Life on the urban farm..

After returning back to reality from house sitting an amazing cottage in Kailua, I was back amongst my tomatoes. I left behind a jelly bean tomato plant and a Roma tomato plant for the owners returning from Italy hoping they could relive their amazing foodie experiences.

My heirlooms have been in bad shape, blossom end rot, and just growing really tall. I assumed this was a nitrogen situation, however, I hadn’t given them any fertilizer or plant food in months. Maybe I need too. The Burpee plants I have to say are probably the best to get in this climate. They have always been fruitful and grow rather bushy. Not as finicky as my heirlooms have been.

The other morning I woke up too late to go to the farmer’s market,so I decided to go to my garden and pick some tomatoes. These are “Celebrity” beefsteaks and they were probably the second most delicious tomato I’ve eaten on a sandwich.

We have a bunch of construction going on at the house and my garden has been relocated in a not so sunny area. Eventually they will have to make their home in the back yard, a place I rarely venture. Every other day I’ve been getting rid of an heirloom that looks too sick to bother with. The winds have died down and the heat is beginning to come. It’s almost October but it feels like summer. I’ll probably invest in Burpee plant or a more specific heirloom for tropical weather. More research continues.

Award Winning

 

After returning from vacation, my tomato sitter Annie had left a couple of pounds of tomatoes. I decided to make her a batch of garlic and basil tomato sauce. My plants couldn’t have survived without her. I also trimmed down my giant cherry tomato plant since it was overtaking the porch. Today, I was presented an award by Scenic Hawaii. I took home the Award of Appreciation for Private Residence gardening. Very exciting. This evening as the summer winds blew, I planted another batch of 50 tomatoes. 25 Brandywine and 25 Beefsteak. Let’s hope these prove to be winners too. My garden was acting a little funny since I rearranged some things and the yellowing leaves were damage from the strong winds. The leaves weren’t as green as they should be so I thought it was time to add some compost and let them soak up some fertilizer. I have a couple of ladies at work that I am delivering an Orange Wellington and Mortgage Lifter to tomorrow. I actually need to restock my seed supply and so far only my black cherry tomatoes have been producing. They are sure tasty with a pink and dark purple skin. Next up should be the Hawaiian Pineapple since the fruits have begun to form. I expected more tomatoes than I have been getting and hope this summer will be full of giant bulbous heirlooms. I was almost tempted to buy a beautiful and juicy one at Safeway yesterday but after reading the label and realizing this would be the first tomato I have purchased in five months – I put it down and kept walking.

Diamond Head Community Garden

I was in the Kapiolani area for a fair and since it was so jammed, parking was only an option up past the park and toward the residential area. Which turned out PERFECT! I hadn’t been to a community garden in a few months and had the opportunity to walk though a pretty good-sized one up by Diamond Head. People were growing all kinds of good things and I could even identify the types of tomato plants. I thought it was hilarious they used mailboxes as garden sheds and red cups to protect little seedlings. It looked like they were just growing red cups from afar. The sun there is pretty constant and Waikiki usually only gets about 4 inches of rain a year, but these plants were thriving. Not too many people were gardening that day, only a man who drove up on a moped. They used screens and had compost bins, lots of creative trellises and I found a spot at a colorful bench to just sit and observe. It was the perfect little hideaway.

Summer Presents

The garden is looking pretty green lately. I’ve added cilantro and basil to the layout and my baby heirlooms I planted a month ago are in full swing and already flowering. I’ve had a few dinner parties to go to and have found that most people enjoy heirloom tomato babies as gifts. My friend with the artichokes planted hers and it’s looking pretty tall already. A co-worker also planted a yellow pear seed in her hydroponic system. It’s such a good feeling to see others growing these exotic treats. I have yet to try one of the heirlooms, but they are still forming and the tomatoes are still pretty green. The winner of the crop will be either the black cherry or the red zebra. Those are the only two that are furthest along in the production aisle. Out of the Burpee tomatoes, I will admit I hide the giant big boy tomatoes since they are my favorite so far. The birds here must be on another level since they keep eating my Hawaiian Chili Peppers. Those things are wicked hot. I remember being a little child playing with the neon orange peppers and then rubbing my eyes. I couldn’t see straight for days.

seedlings for sale

Referring to my very first post; I mentioned that I couldn’t find heirloom tomato seedlings for sale on the island. Well, on Saturday they found me. Two Cherokee purple seedlings were amongst some hybrids in the front of Whole Foods Kahala. I actually did a double take since I couldn’t believe it the first time, and the second look was to scope out their price. $4.99. Ha! Love it. (That’s my way of saying “pricey”) Too bad I already started another batch of seedlings, 72 to be exact. My price: $2.00/plant and their organically grown. I’ve had a few customers – one even being in Boston! Maybe one day my tomatoes will grace the outside aisle of a Whole Foods….better yet, maybe they will grace the delicious smoked mozzarella and tomato pasta they serve inside…….

P.S.  this is what germination looks like two days after planting…

For Sale:

Mortgage Lifter

Black Cherry

Red Zebra

Brandywine

Chocolate Stripe

Arkansas Marvel

Orange Wellington

Hawaiian Pineapple

Purple Calabash

Black Crimson

Midnight Snacking

I count the tomatoes before I go to bed in case anyone in the house decides to eat one without asking. I know, I’m crazy. But some do seem to ‘wander’ off into the night.

And the beat goes on.

I admit it. I am to blame for this negligent torture above. Hahahaha. No really, it’s my fault. I’ve been so busy these past few weekends that my plants are now turning yellow and dying – the leaves that it. I usually spend about a couple hours a weekend gardening – not including the watering. It all started with my UH varieties. Their leaves started turning brown and dying. I assumed it was just damage from the strong winds, however it spread to all 7 plants. I still haven’t really figured out what it is. Either early blight!?!? or some random disease – brown leaf spot??!? Anyhoot, now that i’ve lost so many leaves I figure I need to deal with it. Yesterday I did some pruning and pulled most of the yellow leaves off and tested the soil. My PH was perfect, 7.5. However the water samples for my Nitrogen and Phosphorus were very low. They didn’t even change color; not good. I immediately gave all my plants some tomato food and a NEEM soak. They look semi-better today. However, since the rot is on the leaves I’ll be spraying them tonight when the bugs go home.

So far I’ve harvested about 15 lbs of tomatoes: cherry, beefsteak, romas, and those random UH ones. I’ve repotted 7 heirloom varieties that are already showing great form. Mortgage Lifter, Orange Wellingtons, Black Cherry, Red Zebra, Chocolate Stripe, Hawaiian Pineapple and Brandywine. They’ve tripled in size since making home in their new large pots. Around the rest of my urban concrete garden my other seedlings have grown up. My Echinacea is blooming and the Quinoa is sort of starting to look like a grain. The sunflowers are greeting me and the bees sure do love their wildflowers.

Next weekend I’m starting my second batch of seeds – since they have been making great spring gifts. My mom was actually my best customer – buying 15 plants. That green grass (where the locals sell their fruit) next to the main highway isn’t going to be my second home like i thought.

Tomato Babies!

I’ve harvested my first two Viva Roma tomatoes and added them to my collection of cherry tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes. We’ve had some rough wind for that last three weeks with gusts up to 50 mph. My yellow pear vine fell over not once, but four times, and I lost quite a few green ones. I placed them inside hoping the other tomatoes will help them ripen but I think they were too young. I will have to consider them sacrifices to the Tomato Gods.

I also had two beefsteak tomatoes ripen and made a fresh pasta sauce with them with saffron fettucini noodles. Yes, that’s right. I’m gourmet. However one was slightly attacked by a bird. I’m debating between tacky aluminum can confetti or plain old green netting to keep my babies safe….

I haven’t seen any more worms come around and my wildflowers and sunflowers are starting to bloom. I gave away an heirloom seedling to a friend called Mortgage Lifter so she can add it to her new vegetable garden. She started artichokes – to which I mentioned “we should trade veggies.”

I’m also debating if I should start another batch of heirloom seeds since I think my appetite for tomatoes has grown profusely and an imaginary waiting list has been created in anticipation that I would actually have enough to give away to friends and co-workers.

the first day of spring

It’s officially the first day of spring not according to Wikipedia. Things are looking rather green in the garden and it’s not hard for my hipstamatic camera to capture their saturated leaves. My first handful of Burpee cherry tomatoes are ready and they are delicious! The birds haven’t discovered them yet as I’ve researched that it’s best to leave them on the vine until fully ripe. I think it’s because they have the guava tree to keep them busy and an avocado tree in the back for seconds. My “save the bees” wildflower mix I got from Berkeley Bowl on my trip to Oakland have also started to grow anxiously. I’ve even noticed a few yellow bees buzzing around in anticipation. My Burpee yellow pear tomatoes are doing well, with great stripes and shape. It was a busy weekend too for the heirloom seedlings and they all got their new second homes. I re-potted them all in their own containers. Most look strong, some look a little yellow, but I think will eventually come around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dun dun dunnnnnn…

So, a few minutes after posting and researching on how to salvage my cherry tomato vine – I decided to make my way to Home Depot. When I was walking out of the front door and passed my tomatoes, I decided to take one last look for the mysterious thing munching away.

Not only did I find him, but I found three others and one nest! Supposedly called Hornworms. However I saw no horns or white stripes on them. But then again I wasn’t looking for those kinds of details. When I tried to peel the first one off he started to attack my fingers. I had to use a paint stick to whack him to the wet ground. It took me two minutes to gather all the heart to actually step on him. I hate killing green things: praying mantises, chameleons, inch worms… So to have to kill a cute, yet feisty, green “hornworm”  was utter torture. But, when I finally stepped on the second to last one, I was getting used to it. No long-term guilt, only semi-three second lasting guilt. I also found a really intense nest that may have contained at least four more.

Home Depot wasn’t seen that day.