There are tomatoes everywhere.... everywhere!

Since several earlier posts were devoted to preparing for and planting the tomatoes it only seems fair you, my dear reader (yes, I only have one ;)) should reap the harvest. Got tomatoes out the wazoo now.

The Sun Gold cherry variety is a solid performer. Staggered ripening assures a constant but reasonable supply.

The German Green has been disappointing so far. Uneven ripening and trouble with blossom-end rot despite my precautions. I don't need to fuss so much over a tomato when other varieties are producing with no trouble at all. Maybe it will improve in the late season.

The San Marzano has good flavor, texture, and versatility, but disappointing fruit production. One plant has only yielded four fruits so far this season and no new flowers have developed so I think it's done already. If I were to use this variety again I should plant at least three, which perhaps explains the enthusiastic Italian grandma buying all the starts she could find that day at Garden Fever.

Tasks - 8/17/09

Today:

* Gathered seeds from spent marigolds, white cosmos, and calendula.

Bolting arugula

My experiment with Spring-sown arugula in pots near the kitchen had seemd to fail. The arugula took forever to mature, then bolted as soon as it did, leaving me with a lot of teeny, woody, bitter leaves.

Ready to chuck the whole thing in the compost, I did happen onto a use for these tough arugulii -- add them to sauteed vegetables, such as the zucchini, squash, and tomatoes coming out of the garden now.

Tasks - 8/16/09

Today:

* Cat proofed the pink jasmine berm.

* Weeded blueberry bed.

* Weeded herb bed.

* Weeded kiwi bed: The kiwi might yet survive, and the squashes in this bed are doing very well.

* Planted a few zinnia in a large pot.

Twice bloom lavender

All my Spanish lavenders are blooming again this week. Beautiful, but strange. I don't know if it's because I dead-headed them after the first bloom or if it's because of the record-breaking days 105+ heat in late-July. Either way. Lovely and fragrant.

I picked up a yellow lavender for the empty spot in my lavender walk, but no chance to plant it yet. Maybe this weekend, maybe...

Tasks - 8/9/09

Today:

* Weeded pink jasmine bed, rebuilt the berm, and pruned the jasmine.

* Gathered nasturtium seeds from spent flowers around the yard.

* In the kiwi bed: removed melon salvia because it was blocking sun on UFO squash, weeded, trimmed, and added more dirt/compost now that plants have settled in. Both the squash and zucchini in this bed are producing well.