Happy Monday everyone!
Well, the past week has been full of tomatoes! 18 to be exact! 17 of those were Yellow Taxis and 1 was a Cherokee Purple…an itty bitty Cherokee Purple. While it was quite a pain to carry all those tomato starts in and out of the house for a couple of weeks in April and May, getting a head start (by starting a couple of seeds at the end of January and the beginning of February) has definitely paid off!
While the tomatoes themselves are pretty small (the biggest one weighed in at a whopping 4 ounces), the taste and texture are divine! So much better than anything you can find at the store, no doubt!
This week also brought more chamomile, a few more strawberries, the first beet greens and a little head of broccoli. I think I waited a day too long to harvest the broccoli as it went a little bitter…but it tasted great once I sauteed it and threw it in an omelette 😉 There are still two broccoli plants waiting to be harvested, then we’ll see what they offer in the way of side shoots. The beet greens were given to my brother along with the very last of the kale.
In addition to the last of the kale, we also harvested the last of the regular snap peas. We still have a few tiny dwarf sugar snap peas struggling through the heat under a tree in the front yard, but I pulled the majority of the plants last weekend since the heat has begun turning the peas tough. In their place went some sunflowers, lemon cucumbers, soybeans and chard. It may be a little late for direct sowing, but I figured it was worth a shot and it’s too early for fall crops. My fingers are crossed for a little productivity 😉
Last, but not least, are the final cherries of the year. This was the first year our cherry tree produced anything, but the birds got to most of it before we could. This picture is of the final 5 cherries…beautiful and oh so tasty. The total below is my best guess at what we’ve harvested. These 5 cherries weighed in at 2 ounces and I’m guessing we have gotten about 20 cherries in total over the past couple of weeks, (not weighed, but instead, eaten immediately), hence the 8 ounces below. Next year we will put bird netting over the tree and hope for the best. Stinkin’ birds.
I didn’t get any pictures of the harvested dill, but it was promptly added to some deviled eggs for Father’s Day and created quite a stir around the table. Who knew dill would be so exciting when added to some eggs?
Tool Lady finished installing the drip system in the backyard on Sunday and I couldn’t be happier. Now we begin the process of playing with the timers and figuring out how often we should water and for how long. I will also be playing with the total cost of the system and figuring out how to add that into our totals for 2012 forward. I hope to have all my totals (harvests and $) updated on my sidebar this week.
This weeks totals:
- Beet Greens = 4 oz
- Broccoli = 7 oz
- Chamomile = not weighed
- Cherries = 2 oz
- Cherry Tomatoes = 8 oz
- Dill = not weighed
- Kale = 4 oz
- Peas = 9 oz
- Strawberries = 5 oz
- Tomatoes = 3 lbs
- Eggs = 28 eggs
Hope everyone has a magnificent day!
Happy harvesting!
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Loving the tomatoes, you must be dedicated to carry them in and out of the house in the early days. I’m sure I would have been very neglectful and left them out in the cold at some point.
It was definitely a lot of work, but so worth the effort! It was really just a few plants that got carted in and out each day…6 or 8 I think…so it wasn’t too bad 😉
Ahh, you are harvesting tomatoes already! My plants have barely started to bloom and I still have them under cover to keep them warm… Jealous, big time.
I started my tomatoes very early as part of an experiment…I just might have to do it this way every year, now. It takes a lot of extra work on the front end, but has turned out to be more than worth it 🙂
That is so awesome! Congrats on your harvests. 😉
Thanks, Angela!
Congratulations on your tomatoes and I do love the look of those cherries, you can’t really blame the birds can you?
Thanks, Liz! And, you’re right…with cherries so beautiful and tasty, they’d be fools to *not* gobble them up!
Oh…yum! I can’t wait for tomatoes!
Home grown tomatoes are definitely worth the wait 🙂
Good to hear all your effort has finally produced such tasty tomatoes!!
They look pretty good too……………Enjoy!
Thanks, Andrea!
It’s encouraging to see your tomatoes, something to look forward to. I have a few fruit set on the cherries (Sun Gold and Black Cherry) but it will be August before we see the bigger tomatoes.
Ooohhh…Black Cherry, ha? I’ve never heard of those before…they sound amazing!
Oh wow, tomatoes! We are still a few weeks away from our early tomatoes and at least 6 to 8 weeks away from the bulk of our tomatoes being ready. They look fantastic!!
Thanks! It’s been a real treat having them so early! I was hoping for June tomatoes and I got them 🙂
Those are some pretty tomatoes. I had to be out of town the end of Feb so didn’t get mine started until March. But I’m planning to stay home and start tomatoes in Jan this time!
Ha! It’s so fun playing with start times! This is our first year really starting everything so early…there are still a few kinks to work out, but for the most part it’s been a good experience!
Beautiful harvests. I love the different colored tomatoes. 😀
Thanks, Barbie!
Your tomatoes look gorgeous! Looks like you had a great week in the garden.
Thanks! Yes, definitely a great week in the garden! 🙂
Oh so jealous of those yummy tomatoes. Our weather has been so cool and wet lately that the tomatoes have all stalled out. Early starting of tomatoes really does make a difference. I have found that is the only way I can get a reasonable tomato harvest in with our region’s cool and damp climate.
I know that cool and damp are no good for tomatoes, but I’d happily take some of that right now. It’s so incredibly hot and dry here…It’s quite scary with all the fires, too. Hope it clears up for you soon!
Lovely tomatoes, still waiting for flowers to appear on my tomato plants.
You hens are really producing for you.
Thanks! It’s been quite fun having tomatoes so soon. I do fear we might hit a patch where we’re waiting for tomatoes again in a couple of weeks (I don’t think my timing was perfect with the early starts), but we’ll see.