Meet the Tomatoes

It doesn't really matter what Burpee brand decided to name these tomatoes.  Essentially, the plants on the left and right are beefsteak tomatoes and the one in the center is an heirloom tomato.  I decided to stake the tomatoes this time because last year they took over the entire garden, flopping down on the rest of the plants every time it rained or we got minor wind.  The stakes are only 50 inches tall, so I'll still use the railing behind the garden for support if/when they surpass the 50 inch stake. These pictures were taken May 21st.  As of that date, the heirloom tomatoes were winning in the height department at 16 inches. First to 50 inches wins absolutely nothing!

Stay sunny,

Christine

June Garden Update

Good evening blogspot,

I have been off enjoying life (i.e. working a new job, decorating the house, walking the dogs, and exploring the local area with my husband) so much that I have neglected my poor blog, despite all of the gardening I've been doing.  Here's a photo update to be followed with at least a few more regular posts.

I've had a few successful beginnings this growing season.  First off, my yellow bell peppers have begun to flower.

If you look carefully inside of the flower you can see the beginnings of  a greenish bell pepper.

Transplant Pots

I took these pictures back in March when it was actually useful to transplant.  Now that it's May, it's a little late but maybe you can tuck this away for next year.

Biodegradable Transplant Containers

You will need:

• Scissors
• Newspaper
• A bottle
• Tape or liquid glue
• Soil
• Seeds

Soil pictured far right. I'm pretty sure I was sitting on the seed packets.

Instructions:

1. Wrap the newspaper tightly around the bottle. 
2. Glue or tape the paper to itself to form a cylinder. If you use tape, you'll want to remove the tape later when you transplant into the garden.
3. Slide the bottle out of the paper tube carefully
4. Fold one end of the paper cylinder closed and tape or glue shut.  
5. Cut of the excess tube. You want your pot to be about 6-8 inches tall.
6. Fill with soil.* 
7. Plant seeds according to seed packet instructions. Water, etc. You're done!

*Note: With some plants, like tomatoes, burying the plant stem partially helps the plant develop a strong root system. To aid this, don't fill up your pot all the way to the top with soil.  Leave 1-2 inches free so that when your plants grow past the top of the pot, you can add more soil to the pot to bury the stem.

Finished tube for tomatoes. 

Window sprouting line-up. The ghost peppers belong to my husband. They never did sprout.

Stay sunny,

Christine

Caprese Salad!

This caprese salad brought to you by:

• 1 garden-fresh tomato, 
• 1 handful of sweet basil leaves, 
• 1 wedge of fresh mozzarella from Giant Food, 
• 1 sprinkle of sea salt, 
• 1 drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Cut up and combine.
2. Try not to eat the entire plate in 3 bites.

If you've got balsamic vinegar it can be nice to add a little to the mozzarella for a kick.  I love how fresh tomatoes are so rich inside that they're practically purple.  If I get a few more tomatoes I'll post a goat cheese bruchetta recipe.  

Happy October!

Christine

When will they stop growing?

The tomato plant on the left got a bit blighty and decided to become a vine and grow in a more downward direction.  It is somehow still producing fruit and still photosynthesizing, despite the fact that it is headed right for the basement door. 

The tomato plant on the right has about 6 tomatoes and stands at about 8 ft tall.  Tomato plants die off after the frosts roll through, so who knows how much longer it will last.  It's 70-80 degrees these days in Maryland, but any day we could have a frost overnight. Or snow.  You never really know in Maryland.  All that said, I think I'll be able to make bruchetta at least a few more times.  Recipe and pictures as soon as the next tomatoes ripen!

Stay sunny,

Christine

Great Heights

Uh so.. maybe I need to learn to be less awesome at growing tomatoes.  As you can see from this photo, the tallest bits of tomato plant are well over 6 ft tall.  Thankfully all of the fruit is currently growing in the areas under 6 ft... for now.  Already the topmost bows are flowering which means that fruit is not long off.  If you look carefully, you can see a green tomato hanging out in the top right-hand corner of the door frame in the picture.  That's about 4 ft off the ground. 

My fiance says that I'm taking my blog's name too literally. 

Start small, grow tall!

Christine

Woohoo!

Awesome.

Seeing Red

!!!

The first tomatoes are almost ready!  They're very nearly perfect.  You may notice that the one on the left has some brown cracks near the stem.  That can happen when you over-prune the plant and cut back the leaves that protect the fruit from sunlight.  Oops.  It's harmless, just ugly.

I've already decided what I'm going to use the fruit for-  caprese salad!

I have but one word to say today:

Yum.

I may have underestimated this hybrid

The above photo was taken last week.  I am 5'11.  The tomato plant, for all its zigzagging within the wire cage, is now taller than me.  Today I measured and it's about 4 inches taller than me.  This is with me pruning back 90% of the suckers, bottom leaves, and burying the plant a total of 8 inches underground from its original root system. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I highly recommend Burpee brand Big Boy Hybrid, available at Giant Food and other fine retailers.  Especially if you're looking for a shade tree...

Stay fruity,

Christine

Blossom End Rot

Today's lesson is going to be on Blossom End Rot (BER), a disorder that can affect peppers, eggplant, and, sadly, tomatoes. BER is mainly caused by a shortage of calcium in the soil during a fruit-growing period, and irregular watering. BER is characterized by big brown or black flat, mushy spots on the bottom of the tomato.

The deformity is NOT contagious. It cannot spread from fruit to fruit or plant to plant. You can cut the deformity off of the fruit and eat the rest, though BER makes the fruit susceptible to other infections.

Only two of my tomatoes have BER- they were the first two to grow, before I mulched the garden. Oops. Now you know and can learn from my mistakes.

Grow, baby, grow!

Christine

Old Faithful: Tomato!

Tomato flowers = tomatoes on the way!

 So I finally got my tomato plants, Lefty and Righty, into the ground. They immediately took off with the growing and the flowering and the actual possibility that they will produce tomatoes later. 

Many gardeners and 2nd grade teachers love growing tomatoes because even 2nd graders can grow them from seed.  The simplicity of tomatoes makes many a gardener depressed when the ever-so-simple tomato does not grow according to plan.  I've grown many a plant in my day and have learned quite a few tricks along the way. So, without further ado...

How to Grow Epic Tomatoes

• When you transplant your plant, bury the stem and it will become a really strong root system.
• Pull off "suckers." Best described as the leaves that grow in the "armpit" of the plant, between the arms and the stem.  They risk blocking other leaves and force the plant to focus on leaf-production instead of fruit-production.  Death to suckers!
• Pull off leaves and branches at the base that touch the ground.  Leaf rot makes a happy tomato plant a brownish, droopy plant. 
• Water regularly.  If the plant gets irregular water, the fruit will come out deformed and rotty looking. 
• Keep bunnies away.  They like the leaves. Keep deer away. They like the fruit. 
• Stake the plant before planting it.  If you stick a giant pole right next to the plant, you risk destroying the roots.   If you already have the plant in the ground, use the circular-style wire steaks.  At least then you can put them as far away from the stem as possible. 
• If you notice all insects are avoiding your plant, feel free to cross-pollinate with a Q-tip and some patience. 
• Don't forget the fertilizer.  You can use fertilizer specific to vegetables, or just all purpose plant food. Follow the directions carefully- too much and you'll kill the plant. 

Good luck and good growing!
Christine

Upgraded Gardening

Look what I made!

It was about time for this blog to go from the "starting small" to the "growing tall."  We bought a house and, after two weeks of being too busy, too tired, and too everything, I finally put together a raised garden.  I used Bonnie brand Raised Bed Kit, which was about $39 and 5 bags of Scott's brand garden soil.  I really should mix in some compost and mulch, but I did this the stupid way, so I ran out of time. 
I had read all sorts of blogs and instructables and Home Depot's weekend projects and everyone said to kill the grass by covering it with newspapers and weights (bricks, stones, etc).  That way you can just rake up the dead grass instead of laboriously pulling it up.  Guess which I did?  Then I broke one of the corner stakes because I decided to be smart and hammer it down before leveling the area. Again, because I'm awesome.  Add to that the fact that I may have waited wayyy too long to plant the zuchinni and cucumber and they both developed Sad Leaf Syndrome (SLS) which is the umbrella term I use for all plant illnesses.
All in all, I'd say that this project was a difficulty level 4 on a scale of 1= I could do this drunk and 10= calling Home Depot crying.  I made it into difficulty level 7 with stupidity, but what can I say- I like a challenge.. that I create for myself.

Have a great week, my fellow brown-thumbed bloggers!

Christine

Progress Report

Tomatoes!

Everything's growing here in Apartment 434! The tomatoes are shooting off like crazy, although one is growing a bit more than the other (who knows why).  I just plucked off the lowest leaves today to reduce the risk of leaf fungus.

Cukes!

Of the craigslist plants, the cucumbers have grown the most in the past week.  It's a good thing we're moving soon or else all these plants would outgrow their plants and need to be repotted.

Baby Basil!

Look what's growing now! The winner of the basil-cilantro-chili race is basil, with a lead of 1 plant.  It looks like the cilantro will be coming up next.  No sign of the chilies (color me unsurprised), but it's too early to say whether or not they'll ever grow. 

Hope you are all growing well!

Christine

Growing from Seed: Tomatoes

Mmmm.. tomatoes

 As you can see, 1 packet of way more tomato seeds than I can possibly use cost an insane $1.79.  I picked a hybrid because I find that they're more hardy than Big Boy tomatoes.  These are the type of tomatoes you slice up and put on a sandwich, use in bruchetta, stuff with cheese and bake, etc etc. 

Since I'm not one for starter trays, I usually start my seedlings in a homemade pot.  To make, simply wrap a newspaper around a plastic water bottle and glue with non-toxic glue (liquid works better than stick glue). Remove bottle, glue one end shut, and voila, you have a homemade pot.  It's a good idea to set it on a piece of saran wrap in case you over water.

Eight seeds planted- eight sprouts!

The great thing about this technique is that, if you plan on transplanting into a garden, all you have to do is put your paper pot in the ground.  As long as you haven't wrapped the newspaper several times around, the newspaper will biodegrade and your roots will expand into the earth.  I usually cut off the bottom layer of newspaper just before planting into the ground, just in case. 

If you plant too many sprouts in a small container (oops), You'll need to thin the herd.  I left the 2 strongest plants and pulled the rest with a gentle tugging-twisting motion, just in case the roots were tangled.

Finally, when your tomatoes are getting more than 2 leaves, it's time to re-pot.  I picked bright green planters from Target.  The trick to tomatoes is that their stems, when buried underground, become part of their root structure, giving the plant a great head start.  To re-pot, I cut open the side of the newspaper pot and gently separated the two plants.  Then I buried them allll the way up to their leaves in Miracle Gro moisture retention potting soil.  I put the plants pretty deep in the pot so that the leaves were level with the soil, but 4 inches below the top of the pot. 

Let there be light! Tomatoes love sunshine

Now that the plants have had a little more time to grow, I can fill in more soil up to the leaves a second time.  It's even okay (and encouraged) to pluck off the very bottommost leaves and bury the plant up to the second set of leaves.  Once your plant has grown a big strong stem, it's recommended to pluck off the bottom leaves anyway to prevent rot.  I should have fresh tomatoes by mid-June. Mmm. Tomatoes.

May your fingernails remain forever dirty,

Christine