Done

We bit the bullet this weekend and said goodby to the tomatoes. Despite the fact that we still literally had 100s left on the vine, their sweetness had passed and we had a nice warm day to clean them up before winter descended upon us. We chopped all of the vines, lowered the buckets to the ground, took the lattice work down and called it a season.

Bulb Planting Time

Jen planted 80 Daffodil bulbs and about 90 Grape Hyacinth (Muscari) in the backyard this afternoon. We still about 30 more Hyacinth to put in. Hopefully, the raccoons will leave them alone - last time we planted bulbs the raccoons thought they were their dinner instead.

Sadly, about time to call it a wrap

Well, they're calling for frost tonight, and the inevitability of cold weather is in the air. Our tomatoes vines have all but dried up. Amazingly, though, we have more ripe tomatoes now than ever. The Peace Vine, Resientraub, Yellow and Red Pears and Isis Candy varieties are literally polluting the ground right now with ripe fruit. Unfortunately, none of them tast very good right now - I think the sugar content in them has suffered because of the shorter days. They look great, but their taste has a little bit of funk to it (dirty laundry anyone?), and the texture is generally a little on the mealy side.

So, we bid goodby to our fresh, sweet juicy tomatoes, and farewell to the sun and warmth that brought them to us day after day this summer and fall. We've learned a lot from them this year, and can't wait to use our experience next spring raising a new crop.

Fall Weather Doesn't Stop Production

It's early October and we're well into Autumn, and we are still getting huge amounts of tomatoes off the vines. The plants themselves are looking very old and tired, with lots of dead or yellowing leaves. However, the quantity and quality of the fruit are still very healthy. Although I had written the Sungolds and Snow Globes off for done earlier, they have rebounded with more fruit than ever. Other good producers right now are the Black Cherries, Peace Vines and the Green Grapes. Each of these is producing more than we can eat, and the ground below is starting to get littered with over-ripened tomatoes.

Summer days are flying fast...

As summer starts to show its age, our tomato plants are still producing at a good pace. Although several of the vines themselves are starting to die off on the lower leaf sets, we're still getting lots of fruit from just about every variety. However, the snow globes and peace vines varieties seem to be about done. On the other hand, the red and yellow pear vines are literally polluted with fruit. The black cherry and Reisentraubs are also churning out plenty of fruit still. Sadly, the sun golds appear to be tapering off, though they're still producing. With the onset of cooler nights eminent, I'm guessing most of the green fruit presently on the vines may stay that way.

Good Year for Flower Boxes

All of Jen's flower boxes have done very well this year. The boxes on the front of the house have been quite satisfying, and are looking really good despite the dry weather recently. This is especially nice since the last two years saw everything dry up and go to seed by this time. Compliments to Jen for a good job staying on top of the watering this year. See more pics of all of the boxes at Flickr.

Dog Day Update

We're past the middle of August now, and the tomato plants are still producing very well, but a noticeable slowing of the ripening process is now evident. The big producers right now are the Black Cherry, Snow White and Reisentraub varieties. We're still getting some Sungolds and Peacevines, but they are well past peak production (a week ago we were covered in both of these).

The Yellow Pears are complete duds, with no good fruit coming off of that plant. The Red Pears are marginally more productive (but not any better in taste - bleh). Both of the pear vines have tons of unripe fruit, but nearly all of those look like they are going to succumb to blossom end rot...these are the only two plants showing that problem.

The Green Grapes appear to be finished. They really only produced a couple of big clusters, but what they lacked in quantity they made up in size. Also finished are the Isis Candies...not much from them at all.

We are still battling white flies and aphids (sprayed soap solution again yesterday), and splitting & withering a little bit on the Black Cherries and what's left of the Sungolds.

First Annual Tomato Tasting

Jen and I had a tasting of all nine varieties of tomatoes this evening. The tomatoes in the picture are, from left to right: Snow White, Green Grape, Yellow Pear, Red Pear, Sun Gold, Reisentraub, Isis Candy, Peace Vine and Black Cherry. Our top five - 1) Sun Golds, 2) Green Grapes, 3) Black Cherries, 4) Peace Vines and 5) Snow Whites, though not necessarily in that order. Our least favorite are the Yellow Pears...they really don't taste like anything. For more information, see the video of the entire earth-shaking event.

Cosmo Lives!!

Last Thursday, we thought that a raccoon had finally discovered the fish in our pond and eaten the biggest one - Cosmo (the one in the middle with the white nose). He (or she, not sure) was nowhere to be found that evening. Low and behold, though, Friday morning there was Cosmo. We're not sure where he was hiding, but we sure are glad to have him back.

Balloon Flower in Full Bloom

I think that we've had this plant for several years now. It's been transplanted several times, and still thrives. Right now, we're appreciating a nice crop of blooms on it.

Foxglove Working on 3rd Set of Blooms

Our lone Foxglove in the yard has been working overtime this summer. It's on its third set of blooms. Each set has gotten more blue than the previous (the first being mostly pink). Last year we only got one set of blooms and then the plant sort of fell over and died.

August is Here...

...and the harvest is bountiful. We continue to pick up to a dozen of each type of tomato off the vines every day. I'm still battling the mites and white flies a bit - hit them with soap spray today, although I'm not convinced that this stuff actually does anything. The hot weather is cooking the plants each day, but a good watering each evening brings them back. All of the fruit is good, though the Sungolds, Black Cherries and Peace Vines are the sweetest right now.

Harvest Aplenty

Plants are still growing...some have surpassed 7 feet in height. Everything is loaded with fruit. The Sungolds are the most prolific and ripe at the moment, with about 10 more ripening every day. The Black Cherries and Snow Globes are very close behind.

I hit everything with Miracle Grow on Saturday - leaf spray and root treatment. This was the first feeding they have had. We'll see what happens. Things could get interesting if these plants keep growing taller.

Ripe Fruit Welcomes Us Home

We returned home today after a week at the beach. We were a little nervous about what we would find with our tomatoes, since the last time we went away like this (two years ago) we almost lost the entire crop. Much to our delight, the plants looked healthy and robust, and as a bonus we had a dozen or more Sun Golds ripe and ready to eat. Thanks go to our house sitter Denise who took care of our plants and cats while we were away.

Another Dose of Soap

I gave everything another good shot of soap solution on Wednesday. There were still a few mites hanging around, but not nearly as many as a week ago. The recent rains have made everything grow like crazy. Several plants are either approaching or topping the trellis already.

Impatiens Celebrate July 4th

All of the Impatiens showed their best patriotic red and white blooms this weekend. These pictured here are in the flower boxes around the carport posts.

Lots of Tomatoes, and a few Aphids

The rainy weather we've had the last few days has really beefed up both the plants and the young fruit. The Green Grape tomatoes are getting close to an inch in diameter. Unfortunately, the rain brought out a few aphids as well. I gave everything a good spray of soap yesterday; hopefully another dose or two of that will drive the aphids away.

Lattice in Place

We decided to put two panels of lattice at each corner of the deck to provide something to support the vines. We made the panels from scratch (pressure-treated odds and ends), with Jen providing the bulk of the labor with the electric staple gun. We put them up just in time, with the summer storm season now in full swing, as can be seen in the background here. All plants are full of blooms and most have fruit.

Iron Planters Filled

Earlier this year we picked up three very heavy and very rusty iron planters from a salvage yard in Virginia. We finally got some flowers in them this weekend, and they look beautiful sitting above the upper pond wall. Jen selected geraniums, dalias and lobelia for each.

First Fruit Spotted

Seemingly overnight, several plants are now bearing fruit. The Sungolds (pictured) seem to be leading the way.

Tomatoes Topping Two Feet

Nearly all of the plants are now two feet or taller, and have at least one set of blossoms. We're suckering on a daily basis now. Things are really growing.

Delphinium - Good Idea or Not

We planted a delphinium plant (a.k.a. larkspur) in the backyard the other day. It is blooming profusely already. Unfortunately, I just found through a little research that all parts of this plant are toxic and are especially dangerous to cats (the same goes for day lillies, which we also just planted). I haven't seen any of the cats pay it any attention, but now I am wondering if we should pull it up, or at the least transplant it to the window boxes.

Roses Beginning to Bloom

Our roses in the lower yard started blooming in earnest this week. We look forward to a summer of blooms. There's at least 50 buds ready to go already.

Upper Pondscape Planted

Finally got some plants in the ground above the upper pond. Picked up two Hemerocallis Stella D'Oro Daylilies and three varigated liriope plants. You can see them in the background above the pond if you click on the picture to zoom in on it.

Creepy crawly

Creepy...we went to move some flower pots today and found this rascal on the side of one of them. She was about three inches in diameter. We think it was a Fishing Spider. Either that or a Funnel Weaver Spider. Either way, it's harmless but in no way very friendly looking. We tried to catch it so that we could move it to a more remote location...alas, that didn't quite work out the way we wanted, and this spider is no more.

Flower Power

Went crazy over the last few weeks buying annuals and perrenials. Just now getting around to putting them into some dirt.

Still growing...

Week two of being in the pots. Lots of growth this week, and a few of the plants are already setting out blooms. Also had to stake one of the Snow Whites already. The last three or four days have been HOT and DRY. Two plant are struggling a little bit with the heat this weekend - a Black Cherry and a Green Grape. Both are experiencing some dry leaves in the upper parts of the plant. The Green Grape also has some leaves that almost look scorched. It seems too early for this type pf problem.

Plants growing like weeds

Only five days in the pots and our plants have doubled in size (tripled in some cases). Looking forward to seeing what the first week of June will bring.

14 Plants in 14 Pots

We got the plants in their pots today. Fourteen pots for fourteen plants. Last year we doubled up some of the plants and by the end of the summer the pots were too small for two healthy 6-ft plants. So, this year we went one plant per pot. Each pot has a layer of limestone gravel in the bottom, followed by about four inches of dirt from the yard (earthworms and cat pee inclusive), and then topped off with at least six inches of Miracle Grow potting soil. So, their all on the deck now and ready to start soaking up some sun.

May Market Plants Ready to Go In

Last weekend, we purchased a dozen (14 actually) heirloom cherry and grape tomato plants from Garden Dreams Urban Farm & Nursery at the May Market. They're just sitting on the deck right now waiting to be planted. Need to get some good dirt and bring the pots up.

Varieties are:

• Yellow Pear (1)
• Red Pear (1)
• Peace Vine (1)
• Snow White (3)
• Sun Gold (3)
• Black Cherry (2)
• Green Grape (1)
• Isis Candy (1)
• Riesentraube (1)