Tomato woe

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 4:22 pm

I meant to get my tomatoes in, I really did. I started them from hopeful little seed, babied them on every spare windowsill as they grew, fertilized them loyally, turned them and pinched back and rotated the trays. I prepared their new homes with great care, padded with bunny-poo mulch, amended with just the right amount of fluffy perlite, and removed every invading weed from site. And they grew large and lush. But, like other gardens in my area, they were late to put on their crop of wonderful fruit. It seemed quite happy to remain varied viridian hues. So I put them out of my mind; let the rain water them, I thought, I will tend to other things and stop making myself mad checking for signs of red.
So off I went on another hike through the forest with DH and DS. Last winter's storms had washed out a footbridge and apparently the economic difficulties around here didn't allow for a rebuild. My industrious DH found a log to jockey across the icy stream, and I got to use my new/refurbished trekking poles (given to me by a friend after my Ellinor hike) to balance my way across from log to rocky island to another log and finally to the steep slope- only one wet pantleg and foot! Later, in a fog-enclosed clearing, DS discovered a most amazing echo. I think we must have been between hilltops, but couldn't see-for the sake of my son, I resisted the temptation to yodel. It was a great hike until the gunfire started and we, shouting "I am not an animal, I am a human being!" ran the last few hundred yards to the pickup. I guess hiking in the fog without orange vests in October isn't the wisest thing to do, but still...
I digress. The tomatoes. So I was settled in with my tea and fuzzy slipper-socks to watch the last bit of late-evening news. In concerned but cheerful tones the weather lady pointed to a map that showed our area getting as low as 27F. It was all good until she slipped in, no kidding, "better get your tomatoes in". I mean, !!!!!!. So on with the slippers, out with the flashlight, and with my VERY longsuffering DH in tow with a paper bag we headed to the garden to gather up all the green tomatoes we could, finally settling on only the ones with a faint blush to them. Not easy to spot by flashlight beam. They are now tucked in their paper bag under my kitchen sink. I'll check them every few days and hopefully I'll have tomato sandwiches, cacciatore with big chunks of tomato, and tomato-filled chili for my wonderful and very patient family by the end of the month.

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Droopy wrote on Sat Oct 11, 2008 4:27 pm:

*lol* Sorry. I'm glad you managed to save your tomatoes, CP, well done!

gardengater wrote on Sat Oct 11, 2008 5:03 pm:

Glad you managed to save the tomato. they seem to have been late fruiting here too.
We are headed to those wooded trails ourselves this weekend
GG

petunia wrote on Sat Oct 11, 2008 5:05 pm:

C.P. too bad you couldn't have found out ahead of time. You could have taken the whole tomatoe vine and all out of the ground and hung them upside down. This would have let the green toms finish riping. This was an experament that we tried and it worked for us.

glendann wrote on Sat Oct 11, 2008 5:30 pm:

CP you are so active . I know you will get some ripe tomatoes soon.It it was me I would be having fried Green tomatoes.

Sjoerd wrote on Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:54 pm:

Glad you managed to save your toms, but sudden wasn't it? What timing that weather person had.
Your man deserves a medal for accompanying you on such short notice...ha ha ha. Good man.

Ok then. Good luck with ripening them now. keep us posted.