Tomato/Tomatillo Tuesday

omg, omg, omg, a purple tomatillo. I'm so excited!!!!

Some of the tomatillo husks are starting to turn brown and peel away, which I've read is a sign that they're getting ripe enough to pick.

The Supersweet tomatoes are growing nicely. But did we start these seeds too late? (Probably).

It's nice to see so many grape tomatoes in various states of ripening (my favorite picture here). These are all Bonnie grape tomatoes that we bought as plans from a nursery. They're good, but not as sweet as the Napa Grape hybrids we grew in the past. Unfortunately I couldn't find Napa Grapes anywhere this year.

The most recent tomato harvest included a pint of grape tomatoes and five Patio Princesses (grown from seed). 

I list our Harvest to Date on this page, but I'm also tracking our harvest in a Super Nerdy Spreadsheet I created. Last year I also tried to do a cost-savings analysis of growing our own veggies, but lines got sort of blurred because sometimes we bought mulch and soil for the flowers and not necessarily the veggie pots. I admit that I haven't really kept precise records this year either, but I plan to do a general cost savings analysis for my own curiosity.

I can tell you that I stopped buying tomatoes a few months ago, and because we froze most of our pepper harvest last year, I haven't bought a single pepper since May 2010. Have you seen the cost of red, yellow, orange, etc., peppers? That's serious savings.

Also, an update on the Black Krims I wrote about on Friday. They didn't taste as salty as I expected, as the seed packet led me to believe. They were very juicy though. We diced them up and threw them into an omelet, and the dark red color made for an interesting look.

First August Weekend: Rain and Peppers

I wish I could say it's raining peppers, but no...not yet!

The first weekend in August brought nice rain showers on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Love free water.

I think August is going to be The Month of the Pepper. These golden bells are looking so good. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

We've already harvested some yummy cherry peppers.

The Sweet Chocolate peppers have buds and blooms; I'm just waiting for them to produce some peppers. We started this plant from seed and it is growing...so...slowly. We [i.e., Husband] had to pick a horn worm off the plant after we noticed a million holes in the leaves. The holes remind me of that book from my childhood, The Hungry Little Caterpillar. I can't believe there was a time when I actually thought caterpillars were cute.

A more detailed post on the peppers we're growing coming soon. In the meantime, I list all the things we're growing on this page, and I note whether the veggies were bought as plants from a nursery or started from seed.

Friday Focus: Black Krim Tomatoes

I'm so excited to see many of the Black Krim tomatoes turning a beautiful shade of dark red. We got some rain Wednesday and during the early morning hours on Thursday, but no violent winds like earlier in the week. It was nice to see the pots all watered when I went outside Thursday morning. Some of the Black Krims are starting to crack, which I've read can be caused by a sudden surge of water after a dry period. I don't want the cracks to expose the insides and invite bugs to make themselves at home. We picked the cracked ones, and we're leaving them in a sunny spot in our kitchen to finish ripening. We're growing the Black Krims from seed. According to the seed packet, these tomatoes are supposed to have a natural salty taste. I can't wait to taste them!

Update: They didn't really taste that salty, just tasted like regular tomatoes. We diced them up into an omelet and they were very juicy.