It's getting to be that time of year again. Pillows are being dusted off, reviews written, nervous gardeners are watching birds, weather reports, and pacing back in forth in anticipation. It's tomato time! It looks like Early Girl is going to win in our garden:
I've already had a taste of summer with the 2 cherry tomato plants we're growing. I am plucking about 5-6 tomatoes a day off of the Sweet 100 (and inserting them directly into my mouth), but this Husky cherry tomato is promising a nice little harvest tomorrow:
I've seen some amusing stories about first tomatoes, but this is the first time I've seen a First Tomato Road Trip (I may have suggested that Virescent bring that almost ripe tomato on vacation with her and let it sun ripen a bit, but she's the creative one who came up with the road trip slideshow).
In other veggie news, we have the first Red Peter pepper growing (you think the eggplants have been phallic -- wait for these!):
I'm still trying to figure out how I will be able to tell that the purple bell peppers are ripe:
The zinnias are helping to bring pollinators to the garden -- and they're pretty:
I love how they're all slightly different:
I caught this tiny little bee in action:
I had about 50 of these shots and narrowed it down to 2 photos. I think one or the other is a strong calendar candidate:
I finally figured out what this is:
I wandered out to the patio last night around 8:00pm and saw the plants in full bloom. One quick Google for night blooming yellow flower and I came up with Evening primrose:
It's hard to capture these flowers at this time of night without the flash, but this is as close as I can get to true color (and not a blurry mess):
It's been insanely hot non-stop and we haven't had more than a sprinkle of rain in weeks. Thank goodness VPH doesn't mind watering. Any bets on when that Early Girl tomato will be ready to eat? I'm taking the 25th.
I have flowers but no fruit yet. I have grown tomatoes in the past but they have always got blight so this year I have put them into a small lean-to greenhouse. It just takes 4 plants. As we have had very little sun this year and the nights are quite chilly I am not sure that I will get any fruit. So thank you for sharing yours with me!
Best wishes Sylvia (England)
Posted by: Sylvia | July 22, 2008 at 11:39 AM
I like your new header! I am getting just a few tomatoes each day! I can't wait for the deluge! Zinnias have those interesting centers with more tiny little flowers!
Posted by: Layanee | July 22, 2008 at 08:37 PM
Sylvia -- I don't know if I would be able to nurture tomatoes along without the promise of fruit. You're a better woman than I am!
Layanee -- Thanks, I wasn't sure if anyone would notice the new header. Not sure if I am 100% happy with it. I may have to play some more or come up with a different image instead.
Posted by: Heather's Garden | July 23, 2008 at 05:07 PM
Heather, I really like the new header, too! It makes me hungry. :)
Speaking of hungry, you can pretty much harvest those purple peppers any time you want. You know how the red and orange peppers turn sweeter, the redder/oranger they are? Purples aren't like that--they pretty much just taste like green peppers no matter how purple they are. I found this out the hard way after I planted some of those "for" my boyfriend who prefers the sweeter kinds to the green ones. D'oh! :)
Posted by: Kim | July 23, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Kim -- Bummer! I like the sweet peppers so much better. I guess these will be cooking peppers then. The header photo is from last year and it's making me crave tomatoes even more than I already was! I have to admit that I pretty much ate all the ripe cherry tomatoes right off the plants today.
Posted by: Heather's Garden | July 23, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Thanks for the link, glad you enjoyed it! Your tomatoes look fantastic and loaded. One of my plants has produced three big ones, and that's all I'm getting from it. The other is loaded with lots of tiny tomatoes, but it'll be a while before I can eat any of them.
Posted by: virescent | July 26, 2008 at 03:46 PM
Virescent -- You're welcome, it was hysterical and totally in need of a link. Tomatoes are like that I'm afraid. They tease a lot!
Posted by: Heather's Garden | July 27, 2008 at 08:49 AM