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| From A Tomato Grows in Brooklyn? |
Monday, April 27, 2009
Paris Tomato
We were in Paris in mid-march for a short vacation. It was a bit rainy and cold, but the produce and the markets were already amazing. Our favorite was the Place d'Aligre market, which had a permanent area and booths of produce, fish, flowers for many blocks surrounding.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The One that Got Away
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| From The Escapee |
A few weeks ago, I decided to pick our prize tomato. The Rutgers plant was our most productive and this specific fruit was the biggest of the bunch. It was shaped like a hachiya persimmon and I knew that it would be delicious.
I placed the tomato in a plastic bucket and turned my back for 30 seconds when a gust of wind blew the bucket over our ledge onto a secondary roof about 10 feet below.
I considered jumping down to retrieve the tomato, but was unable to track down a grappling hook or a ladder. Sarrita convinced me that I should just "let it go" and we left the tomato to the elements. In hindsight, I think she was already starting to hate tomatoes, even back then.
Perhaps the Superhero Supply Store would've had the proper equipment to stage a rescue of the wayward son.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday Bounty
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| From A Tomato Grows in Brooklyn? |
There was another weekend storm coming to the NYC area on Friday so I picked as much fruit off our plants as I could. Our tomato crop has had very thin skins on the fruits, so over-watering / skin breakage has been a significant problem. Also, our staking setup seems to be at the upper limits of its capacity, so I was concerned that the weather would bully the plants around.
Friday was our most bountiful harvest date yet!
The September 26, 2008 crop yield:
- Rutgers: 3
- Large red cherry: 6
- Sweet 100: 21
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Is Fall Here?
The days seem a lot shorter and the weather has cooled down in the last two weeks. Normally, I would be rejoicing the lower humidity and milder temperatures, but our babies need sun! We got a late start on our planting so that is also a concern.
The tomato plants have definitely slowed down their growth and the tomatoes seem to have slowed in getting bigger.
Another thing that we noticed is that the tomatoes aren't getting that big and tend to have thin skins; a number of the fruits have split. Reading up on the Sweet 100s, seems like thin skins is a characteristic of that variety, but we are also concerned about over-watering.
The tomato plants have definitely slowed down their growth and the tomatoes seem to have slowed in getting bigger.
Another thing that we noticed is that the tomatoes aren't getting that big and tend to have thin skins; a number of the fruits have split. Reading up on the Sweet 100s, seems like thin skins is a characteristic of that variety, but we are also concerned about over-watering.
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| Tomato Burst? |
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
You're the Inspiration
(note: I had originally started this article back in July and am now catching up on finishing up some unpublished posts)
I tried growing tomatoes last year in San Francisco, with a tiny bit of success. I hadn't really thought of growing tomatoes again this year, but a few things added up and here we are.
A bit more about my inspiration:
Da Heat
One huge and obvious difference between San Francisco and New York is the summer weather, which I was introduced to during the early June heat wave in New York (what happened to spring this year?!).
Lots of people, especially tourists, come to San Francisco, thinking California equals sunshine and are greeted by the fog and cool nights. The weather in San Francisco tends to be cool year round with foggy days rivaling the sunny ones in the summer, especially July. I actually love the weather in San Francisco, "scarf weather all year round", but it isn't very conducive to growing tomatoes, which need a lot of sun.
The summer weather in New York is actually a bit too hot (and humid too) for perfect tomato growing weather, but with all this sun, I see many tomatoes in my future.
The Old Man
Last year, when I was growing my single tomato plant, I had pretty much killed anything that I had tried to grow in my life, so I made the decision to grow the tomato plant "by any means necessary", which to me meant plant food and fertilizer. I was looking for low maintenance and the time release fertilizer stakes that I had purchased were not organic.
My dear old dad was visiting and when I showed him my plants, he asked me whether the tomatoes were organic. Emotions swirling. Did my dad just call me out for not growing organic? Proud, the old guy knows about organic produce! You can teach a dog new tricks. Now if only we could teach him not to vote for party that lies and misleads in the upcoming presidential election.
Any how after feeling that shame, I'm going organic this year!
Tomatoes by Evan + Renee
I finally got around to visiting my friends Evan and Renee at their new house in Los Altos around the beginning of July, 2007. The had moved into a fixer-upper house with a completely run down front yard, so they decided to put their vegetable garden in the front yard.
I was kind of flabbergasted. What if someone just started stealing all of your vegetables? What about dogs and cats running wild and through your garden?
I guess I was inspired by two things:
Now if only Cal could have the passion to get to the Rose Bowl and do it! (passion there, but not yet to Rose Bowl).
You can also do it the easy way if you don't have the time: A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss (NYTimes). I love San Francisco, but it sometimes makes me nosh.
Epitaph for a Peach
This beautifully written book was my first introduction to the concepts of organic and sustainable farming and has had a lasting impression on me. I read the book nearly 10 years ago in the long (and still) running "Brian + Linda Bookclub" and it seems even more relevant today with the localvore and Slow Food movements.
Growing up in California, I've always been spoiled by having good, fresh produce available, but it wasn't until I read Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Masumoto that I realized that our collective choices have a significant impact on our world and how we eat and live.
I've had the pleasure of buying the Suncrest peaches featured in the book have been available at Berkeley Bowl (best market in the world) and they truly are amazing.
... and yes, I have romantic notions of farming potted tomatoes for a living.
I tried growing tomatoes last year in San Francisco, with a tiny bit of success. I hadn't really thought of growing tomatoes again this year, but a few things added up and here we are.
A bit more about my inspiration:
Da Heat
One huge and obvious difference between San Francisco and New York is the summer weather, which I was introduced to during the early June heat wave in New York (what happened to spring this year?!).
Lots of people, especially tourists, come to San Francisco, thinking California equals sunshine and are greeted by the fog and cool nights. The weather in San Francisco tends to be cool year round with foggy days rivaling the sunny ones in the summer, especially July. I actually love the weather in San Francisco, "scarf weather all year round", but it isn't very conducive to growing tomatoes, which need a lot of sun.
The summer weather in New York is actually a bit too hot (and humid too) for perfect tomato growing weather, but with all this sun, I see many tomatoes in my future.
The Old Man
Last year, when I was growing my single tomato plant, I had pretty much killed anything that I had tried to grow in my life, so I made the decision to grow the tomato plant "by any means necessary", which to me meant plant food and fertilizer. I was looking for low maintenance and the time release fertilizer stakes that I had purchased were not organic.
My dear old dad was visiting and when I showed him my plants, he asked me whether the tomatoes were organic. Emotions swirling. Did my dad just call me out for not growing organic? Proud, the old guy knows about organic produce! You can teach a dog new tricks. Now if only we could teach him not to vote for party that lies and misleads in the upcoming presidential election.
Any how after feeling that shame, I'm going organic this year!
Tomatoes by Evan + Renee
I finally got around to visiting my friends Evan and Renee at their new house in Los Altos around the beginning of July, 2007. The had moved into a fixer-upper house with a completely run down front yard, so they decided to put their vegetable garden in the front yard.
I was kind of flabbergasted. What if someone just started stealing all of your vegetables? What about dogs and cats running wild and through your garden?
I guess I was inspired by two things:
- Space - they rolled with the punches and put their garden where they could. Obviously, I'm going to have to grow our tomatoes in pots, but we have a huge terrace and lots of sun.
- Hard work - Renee had the raised garden boxes put into the yard and they had obviously read up on what they needed to do to have a successful garden and prepared for that.
Now if only Cal could have the passion to get to the Rose Bowl and do it! (passion there, but not yet to Rose Bowl).
You can also do it the easy way if you don't have the time: A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss (NYTimes). I love San Francisco, but it sometimes makes me nosh.
Epitaph for a Peach
This beautifully written book was my first introduction to the concepts of organic and sustainable farming and has had a lasting impression on me. I read the book nearly 10 years ago in the long (and still) running "Brian + Linda Bookclub" and it seems even more relevant today with the localvore and Slow Food movements.
Growing up in California, I've always been spoiled by having good, fresh produce available, but it wasn't until I read Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Masumoto that I realized that our collective choices have a significant impact on our world and how we eat and live.
I've had the pleasure of buying the Suncrest peaches featured in the book have been available at Berkeley Bowl (best market in the world) and they truly are amazing.
... and yes, I have romantic notions of farming potted tomatoes for a living.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Tropical Storm a Comin'
We were going to go up to Montauk today to hang out with my sister's family, but a huge storm is coming into the New York area. Supposedly 5 inches of rain, with crazy winds are supposed to fall in NYC.
We'll that storm has arrived and it is dumping rain right now!
We brought most of the tomato plants inside, with the exception of the Striped Germans. We had originally brought that plant inside too, but there were a lot of bugs in that pot (eek! a spider), which didn't sit too well with the lovely Sarrita, so out it went again (though not with a tantrum by me. i hate doing more work).
We created a little alcove in the corner of our terrace to shield the plant from the elements by draping a garbage bag over the top of the plant and putting a table in front of it to block the wind.
During the initial downpour, the garbage bag tarp wasn't attached to the center support, so it collapsed in on itself, so I ran out into the rain and used one of the large binder clips to tent the tarp so that the water would run off.
We've lost one flower far, but I guess we should've been pinching off those flowers anyways on the SG, since there are some tomato clusters that are collapsing under their own weight on that plant.
We'll that storm has arrived and it is dumping rain right now!
We brought most of the tomato plants inside, with the exception of the Striped Germans. We had originally brought that plant inside too, but there were a lot of bugs in that pot (eek! a spider), which didn't sit too well with the lovely Sarrita, so out it went again (though not with a tantrum by me. i hate doing more work).
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| Batten down the hatches! |
We created a little alcove in the corner of our terrace to shield the plant from the elements by draping a garbage bag over the top of the plant and putting a table in front of it to block the wind.
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| Tomato Fort |
During the initial downpour, the garbage bag tarp wasn't attached to the center support, so it collapsed in on itself, so I ran out into the rain and used one of the large binder clips to tent the tarp so that the water would run off.
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| The Mighty Binder Clip |
We've lost one flower far, but I guess we should've been pinching off those flowers anyways on the SG, since there are some tomato clusters that are collapsing under their own weight on that plant.
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Tomato Street Players: Striped German
photo source: http://www.johnnyseeds.com
Description from http://www.johnnyseeds.com:
Bicolor red and yellow fruit.
The flat, medium to large, variably ribbed-shoulder tomatoes are shaded yellow and red. The marbled interior looks beautiful sliced. Complex, fruity flavor and smooth texture. Medium-tall vines. Indeterminate.
Days to Maturity or Bloom: 78 days.
Tomatoburg says:
Where purchased: Sprout Home, Brooklyn
Apparently, these tomatoes can grow up to a pound. A nice blog entry is here: Rickrack Rag Striped German post.
I love the color! Hopefully we'll be able to grow 'em 1 pounders.
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