According to the newsfolks, it’s time to baton the hatches, put on the galoshes and head inside for the first storm of the season. And after our dry few years, we’re ready for it. But I thought I’d take this time, while we are enjoying the indoors to reflect on the good things about this past growing season. Sure we were full of disappointments this year, but our tomatoes…our tomatoes were a huge success. Oh sure, at first I complained about how they weren’t turning red, but once they did, they came on in full force.
This year we limited ourselves to five plants, Better Boy, Consoluto Fiorentino, Italian Heirloom (generic name, isn’t it?), Big Rainbow and a Sweet 100. We also had a spare volunteer cherry tomato that has been sprawling along the ground with the melons too. All five plants that we planted were incredibly happy this year and all pulled their weight as heavy producers. Better Boy hit the ground running at the begining of the season and Big Rainbow has been pulling in the tail end of the season with baskets full of orange goodness.
Our Sweet 100 even reached the top of the 10 foot cage…way to go little plant!
We’ve made about 10 pints of canned sauce and have another handful of portions frozen in the freezer. Plus I dehydrated the Sweet 100’s this year and have about 2 cups of those in the pantry. We should be plenty supplied well into the winter with our own spaghetti sauce.
So tell me, what was your biggest garden success this past summer?
pickling cucumbers! And amaranth…but it is so fiddly to harvest I do not think i will grow again.
The tomatoes are gorgeous. Especially the golden ones. Good job! The back deck success at our house were purple heirloom tomatillas the size of ping pong balls. There weren’t nearly enough, we love them so, but there were enough to add to the regular green ones I found at the market, make sauce and freeze for the winter.
ohh, Katrina, purple ones! We’ve never grown purple tomatoes, maybe next year!
mims, unfortunately if you let that amaranth go to seed, you will be growing it for the next rest of your life, trust me on that one! We planted one plant about 4 years ago and have never had to plant another seed. Fortunately it’s beautiful!
English cucumbers! We couldn’t keep up with the growth, it was awesome. Our tomatoes did pretty well too. Everything else mostly failed… Bad weather this summer in Toronto
What a beautiful bowl full of summer!!
Surviving 5 hailstorms was our biggest success!! Root crops such as carrots(4 varieties), beets, garlic and baby turnips did the best. We had lots of delicious radish and dill salads made with a sweet rice vinegar dressing.
Our favorite tomato (once replanted and recovered from the 3-5 storms was Kelloggs, a beautiful prolific orange heirloom. Broccoli produced all summer and was never bitter.
Did you buy or build those excellent tomato cages? I just bought my first house (in East Oakland) and am try to adapt what I know about East Coast gardening to California.
Lisa-my husband made them. Good luck with your new yard! My dad worked in Piedmont, so I know that area well.
Nice tomato plants! What kind of pest control did you use since it’s an organic garden? I found Safer Brand’s Tomato and Vegetable Insect Killer while searching online since I’m looking for something to use with my tomato garden. I like that it’s gentle on my tomatoes and safe to use right up to the day of harvest.
Here’s the organic bug spray I’m referring to:
http://www.saferbrand.com/store/garden-care/5085