Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Yesterday I was finally able to pick one of my own home-grown Better Boy tomatoes! I forgot to get a photo of it before I started chopping, but I can tell you that it was ugly-- yet delicious!!! I made a spaghetti sauce out of it, along with some market fresh zucchini, broccoli & mushrooms.
It's a very exciting milestone for me because I did have one tomato before this that was ripened, but sadly it was devoured by hungry bugs. So, I missed out on eating my truly first ever tomato. I was very happy to actually be able to use this one! I officially feel like a successful gardener.
Look What My Tomato Turned Into!
better boy +
gardening +
pasta +
tomatoes
Yesterday I was finally able to pick one of my own home-grown Better Boy tomatoes! I forgot to get a photo of it before I started chopping, but I can tell you that it was ugly-- yet delicious!!! I made a spaghetti sauce out of it, along with some market fresh zucchini, broccoli & mushrooms. It's a very exciting milestone for me because I did have one tomato before this that was ripened, but sadly it was devoured by hungry bugs. So, I missed out on eating my truly first ever tomato. I was very happy to actually be able to use this one! I officially feel like a successful gardener.
A month or two ago I inherited two Better Boy tomato plants from my boyfriend, who works at a local grocery co-op. I believe they had overstocked the plants and were giving the less healthy extras away that weren't selling.
Armed with two large pots and rich soil, I planted the tomatoes and hoped for the best. I didn't know much about growing tomatoes until mid-way through their major growth spurt, so I have them staked rather awkwardly and haphazardly. But I'm trying to ignore the embarrassingly poor stake-job since I have 5 tomatoes growing, at this point at least, rather successfully.
I've learned that these tomatoes take ~70 days to harvest from planting time, and that they are sortof an average but pretty resilient red tomato variety. A few websites have suggested that they are a medium to large size, juicy yet meaty, and good for fresh slicing. (...is this making anyone else want a tomato sandwich?)
One thing I'm not familiar with is why some tomato plants take longer to yield fruit than others. These were growing and planted for what seemed like a long time before I saw any sign of tomatoes growing. It will be interesting to try other varieties next summer and see how they grow in comparison.
Gardening, especially tomatoes, runs in my family. My father's father made his living thanks to tomatoes; he grew up in a farming family, and I believe one of their biggest sales were tomatoes. He began his own company by selling them out of a back of a truck, and this grew into a wholesale produce business that my father runs today. My mother's father is also from a farming family, and has a green thumb to be rivaled. Even though I never had any interest in farming or gardening growing up, I'm suddenly finding it to be a completely intriguing, challenging, and rewarding hobby.
My tomatoes are obviously still young, so I'm hoping I'll be able to bring them to harvest without any problems. I've never had full sun and a warm climate available to successfully raise tomatoes, so maybe this time will be different! Wish me luck!
Better Boys
better boy +
gardening +
tomatoes
A month or two ago I inherited two Better Boy tomato plants from my boyfriend, who works at a local grocery co-op. I believe they had overstocked the plants and were giving the less healthy extras away that weren't selling.Armed with two large pots and rich soil, I planted the tomatoes and hoped for the best. I didn't know much about growing tomatoes until mid-way through their major growth spurt, so I have them staked rather awkwardly and haphazardly. But I'm trying to ignore the embarrassingly poor stake-job since I have 5 tomatoes growing, at this point at least, rather successfully.
I've learned that these tomatoes take ~70 days to harvest from planting time, and that they are sortof an average but pretty resilient red tomato variety. A few websites have suggested that they are a medium to large size, juicy yet meaty, and good for fresh slicing. (...is this making anyone else want a tomato sandwich?)
One thing I'm not familiar with is why some tomato plants take longer to yield fruit than others. These were growing and planted for what seemed like a long time before I saw any sign of tomatoes growing. It will be interesting to try other varieties next summer and see how they grow in comparison.
Gardening, especially tomatoes, runs in my family. My father's father made his living thanks to tomatoes; he grew up in a farming family, and I believe one of their biggest sales were tomatoes. He began his own company by selling them out of a back of a truck, and this grew into a wholesale produce business that my father runs today. My mother's father is also from a farming family, and has a green thumb to be rivaled. Even though I never had any interest in farming or gardening growing up, I'm suddenly finding it to be a completely intriguing, challenging, and rewarding hobby.My tomatoes are obviously still young, so I'm hoping I'll be able to bring them to harvest without any problems. I've never had full sun and a warm climate available to successfully raise tomatoes, so maybe this time will be different! Wish me luck!
While I've always been interested in having my own garden to grow herbs and vegetables, I haven't always had the space or the appropriate weather for some. I lived in the mountains for a while, which provided too much cool weather and shade for the liking of some plants I grew.
Now, I live in a warmer city and my apartment porch gets a lot of full sun during the day. I went a little basil crazy and now have 7 Italian basil plants. I also recently inherited two tomato plants! And, I made an attempt at spinach a little earlier this spring, but bugs and bouts of random frosty nights unfortunately shortened its life.
So while I'm limited to potting plants for gardening, I'd be interested in knowing more about growing vegetables this way if it's possible. I've found that it's much cheaper to grow your own, and a lot more satisfying.
Where I live, we have a Wednesday and Thursday farmer's market in addition to a Saturday one, so I've been able to pop over to one of those in the afternoon to pick up in-season veggies in the middle of the week. Later this week I'll have photos of my farmer's market loot to show off. If anyone is reading this, what are your favorite summer vegetable recipes? I'm a vegetarian, but even dishes that include meat can be adaptable, so feel free to share those too!
Grow Your Own
basil +
gardening +
tomatoes
While I've always been interested in having my own garden to grow herbs and vegetables, I haven't always had the space or the appropriate weather for some. I lived in the mountains for a while, which provided too much cool weather and shade for the liking of some plants I grew.Now, I live in a warmer city and my apartment porch gets a lot of full sun during the day. I went a little basil crazy and now have 7 Italian basil plants. I also recently inherited two tomato plants! And, I made an attempt at spinach a little earlier this spring, but bugs and bouts of random frosty nights unfortunately shortened its life.
So while I'm limited to potting plants for gardening, I'd be interested in knowing more about growing vegetables this way if it's possible. I've found that it's much cheaper to grow your own, and a lot more satisfying.
Where I live, we have a Wednesday and Thursday farmer's market in addition to a Saturday one, so I've been able to pop over to one of those in the afternoon to pick up in-season veggies in the middle of the week. Later this week I'll have photos of my farmer's market loot to show off. If anyone is reading this, what are your favorite summer vegetable recipes? I'm a vegetarian, but even dishes that include meat can be adaptable, so feel free to share those too!
