End of the Garden

The end of the garden is always a poignant time of year. So much to do to get everything harvested, preserved and the garden cleaned up. The sun isn't as bright, the wind is cool and crisp and the leaves are dropping. Oddly, it is my favorite time of the year. I love the muted colors and diffused light and there's something about the preparation for the winter that makes these last warm, sunny days so special. So some final notes...

These are examples of the five tomatoes I grew this year, from left to right - San Marzano, German Queen, Green Zebra and in front the yellow pear and a red grape tomato that reseeded from last year. I belong to a CSA and always have plenty of fresh, organic tomatoes during the season but I like growing some of the heirlooms.

I was disappointed in the San Marzano. It was my first year growing it and they were slow, not very prolific and I didn't particularly like the taste. The German Queen on the other hand was absolutely delicious and while there were only half a dozen or so of them, they were large and tasty. The Green Zebra tomatoes just didn't stop coming, there were so many of them that I almost got tired of them. They are juicy and delicious, but enough is enough! My favorite of the season though were the yellow pears. I would just eat them right off the plant while weeding they were so delicious.

As I pulled out the plants and took the remaining tomatoes off, they all got cut up and put on a tray to slow dry in the oven. With a little olive oil, basil and garlic, this made a wonderful pasta topping for dinner that night.

The other thing that got pulled out of the garden as the nights are getting cold was all the basil. The red basil was used to make red basil vinegar as seen above. I love the color of this vinegar when it is done, and the flavor is fantastic.

Some of the rest of the basil was put in ice cube trays to freeze. I love having these cubes on hand throughout the winter for soups, sauces, or whatever I'm making.

All the tender perennials have been potted up for their winter stay inside. The scented geraniums have been cut back and potted, the lemon verbena leaves are in the dehydrator and the fruit sages are enjoying their last days out in the sun.

There's still time for more harvesting and plenty of garden cleanup left to do, but I better hurry!

Colors of Fall - Red

Red is my favorite color, and the garden is filled with it right now. Starting with my finally red tomatoes! I was pulling out my green tomato recipes thinking that I would never see this color but here they are, ripening daily now. At last!


The scarlet sage is blooming happily. I usually grow Autumn Sage, which also has a nice red flower, but couldn't find it in the greenhouses this year. May need to try it from seed next year, I do miss it.
And of all the glorious chard colors, I love the red. Started from seed this year, the plant is very happy and ready to eat but I love looking at it in the garden.

The woods are ablaze in red as well. The jack-in-the-pulpit berries are brilliant, and the false solomon seal berries complement them. And yes, that is the monster poison ivy all around them, it was very aggressive this year.

And purple basil. Although not technically red, it makes a beautiful red vinegar. It's past time to make it, I better get this picked and bottled.

August Bloom Day

The boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum ) was late and during the Spring I searched for it, wondering if it would come back..and here it is in full bloom towering over the fence. It was planted last year, and the pictures from last summer show how much this has grown from year to year. A Native American remedy for colds and flus, it is thought to stimulate the immune system. To the right is catmint (Nepeta faassenii) flowering, going quite wild.

The San Marzano tomatoes. This plant was not very happy a few weeks ago so I am glad to see it perked up and is bearing some fruit.

My potato crop. Small, but fun. I planted a red, white and blue mix and all 3 colors grew. This was my first year growing potatoes and I need to find out a little more about growing them to see how I can increase the size.

The turtlehead (Chelone spp?) is just starting to bloom. I love these and they bloom at the perfect time when many other things have finished.

Garlic chives, which bloom in summer, have just opened up. In the background is a veriegated oregano gone wild, and the marigolds trying to make their way through.

The marigolds were very happy this year, planted around the tomatoes. Behind them is a very happy lemon thyme.

I love second blooms. This is a shrub rose tucked on a slope that isn't very visible, and I noticed it was reblooming.

And the final day lilies. I have a large collection of all kinds of day lilies around our pool, and they have been blooming profusely for a month or more. But these are the last ones and they are true beauties.

Heirloom Tomatoes

There is a lot written about heirloom tomatoes but it is also a topic I get a lot of questions from at the store. This is a reprint of an article I had in last year's store newsletter that I thought would be good to repeat on the blog, as well as give it a place to stay for reference.

There are some varying descriptions of the term heirloom as it applies to plants, but generally speaking it means a variety that is over 50 years old (although some people say they should be over 100 years old) and is open-pollinated, which means the seeds can be saved and the resulting plant will be the same as the parent (as opposed to hybrids where there are different parents and the seeds do not "breed true"). So why does this matter? As Lawrence Davis-Holler explains in his book The Tomato Festival Cookbook, the hybridization after World War II to develop tomatoes that could be picked early and shipped to grocery stores without bruising (thus thicker skins) came at a cost of flavor.

The interest in heirloom tomatoes became more focused with the creation of Seed Savers Exchange in 1975 and over the years farmers have been growing more heirlooms and selling them at farmers markets and restaurants.

And you can grow your own and I would suggest you put in at least a few heirlooms with your other tomatoes, if not just grow heirlooms. Heirloom tomatoes come in almost every size and shape imaginable and that is one of the fun things about growing them. Brandywine can grow up to several pounds and is considered by many to be the best tasting tomato. Colors of heirloom tomatoes can vary from red and pink to black, purple, yellow and green. I love Striped Zebra (green with stripes) and Cherokee Purple and other great named ones are Black Prince, Great White (which is actually yellow) and Striped Cavern to name a few. Many of the heirloom tomatoes have great stories, and whole articles can be written on any one of them, making them even more interesting to grow.

Green Striped Zebra

Do you have a favorite heirloom? Post your favorite here.