I never would have imagined that tomatoes started from seed would become such monsters. Many of my bushes have upwards of five main stems (I didn't prune the suckers), and the recommended 18" spacing doesn't seem to be enough. I've been pruning the lower branches to encourage air flow, and I transferred four younger plants from the third garden into the mulched area to leave room for the romaine, peppers, garlic and onions. After a couple hours of looking droopy and lots of watering, the transplants seem to have taken to the un-supplemented soil pretty well.
I also spent an hour doing search and rescue on the pepper plants that were getting too much shade, and planted them where I have begun digging up old broccoli plants in the side garden. The peppers in the "pillar of peppers" are beginning to bush out and some even have small blossoms. The pathways between the gardens are now overgrown (as you can tell by Daniel's face as he tries to make his way to me), and there are a couple doves that are enjoying the shade of the over sized squash leaves.
Daniel and I really enjoy spending cool mornings and early evenings before Joe gets home playing outside. I pick the peas and spinach, and as I am squatting, he tries to crawl up on my lap or tries to bite a pea pod several times before deciding that there's no way it is actually food and puts it back into the colander. What peas I don't eat upon picking, I have been shelling and freezing for later use.
Sometime in the next couple weeks I will start doing research on canning and freezing tomatoes. I have a feeling I am going to be inundated with them, even after sharing with friends. I sure can't wait for grilled tomato, avocado and cheddar sandwiches!
your garden has shot up like crazy!
ReplyDeleteare your pepper plants hot peppers or bell peppers? eric found (or heard) some interesting info about hot peppers doing better in the hot sun with little shade or water, meaning they are "distressed" to the point of tasting far better than the norm. he could explain it better than i could.
also, i'm not a raw tomato connosseiur but i do love them cooked in different ways. one thing you could add to your repetoire for keeping them is to roast them & toss with pasta. or take your roasted tomatoes & make pasta sauce or tomato soup to keep on hand for easy winter meals when you want a taste of summer.
did you say share...?
ReplyDeleteyou know where we live. ;)
next year i'm planting my garden as early as you did! i still just have baby plants with no results yet!
It all sounds so yummy!
ReplyDeleteSharon, that is really interesting! I am growing bell, anaheim, sweet and hot bananas, jalapenos, and poblanos. In the pillar they are all mixed together. Great suggestions on roasting tomatoes... Got some good recipes for sauce?
ReplyDeleteRegan, be prepared to cover the garden with tarps whenever it gets cold at night!
Mom... thanks. Come eat with us.
You are an amazing gardner!
ReplyDeletei've heard good reports on this cooking light tomato-basil soup recipe:
ReplyDeletehttp://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=225897
basically, i use cooking light recipes for a lot of things, as well as cook's illustrated & epicurious.
you should also check out panzanella & gazpacho recipes. i wish i liked raw tomatoes ....
I meant to comment on this earlier.
ReplyDeleteCapsaicin, the "hot" chemical in hot peppers, is mammal-specific. Birds, which are also fond of peppers, are unaffected by capsaicin. (Incidentally, this is why red pepper flakes in the bird seed works as an anti-squirrel mechanism for your bird feeder without keeping the birds away.)
This is probably an adaptation to keep the pepper seeds intact. If a mammal eats the pepper it will chew it, and destroy the seeds. A bird will swallow it whole, and deposit the intact seeds in a nice little manure pile.
There's a joke about going into bear country. Bring a baseball bat and a friend. If you see a bear hit your friend in the legs with the bat and run.
This is the pepper plant strategy - run faster, or rather taste nastier, than everyone else. So convince the pepper plant that the competition is gaining, and it will redouble its efforts. The best way to do this is create a “drought”, because in a drought vegetation gets scarce, and only the nasty vegetation survives the starving herbivores.
I'd recommend mixing sand into the soil, cutting back on watering, and putting them somewhere brutally hot. But really, this is all theory (I’m unable to avoid laying out the theory, as above – a crippling communication disability), and not tested practice.
Thanks for the info Sharon and Eric! Some of the peppers I moved to the side garden will have sandier soil and better sun, but the others will just have to deal with the organic rich soil and frequent watering. I'll have to compare the difference in the Anaheim and let you know, since that's the only type planted in both locations... there may be a hot banana in both too.
ReplyDelete