoes before. It's possible we did, but then again, the lack of yard work limits my memory. I do know if we are successful in raising actual fruit and vegetables, I'll be sure to include a post or two on this blog. And if we're unsuccessful, I'll probably write about that as well.

So, here's to all the backyard farmers out there. May your plants always be watered and may the snails ignore your garden.