For A Few Tomatoes More

Mortgage Lifter, 20 Oct 2013

Temperatures are dipping below the point for comfortably wearing short sleeve shirts outdoors. With that ripening has all but come to an end in the garden, but for a few tomatoes more.

Sweet 100, 20 Oct 2013

There are just two tomato plants remaining in the square foot raised beds. A Sweet 100 in near bed, and my prolific Mortgage Lifter in the far bed.

Quite a few pink and plenty of green tomatoes still cling to the vines. There is a chance I will get some ripe tomatoes before temperatures fall below freezing.

Once the tomatoes are all gone, I will don a poncho, cut down the vines, remove the trellises and cover the growing medium with fresh red plastic. To keep out unwanted seeds. If I get ambitious, I just might create a greenhouse over at least one bed with clear plastic and black plastic tubing. When and if I do, I'll plant lettuce seeds. Bunching onions would be nice, too. For a few 2013 harvests more.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

South Inner Line Drive Redoubt

I returned to Valley Forge Park one week after the first appreciable snowfall in the autumn of 2012. A big change. No snow. 

The two log huts are the same buildings I photographed with snow on the ground. This time from a different point of view, looking SSW down from South Inner Line Drive.

The sun was already below the hills to the west as I traveled a little bit down the drive. There I found redoubt #3, as listed on the official Valley Forge National Historical Park map. Near the redoubt were the two cannon seen below.

Looking S from near the redoubt on S Inner Line Drive.

Looking ESE with the redoubt in the near background looking E from the bottom of S Inner Line Drive.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Autumn Leaves - Blow Then Suck

On my less than .5 acre/2,024sq meters of property stand 10 large trees. Half are in my front yard. There is a beech, an ash a dogwood, hickory and a huge Norway Maple. The leaves that fall from these trees are vital to the my composting for the garden.

To start the composting process, I blow the leaves into piles. The leaves are then vacuumed, which shreds them as they pass the impeller inside the blower/vacuum. They are then hauled out to the back yard and dumped into the compost pile.

I started about noon to collect the leaves one bright and warm November day. Four hours later, I had the leaves from the main portion of my front yard blown into a serpentine pile across the lawn. 

There were also two piles in the road that I hoped wouldn't be blown away by the vehicular traffic. Big trucks, especially, have a way of relocating leaves. My back ached and my hand was showing signs of a blister. That was it for me until morning.

In the morning I changed the leaf blower over to a vacuum. The part of the blower that took in air the day before became the part that took in leaves. The part of the blower from which blew air would blow leaves.

Originally when I purchased the leaf blower/vacuum, a shoulder bag was supplied to collect the shredded leaves. A bag that became heavier as it filled with shredded leaves. The collection bag soon became cumbersome. If I needed to change hands, which happens often, I also needed to change shoulders. The bag needed to be emptied frequently, too, because it didn't hold that much volume. 

I didn't put up with that for very long. I returned to the home improvement store, from which I purchased the blower/vacuum, to look for an alternative to the shoulder bag collection method. There I found a different manufacturer had a collection kit that included a length of flexible hose connected to a cloth that fit over the opening of a trash can.

Here is how it works. The blower vacuums the leaves, shreds them and sends them through the flexible tubing depositing them into an upright trash can. A can that could support all the weight. It would also hold five times the volume of the shredded leaves as would the shoulder bag. That meant there was five times less emptying of the bag. Pretty simple. I bought the kit.

Leaf Vacuum System

There was one problem. The parts from the two manufactures weren't compatible. I had to jury rig them to work together. That was taken care of with the help of duct tape.

I put the two openings together - hose to vacuum. Two long strips of tape were placed 180º around the tube from each other across the joint. Then several longer strips were placed radially around the tube and vacuum to create the seal and hold down the initial two strips. It has worked for over ten years, so far.

In four hours the serpentine pile and one of the piles in the road were vacuumed, shredded, hauled to the back yard and dumped into the waiting bin. Shredding the leaves sure does reduce the volume. It also accommodates and speeds their composting.

The next step is to get bacteria to do their job making compost.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

ABC 6 Action News, Maybe

Last winter, during a winter snow storm while I was shoveling snow from my driveway, I looked up to see my neighbor, from directly across the road, carrying a huge video camera crossing the road in my direction. He has a position with a company that produces the intro to the news programs at the ABC-TV affiliate in Philadelphia.

He requested my permission to video me for the intro that may be used winter of next year. I gave my permission and he recorded me as I shoveled. He directed I throw the snow in his direction as I smiled. I was already breathing and shoveling and he was requesting me add two more actions? I agreed to try. 

At that time I was wearing a fleece ski cap, a fleece jacket, fleece gloves and a fleece neck gaiter. The only flesh visible was between the top of the neck gaiter covering my lips and my eyebrows. I don't think anyone, not even close family members, will recognize me as the shoveler when seen on TV.

Yesterday, as I used my electric leaf blower to gather leaves in my front yard into piles, I looked up to see the same neighbor crossing the road in my direction with the huge video camera. He had been out and about looking for people doing fall activities. He captured every fall activity except one. All he needed was someone blowing leaves. There I was blowing leaves. Kismet.

If this clip is included in the intro next autumn,  I believe people will recognize me. I wasn't wearing a cap, jacket, gloves or neck gaiter. They'll see the top of my old balding head, my fat face and big belly. Undeniably me.

I was directed to stand behind the collected elongated leaf pile and sweep the blower left to right and back as I blew the leaves. The leaves fluttered to rest atop the pile. Several times my neighbor gave me hand signals and I saw his lips moving. Each time I turned off the blower to hear his directions- bigger sweeps, faster, slower, smile, look directly at the camera. I tried by hardest. Whether I met his expectations or wore him down, he claimed we were finished.

I stopped my neighbor as he started off towards home. I turned the tables and asked permission to photograph him for my blog. He agreed. That's what neighbors are for.

I will need to wait until next autumn to see if this clip is included in ABC-TV 6 News intro. That's a whole year. I may be dead by then. Of course, the snow shoveling clip captured last winter is due out the Monday before the winter solstice. I should be around for that.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Taste of Garden Harvest

The best producers measured by weight have been reported. Now it's time to talk about taste.

Since the majority of plants in the square foot garden were tomatoes, that is where I will start. Here is my list, starting with the best taste.

1. Black Krim
2. Mr. Stripey
3. German Johnson
4. Super Sweet 100
5. Husky Cherry
6. Big Boy
7. Early Girl
8. Chocolate Cherry

The first three tomatoes are heirloom varieties. The taste of all the heirloom tomatoes far exceeded the taste of the hybrids, except for the Super Sweet. The Super Sweet were just delightful, small, sweet with just enough acid to say tomato. The taste of the Husky Cherry was good but the thick skin detracted a great deal from the eating experience. The Big Boy and Early Girl were just pedestrian compared to the heirlooms. Compared to tomatoes available in supermarkets these two were much better as was their texture. Probably because they were vine ripened. I had great expectations for the Chocolate Cherry. Thinking that they would taste somewhat like the Black Krim because of their similar color, they fell short of my target.

The cucumbers had good taste and very few seeds. There was quite a bit of flesh compared to seeds. The cucumbers were firm and great raw in salads.

The bell peppers were crisp with good taste but there just weren't many of them. The cayenne peppers were productive for one plant but they were not spicy. At least not as spicy as I thought they would be.

The green beans had a strong taste. Especially when eaten raw in a tossed salad. They were good when boiled or steamed.

The potatoes, as small as they were, tasted quit good and very fresh. I will adjust the method of growing them next year with hope that they will grow larger.

In the early growing season the snow peas were very sweet and much fresher and smaller than if bought in the supermarket.

Even though the lettuce had a slow start the taste was delightful.

After evaluating the fruits and vegetables from the garden in 2012, I have decided which will return in 2013. And the winners are, in order of priority -

1. Super Sweet 100
2. Black Krim
3. Mr. Stripey
4. German Johnson
5. Snow Peas
6. Loose Leaf Lettuce
7. Burpee Burpless Beauty Cucumber
8. Russett Potato
9. Yukon Gold Potato
10. Red Norland Potato

Planning of the square foot garden for 2013 has begun.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Summer's Garden Gone - Recipes Needed

The last day of summer and the plants in the square foot garden had just about given all they could. Many of the leaves were yellow or brown and the fruits were very slow to ripen. The daytime temperatures were fluctuating between 68ºF/20ºC and 85ºF/30ºC, the night time temperatures dipped as low as 51ºF/10ºC. Not much more ripening was going to happen this year.

It was actually a couple of days past the last day of summer when I cut down all of the plants in the square foot garden. There were already signs of cold temperature damage.

There were some ripe fruits.

and even more immature fruits.

Once the produce was weighed and put into a bowl, it looked like this.

Above you see Mr. Stripey, German Johnson, Big Beef, Early Girl, Husky Cherry, Chocolate Cherry, Super Sweet 100 and some green volunteer grape tomatoes. There are also Cayenne, Red Bell and Orange Bell peppers along with cucumbers and two green beans.

I have been weighing all the square foot garden produce since first I planted a seed. I will post the graphic once I have it ready. For now I present some figures from just this one harvest.

Total weight of ripe fruit was 2187g / 4.8lbs. The immature fruit weighed 2889g / 6.4lbs. for a grand total weight of 5076g / 11.2lbs. 

The ripe fruits will go into salads, grilled cheese with tomato sprinkled with oregano sandwiches, omelettes and fritattas. I am not sure what to do with the immature fruits. I guess, what I need are recipes for fried green tomatoes, green tomato relish and the like. Maybe a mixed pickle would be good? If you have favorite recipes for green tomatoes and or cucumbers, please leave a comment so I can get to work.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

September Embraces the Garden

September embraces the garden. Autumn is but a fortnight away. The plants have grown tall. The vines climb and the tomatoes tied to the remesh. The potatoes are eager to be freed from their cages.

The main square foot garden is 4'x4'/1.2m square with two potato towers nearby.

Most of the summer has been dry, very little rainfall. Now, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac are passing over.

 Wet ripe Super Sweet Tomatoes are ready for their sacrifice.

Leaves are beginning to turn yellow and wither. The reaper stands in the shadows. 

Only to wait for Persephone's return.

Soon Demeter begins to wail.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Ripening Continues

Only a few days remain in August and only one month remains 'til the first day of Autumn. As the evening temperatures dip below 70ºF/21º the tomatoes will struggle to ripen. It won't be long before I will be looking forward to next summer's garden tomatoes.

I harvested the lot above on 29August. In the bowl are Black Krim,  Husky Cherry, Super Sweet, Early Girl and a mystery yellow tomatoes, along with a cucumber, green bush beans and one cayenne pepper.

The total weight of all the produce was 6.5lbs/2957g. The largest total was in Early Girl tomatoes weighing in at 2.4lbs/1101g.

A few cucumbers remain to ripen as well as many Husky Cherry and Super Sweet tomatoes.




The potato towers need to open, as well. A Super Sweet tomato was planted atop one of the towers and a Husky Cherry tomato atop the other tower. I don't think I will do that again. Because of the tomatoes planted atop the towers, I must either wait until the tomatoes are finished producing with the potatoes possibly being ruined or open the towers now and the tomatoes will be ruined. I will decide soon which I will do with only the hope that the potatoes will be in eating condition when I do open the towers. With Autumn approaching and cool evening temperatures, the decision will soon be made.

I never did get my third planting into the ground. I will blame that on the hot weather. No broccoli, cabbage, radishes, carrots or lettuce to harvest. Laziness had something to do with it, too.

Of course, planning of next season's garden will begin soon enough. Enlarging and raising the bed is a main consideration, at the moment.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved