Wednesday, June 23, 2010

UNCLE!

The garden is finally feeling the effects of the incessent heat and humidity. Everything has stopped growing and stopped flowering. We usually don't get to that point until July, but this June has been brutal with no relief in sight. Last June was mild and I was swimming in cucumbers. This June, cucumbers don't seem to be getting polinated correctly. Even the beans are protesting.

The only veggie out producing itself thus far has been the zucchini, but even that is crying foul and has decided to tap out. I came home yesterday and noticed squash vine borer damage. It was only a matter of time. I'm starting to have a different opinion about SVBs. They may not be so bad after all as they allow the zucchini to make a graceful garden exit.

When I pulled up the first one it snapped right at the soil line. Good thing it came out as it wouldn't produce any more anyway. This second one still has some fruit on it, so I'll let it be for awhile. There's one squash plant with damage, too. The rest of the zucchini is almost ready to come out as well. It's still putting out female flowers, but they wither before they open. I think they're just done. They've done a good job and I'm not disapointed at all. As a matter of fact, when I pull them out, I may just be able to plant some more summer crops as we've still got until October or November for a frost. Hmmmm....I may just do that.

With every sad note, there's a positive one on the horizon. Look what I picked last night:
Yup. That's my first Cherokee Purple and my first ever tomato I grew from seed, myself. Thank you Dan!! We had it for dinner tonight with yellow pear tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden and a store bought avocado for company in the mother of all salads . Actually, it wasn't a large salad, but it's one that my mother makes and I generally equate it with her. It was fantabulous. I can't believe how deep the flavor of the Cherokee Purple is in comparison to a general tomato. What a treat. I've got one more ripening now. Very exciting and almost makes up for the SVB damage.

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

14 comments:

  1. That's awesome, it looks mighty good :-)

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  2. Sorry about the zucchini, but that tomato looks wonderful!

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  3. It was really yummy. I must say, I'm not tomato crazy. They all pretty much taste the same to me, but this one was markedly different. I was suprisingly pleased. Giddy, actually. There's another one ripening now and I'm finding myself cheering it on.

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  4. Congrats on your Cherokee Purple. It looks absolutely perfect. I'm still waiting on mine, also grown from Dan's seed. I think I have at least a month probably more to wait.

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  5. Yummy...Cherokee Purple tomatoes are my favorite! We have two that are almost ready!

    The heat here has been horrible as well.........but, not as hot as it is where you live!

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  6. You get SVBs and I get gophers. I wasn't too disappointed last year when one got one of the zucchini plants, you can make and eat only just so many pickles!

    Delicious looking salad. Now that you've tasted and fallen in love with Cherokee Purples I predict that there are many more heirloom tomatoes in your future. :)

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  7. Congrats! Welcome to the taste of heirlooms! There's no going back now LOL that's why I continue to subject myself to tomato heartbreak, they can be fickle sometimes. You know it's stupid hot when even the zucchini stop!!

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  8. Yay! I'm glad you liked the CP....it's definitely impressive. Sorry to hear about the dreaded svb.

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  9. That salad looks great!

    But that's sad about the weather =/

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  10. The salad looks delicious, and so do the chocolate/zucchini cupcakes. Would love to have the recipe. Have also been told that if you cut your zucchini in half and scoop out the center, you can chop it up, mix it with some melted butter, stuffing mix, melted onions, parmesan and stuff back into the zucchini boats and bake them with some cheese on top. Sounds scrumptious.

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  11. MMM. That zucchini dish sounds great. The chocolate zucchini cupcakes can be found here:
    http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/08/august-1-2008-evening.html

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  12. That salad looks good. Wish I had it for lunch today. What all do you put in it?

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  13. Olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and dill.

    That's it!

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  14. Oh, that's great. The CPs are a terrific tomato. They were the bulk of my planting this year.

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