Don't judge a book by its cover

It has been a long, hard road to the first tomato in this home.  Let me go back just a bit and explain.

Last winter I decided that I wanted to attempt to grow a vegetable garden again.  Since becoming horribly sick in 2006 with Lyme disease and co-infections I had to sell my organic dairy goats, cease any type of outdoor activity that put me at risk (at the direction of my doctor who told me I must stop getting re-infected), and wasn't even able to cook for myself or my children.  We are talking take-out and frozen foods.  Not only did it double our already insane food bill, this whole situation exposed my family and myself to horribly unhealthy foods, the source of nourishment for our bodies not being very life-giving.

Fast forward to 2011, several years of no treatment.  A year of long-term antibiotics.  I had recovered to about 50% maybe of my former, healthy self.  And you know what? I was thankful to have that much of my health back.  I considered myself high functioning.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I am a dreamer.  I tends towards idealism.  I wouldn't quite call myself a Pollyanna but I see the bright side of things.  When I see the dark side of things I fight to change them.  And then I focus on the bright side for awhile.  I create.  I capture beauty.  I attempt to make things better.  I don't give up.  I am a fighter.  I wanted some of my former life back.  I wanted to grow some of my own food again.

After much research I decided that I wanted to grow all heirloom vegetables and herbs in my garden.  I didn't want anything associated with Monsanto or its dangerous GE products.  I haven't used pesticides in over 30 years and knew that Round-up was just wrong.  I bend over and pull weeds.  Gasp.  Yes, they come out of the ground when you pull on them.  Sorry, I had to throw in a teensy bit of sarcasm because Round-up just seems so silly to me. 

Back to my garden.  I placed an order with a small seed company, Annie's Heirloom Seeds.  I excitedly received most of my order within 2 days and the rest was shipped with plenty of time to plant. 

I planted my seeds indoors in February.  We had already been experiencing spring-like weather so I dove right in.  I let my seeds live on the windowsill in the living room where we get lots of light and great full sun at least half of the day.  They did well except when the cats wanted to play with the tags.  I still don't know what varieties of tomatoes are planted where in my garden.  Cats make gardening so interesting.

One of my plants, Moskovich I discovered, ended up in a container in my driveway and the rest I planted in my backyard garden where they thrived.  My first tomato has been watched and documented for what feels like months.  Seriously, I think it took 3 months for this tomato to ripen.  Three days ago I went outside and checked my first and nearly ripe Moskovich tomato and it had split all along the top and down the sides.  Oh, I was heartbroken.

Moskovich tomato split after a rainstorm and cool night

I placed the focus of my tomato love on the counter in my kitchen out of direct sunlight and hoped and prayed.  It needed two or three more days to ripen.  I watched for mold.  I watched for bugs.  I picked my tomato up every day to gauge its ripeness. 

This morning I checked it and when I squeezed just a bit some juice came out on my hand.  I knew it had to be eaten today. 

Let me say that I am actually not a fresh tomato person because I grew up exposed to mealy grocery store tomatoes.  When I was older I discovered Roma tomatoes and stuck to those but I would never just cut a slice of tomato and eat it. 

My youngest is a tomato lover.  When he was very little he would go in my vegetable garden and eat tomatoes right off of the plants, like apples.  I had never done that and never thought I would enjoy a fresh tomato like that.

This morning changed that. 

I cut into my first tomato of the season, my first Moskovich ever.  I cut a small piece off of the bigger slice and popped that baby into my mouth. 

Oh my! I have never tasted a tomato like this. EVER!  This is what tomato lovers know tomatoes can taste like.  This is what tomatoes are supposed to taste like. 

It isn't pretty, but my first tomato of the season is a winner!  Blue Ribbon!!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It has been over 6 years since I did any vegetable gardening.  I had just begun to learn gardening for the New England region when I became too ill to continue.  So now I feel like I am relearning everything (not sure how much I knew and lost, either).  

The good news is that my grey matter seems capable of learning all over again and I am going for it.

Backyard beds June 14, 2012

My tomatoes are thriving and blooming.  So excited at the promise of fresh, organically-grown tomatoes.  The basil plants attract slugs and are growing but are very holey.  

In the far bed my carrots are finally growing after a second sowing.  I will not bother growing carrots in the future most likely.  They are inexpensive to purchase and take up a lot of space that I think would be better used for more garlic now that I know how well it does in that particular spot.  

My sugar snap peas (on left trellis in rear) are finally blooming.  I am pretty sure we will never get these in the house but will be a favorite "snack from the vine" kind of treat for all.  

Suyo long cucumber

 I have been disappointed in the cucumbers that I planted: Suyo long cucumbers.  They only seem to germinate at 50% and then are not doing well in our cool New England spring weather.  This is when I really wish I had a greenhouse.  Really and truly.  I planted an oriental cuke because I buy the hothouse cucumbers vs. the more common cucumbers when I shop.  This experiment might not be a success.  I will sow some more seeds and wait for warmer weather.  They might just take off when we get another week of higher temps.

Over 100 slugs

Yesterday, I went out in the rain and collected over 100 slugs from my gardens.  Next time I will wear rubber gloves, though.  Slugs can carry a parasite that causes deadly meningitis.  I sure did a lot of hand-washing yesterday.

These slimy guys do a lot of damage; they seem to prefer basil and lettuce to most everything else.  But I don't want to share my lettuce.  So the slugs must go.  

I had a thought this morning while doing my rounds: is there some type of substance I can put on the ground around my garden beds to keep the slugs from climbing the wood frames?  After a quick search I found that lava rocks, copper strips, and diatomaceous earth can all be used as a slug barrier.  Hmmm, I have a huge 50 lb. bag of DE in my basement.  That will be my afternoon gardening task.  I'll let you know how well it works.

Sugar pumpkin

Finally the pumpkins are growing.  Finally! We had an early spring, then a heat wave, then 4 weeks of fairly cool, wet weather.  Temps have been mostly in the 60's to low 70's during the day and in the 50's at night.

Now we need to see some warmer weather so my heat loving plants can start really growing.  

I have had no luck with the pepper plants.  The one plant that I had in the driveway grouping attracted slugs which ate it to a single, leafless stem.  It finally succumbed.  The seeds I planted in my front garden haven't even come up.  I think I might try to plant some inside and see if I can get them to germinate and give them a little head start before transplanting.  I knew peppers would be a challenge in New England but I was hoping I could grow some because we eat a LOT of red, yellow and orange bell peppers around here.  The boys love them raw, sauteed, in their eggs, well, in pretty much anything.

Sugar snap pea

Oh, the beauty of a pea blossom.  Took 10 tries but I actually got a decent closeup.  A camera that can take closeups and macros is on my wish list (when that million dollar check comes in the mail -- I can dream, can't I?).  

Considering this is my first season gardening in a very long time, I feel fairly successful.  Gardening is all about experimenting: failure and success both teach.  

Thank you for sharing my garden with me today.  How does your garden grow?

Slug Slime and Aphid Attacks

It is approaching the end of May and the first week of hot weather this year.  In the last few days my garden has come to life:  My tomatoes, beans and sugar snap peas grow inches each day, little seedlings  are popping up enthusiastic to greet the sun, and so begins the battle between mankind and pest.

One thing I learned early on in my gardening years is that healthy, organically-grown veggie plants attract more pests.  Another little tidbit I acquired along the way is that vegetable gardening is not for the faint of heart.  But don't let a few bugs deter you from growing your own veggies.

While I love the daily interaction I have with my garden, even enjoy pulling weeds, I really don't like bugs.  And take my word for it that slug slime doesn't wash off with soap and water.  

Tomato plants after an application of insecticidal soap

Discovering aphids on my tomato plants yesterday I sprayed them all with homemade insecticidal soap this morning (never spray anything on plants if the sun is shining -- it is cloudy today so it is perfect).  They are all kind of flopped over but after a few minutes I righted them and they look great (and yes, they definitely need to be staked).  I inspected them after spraying and found a handful of healthy-looking aphids so I just squished them and rubbed any eggs I found to destroy them.

Lettuce and spinach recovered after taking a beating

Last Saturday we had a crazy thunderstorm blow in: lightning, thunder, and torrential rains battered my baby lettuces, especially the red leaf lettuce plants.  As you can see in the photo above they have recovered and are doing well.  Still waiting for the bunching onion seeds I sowed in the spaces to germinate.  Seeds take so long to germinate up here in the northeast as compared to the south.

Beans, parsley, oregano and tomato

My container garden continues to thrive.  Beans, parsley, oregano, pepper and tomato plants all share a small space located on my driveway beside the garage.  Lots of sunshine and heat, it seems to do better than my garden beds.  I pick off at least one slug every morning before taking my son to work.  So far no aphids have found this little garden. 

Newest garden space in former goat yard

Finally, this is my newly formed 8x10 garden space.  Sod was removed and transplanted and my son turned the soil down approximately 10-12 inches.  I then formed three raised beds and a row in the back for climbing plants that will eventually grow on a cattle panel I have yet to install.  I am thinking about actually planting 2-3 pumpkin plants to grow up on the cattle panel trellis as an experiment.  It doesn't look like much yet but the seedlings are just coming up.  I sowed Dino Kale, peppers and something else I can't remember (why, oh why didn't I make a diagram and record what I planted where???) in the farthest bed.  The other beds are planted with zucchini and yellow squash and pumpkins.  There are a handful of bean plants growing on the back single row. 

Sugar snap peas are getting ready to bloom

Picking off slugs and squishing aphids . . . not my favorite past-time.  You do what you have to do!