Overdue post
December 22, 2008 at 1:54 pm | In Aurora peppers, Gardening, Purple tomatillos, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentLook at my garden:
The Everglades cherry tomato has officially taken over the entire balcony:
There are lots of cherry tomatoes, and I’m so excited because I thought I was doomed in that department:
I thought I was even more doomed in the purple tomatillo department, but look what I saw today:
Could it be? Is that a tomatillo? I have no idea, but I do know it looks different and much larger than the other things on the plant and two of them just popped out of nowhere. I was about to give up on the ‘ole purple tomatillo, but I have renewed faith now.
I have officially lost faith in my Marglobe tomato (the full-size one). It’s beyond pitiful, and I’m pretty sure it’s dead. I won’t share a picture of that sad sack. Since the cherry tomato plant is thriving so much, I have planted another seed to replace the Marglobe.
And to close this post, a pic of my still-thriving, favorite Aurora pepper plant:
Photo update
November 5, 2008 at 9:41 am | In Aurora peppers, Gardening, Herbs, Lettuce, Pole beans, Purple tomatillos, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentMy garden is doing well. No mildew or other icky things going on at the moment. I have lots of flowers on my tomatillo plant and four or five teeny tomatillos. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they turn into actual, usable tomatillos. Both my tomato plants have flower buds starting. I have lots of bean flowers, but no beans yet. There are several Aurora pepper flowers and two peppers already. I started some mesclun mix in a shallow pot last week. It’s growing well, but no true leaves yet. I trimmed back my mint significantly to make way for the new growth that is faring much better than the old stuff. I also have a new addition: An aloe plant from a friend’s garden!
My setup is, from right to left: Marglobe tomato, Purple tomatillo, four purple-podded pole beans, Aurora pepper, Everglades cherry tomato, lettuce, mint, aloe
I tried my hand at pollination
October 23, 2008 at 7:58 am | In Pollination, Purple tomatillos | 1 CommentI don’t think it went very well. This morning, I swirled a Q-tip around each open flower, but I took a really light hand and I didn’t see any pollen on the cotton.
I wonder if I didn’t choose the right time. I think it rained most of last night and I noticed the flowers weren’t quite as fully open as they usually are, say, in the middle of the day. Does this make a difference? I was also very careful; maybe I was too gentle?
pollination nerves
October 22, 2008 at 10:47 am | In Pollination, Purple tomatillos, Tomatoes | 1 CommentI have several blooming flowers on my tomatillo. I’ve planned all along to hand pollinate the tomatillos and tomatoes. I’ve been a bit nervous about the process in general, though, so I did some more Googling. I came across several web sites that say tomatillos are not self-fertile. Ack! I only planted one! And the package says they do not cross-pollinate, so I thought I only needed one. I called up my trusty customer service at Seed Savers (I love them so much) and the lady looked something up and told me while there is a lot of confusion on the matter, tomatillos *are* self-fertile. So, I’m inclined to believe her but I’m still nervous I’m not going to get any tomatillos.
I’m still nervous about hand pollination in general. Any tips? I’m thinking about just taking a Q-tip (or should I really use a paintbrush?) and swirling it around each flower.
*sigh* Why does this have to be so hard? I just want my own tomatillos and tomatoes!
Ahhh, gardening
October 14, 2008 at 6:00 pm | In Gardening, Purple tomatillos, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentHave I mentioned I love it? My garden is growing like crazy. I can’t believe it’s been less than month since I transplanted my tomatillo and Marglobe tomato plants. They’re huge already, and I discovered yesterday that the tomatillo has some flower buds developing. I can’t believe it! I dreamt of little tomatillos all night last night. 
It was a gorgeous day today, but pretty windy, so I checked my garden carefully. One of the lower leaves on my tomatillo partially snapped off, so I just snapped it completely off. I happened to catch a whiff of the most delicious, fresh, tomato/peppery smell coming from the leaf. This description doesn’t do it justice, but the smell makes it so hard to wait patiently. I can’t wait to have grilled tomatillos and tomatillo salsa. I’ve never had a tomatillo, but based on the smell I smelled today, they’re going to be scrumptious!
Seedling update and post-op Peanut
August 15, 2008 at 2:21 pm | In Aurora peppers, Peanut, Planting, Purple tomatillos | 1 CommentMy Aurora pepper and purple tomatillo seedlings are growing quite nicely. The seeds sprouted within just a couple of days, and the second set of true leaves are sprouting:
Peanut had surgery a few weeks ago to remove a mass on her bladder. Everything went well and she’s on the mend, but it’s taking awhile. She has to wear a collar and she looks a little something like this (I couldn’t resist):
Garden news
July 29, 2008 at 9:46 am | In Aurora peppers, Pole beans, Purple tomatillos, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentI harvested another bean and a cherry tomato today:
I also started an experiment. I planted some seeds in yogurt containers that I hope to transplant. I will plant seeds in containers at the appropriate Florida planting time in a few weeks, and compare how those seedlings do with the seedlings starting now. I have one purple tomatillo and one Aurora pepper:
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
