Tomato Harvest

 I am posting these pictures to share with our friend Jason and anyone else interested in our harvest.  Jason is the wonderful guy we get our perfect eggs from.

The first picture shows our harvest of two days, on July 21st.  The second picture is after giving some away, adding more and after I used a bunch of the Roma tomatoes for sauce; which I will be posting to my blog tomorrow with step by step instructions for roasting and freezing for winter sauce.

The third picture is just a close-up of some of the red cherry, red plum and yellow plum tomatoes we have been harvesting daily.  I pick about 4 to 6 cups of these each day!

I covered the table with long lengths of paper towel.

42 inch round table, I was standing on a chair with the camera at the ceiling! 

the harvest changes daily

One two cup bowl and one 4 quart bowl

Vegetable Garden Update, Sage Plants, Morning Doves, Thai Basil

Look who I found in my garden this morning!

Two Baby Doves.  I was walking along the top of our bank and almost stepped on them.  I slowly backed away and went for my camera.  All the pictures I took look the same because they never moved!  They match the pine needles; there are some dead branches are the ground near them that they may hide in when need be.

I harvested some Patty Pan Squash today, second time in less than a week.  This plant is next to the bird bath and receives extra water from the overflow from our feathered friends bathing. 

Tiles are 4 inches across.  Perfect size squash!

Picked some more onions; I am not going to dry these, but will keep them in the refrigerator. 

Also in this picture is about a dozen Banana Legs Tomatoes I picked; these are a yellow paste tomato.  I picked these green because the bugs are moving in! 

This one is called "Debarao" an heirloom Red plum tomato, the plant is loaded with fruit.

Above is Dr. Lyle an heirloom Pink Beefsteak.

This is Estiva a hybrid from France.  The plant has already given me red tomatoes.  It is an early variety that I will repeat next year.

Purple Calabash an Heirloom Tomato

Thai Basil Plant, I love the purple flowers added to the top of my salads, they look so pretty.  If you add these flowers to white wine or white balsamic vinegar, it will turn it a pretty lavender color.

Sages I planted in the Spring look wonderful. I will dry some to use for Thanksgiving Day.

Tomato Progress Report, About Face Rose and Rose Sugar Recipe

The cage is doing a great job at keeping the vines in check.  Next year I will make another one of these to use in the other raised bed.  I also am including a few volunteer tomatoes that came up under one of the orange trees.  One is a current cherry tomato and not quite sure what the other is yet as the tomatoes have not formed.  I have at least 23 plants and have added some cuttings so I might be at 25 now! 

Check out my earlier posts when we first planted our tomatoes in this homemade cage.

8 plants here. 2 Brandywine, a Debarao Red Plum, a Victoria VFFN Hybrid Red Paste, Puple Russian a plum shaped purple black tomato, Dr. Lyle a Pink Beefsteak, Heirloom Carbon a black salad, Erica D'Australia a large red Beefsteak.   Also have Anaheim Chili Peppers, Green Onion, Basil varieties are Lettuce Leaf, Thai, Cinnamon, Lemon and Licorice.

Sprite a  Red Cherry Tomato on this end, also Estiva a new hybrid from France which is a red salad tomato. Heirloom Cherokee Purple tomato and a Green Zebra.  Shallots in the middle and a small round Heirloom Zucchini Plant, rounds out this full bed!

A Purple Calabash Heirloom tomato and a Pineapple Tomato from Burpee seeds.

Small Red Salad Tomato with the new Red Cage, I think this really is helping.

Volunteers! There are about six, some to the left and right of this one.

Golden Sweet Hybrid Yellow Grape and Sun Grape a Hybrid Red.

6 Heirloom Pickling Cucumbers, a German Johnson Tomato, an Early Girl VF Tomato, a large Tomatillo on the right and 4 Straight Eight Cucumbers are all in this bed.

Patty Pan Squash a volunteer in the herb garden.  It looked so healthy when it came up that I went ahead and kept it here.  It gets lots of water from the bird bath and I am sure the birds are keeping it picked clean of bugs.

This is a golden paste tomato called Banana Legs.  The plant is only about a foot tall and is loaded with tomatoes. 

A few of the Onions I havested this morning and 4 Pickling Cucumbers.  I also had about a dozen yellow pear tomatoes, but they did not make it to this picture.  Hand to mouth!

2005 AARS Grandiflora Rose

"About Face"

This rose blooms continuously throughout the summer.  A real workhorse.

"We bring roses, beautiful fresh roses, dewey as the morning and colored like Dawn."   -Thomas Buchanan Read

"Rose Sugar Recipe"

Alternate layers of somewhat dry rose scented geranium leaves and sugar in a clean glass jar.  Cover the jar and set aside for several days in a cool, dry place.  The sugar will absorb the scent of the leaves.  Remove the leaves before serving the sugar.  This is lovely sprinkled on fresh strawberries and served along with some good Greek Yogurt.

Tomato Update, Kale and a few more goodies!

I am posting some pictures to keep my blog up to date on the tomato growth.  I also picked a nice basket of Kale yesterday.  Beans and Greens for dinner last night.  A little olive oil from Olive California (see link on my blog) and some fresh garlic, it was perfect!

The tomatoes are about 3 feet tall now.  Kale is finished; the weather will be getting too warm so I pulled up the roots and will plant some more Basil this weekend.  I also planted some more Straight Eight Cucumbers, more Zucchini, Patty Pan and Crook Neck Squash.  I still have a little more room and will plant some more Onion Sets and maybe some more Beets.

Red Onion and White Onions almost ready for picking. This is the first year I am growing these to full size.  I usually grow them for spring onions.

Salad Tomato should be ready in 45 days

Last of the lettuce and the Shallots are growing nicely.  Small patch of Pea Pods still growing; just about too warm for these but maybe I will get a few more.  Still harvesting Spring Onions along the side and some Cilantro, although this is bolting so it will be finished soon.

More Cherry Tomatoes, I think this one is a Purple Grape and a Orange Cherry

Two Cherry Tomatoes, one Yellow Pear and one Red Pear

A German Johnson Tomato, Early Girl and a Tomatillo Plant

More Onions, yellow and white

Not sure what these two are, but I wanted to try these red cages.  I have heard that red makes for more tomatoes.  We will see.

Nice batch of Kale I picked yesterday

and because I know my husband will be showing this post to his co-workers, I am including a few cacti and succulents for him.  Bragging rights go to Tony.