Veggies in the Ground

On the Sunday hike, someone mentioned that we were at the 50% frost date - there was a 50% chance that there wouldn't be any more frosts. Then I looked at the 10 day weather forcast and there's not going to be a frost for another 10 days.  I took a chance and started throwing plants int he ground as quick as I could.  

I didn't drive home immediately after the hike, but made a beeline to Lowes where I bought a bunch of herbs.  I torn out a bit of sod near one of my new pear trees, not far from the weed patch and threw in an herb garden. Yesterday, I went nuts at Home Depot and bought 11 tomato plants, 3 peppers, 2 cantalopes, a zuchinni, a yellow squash, a tomatillo and a water melon. They're all in the former weed patch. I'm a little obsessed with tomatoes. 

Tomorrow I'm headed to Alaska.  I feel like I'm abandoning my children. I got a babysitter, but these aren't toddlers. They're infants. The kind that you don't leave with a stranger.  Probably they're biggest threat is still frost, but I'm feeling lucky. There's no frost predicted out to May 14th and the 10% frost date is May 20. If the forecast is right, surely there can't be more than a 20% chance of frost now. Here's hoping...

Tomato Plants

On my first trip to Walmart after signing the lease on my new apartment, I expected to be overwelmed with the realization that there was so much that I needed to buy. Walmart has that effect. It didn't happen.

Instead, I couldn't think of anything that I really needed. What I ended up with were a couple of tomato plants. You just can't beat fresh garden grown tomaotes. I bought a couple of grocery tomatoes to hold me over, but was confident that soon I would be eating my own.

Bah! There were rows and rows of tomato plants in the Walmart garden section and not one sign that said, "If you don't have a green house, don't bother." At first I thought I was doing well, I very quickly got little green fruits.

One month later...that's still what I have lots of little green fruits - on the one plant that is producing anything. They won't grow bigger than 1.5" diameter and they won't turn red. I"m on the lookout for a fried green mini tomato recipe.

I knew I should have gotten some cactus.