last of the tomatoes

weekend update: last tomatoes

It's supposed to maybe snow (!!!) next week, so I tackled shutting down the tomatoes Saturday.

The Sungolds were, again, just monstrous. I ended up cutting the plants apart into manageable sections, just to make composting easier and also to make sure I didn't miss any tomatoes.



There were enough ripe ones to make a small tomato salad for me and Bram on Saturday, and to top two pizzas for dinner with Jim, Stacy, and Bernice on Sunday. I separated the rest into three groups: mostly yellow/will ripen soon; yellowy-green/should ripen in a while; hard, white-green/probably won't ripen. I'm thinking of maybe making the dilled green tomatoes recipe referenced recently over at You Grow Girl.

In dismembering the behemoth Sungold, I discovered a few green Robesons, and one red one in the back that had all but rotted on the vine (sob!) I think the plan for next year will be to relegate one Sungold (or maybe two?) out to the south-facing side bed, and put two Robesons in the raised bed.

bbmt

Bacon, basil, mozzarella, and tomato (Robesons) sammiches.

2 quarts of sungolds, 2 Robesons

Haven't picked tomatoes in a few days. The result:

Robesons for dinner!

Picked the first two big Robesons. Made a giant caprese salad for dinner: smoked (Trader Joe's) and fresh (Montañita Coop) mozzarella; basil (Farmers' Market). Also, broiled, prosciutto-wrapped shrimp. We ate it all.


[Photo by Bram]

some produce

Washing produce: (clockwise from bottom center) red grapes (Sunflower) and sage for chicken salad dinner tonight; sungolds; and blueberries (Trader Joe's).

tomatoes progress

Many many ripe sungolds, and the Robesons are getting some color.






[Photos by Bram]

app plate with sungolds

Jim + Stacy + Bernice came over for dinner. Appetizer plate had: (clockwise from bottom right) sungold tomatoes; homemade pickled radishes (Farmers' Market); homemade rosemary-chipotle nuts (Sunflower bulk section); and hummus + pita chips (Trader Joe's).


[Photo by Bram]

the tomatoes are trying to get in!

office window:

first tomato!

weekend update

The raised bed has been a mixed bag: one basil died, the other is alive, but smothered by the sage; chives have dried up; dill is also struggling under the sage; none of the thyme made it; only three garlic bulbs pulled at solstice; sage is bonkers, as is the fennel;


[click for larger, had the office camera at home this weekend]

Sungold is so huge it's trying to get in the office window;



Paul Robeson is smaller, and only seems to have set about four tomatoes;


[inadvertently had the flash on for the closeups]

Sungold, on the other hand, has set a boatload of fruit, and is covered in blossoms, too;



bees like the lavender.


[click for larger]

Cheyenne with Spanish broom

Spartium junceum

seen in the neighborhood

On a dog walk, went by this really nice rock garden/retaining wall/stone steps combo.




[click for larger]

grass!

Some success reseeding the former middle-of-the-lawn bed. Lots of weeds, too. Some Blue grama grass:

frost warning, and other photos

Chance of frost overnight, so I wrapped the tomato cages in some plastic sheeting left over from solarizing the lawn.



Here are some photos of the flax and California poppies, and the front flowerpot. The lobelia is such a pretty blue.







The lilacs are in bloom.

weekend update: planting

I managed to put everything in the ground, except the Rosemary plant. Still not sure where that will go yet.

White geranium (pelargonium), lantana, and lobelias went in the pot by the front door. Two flax plants and three California poppies went into the front yard bed that borders the sidewalk. I think one of the poppies isn't gonna make it. Maybe I'll pick up a replacement. Completely emptied the front rain barrel with the front-of-the-house flower planting (new hose!). Ran out one of the side yard barrels under the apricot tree.

The dill, thyme, basil, and tomatoes all went into the backyard raised bed. Set up the soaker hose, and mulched everything with more straw.





Picked up two tomato cages (and a wire basket) at this weekend's sale benefitting the Santa Fe Botanical Garden. They fold flat!





Also, happy birthday, Mom!

Picotee amaryllis

A co-worker gave me an amaryllis bulb for Christmas, and it's finally blooming. Twelve flowers at once!

weekend update: 2011 garden fair

Hit the Garden Fair on Saturday. Bright and sunny for a change! Windy, too. Stacy couldn't make it, and I didn't run into anyone I knew was coming, so just poked around by myself.





The usual suspects. Stacy asked me to pick her up a marjoram start, and I was looking for dill, but couldn't find either. Ended up running by Santa Fe greenhouses on my way home and got both there.





The ladies from Eulalio's Farm were back with a buttload of tomatoes! They're the same folks I bought last year's Sungolds from. This year, got one Sungold and one Paul Robeson.





(Yes, those are my old Sentra floor mats in the new Pontiac! Homage to last year's photo.)

2011 nursery trip

Took a few hours off yesterday and went to New Mexico Plant Co. with Stacy and her friend Beverly. This place is way out off of route 14:



Stacy's been getting her herbs and veggie starts here for a few years now. I've never been able to make it out there because they're only open during regular business hours, not on weekends. They've got a big greenhouse, and their prices are CHEAP!

No photos of the place, unfortunately. They had a boatload of geraniums (annual pelargoniums, not perennial true geraniums). Lots and lots of hanging baskets, some perennials, veggies, herbs, tomatoes in all sizes. They seem to be a commercial nursery that sells to other nurseries — there were off-limits sections cordoned off with flagging tape that were, we were told, "orders." There were a huge number of plants, but not a whole lot of variety in cultivars (maybe 5 tomato varieties).

Stacy spent about $60 and just about filled the back of her station wagon. I spent around $16 and got:

• 3 blue lobelias
  
• 1 white geranium (pelargonium)
  
• and 1 lantana
  (all for the big pot by the front door)
  
• 2 basil starts
  
• 2 thyme starts
  (for the herb bed)
  
• 1 rosemary start
  (don't know where I'll put that yet)

I still need to get tomato plants and I'd like to get a dill start. Hopefully I'll be able to get some tomatoes at the Garden Fair from the same ladies that were selling plants last year. Those Sungolds were monsters!

2011 garden fair

This year's Santa Fe Master Gardeners Garden Fair is coming up on April 30. Anyone want to go with me? Stacy?

no seeds this year

Been getting all my seed catalogs. But I still have seeds from two years ago I've never planted, AND the ghetto seed-starting setup is such a pain, AND the sungolds did so well last year.

So, I'm not going to order any seeds this year — just buying starts.