My last garden post was in June! Oh my! But I’m glad to report that the growing season was in fact a success. This first week of December, I’ve finally decided the green tomatoes on the vines are not going to ripen. I brought my potted peppers indoors over a month ago and they are still producing delicious sweet peppers. They are in the sun-room with a little heater on to keep the temperature above 50F. No basements this time. We will see if I can keep them alive for an early start on next year’s vegetable garden but I will be sure to plant new seeds just in case.
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| End of Season Garden |
In terms of failures, the courgette in the pot shriveled out after about five fruits. I don’t know why. Since it was delicious, I will try again next year…in yet another container. My dinosaur kale was attacked by some beast that did not allow me to enjoy the fruit of my labour. I will try again next year. My pineapple tomato never gave me fruit. It didn’t even flower. Shocking! I may have planted it too late and in too marshy a soil. Time will tell if I plant it again. I do want to know what a pineapple tomato tastes like.
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| Courgette/Zucchini |
In terms of my wins, my favourite cherry tomato from last year, the SunSugar, was again delightful. I planted several of these this time and I last harvested delicious, though cold, SunSugar tomatoes about two weeks ago. Yes, it has been a relatively warm fall.
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| SunSugar tomato at the end of November! |
I found another favourite cherry – Sugary Cherry. Yum! I got it as a seedling, and I’m wondering if I can trust myself to buy seeds this time. I’m afraid I might end up with something else. This plant almost had an early demise in July. Got wilt. I thought it might have had something to do with planting it in a spot I grew tomatoes in last year. But I didn’t cut it down like I should have in order for the wilt to not infect other plants in the garden and it seemed to recover with new growth that lasted through the fall. Yay!
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| An assortment of peppers |
In terms of large tomatoes, I had two heirloom varieties that I planted from seed from a packet labelled “heirloom”. I had no idea what they were. One was a medium sized red tomato (delicious) on a plant with regular tomato leaves while the other was a humongous yellow-orange tomato on a plant with potato leaves. But my favourite non-cherry tomato was the Carmello. Yum!
I also tried black tomatoes this year – Black cherry and Black Krim. They were good. Interesting flavour. Not exciting enough for me to plant again next year though especially as I mean to downsize my garden.
Finally, I planted a Juliet tomato by mistake. It’s a mini-plum variety that is very prolific and indeed it was. I didn’t know what to do with all its fruit so I’m going to shelf this particular variety until I have a fruit & vegetable stand at the local market or something. I mean I still have a bowl of it sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be eaten. That memory will last at least another year!
I did end up planting okra, and they grew and bore fruit but I got no joy out of them. So, that’s the end of that. I grew carrots too! Now those were delicious!
All in all a very successful year.
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| Two pepper plants I’m trying to keep till next year |
A lover of mangoes. A woman - smart, without pretense, lefthanded, Afropolitan - navigating this thing called life. An unapologetic believer in social justice and karma. Choosing to radiate positive energy and be true to myself. Here, my musings.
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