Reigning Romas

So this morning while I was perusing through the garden with my morning cup of coffee, it struck me how very well everything seems to be doing.  Granted, I've picked and tortured the occasional tomato hornworm, but I really can't complain.  Pest damage has been minimal and the plants are taking full advantage.

I planted two Roma varieties and they are lit with tomatoes.   There's nothing like whipping up a last-minute, fresh tomato-basil sauce to go with your pasta of the day. Very quick and very light.

The peppers are finally coming into form and I'm looking forward to tasting the Anaheims.   That's a new variety for me, so I'll have to consult  the cookbooks to see what else I can use them in besides burgers and chili.  Any suggestions?

The poblanos look great.

"Chili Relleno"

I let one of the oregano plants go to flower and I tried to photograph some bees  while they were working away.  When I transferred the photo to the computer, I noticed another garden helper that I unwittingly captured in the frame.  Do you see him? 

My version of "Where's Waldo?"

BELT sandwich

The tomato harvest is in full swing and even after numerous giveaways, I still have enough to can.  All of the varieties look and taste great with the exception of the Mortgage Lifter.  The tomatoes looked good, but they had a very bland flavor and tasted like a wet nerf ball (or at least what I would expect a wet nerf ball to taste like).  This is my second go around with this variety, so it was off with its head and into the heap.  In my game of baseball you only get TWO strikes.     Mortgage Shortsale is more like it.

Anyway, here's one of the recipes we've been enjoying with the largest of the bunch.  It's an improved  version of the classic BLT and a slight variation of the one Thomas Keller created for the movie Spanglish (my apologies).

Lightly toast 2 pieces of bread, preferably sourdough.  Spread mayo on one side and add lettuce.  Fry one egg over medium in some butter and add cracked pepper.  Slide onto the lettuce.

Add a THICK slice of an heirloom tomato such as Brandywine.

Add three or four slices of fresh bacon and close.

And there it is!    The picture doesn't seem to do it justice, but this sandwich is amazing. 

$10 tomato

There's nothing quite like the payoff.  With the price of heirloom tomatoes going for $5.99 a pound in the local market, I was thrilled to see several giants appear on my new favorite tomato plant:  Brandy Boy. 

So here's what a $10 tomato looks like.  The first picture is what it looked liked on the vine next to several others of equal or larger size.   The second picture is what it looked like perched on a 4x4 fence post.  That one plant has produced numerous giants already, and there's lots more to come. 

Garden update

It's been awhile- again.   Lots of changes in the garden now that the weather has warmed and the tomatoes have set.    I've added a Bearss Lime to the lineup and will try growing it in a pot this time.  The citrus I've grown in the past never gave me any fruit  and I think it had something to do with overwatering.  Well, let's try it in a pot and see what happens.  I planted it in a cactus mix, which seems to drain better and keep the roots drier.  Maybe that's the trick?

I upped the time on my drip system to 90 minutes at three days a week.  Seems to have made a huge difference now that summer has finally arrived.  The tomatoes all look great and I have begun harvesting the SunGold. Should be a couple of weeks before the big ones are ready.    The peppers are running a little behind, but I think was from the watering issue.  They look much happier in the last week.  Zucchini looks strong and the cucumbers are putting on some growth.

Lime tree

Looking like a jungle

Early Wonder tomatoes

Mortgage Lifter and Brandy Boy

Brandy Boy tomatoes

Blue Lake bush beans

I  took the twins up to June Lake  during my vacation and we had a blast.

The Fishermen

June Lake

Stevia

Tonight it was off to the local big-box store to take advantage of the 2x20lb pack of Kingsford charcoal  for $7.97.  That's a great price and even though I have enough charcoal to host my own version of Burning Man, I couldn't pass it up.  No trip to the Depot would be complete without making a pit stop in the garden center.  You know how some people can't walk through the local animal shelter without taking home the whole lot, I'm the same way in the garden center.

Successful in my restraint, I only came home with three plants:  Lemon cucumber, Santa Fe Grande pepper and the herb Stevia.  I've never seen or heard of it until this week when it was mentioned on two separate podcasts (I couldn't survive my 90 minute commute to LA without that iPod). So there it was, sitting on the shelf. 

The leaves of this plant are reportedly 10 times sweeter than cane sugar.  When I got home, I tore off a leaf and started chewing.  Guess what it tasted like - yup, sugar.   Now I have to figure out where it's gonna live this summer.  I'm thinking it can be added to fresh tea and probably a cocktail or two.  I also read that the aphids can't stand it, so maybe I'll put it next to the cucumbers.

By the way, what to do with all that charcoal?

The new addition to the family

Collector

My Labrador Maxie is a pooping machine.  Twice, sometimes three times a day, the world truly is her dumping ground.  Funny thing is, she sees us picking up the poop everyday and I know what she's thinking:  "Look, they must really like my poop since they collect it all the time.  I love them so much, I'll just keeping making more!"   Lucky for her she's such a great dog.   Why am I writing about poop? 
You guessed it:  worms.   That's what I'm after with those things, so I figured I'd give you a quick update.

The worms seem to be doing nicely and I'm learning what they prefer (cantaloupe) and what they're not too crazy about (potato peels).   I've been real careful not to overfeed them - an all-too-common mistake for the newbie.   I am having an issue with some of the worms who like to wander off into the bottom collection tray. It's just a few of them  (maybe the same ones) and since the hundreds of others stay in the top tray I'm not too concerned.  I don't know why these rogue wanderers like to slither off into the abyss since there really isn't anything there for them to eat except a few small patches of castings.  Maybe they're just tired of the obnoxious giant who roots around  the top tray with the plastic rake checking on their status.  I can almost hear a collective moan every time I take the lid off,  "Uggh,   he's back again."   I can't help it!

Worm castings - garden caviar

Top tray progress.  The black things are banana peels.

I did manage to collect a small amount of the fresh castings and scratched them into the dirt around an eggplant and one of my zucchini plants.  I'm interested to see how this "soil inoculation" experiment  works with those plants as opposed to the non-inoculated.

Lots goin' on in the garden - too much for one post, so I'll put up some pictures.  Busy time of the year  with my oldest graduating, baseball playoffs with another, and band performances with the third.  Good times!

Black Beauty eggplant

Tomatoes

 

Garlic

 

Tomatoes on the left, bush beans in the middle and carrots on the right

I used all of the compost from the pile I started last year and now have a new one cooking on the side of the house.  Last week, I threw one of the tomato starts which was still in a red cup and looked nearly dead into the pile.  Apparently, it still had some fight left and has come back strong in the compost pile.  Maybe I'll let it be and see what happens.

Mojito

It was sunny and 90 degrees today, perfect weather to do a little work in the garden and sip cocktails on the patio with the wife on her birthday.  With a pot full of fresh mint nearby, the mojito was a no-brainer.

Here's what I made:

MOJITO

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon  superfine sugar
5 mint leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish
crushed ice
2 ounces white rum
1 ounce club soda

Put lime juice and sugar in a highball glass and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the mint leaves and muddle them with a stick.  Fill the glass with ice, add the rum and soda, and stir gently.  Garnish  with the mint sprig.

 

 Happy Birthday,  Babe!