The Best Organic, Heirloom Tomato Season…Ever

So far, 2014 has been the most fruitful, pun intended, tomato season I’ve ever had. I started everything from seed and everything came from heirloom seeds come from Tomatofest. Please share in my happy. And, if I’ve jinxed myself, it was worth it. 🙂

Yellow Currant tomatoes from Tomatofest

More Yellow Currants from Tomatofest

Super sweet Chadwick Cherries from Tomatofest

Beautiful cluster of Yellow Currants from Tomatofest

Thai Pink Egg, Hawaiian Currant, and Yellow Currant tomatoes all from Tomatofest

Yep, more Yellow Currant and Thai Pink Eggs from Tomatofest

Four varieties in one day: Thai Pink Egg, Hawaiian Currant, Chadwick Cherry, and Yellow Currants…seeds all from Tomatofest

The late Tomatofest bloomer: The very ugly Martino’s Roma tomatoes finally ripening

I hope everyone’s having a productive, delicious, and healthy season.

With love and dirt under my fingernails,

Jenna

How Does Our Organic, Urban Garden Grow: An Update

Things are looking pretty good around here! I posted a while back about how Spring was treating us in sunny Zone 9, and now it’s time for an update. A month is like a jillion years to a gardener, so here goes…

The Kentucky Wonder beans have been nothing but amazing. For the past two weeks, I’ve gotten a small handful every day. For three plants, that’s pretty good! The wax beans are also going strong.

The heirloom crookneck squash, on the other hand, was a total bust. Powdery mildew invaded and stunted the growth of the plants. I waved the white flag pretty early because I knew the pot could be put to better use. This is the best they’d ever look.

The same failure goes for our cukes. I swear I’m going to give up on even trying to grow them. The only time we have luck is when the plants are volunteers. I don’t know what it is. I suspect the humidity and salt air is the downfall, but who knows? This was our one delicious, crunchy, crowning jewel:

I also grew an “onion.” Laugh it up. It’s OK.

The heirloom lettuces and Swiss chard ended up in the compost heap after a good run. I tried to save seeds from some of the bitter, bolted babies, but it didn’t work out. Perhaps they’ll self-seed in the fall.

But, the tomatoes. The TOMATOES. I’m pleased as punch. And, I know, a gardener should never count their peppers before their picked, but I’ve got to toot this horn! I’ve been harvesting a bunch of yellow currant tomatoes every single day.

I even harvested the first Thai Pink Egg yesterday. All of our 24 plants are doing pretty well. A few have yellowing leaves here and there, and the tomatoes from one of our Martino’s Roma plants have blossom end rot (none of the others do, even in the same bed), but still, I’ve never had such a successful season. I guess I should knock on some wood.

And, surprisingly, the carrots are still going strong. Succession planting has been our best friend.

Here’s yesterday’s harvest:

All in all, this is our best season yet. Disaster could certainly strike at any minute, but for now, I’ll bask in the glory of our organic gardening endeavors.

 

 

 

Big Things are Growing in our Tiny, Urban Garden

Spring is upon us. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, the trees are nearly filled in with lush, green leaves, and the garden is a-growin’. I’m always so hopeful in April. While I’ve already seen aphids, I’m not yet disappointed. (Click here for how to fight them organically.) Why? Because we’ve got gorgeous things happening:

Kentucky Wonder Bean plants, although tiny, are strong as can be…

Stunning little heirloom crookneck squash babies are beginning…

Heirloom tomato plants, all 23 of them, are green and working their way toward greatness. Some of them aren’t as grand as others, but they’re trying…

I’m even pushing forward with several varieties of heirloom lettuce which is a bit questionable for this time of year in Florida…

The carrots are looking good, the kale appears happy, the basil, sage, and parsley are enjoying the weather, and the onions and garlic should be ready to harvest soon. And what’s more is that we’ve already harvested one cucumber (oddly shaped little guy) and a handful of strawberries!

Unfortunately, the swiss chard looks more like Swiss cheese, but…

I can’t really complain about the minor gardening failures. Perfect is impossible, and I’d never expect as much; gardening is a set of learning experiences, wild experiments, and notes-to-selves.

I will say that, overall, the Spring has been good to us! How is your Spring going, fellow gardeners of the blogosphere? I’d love to hear from you!

Until then, happy sowing, digging, and playing in the dirt,

Jenna

Sowing the Seeds of Love…and Tomatoes.

It’s about that time, my friends. For Floridians (or maybe just overeager ones like yours truly), late January is when a lot of us start sewing seeds indoors. It goes a little something like this: sow, sow, sow, pot up, pot up, pot up, harden off, harden off, harden off, plant in the garden, and pray we don’t get a freakish March frost.

Last year, I went a bit bonkers with purchasing heirloom seeds from Tomatofest. I’m a sucker for the pretty colors and vivid descriptions. And i may be a smidgeon indecisive. For my small garden, I purchased around 15 varieties of determinate and indeterminate tomatoes from tiny to mammoth, Thailand to Arkansas, yellow to black, and tart to sweet. Now I feel compelled to use them all before they expire. I act like it’s a sacrifice, but I’m a square foot gardener who loves a challenge. Spacing? What’s that?

In my favorite seed starting tray and using my favorite seed starting mix, I sowed Chadwick Cherry, Thai Pink Egg, Black Zebra, Arkansas Traveler, Healani, Martino’s Roma, Yellow Ripple Currant, and Hawaiian Currant tomatoes.

Based on my last post entitled “My Tomato Cheers and Jeers of 2013,” I’m betting that the Thai Pink Egg and Healani tomatoes will do well. And if 2012-13 is any indication,  I’ll inevitably fail with the Black Zebras and won’t get a single one. Lousy, stinking, son of a…. I digress.

It’s a new beginning! This is every gardener’s most hopeful, positive Pollyanna-ish moment of the year. I’m feeling good. We’ve got a ton of good compost, lots of Azomite, and we’ve starting using bone meal (which, by the way, is fantastic for lots and lots of big, beautiful blooms). Here’s to a prolific tomato 2014!

Until next time, my fellow gardeners,

Jenna

My Tomato Cheers and Jeers of 2013

Eating the last garden-fresh tomato is bittersweet. It’s sad because it’s the last tomato. I eat it slowly and savor ever single bite. I use it sparingly and thank the heavens my boyfriend hates tomatoes. Eating the last tomato is also a happy time because I know I’m one moment closer to the new season and will get to do it all over again soon. I fantasize about what seeds I’ll start and reflect on the season’s tomato successes and failures. Here’s a summary of my tomato-related pain and joy of 2013:

Miserable Failures:

• Moving a five foot Thai Pink Egg plant that was doing fantastically into a place where it would get more sun is a terrible decision. Dragging a perfectly happy plant to a new location is stupid. The plant was miserable, it turned a sickly yellow-brown and then proceeded to die.
• Hot and cold and hot and cold and so on…. Plants hate this, but it’s out of our control. Things died.
• Too much rain and humidity leads to mildew and oodles of aphids.

Successes:

Thai Pink Egg tomatoes proliferated…

Chadwick Cherry tomatoes were super hearty…

Healani plants, although difficult and fickle, provided me with quite a few delicious tomatoes…

Overall, I can’t really complain. Gardening is a series of events, both wonderful and tragic, which lead to a greater understanding of our environment and how we can live in harmony with it. Gardening organically is challenging; I won’t say it’s not. But it’s worth it, both for our planet and our health. And, besides, it’s a blast, and I can’t think of any better excuse to play in the dirt.

Happy gardening, my friends.

 

Pickled Organic Heirloom Tomatoes

My tomato season is nearing its end in sunny coastal Florida, and I’m finding myself with lots of little tomatoes that just won’t have a chance to ripen. I’m not sad, though, because this Jewish girl knows exactly what to do. Pickled tomatoes with garlic and dill was a staple in my grandparents’ refrigerator as well as in every kosher delicatessen from here to Timbuktu. For me, it’s the no-brainer way to preserve my beautiful heirlooms that had to be plucked before their time.

For this recipe, I used a combination of Thai Pink Egg, Healani, and Chadwick Cherry tomatoes, but you could use whatever variety or varieties you like.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound organic green tomatoes, washed and cut into halves or quarters
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 4 tablespoons kosher salt
• 5  garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tablespoons dried dill (use fresh if you have it on hand)
• 1/2 tablespoon whole black or multi-colored peppercorns

Method:

Make sure to have a spotlessly clean lid and jar. I love to use my mason jars for this, but any good jar will do.

Place the tomatoes in the jar leaving about 1/2 of room at the top.

Put the garlic, dill, and peppercorns in the jar.

Make the brine. Combine vinegar, water, and salt in a non-reactive pot. Bring the contents to a boil and stir until all the salt is dissolved.

Carefully pour the hot brine over the tomatoes being sure to leave room at the top. Wipe the top, put on the lid on and tighten.

Some recipes say to wait just a day or two before the pickled goodies will be ready for eating, but I disagree. I think they need between two and three weeks to achieve pickled perfection. And, of course, I think they’ll taste better if you serve them from a little metal bowl with tongs. It’s the kosher deli way.

Happy noshing, everyone,

Jenna

NOTE: This recipe was partially adapted from a Huffington Post article. I consulted with my pickle-loving family for the adjustments.