We grew an interesting variety of tomato this year. The thing is, I didn't know I had that variety in my garden.

I had purchased tomato plants in the spring - a few beefsteaks, a few smaller red slicing tomatoes, one large yellow and four cherry tomatoes.

It turns out that one of the cherry tomatoes was not that at all. It grew small, yellow, pear-shaped tomatoes. I'd never seen any like
them before and was quite surprised when they showed up.

Watched "The Botany of Desire" on PBS tonite... WOW... Excellent show. Really talked how DIVERSITY, not monoculture is the way we should be heading.

Harvested more green beans yesterday and today. A few pumpkins are forming. (Too late for Halloween, but maybe in time for Thanksgiving pie.) Brought in two more lemons. The thyme is going nuts. Brought in a few more pecans too. A few of the ca. dozen or so satsuma tangerines are turning orange. One last strawberry is getting bigger. A few tomatoes are almost done. And more...

Yea, that was a good show! did they say 6,000 varieties of potato once grew in Peru?

Really makes me want to try harder at growing and saving seed just for the sake of keeping the lines going.

Something like that.. I know they still grow a bunch of different kinds. I've got to read Pollans book now (same name)... The part showing all those apple trees in Kazakhstan was really neat.

Been eating some Celeriac... weird veggie. Almost like a potato but tastes like celery. I just used it in some soup i made. Think i'll stick to growing celery...

Broccoli is forming a head, but not sure how big it will get. I'm still seeing those cabbage worms (green things) and squishing them. If i grow fall broccoli next year i'm putting netting over it until it really gets cold, because those white moths or whatever that laid all the eggs really put my plants behind.

Today I harvested two more lemons, one strawberry, and a few more green beans (with more on the way). The 10-day forecast still indicates no freeze yet. One pumpkin is just a little smaller than a bowling ball and most of the 10 satsuma fruits are nearly all orange now. A few small tomatoes are turning yellow.

About a dozen bell peppers are about ready to bring in and a few more carrots. A few dozen carrot sprouts are getting bigger. The brocolli are forming a few small spears, but not heads...

I'm going to bring the potato sprouts into the greenhouse this weekend.

The six potted pineapple plants are doing fine in the house next to the big window in the living room. One pineapple plant is over a meter tall now. Tall enough for Christmas decorations!

Really interesting book. I haven't seen the show.

I have been digging sweet potatoes by the bushel the last few evenings.

The 2 of us couldn't eat them all but it is almost surprising how younger people just won't take them.

Enlarged the garden today The backyard is slowly disappearing. Only gained maybe 75 sq ft or so, but better then nothing. I had a bunch of compost/yard waste/wood chips to get rid of so i thought why not extend the bed (Its basically a big square raised about 6 inches above the "regular" soil (using 2x8s). My plan tomorrow or Sunday is to move 5 blueberry plants. They are pretty much dormant so i think i should be ok. They are WAY too close to the blackberry (which grow insanely fast and everywhere..beware!). Also have ends of the blackberry vines that have rooted other areas of the garden which i'm digging up and potting. Propagation at its easiest!

Raspberries are done. October just too wet and cloudy for a decent crop.

Still have carrots, broccoli and cabbage. The broccoli head is really looking nice. I'll let it go a few more weeks.

Next year i'm moving my operation under plastic. I've done a ton of reading, and the yields, pests, disease, growing season all seem better under plastic. From the sounds of it you can expect tomatoes at least 3 weeks earlier then outside, and you'll have more/better looking fruit. I also plan on putting the cherry trees under plastic because they'll split like crazy in my climate.

Nice car...

Mutant strawberry:



It's growing ears...

A fall harvest of a few strawberries is new to me. They didn't do this last year.

Planted more garlic today.

Edited to add a silly picture as a smiley:

It could be an 'everbearing' strawberry... those will usually crop (although smaller) in the fall (along with a bigger one in the spring).. I'm tempted to get some of those plants because i'd rather have less at different times of the year then more all at one time.

Next year after we pick the strawberries i plan on ripping all the plants out and redoing the bed...possibly even moving it somewhere else...

Well...i enlarged the garden AGAIN... I moved a heck of a lot of soil around to fill in the garden bed extension. I plan on using the area i took the soil from for blueberries (so its needs to be amended with peat/sulfur/woodchips)... The soil i moved had a lot of woodchips mixed into it (just from last spring) and they were broken down almost completely ...lots of white strands of mycelium? i think... i have to make another woodchip run. This increased space will allow me to increase my tomato plantings next year. The soil i've built in the backyard is very nice stuff. Good smell, nice and rich and lite.... Should check the pH to seem what that is like (my guess is its pretty acidic)...

A string of gorgeous weather up here...some 60's and even a 70F...the past 4 days.

I bought some swiss chard seeds two days ago. Soon will be my first attempt at growing this veggie.

Meanwhile, I'm eating some more hg green beans now almost as fast as harvesting them. Ate a can's equilvalent harvested this last week tonight:



Still no frost in the 10-day extended forecast. The first freeze of the season is not far away though...

Still lots of blossoms and smaller beans on the way.

I may still get one big hg pumpkin for the upcoming holiday pies. One pumpkin is now larger than a bowling ball.

While i'm not a fan of the current administration, i see Michelle Obama is on "Sesame Street" right now planting seeds in a garden, so we do agree on that!

More garden work the past few days... Got a load of woodchips yesterday... I really wish i would've protected my broccolis better back in Aug/Sept...i think i'd have some big massive heads right now, instead of small ones... I think i'll do broccoli again next fall but under plastic.

Yes, the strawberry shown above is an everbearing variety I bought this last spring. "Quinault", according to the tag still in the pot. It produced some berries earlier this year too.

I got this plant confused with the ones I bought in 2008.