Pre-Tomato Time

There's a time each summer when there are tomatoes on the plants but they are sort of a transparent green color with no clue of red showing. There are a couple of bracts on my cherry tomato plants that have been that way for about a week. They keep growing in circumference, but I would like them to just stay cherry-size and color up! Should I pick up those pricey numbers in the store this week, or hold out and make lettuce and onion salads with marinated cucumbers and eschew buying tomatoes starting now?

For that matter, there are lots of prickly cucumbers getting beyond finger-size on the vines planted in my blue plastic all-purpose bucket with rope handles. (Last year I planted melons in this bucket with good success. Spray painted a bit of red and green paint over the bright blue sides and installed plastic lattice around the back . We got maybe ten luscious canteloupes-- and yes it was worth the trouble. Not only were the fruits beyond delicious, but the display they made against the house was elegant. )

I sort of cheated the flower garden this year. My hollyhocks have gradually thinned down to two plants-- and they are not very happy for some reason. I did not break the bank on impatiens this time. Each summer there are more volunteers from last year's garden, so I found impatiens springing forth under the pine trees in later summer. I see that my Bishop's Children (Dahlias) have reproduced themselves and made up for the ones I found and lifted in the fall. It is not enough to store bulbs in our shed for overwintering. Even insulating them with row cover blankets is not enough to keep them hydrated enough in the dry cold of winter. I found a wealth of dessicated dahlias when I hopefully pulled them out in early spring.

One of the things about flower gardens is that if you have enough perennials planted as a sort of skeleton for the annuals to adorn, you still have a garden even if the annuals are sparse. Spirea, Rhodies, Crysanthemums, Heather, Astilbe, Roses, Day Lilies, Stargazers, Glads, Phlox, and happy volunteers from last year are standing tall and happy out there.

So.. should I buy tomatoes today? I guess so-- and some more of that imported pre-corn that is about a 8.5 right now. South Jersey really does deserve bragging rights about their own tomatoes, corn-- oh, and those "leaners" you slurp up in peach season.

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