I’m on a rollercoaster…
January 28, 2009 at 3:56 pm | In Aurora peppers, Pole beans, South Florida living, Tomatoes | 1 Comment…that will probably last for a good few months. We’ve officially started hunting for Our First Home. I know this isn’t news to anyone who already owns a home, but one day I’m cool as a cucumber and the next I’m freaked out. We’ll be looking at lots and lots and lots of houses in the coming months. I have a feeling I’m going to have to promise my husband I won’t cry in despair every time we walk into a less than stellar house. So far, so good. 
My garden is doing so-so. Two of my bean plants mysteriously shriveled up and died, and instead of trying to salvage them, I decided to focus all my bean-nurturing efforts on the remaining two plants. I’ve also decided to give up on my tomatillo and regular tomato plants. I think I need a better spot to grow those two in. My cherry tomato plant is still a champ, though. My peppers are doing well, too. Yay!
First tomato harvest
January 19, 2009 at 7:43 am | In South Florida living, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentIn January! Yes, that’s right. My midwestern mind is slowly getting used to the warm South Florida winters. I harvested 11 cherry tomatoes yesterday. They looked so nice in the bowl, but we gobbled them up before I had a chance to take a picture. They were so good and so fresh, and I feel a sense of accomplishment because this tomato plant isn’t dead yet.
Alligators and tomatoes
January 6, 2009 at 3:21 pm | In South Florida living, Tomatoes | 1 CommentWe had a great Christmas. We visited family in South Carolina, and then more family from Illinois visited us the week after Christmas. We took them to do the usual SoFlo tourist things. I held a baby alligator. In case you’re wondering, that’s pure terror on my face.
My cherry tomato plant is still doing well. I last counted a couple of days ago and there were more than 60 little tomatoes. One is starting to turn red, so I hope some of the others won’t be far behind. I can’t wait!
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
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!
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:
Multiple colors!
July 28, 2008 at 2:00 pm | In Gardening, Pole beans, Tomatoes | Leave a CommentMy Auroras continue to do well.I took this picture just after a big rain.
The rest of my garden is doing OK. Not great, but not terrible. The lilac bell pepper has suffered a rough season; you may recall that Peanut ate the majority of it just after we moved to Florida. It bounced back and really has flourished in terms of stems and leaves, and now there are two flowers blooming. I was so excited about this until a huge storm (I was convinced it was a hurricane, but that’s neither here nor there) came along and almost snapped the stem at the soil level. I staked the plant in hopes it would be fine. So far, so good. The flowers are still blooming.
The beans aren’t producing quite as much as I’d hoped, but I comfort myself by thinking “it just isn’t the right season.” So far, we’ve had four beans. There is one more that should be ready in a couple of days. There are a few flowers, but after seeing so many drop before producing a bean, I’m not too optimistic about those.
The Golden Boy tomato plant has yet to produce any tomatoes. It doesn’t look so good, either. There are a few flowers, but they’re the same flowers that have been there for weeks. The Early Girl is making a comeback. Four tomatoes. Woohoo! I know, I know. That isn’t much, but it’s all I’ve got. The cherry tomato plant has two tomatoes, one of which is almost ready. It’s a beautiful red color; I’m just letting it sit on the vine another day or two in case it decides to get any better. (But, really, I’m hoping the second one will catch up so I can harvest both at the same time so my husband and I don’t have to split one teeny tomato.) I know I posted awhile ago about hand pollinating the tomatoes with a paint brush, but I never did that. I think that is a necessity here, though, and I promise to do it in my next garden.
We planned our late August garden yesterday. I have some seeds, but I need to find a good garden center that sells vegetable plants. That may require an out-of-town trip. Darn it.
One red tomato and some ripening Auroras
July 24, 2008 at 7:43 am | In Tomatoes | Leave a CommentI only have two cherry tomatoes and two Early Girl tomatoes, but one cherry is starting to ripen.
I think the four tomatoes I have are likely to be the only ones I get. I’m going to replant my garden in late August to match up with the growing season here.
The Auroras are doing splendidly. A few have turned yellow, and I don’t think orange is too far away. I knew these peppers would be small (the package says 1 1/2 inches) but they really are small. The peppers on my one plant seem pretty crowded; I wonder if that has anything to do with their small size. There are currently eight peppers and I noticed one more flower popped out recently.
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