I checked my garden this evening and found my first tomato that has started to ripen and should be ready in a couple of days. I know how this goes, and I never learn to cut back on the number of plants. The first tomato of the season is exciting, then a few days later you have 3 or 4 and that is exciting, then a few days after that you have 15 tomatoes and the neighbors are excited, then a few days after that you have 60 tomatoes and the good folks at the food bank are happy to see you show up.

Then you find yourself eating cold tomato soup, baked tomatoes and sliced raw tomatoes on everything. Then your neighbors stop answering the door if you show up carrying anything. Then the good folks at the food bank try to give you tomatoes when you show up because every other gardener in town has gotten there first. And finally, you just give up and stop picking them and swear that next year you will only put in three plants.

Does anybody else grow tomatoes?

My wife is an avid gardener. She always has tomato plants in the garden, and in pots all over the place. I'm not a huge fan of the tomato, but the fresh ones are pretty good.

Our growing season is pretty short here, and this year it seems it will be shorter than ever. The wife is just starting to put out some bedding plants in her flower gardens, and the vegetable garden hasn't even been tilled. Our weather has been so cool that I would say we are at least 3 weeks behind where we would normally be right now.

Enjoy the "fruits" of your labor. It will likely be July before we have any fresh produce to eat.

Chief,

It has taken me a long time to learn to eat tomatoes without making a face. My Grandfather hated them and I picked that dislike up from him. I have come to believe that they are "probably" good for you, so I try to eat some several times a week. Some of the one you get in stores are perfectly awful.

My "depression era" parents always insisted on having huge gardens (which I also hated) and they made us eat all kinds of stuff that was probably good for us,.... but we hated it anyway.

My mother would can this stuff without any restraint and I remember storing freshly canned tomatoes in the garage and counting over 200 quarts that were already there. I hope your wife doesn't have this "canning" affliction. Mine doesn't, but I suppose there are still a few folks out there who do.

We can up some things - like home-made hot sauce, jelly, or fresh fruit. But with just my wife and I at home now (well, just the wife right now), it doesn't make much sense to can up too much.

quote:

Originally posted by LKS:
We can up some things - like home-made hot sauce, jelly, or fresh fruit. But with just my wife and I at home now (well, just the wife right now), it doesn't make much sense to can up too much.

I think that "canning" is rapidly becoming another "lost art" that we may regret some day. I wouldn't even know where to go to get the seals and lids anymore. I think that mayonaise jars are still the right size for mason lids, but I am not even sure of that.

The tomatos in our garden just turned red this week by me. What do you feed yor gardens with??
The cucumbers and string beans have been coming in like mad for weeks though. Corn is about 7 foot high too!

quote:

Originally posted by devilsplay:
The tomatos in our garden just turned red this week by me. What do you feed yor gardens with??
The cucumbers and string beans have been coming in like mad for weeks though. Corn is about 7 foot high too!

I'll treat my tomatoes to some liquid fertilizer once or twice during the growing season.

Fresh corn! .... now my mouth is watering big time. My garden is too small to grow corn.

We only grow 6 stalks so maybe a dozen ears at best. The looks on peoples faces when they see the stalks over the top of the fence is priceless! We also have fresh mint and thyme. Next year my son wants to grow strawberries.

quote:

Originally posted by devilsplay:
We only grow 6 stalks so maybe a dozen ears at best. The looks on peoples faces when they see the stalks over the top of the fence is priceless! We also have fresh mint and thyme. Next year my son wants to grow strawberries.

Does your corn completely pollinate with just 6 stalks?

Strawberries can be tough, especially when you find that the box turtle that resides in the back yard and one of your dogs consistently get there first. I tried for several years to get a good crop and never did. The only thing that frustrated me more was trying to grow asparagus and finding that the local bugs were doing a job on it. This really irritated me since it grew wild on the ditch banks in Texas and does quite well around several of the horse stables in this area. I gave up on asparagus after several years of trying.

We usually get 2 ears per stalk for the corn.There usually a pretty good size. I'm not really sure what you mean by completely pollinate? I'm actually new to the gardening thing.

I have no tomatoes yet this year. I am trying to grow the beefsteak tomatoes. Oh well,

Well the only thing left now is tomatoes, a cucumber or two, and mint. Everything else is done, the corn was rather diappointing. Might have something to do with that pollination thing you where talking about Pecos. Time to cut it all down and till it back into the ground.

Alas the tomatoes have all gone away!!!! the season has ended!

quote:

Originally posted by devilsplay:
Alas the tomatoes have all gone away!!!! the season has ended!

Mine too, but what I'll really is our local peaches.

Fresh peaches!!! your making my mouth water..Summer just isn't summer without fresh fruit of all kinds. Well it's back to the trucked in store bought kinds now!