October 13, 2009: Tomato Finale. Almost.

10/7 - 13 pounds 14 oz. tomatoes, both green and ripe.

10/9 - 4 pounds 6 oz. melons, 5 oz. strawberries, 5 pounds pole beans (for seed). This was only a fraction of the pole beans that didn't get picked while I was sick. I'm hoping they will dry after being picked, and I will use them for seed as well as for dried beans to cook. Two of the melons were an unexpected find, hiding behind the barrel in which they were planted. I didn't think any of them were ripe, they didn't give any indication that they were, but I was pleasantly surprised when I cut them open. They went to the grandchildren, who loved them! Even baby Alicyn, who will be a year old next week, thought they were nummy good finger food. This should be the final strawberry harvest, although they are still bearing and ripening. The weather has turned cold and rainy, which makes the berries too wet and mushy to pick. If we were going to be here to pick them, I'd erect a plastic cover for the bed, but we'll be leaving for Arizona early Sunday morning.

The first killing frost hit on Saturday night. After cutting off a bit of the foliage, I was able to pick a few more tomatoes that had some color and weren't yet harmed by the freeze. Just look at all those tomatoes that didn't have a chance to ripen!

I got another eight pounds of tomatoes from the vines after they froze.

All of last week's tomatoes had ripened by now, so I needed to do something with them. I couldn't force any more on friends or family, so I tossed them into a big pot for more tomato sauce and juice. I ended up with two quarts of juice and two quarts of sauce for the freezer.


The tomato finale. A box to ripen, a basket of ripe ones and a pot cooking on the stove. Tomato season is finally over. I picked a total of 443 pounds of tomatoes from my 2009 garden.


The Washington garden isn't quite empty yet. I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can dig the parsnips, and there is some mesclun left for cutting. I don't know if the final sowing of radishes has matured enough to pull, if not they will be left for my neighbor to enjoy.

I have several pots of lettuce seedlings that will make the trip south if there is enough room. I can't just quit gardening cold turkey, ya know!!!