Ode to the vegetable that is a fruit

I have always been a big fan of tomatoes...all kinds great and small. Growing up I remember my grandfather lovingly tending his tomato garden, complete with unusual staking and constant watch to combat bugs and insects tampering with the fruit yield.

Ironically, the one item that I craved during pregancy was the tomato...mostly fresh, cut up with some nice Buffalo Mozzzarella. YUM!!! So prompted by the oogling of Anne's garden of delight up in Ohio, I decided to start my own tomato stash.
















After laboring over what seeds I would first purchase, I went ahead and ordered from Victory Seeds the following...mostly heirloom tomatoes: Black Krim, Caspian Pink,Cherokee Purple, Principe Borghese, and then Red Grape. I started all the seeds using the Burpee Ultimate Seeding System on October 2, and ended up planting the first seedlings in the garden 3 weeks later...all of my Principe Borgheses.




















I was concerned that the roots were not very robust and opted to wait on all the other seedlings to just before Thanskgiving...BIG MISTAKE, as the only seedlings that survived were one each of Black Krim and Cherokee Purple (nice and cozy in their very own Earth Box!)

And the unveiling of my first tomato flower, Principe Borghese!

Mother of all inventions

After a chance conversation about gardening in early summer with a co-worker, I discovered: the Earthbox. An Earthbox, for those who might never have heard of it, is this container that is an invention gem, which allows irrigation and proper watering to magically occur. Plus there are coasters for the bottom so if need be they can be relocated for better sun or even moved inside when frost hits. I hit Amazon just right and purchased two on special in August but did not get around to planting until the first weekend in October (it was very Indian summer around my next of the woods).



I followed the clearly defined instructions and planted in the first box, two types of peppers (early large hybrid red and a petite yellow), cilantro, dill, and my favorite herb, rosemary. In no time at all, the itty bitty plants blossomed into a jungle (unfortunately two go rounds of basil were casualties but then again they also did not last in the ground in my herb/veggie garden as well). At two weeks, the plants...well really the peppers and dill have grown so much they had to be staked!!!!



The peppers are beyond large..almost mutant. But are still hanging on the plant as, from what I understand, I will not harvest until they morph out of their very greeness.

But here's the first one budding out of the flower. Proud momma, yes, I am.



Next up, tomato escapades...