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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Hang On Little Tomato; A Peek Inside the Greenhouse.


Those tomato seedlings from spring, of which most were given away, are now a tomato jungle in the greenhouse.  Here's part of it.

You may wish to listen to Pink Martini's Hang On Little Tomato as we continue.

Sun Sweet has produced about twenty tomatoes so far.  New to me this year, it's similar to Sun Gold.

Some of the plants have reached the rafters. They'll just have to lean over.  As it is, I'll have to climb a ladder to get to the tomatoes up there.  Perhaps I should have chosen determinate varieties but most of the heirloom varieties are indeterminate and I thought, "how high could they get?" They really like the warm evenings in the greenhouse.








We ate the first Early Girl a couple of weeks ago and now she has lots of green fruit.  These two are already bigger than a baseball.

Higher up.

Here's a tip. If you're going to apply organic fertlilzer, it's best to try and get it below the surface of the soil like the package says.  Thinking that the surface of the soil is still pretty loose and that the swirling of water will mix it is o.k.and it works but if you're growing tomatoes inside, do be prepared for a week or so of a foul smelling greenhouse. Don't ask me how I know but morning coffee was on the back porch again for  a while. (Patio table and chairs still full of plants in pots.)

Who knew it would be such fun having these inside.  Outdoors, they sort of got ignored until the sight of red fruit caught my eye.  Inside they're more in your face every day.

Okay, enough about the tomato jungle in the laboratory.  Out in the Danger Gardenette, a flash of yellow caught my eye.  Opuntia blooms!  

 Such  happy and bright colors to start the new week. 



32 comments:

  1. You might try a little pruning. My nephew put hardware cloth cages around his container tomatoes and they soared toward the sky. Wind and rain beat them back and he's found that pruning just encourages them into a jungle.

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    1. Oh, I don't mind them soaring up to the top of the greenhouse. Some of the plants are on a cart on wheels that can be moved out so a ladder can get between. If it gets too bad, I'll prune them.

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  2. I've heard that if you top them, they'll start to ripen the fruit they have faster. I have one still green tomato on my Cherokee Purple so far, but I did get a handful off the Sun Sugar cherry tomato. Mine are reaching the roof of the greenhouse now too.

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    1. I was so worried that my little seedlings wouldn't catch up to the ones I saw at the stores. Sounds like tomatoes are pretty resilient/accommodating plants. Cut the suckers/leave the suckers, top them/let them scramble. It's fun that some are starting to produce and others are just getting huge and starting to bloom. Since I planted a pack of "assorted heritage varieties," there will be some surprises!

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  3. SunGold has been my favorite small tomato the last few years. SunSweet looks a little larger. I'll be interested to hear how SunSweet compares to Sungold, taste-wise and tough skin-wise.

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    1. SunGold is my favorite small tomato too! SunSweet is about the same size, tastes great but the skin is a bit tough. My SunGolds have just set fruit but I don't remember their skin being as tough as SunSweet.

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  4. Had the first BLT of the summer yesterday off of 'Celebrity.' I buy new varieties every year and don't keep notes so it's a blank slate of tomato variety knowledge every spring. Celebrity tastes grreat tho and a nice size for BLTs. I'll just scatter my tomato notes all over blog comments. What would you do without that greenhouse, Peter?!

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    1. I like your idea of growing different varieties each year. Honestly, have you ever had a bad tomato fresh off the vine? In my ignorance, they all taste good. That greenhouse is so much fun and has given me more garden space which is nice because the outside space is pretty much crammed to capacity! Celebrity looked very good on the seed package. Maybe next year.

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  5. What a wonderful way to spend the summer, tomatoes every day...yum!

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    1. It will be fun and I have a feeling that with 25 plants, I'll be supplying the neighborhood. (Cross fingers that nothing goes wrong!)

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  6. I'm enjoying the sight and sound of this post. All that is missing is the most wonderful heady smell of the tomato plants. I know technology will catch up one day. Your tomato harvest is assured, I wonder if the Opuntia will produce a fruit for you too.

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    1. Isn't that a wonderful fragrance? Unfortunately, the organic fertilizer smell,although seriously diminished since the first few days, is a bit stronger than the tomato plants. It'll be gone in a week or so. This is the first year for me to have opuntia blooms - we'll wait and see if fruit is forthcoming.

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  7. I recognised the title, yay! What fun you're having in your greenhouse and I feel hungry now just seeing your fresh tomatoes!

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    1. When you come and visit, you can eat tomatoes to your heart's content!

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  8. I wish I had four walls and a roof over my tomato plants! I haven't put mine into the garden yet as the woodchuck is wreaking havoc out there and I'd just be feeding him/her. So mine linger in way-too-small pots...

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    1. ;When I can't put mine in the ground right away, I just bump them up into great big pots where they can make lots of roots and be ready when conditions improve. You have a trap for the woodchuck?

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    2. Jean's idea about great big pots is a good one (she has the best ideas!)

      From a 1973 Northern Cookbook:

      1 woodchuck 2 onions, sliced 1/2 cup celery, sliced Flour Vinegar Pepper Cloves Clean woodchuck; remove glands; cut into serving pieces. Soak overnight in a solution of equal parts of water and vinegar with addition of one sliced onion and a little salt. Drain, wash, and wipe. Parboil 20 minutes, drain, and cover with fresh boiling water. Add one sliced onion, celery, a few cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until tender; thicken gravy with flour.

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  9. Peter, this Opuntia is very pretty, bright yellow color. I also would like to try your tomatoes and think they are sweet :)) Mine are in flowers yet but after two week the first small tomatoes will be seen.

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    1. Thank you, Nadezda! You will have tomatoes soon! Isn't summer a wonderful time of year?

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  10. Wow, I didn't know tomato plants could get so tall. A tomato jungle! great! and beautiful flowers of opuntia.

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    1. Determinate varieties grow to a specific height then stop growing and start producing fruit. Indeterminate varieties just keep growing and produce fruit all along the way.

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  11. I was playing Pink Martini yesterday and it kept insisting on skipping over this cut...so thank you! You seem to have the Yao Mins of tomatoes.

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    1. You're more than welcome! Those tomatoes are growing tall. Fingers crossed that I get the watering right and that they don't succumb to some sort of disease or pest!

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  12. What fun...the green house is paying for itself!

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  13. Wowzers! That is a jungle! It will look like Christmas when all those tomatoes are ripe. Very cool! Love this song. :o)

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    1. It will be very colorful if they all ripen at once! It's a cool song!

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  14. You are certainly having fun with your tomatoes, unfortunately they are bad for arthritis, very acid, so I don't grow any, the problem is, I love them!!
    Love the beautiful yellow flower on your Opuntia!

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    1. I'm sorry to hear that you have arthritis and hope that it is under control as pain can rob life of it's joy. Could you eat tomatoes and then balance it by taking calcium carbonate?

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  15. Wow that's a tomato tower. The first tomatoes are always the best. Here's to a long harvest for you!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.