First Cherry Tomatoes of the Season!

It almost feels like Christmas in July! I finally have been able to pick some ripe cherry tomatoes! These small, yet beautiful orange spheres are from my Sun Sugar tomato plants. I was able to pick two ripe tomatoes from both of my plants this morning and there are plenty more to come in the next few weeks! 

Cherry tomatoes have always done really well in my garden. Usually, I grow the Husky Red Cherry Tomato and end up with a constant flow of cherry tomatoes from mid-July through September. Although I'm not growing them this year, I am growing three cherry tomatoes plants, which will hopefully give me even more tomatoes! 

We have also finally gotten some summer heat here in the northeast, so I'm hoping this will give my cherry tomato plants some added boost. I've been waiting to eat fresh cherry tomatoes for months! I'm glad it's finally that time of year! 

Sun Gold Cherry Tomato on the vine. 

Small morning harvest of raspberries and cherry tomatoes. 

Cherry Tomatoes After a Rainstorm

My cherry tomatoes have taken off! They are huge, spreading out and growing to at least six feet tall. They're taller than me!  

There are a bunch of green cherry tomatoes on my plants but they haven't ripen yet. I need some sunny days for that to happen, it's been rainy and cloudy  lately. 

However, the rain made for some cool pictures this morning. 

First Signs of Tomatoes!

The first buds of tomatoes are forming! These formed on one of my three cherry tomato plants! I can't wait for the sweet little tomatoes! 

Today's Harvest! 7-21-13

Today was the first day I can say I really harvested anything from my garden because there was actually a variety if stuff to grab! I picked blueberries from two blueberry bushes, I picked a couple of  blackberries, a few Juliet tomatoes an a few cherry tomatoes! 

Totals: 

6 Blackberries 

3 Juliet Tomatoes 

2 cherry Tomatoes 

8 Blueberries 

It's not much but with a very rainy June and now a very hot July  I'm lucky most o my plants are still alive! 

Staking the tomatoes 6/6/13

With the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea expecting to impact CT Friday and Saturday I thought it would be a good time to stake my tomatoes.  The only reason I haven't done this earlier is that I've been debating what kind of staking I wanted to do.  I could stake them individually, with cages or as rows!  However with the plants growing and 3-5 inches of tropical downpours on the way I needed to stake them before they snap in half! 

Planted Basil 7/4/13

While my basil seedlings continue to grow I planted the small pot of basil I got at Lowes in the ground near my tomatoes.  They're companion plants so they should grow well together! 

Planting Tomatoes! 5/17/13

The first thing I planted once the garden was ready was the tomatoes.  This year I purchased a few more plants than last year.  This year I got 8 tomato plants, all indeterminate.  However one tomato plant had two plants in the pot, so I actually ended up with 9!  Which is perfect because I made 3 rows of 3 tomato plants.  I got 2 Husky Red Cherry Tomato plants.  I had this variety last year but only one plant and it did amazing, producing tomatoes into October!  I also got a third cherry tomato plant called 'Super Sweet 100' Hybrid Cherry Tomato.  The most interesting tomato plant I got was the 'Yellow Pear' tomato, I can't wait to see and taste those!  Then I got a Big Beef Hybrid Tomato plant, a 'Red Beefsteak' Tomato plant.  Another interesting tomato plant I got was one called 'Mr Stripey', an heirloom tomato which has yellow and red stripes and supposedly produces tomatoes up to 1 pound each!!  The last tomato variety escapes me right now but it is also the one that came with an extra tomato plant making my grand total of 9 plants!  I will be swimming in tomatoes this year!  Hopefully I will be able to crush and freeze some tomatoes to make chili in the fall and winter!  

Bought my vegetable plants!!

My dad and I went to Lowes over the weekend to pick up some tomato plants for the garden...I think I went a little over board! 

Not only did I get more tomato plants than I was expecting I also got pepper plants, cucumbers, squash and basil! In all I ended up with: 

8 tomato plants 

4 hot pepper plants 

4 sweet pepper plants 

1 cucumber pot (6 plants in it)

1 squash pot (6 plants in it) 

1 sweet basil plant 

1 packet of mixed lettuce seeds

1 packet of red Swiss chard seeds

1 packet of Swiss chard seeds 

3 black plastic pots 

I Got a Juicer!!

As of last Friday, the first week of 2013, I now own a Juicer.  With some Christmas money I received I bought a Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850-Watt Juice Extractor!  Yeah it sounds complicated but I spent days researching which juicer I should buy.  I ended up paying a little more than I budgeted for but so far I'm thrilled with my decision!  The Breville juicer I bought is about $150, a medium cost juicer, the cheaper ones go for around $50, while the more expensive ones can cost you up to $500 or more!!

What sold me on this Juicer was its good reviews, apparent easy clean up process and the fact that it had a high speed and a low speed! The reason why the two speeds became a deciding factor is because all juicers in my price point, $150 and below, aren't great at juicing leafy greens, however with the lower speed it's possible with this juicer (not the most efficient, but better than nothing).  So far I've been very happy with the Juicer and surprised myself because I really enjoy the tastes of the juices I have made!

So what does a Juicer have to do with Gardening? 

 It has a lot to do with gardening!  The best fruits and vegetables to put through a juicer are organic produce and what's better than organic produce from your own backyard garden!!!  Plus some of the best vegetables to juice include leafy greens (kale and spinach) and harder vegetables like carrots and cucumbers.  Although a backyard garden might not supply the daily needs of a juicer it will surely supplement and offset some of the prices of vegetables in the summer months!!!  It also gives me another reason to grow Swiss Chard and Kale next year!!! To add to the benefits, all the pulp which is leftover after the juice is extracted is great for my compost bin!  Although there are some neat recipes to use the leftover pulp as well.  In addition I have to admit I had a number of cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes last summer that met a tragic end rotting on the shelf from mold rather than processing through my stomach.  This summer any extra produce which I can't consume whole can now be juiced!!!   So I think it's a great addition to any gardeners kitchen and a great way to fulfill some of those 2013 New Year Resolutions!!

Below are some photos I took throughout the process of juicing!  

Handful of Tomatoes! 10/3/12

Today's Harvest:
2 Cherry Tomatoes
4 Juliet Tomatoes

More Tomatoes! Harvest 9/24/12

The tomato plants are still spitting out tomatoes but they're starting to look ragged, probably due to the chilly nights lately. The low temperature has been consistently in the lower 50's and upper 40's the last two weeks

Today's Harvest:
7 cherry tomatoes
4 Juliet tomatoes
1 Big Boy Tomato

Windy Tomato Harvest 9/18/12

A tornado watch in effect with a wind advisory I decided to grab some tomatoes before the wind did!

Today's harvest:
2 Juliet tomatoes
13 cherry tomatoes

Tomato Harvest 9/17/12

Today's Harvest
1 Juliet tomato
1 Marion tomato
9 cherry tomatoes

Ripe tomatoes off my windowsill

These are just the tomatoes that we're ripe on my windowsill! If I add in the ones in the fridge and the ones I just picked I might even have enough to make tomato sauce!!!

Ripe on the vine tomatoes!

Strange Cucumber harvest! 9/1/12

Today was a small harvest but then again it's already September and the garden is starting to slow down! I got some strange shaped cucumbers today but I'm pretty sure it's due to the inconsistent watering as of late.

Today's harvest:
1 heirloom tomato
2 Juliet tomatoes
2 cherry tomatoes
3 cucumbers

Small harvest 8/30/12 but First Red Hot Cherry Pepper!

Today's harvest was small but I got my first ripe red hot cherry pepper, which from a distance looks like a tomato! Peppers have done well this year too bad I didn't have more sweet peppers!

Today's harvest:
1 big boy tomato
3 Juliet tomatoes
3 hot peppers
1 Red Hot Cherry Pepper

Harvest 8/28/12

The harvest are starting to spread out as the summer wanes...but still getting plenty of hot peppers!

Today's harvest:
1 Big Boy Tomato
1 Cherry Tomato
3 cucumbers
9 Hot peppers

Harvest 8/25/12

Today's Harvest:

2 cucumbers
1 Big Boy Tomato
4 Cherry Tomatoes
14 Hot Peppers