I took a break from posting the Herbaria recently. I did continue shooting the photos so I am resuming where I left off a few weeks back. This week marks more tomatoes. All varieties have come in and many were already starting to wane at the time of this photo a few weeks back. It’s …
These last days of the tomato harvest are fast approaching and I am finding myself increasingly careful about how I use up the remaining fresh fruit. This is it and then I am back to another 8-9 month wait before I get to taste the good stuff fresh again. It was with this late season …
This week’s Herbaria, which you will notice is (once again) last week’s Herbaria, is all about tomatoes. Several varieties ripened at once this week and canning has begun. I am writing this at the airport while I wait for a flight and unfortunately there is one new variety in this batch whose name I can …
How I prune my tomatoes is a popular question and while I was out doing that work yesterday evening, I figured it was high time that I address it here on the site. There are countless ways to approach tomato culture, all or at least most of which are probably right and good. I am …
July was painfully hot and dry. The garden suffered and there were days when I was sure that I would lose a few plants as a result. August, on the other hand, has been wet and somewhat cool. I really can’t complain. I don’t remember the last time I watered anything other than the pots …
Again I am posting last week’s herbaria late. Tomatoes made their mark for a second week, especially since I am now bringing in harvests that are large enough to be preserved. For the first year ever we have had overlap and are still eating jars from last year’s mega crop! Zucchinis are the other standout …
The week was marked by the first serious spurt of larger tomatoes. I have started weighing them now as I generally don’t weigh the cherry or currant varieties unless I am bringing in a big glut all at once. It looks like it will be a good year, but I don’t expect to beat 2011’s …
Once again work deadlines have pushed last week’s Herbaria into this week. Still, I was sure to take the photograph last week — it just took me until this week to do the write-up. This collection marks the 8th box that I have done so far. I figured it was high time to write up …
Clockwise from Top Left: 1. This is a view of half of one of the raised beds, situated about midway down the garden on the west side. This bed housed an assortment of crops last year, but this year it holds several determinate (bush) and dwarf tomato varieties that have quickly turned into a jungle …
…is ‘Hahms Gelbe Topftomate.’ In a surprise upset, this pretty little dwarf plant beat out the usual top competitors, ‘Whippersnapper’ and ‘Ditmarsher.’ It’s a true winner as I started the seeds at the same time and planted them out together, too. I am amazed. Both of the other varieties have fruit that are VERY close …
I’ve got tomatoes on the brain these days. Last weekend I had a table at Seedy Saturday at the Brickworks here in Toronto and the highlight was trading for some new tomato varieties. I walked away with at least ten new varieties feeling like a kid in a candy shop. That giddy feeling hasn’t worn …
The tomato season is ending quickly. As of today, I don’t foresee many more ripe tomatoes coming off of the vine. I’ve had a good run: 110 lbs of ripe fruit in all! This was my first year weighing the harvest, so while I can’t make an accurate comparison to previous years, I think it …