The Big Surprise

Everything must come to an end. The tomato plants are turning brown...the tall dill plant is bent over...the flowers have lost their petals...the out of reach apricots are falling...it is time to pull up all that has turned brown and is drooping.

As I started weeding through the dying tomato forest in the front garden box, I noticed a few forgotten plants that had been, until now, swallowed by the tall tomatoes. It was the potatoes. Darn.

As I grasped the dead potato plant and pulled, there was a little resistance. I pulled harder. Weird. Pulling even harder, the plant finally gave up and came out of the ground. And then, I could hardly believe my eyes. Attached to the end of a very brown stalk was three small red potatoes.

I looked into the hole and found a couple more potatoes. Sensing a little hope, I plunged my hand into the 12"x12" square only to feel a TON of potatoes.

I dug with my fingers in that box and the one next to it. When I was sure there were no more potatoes to be found, I went inside and weighed my harvest. The scale told me I had almost 4 lbs of baby red and small yellow potatoes.

Needless to say...they didn't last long. I roasted them in olive oil and garlic. Mmmmmm.

Seattle Tomato Saga

Seattle is not known for tomatoes.

Our summers are mild and wet with little or no humidity. When planning the tomato section of the garden, smaller tomato varieties were chosen, but a few bigger varities were thrown in to see how well they would actually grow. To refresh your memory, here are the seedlings:

This is only part of the successful seedlings. Several were given away.

And then came the Wall-O-Water, or Aqua Shields. Their purpose was to insulate the plant against any cooler weather Seattle might experience AND trick the plant into thinking it was getting more sunlight.

In May and June, the Aqua Shields were great.

By mid June, I thought that I would have a few tomatoes to enjoy. But, I also knew that they still would not taste the same as those I had grown up eating in Indiana. Seattle just did not have the hot temperatures or humidity to produce the rich tomatoes.

But...here is where the story takes an almost Twilght Zone Twist...

This is the front yard area in at the end of June.

(Notice the height of all the plants based on the trellis)

After weeks of abnormally high heat and humidity,

(temperatures in the upper 90's and as high as 104),

the front yard area looks like this:

It was an amazing transformation and hopefully not one to be repeated next summer. Seattle has never known heat like that. As the tomatoes are ripening, I'm wondering...

will it taste more like an Indiana tomato?

Got Carrots?

Checkin' in with the carrots

Whenever visitors come to the house, I give a tour of the garden sections of the yard. At the end of the "tour", I always pick a carrot and give it to the visitors.

It's really a way for me to check on the growth of the carrots, but let's keep that a secret! :D

Here are the carrots today:

I really think these are the small carrots.

But I'll wait a little longer before harvesting.

The Emerald City

Wow. If Seattle wasn't green enough already...

Tomatoes Take Over the World

Romaine & Green Leaf

Tallest Dill Plant EVER

My Favorite: Basil

Sweet, Sweet Peas

Swiss Chard

Snapshots of How It's Growin'

Overview

Elijah's Carrots

Cabbage


Salad Lettuce (looks like lunch for tomorrow!)


Green Beans

Peas Appease

Well friends, I am not going to be harvesting any broccoli.

No raw broccoli for my three year old (he doesn't understand what happened, but neither does anyone).
No fresh cream of broccoli soup.
No broccoli for my freezer.
The plants are large and healthy, but no stalks are growing. Nada. Nothing. Just leaves, leaves, and more new leaves in the center of every single plant!

I do want to show off my whopper broccoli, though (it almost covers a 4 square foot area). Here is one of nine gigantic leafed plants that's going in the composter tomorrow...



However, the peas are a-coming, and so it makes me forget my broccoli woes (momentarily). Very soon I will be popping fresh sugar snaps in my mouth. Maybe my three year old can be appeased with peas.