July's Garden

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Photo: A plate full of those wonderful tomatoberry tomatoes from the seeds I got from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Unlike most bite-size tomatoes, these have walls and meat inside instead of just juice and seeds.

The cucumbers are still producing and the peppers are loving the hot, dry days. The spaghetti squash is making fruit and vining like mad. The potimarron squash (Baker Creek Seeds) is lagging but looks promising.

We are eating edamame (Botanical Interests) most days with lunch or as an afternoon protein snack. It's the third year I've tried to grow them and the first time we have had a decent harvest due to hungry bunnies. This year a web of fencing has forced them to move to other plants. And, eat they have - the corkscrew vine, the asters, the lower leaves of the eggplant, on and on.

The weeds are relentless and now it's time to start watering again. After you water, lay down a few sheets of newspaper and cover it with mulch to keep the moisture close to the roots.

Take advantage of the cool-ish mornings and enjoy the wonderful things you have participated in creating.

Comments

Erroll said…
The photo of those tomatoberry tomatoes caught my eye. I'm growing tomatoes to make white wine, and if that's success I plan on a red wine next year. For that, I'll need small dark colored tomatoes - a lot like those in your photo, but maybe a little darker. Do you know of any tomatoes like that?
July 25, 2007 at 10:21 AM
Molly Day said…
What about Brandywine tomatoes? It's an heirloom with bright pink meat.
Celebrity is disease resistant and has dark red fruit.
Tomato Bob's website at http://www.tomatobob.com/Red.htm has small photos so you can make your choice by looking at color and size.
Also http://www.heirloomtomatoes.bizland.com/varieties.htm has photos for heirloom choices.
There are 1,000 kinds of tomatoes to choose from out there.
Have fun and let me know which one you choose.
July 25, 2007 at 7:59 PM
Erroll said…
Thank you for pointing me to those web sites. They both list a variety called Black Cherry that might fit the bill. When I searched for more info on it, I found a reference to the Black Russian, which also looks promising. It's a little early yet. I want to see how the white wine turns out first, then I'll think about planting for red next spring. Your photo just got me thinking about it a little early.

Also, I wasn't aware of these "black" varieties, but it looks like they have an enthusiastic following. Maybe I'll grow a few for eating too :)
July 26, 2007 at 9:38 AM
Molly Day said…
We had dinner at the Living Kitchen near Bristow OK (organic farm that serves dinners) and for the salad course they put out 4 kinds of tomatoes.
I had tried to grow the black/red German ones a couple of years ago but they didn't make it.
At this dinner, they had not only the black/red ones but another wonderful one that is the color of kiwi fruit when it is ripe.

What sparked the idea to make wine out of tomatoes anyway?
July 26, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Erroll said…
I love making wine, especially from fruit that I grow. I have a bonsai vineyard of ten grape vines in my backyard, but after years of tending them, I might get enough grapes for one gallon of wine this year.

Tomatoes are a vine fruit that I can grow from seed, harvest, and ferment into wine in one season. There aren't many other fruits like that.

Hmm, I am getting a larger crop of melons than I expected. I wonder how those will ferment ...
July 27, 2007 at 9:41 AM
Molly Day said…
Have you been to Nuyaka Creek Winery south of Tulsa? They make wine out of everything they find growing.
I had a staghorn sumac wine there one time.
Here's a link to their site
http://www.nuyakacreek.com/

The photo of the two guys? That's what it's like there.

Here's the link for the Oklahoma Winery blog, too.
http://www.nuyakacreek.com/blog/blogger.html

Let me know how that tomato wine tastes, please.
July 27, 2007 at 5:53 PM
Erroll said…
I've never been there, but the folks at Nuyaka Creek Winery seem like kindred spirits. I'll keep you posted on the tomato wine.
July 28, 2007 at 9:03 PM
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