You say Tomato, I say Tomahto

Uh...what's a girl to do with a ton of tomatoes? I just can't keep up. I roasted a bunch which are now nicely in the fridge. They are great with cheese and crackers. Next step is to roast and then freeze for sauce in the winter. It's the end of the tomatoes though and I'm so proud they did so well. "Yes Virginia, you can grow tomatoes in the Fog Belt."




Garden looks a little sad. Pulled out all the squash. They never did very well. Planted more lettuce and beets. They're doing great. Also planted peas which are getting attacked by slugs so have little wells of beer in the bed. At least they can get a little tipsy before they DIE!!!!

Harvest Time

Spring onions and green beans are in! Onions were cooked on the grill and served with Tri Tip for a BBQ last weekend. Green beans were pan sauteed and served with some luscious rare ahi tuna. The rest of the green beans are slated for pickling this weekend. The tomatoes and so big that the plants are falling over. I've tried as best as I can to tie them up(growl) but they are just too heavy. Fruit is turning to orange and by next week we'll have our first batch of tomatoes!!! I already have plans for overnight slow-roasting, canning and just plain sliced tomatoes with sea salt. I have also been self-pollinating the squash with a paintbrush but they are still wilting on the vine. Not sure what's going on there. I'm already thinking of next year: less squash, more lettuce, different types of beans, adding eggplant.

Lunado Garden - Week One

This is going to be the year I harvest a tomatoe from my very own garden. I live in the Sunset District of San Francisco i.e. Fog Belt. Since moving from Sonoma County where each year I had healthy happy heavy-producing gardens, I have been trying to grow tomatoes with no luck. Last year my husband and I kept looking over into our neighbors garden that on sunny days got lots of sun. Hum...either we convince them to put in a pool or we convince them to put in a veggie garden. Well, we now have 3 raised beds to play with. Last year we started a little late but things were moving along nicely until the Summer of Fog hit us. Alas, no tomatoes. Squash did great but nothing else really made it. This year, we got started much earlier. We tilled the soil and filled each bed with very stinky chicken manure on April 11. TIP Do not invite people for an outdoor cocktail party the evening you put manure in your garden. Anyway, had a lovely day picking seedlings at Flowercraft. I went a little nuts in the tomatoe department. Due to my bad luck in the past, I've decided to mostly do cherry tomatoes. I also purchased leeks, onions, lettuce, basil, squash, thyme, oregano and lots of marigolds to protect from pests. Everything went in on April 13. I then found Grow Better Veggies blog and realised I am doing it all wrong. Cynthia puts fishheads, eggshells, aspirin (aspirin?), bonemeal, fertilizer and worm castings under each new plant. Egads! I thought I was being pretty smart with my chicken manure and compost. Do I pull them out and start over? Where to get fishheads? Now I'm nervous. Anyway, here are some pics of the new garden. ~K