Green Tomato Love

We planted the seedz in March, and began the Green Tomato Harvest before the first hard frost. This year has been a particularly unique one for our garden. It flourished in spite of negligence, drought and smoke, I thank Ruth’s spirit for that.

The seeds were planted before a magical trip to Amsterdam, that I still plan to expand on in the dead of winter. I chose Triple Divide Organic Seeds – local, tomatoes, yes! This was the garden in April when we left. The tiny greenhouses were kickin’ out the early jams. It was my first year planting starts (indoors), I learned a LOT!  *a ginormous thank you to Ron and Martha for such a generous gift xo*

After we shoved seeds into the dirt, at warp speed, we left the babies for 14 days. Some grew, many didn’t. I transferred them to my straw “yarden” in June, before leaving for Greece, for 14 more days (‘dead of winter’ post coming about this trip too). Some grew, many didn’t. I guess I didn’t need them all to grow.

I didn’t want to leave out our cucumbers and potato babies.

Our cucumbers didn’t let us down! I canned more than 2 dozen quarts of pickles. Gus was eating cucumbers the size of his arm all summer, and into this fall. We yielded piles of onions and many varieties of peppers as well. Other things that grow well in the straw, that aren’t pictured: celery (it prefers crisp air), arugula, squash (all varieties), brussel sprouts, & strawberries. I’m going to plant garlic before the snow flies, so I’ll keep you posted.

 

The first hard frost happened the day after returning from yet another trip (to the Midwest), and I spent hours in the chilled rain picking greenies to fill my garage, and later our mouths. They will ripen, they just need a bit more time.

I’m overwhelmed, each year, by how many tomatoes I end up with. I give them away, I can can can can can, for days and days. They turn red much faster than I’d like them to, sometimes. I’m grateful for the sauce, we eat it all year. Mmm, homegrown tomato sauce.

Did I mention we also have an apple tree? It makes whimsical bird-shaped worm holes. Fall is busy around here. I left on yet another trip, to Texas, for a week, so my tiny farm had plenty of time to fly solo this year. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, just in time to start prepping for pop-up shops (with favorites), fleas and MADE Fairs that Coming Up Rainbows will be participating in. Sewing, knitting, concocting pit sticks, balms, salves and rainbow rollers will quickly replace the canning madness.

Don’t worry we still had time for a quick fish rescue, before Grandma and Grandpa’s waterfall froze over. And, time to sneak away to magical Montana places, always make time for that.