LadyMin's Garden

Finally! I leave the tomatoes on the vine until they are completely ripe and ready to eat. Last week I started picking them.

I use my own seeds taken from the best fruit in past years. Last year I grew early girls, romas and cherry tomatoes. These tomatoes look like a cross between early girl and roma. They taste wonderful; sweet and juicy.

I have several different garden beds in my yard and they receive anywhere from 50% to 80% of the day’s sunshine. This is usually not a problem as it’s generally quite hot and sunny around here.  But this year the Chicago area has had cooler than normal temperatures and no excess sunshine. In fact, this has been the least sunny summer in the past 17 years. So the vegetables are a few weeks behind schedule in ripening. On the other hand, my broccoli plants are still making side shoots not having succumbed to the usual summer heat.