Friend or foe?

I spied this insect on a tomato plant and am wondering whether this crazy-cool summer has made the insects mutate.

It’s ladybug-size. And I have seen a good number of baby ladybugs feasting on my aphid smorgasbord lately. But it wasn’t until I got this pic with the closup lens that I was sure of what I was seeing. So is this a ladybug or some evil marauder?

First!

The first ripe tom of the year is a healthy-size Brandywine x Stupice. My friend Mickey grew the plant that created this, from seed of mine a couple years ago. She has an amazing, mysterious way with plants and boosting them to production. This is a very nice-size fruit for early in the season.

Any day now

The anticpation begins to burn …

And somebody is about to exit this world …

Oooooooh. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh.

It took a couple years, but the black hollyhocks are in full burst.

Urban inspiration

I became a worm mom recently, through serendipity and the generosity of a compost-wacko compadre. It’s odd and humbling, having become completely at ease with my farming impulses even as I cherish city life, to suddenly be unsure whether I’m up to the task of caring for my squirmy charges. I seem to be doing fine so far. I give them coffee grounds and whirred-up remains of my salads that would otherwise go in the compost bins. And, well, I’ll let you know. But here is an absolute inspiration: Will Allen, who has seen why urban farming is essential and is striving to make it accessible. I’m not sure why I had to read the New York Times to find out what’s going on in my own backyard, but there you have it. “Creating soil from waste is what I enjoy most,” he said. “Anyone can grow food.” So simple—and so true.

Deliciouscape

One of the main benefits of growing foods in your yard is that there come evenings when the garden says, “No, you cannot stay late at work, scrape the windows or clean the basement. Tonight is the harvest. Go into the garden, gather what you can, hie to the kitchen and create magic there. Drink some wine for ritual cleansing, too.” This evening I was forced to heed this call, and I came back with garlic scapes. And while I thought I had begun venturing into the landscape of scape last year at this time—oh no, I now know that I was missing out on the big score. This stuff is amazing. The flavor is mellow, rich and bright at the beginning, and then the garlic intensity starts zipping in—but only enough to wow you, not knock you over. You can steam them like green beans, roast them like asparagus or pulverize them into a pesto that makes you question the need for basil. Astounding stuff. Because I have pasta boiling and pesto waiting, and all these folks have done a better job illustrating than I could, please look to these sources for more information:

The Hungry Mouse

The Amateur Gourmet

The New York Times

Moscow Food Co-op

Pesto-ey P.S.: I think I harvested most of my scapes a little late this year and last. As seen in this post, I should have snipped them off a few days before. I got fixated on that white bulge, using it as a signal to tell me when to take action, and didn’t realize that the green, curly shoot is the star. But, in keeping with being a super-frugal freak, I did find last year that there’s good use for the little bulblets that most people throw out. You can keep them in the fridge for up to a year and toss them into just about anything for a little garlic kick. Even if the curls are getting a little chewy, though, the pesto cures all ills. When steaming, just steam the older bits a little longer. It’s all good, and it’s all delicious.

All in, all good

What finally happened in the veg garden is this: 43 tomatoes, 18 peppers and 1 eggplant.

Tomatoes:

1. Marizol Bratka
2. Perito
3. Brandywine Sudduth
4. Olena Ukrainian
5. Cherokee Chocolate
6. Lucky Cross
7. Brandywine, Off the Vine
8. Depp’s Pink Firefly
9. Brandywine x Stupice 06
10. Earl’s 08
11. German Head
12. Burpee Seedless Hybrid from Dad
13. Tennessee Surprise 06
14. Lucky Cross 07
15. Chianti Rose
16. Tennessee Surprise 07
17. Striped Roman
18. Jan’s BxS 15
19. Watermelon Beefsteak
20. Jan’s BxS 16
21. Nagy Katai
22. Earl’s 06 broken stem
23. Grandpa Luddolph
24. Mexico
25. Woodle Orange
26. Perito
27. Black Plum
28. Jan’s BxS 15
29. Stump of the World
30. Mickey’s BxS
31. Marizol Bratka
32. Jan’s BxS 16
33. Brandywine Sudduth regular leaf (wrong leaf)
34. My BxS 07
35. Prue 08
36. Black Zebra
37. Prue 08
38. My BxS 06
39. Purple Russian
40. Prue 06
41. Brandywine, Off the Vine
42. Grandpa Luddolph
43. Jan’s BxS 15

Peppers, most in pots, and 2 of them still kicking from last year’s crop:

1. Chuska in maroon 5-gallon bucket
2. Gold Marconi in big black pot
3. Paradicsom in dark green pot
4. Jalapeno in small clay-color pot
5. Paprika from last year in small clay-color pot
6. Bull Nose from last year in large clay-color pot
7. Szentesi in small clay-color pot
8. Early Hungarian Sweet in large clay-color pot
9. Doe Hill Golden Bell in grey pot
10. Jalapeno in violet pot
11. Jalapeno in violet pot (same pot as 10)
12. Bullnose in small black pot
13. Chuska in white pot
14. Paradicsom in green pot
15. Paprika in small clay-color pot
16. Aji Dulce in the ground
17. Jalapeno in the ground
18. Paprika in the ground

The eggplant is Rosa Bianca, and it’s in ground.

Tomato garden, take 1

It’s been raining for several hours now, but before that I got the first 7 tomatoes into the garden and, as the first drops fell, mulched them in with newspaper and straw. So the tomato season officially begins at my house

Brandywine x Stupice

With pepper buckets in the background. I potted up 12 last weekend.

From this angle, you see the rest of the garden that is waiting for its new tenants.

Stump of the World

Purple Russian

Now these guys just need to make it through the storms that are forecast for tonight. Hail no!

Soup seeds

Running into this 1920s ad art online reminded me that I ordered free tomato seeds a few weeks back from the Campbell Soup Co. 

Right after I hit send on the request, we got the news that our girl cat had chronic renal failure, and life became a big blur of meds and treatments. She’s doing better, but I was surprised when the seeds showed up the other day. I was wondering whether the package would say what variety they are, and it doesn’t.

I was going to bet they’re Rutgers, an open-pollinated variety the company helped develop that was introduced in 1934 and is popular for canning. The official press release suggests that might be right. But someone on one of my gardening forums called and asked enough questions to figure out they’re for a hybrid Roma type. In any case, if you’d like some free tomato seeds, check out this link by June 21. Following are some can codes:

Chicken Noodle – Code 1: P5 Code 2: 25 
Cream of Chicken – Code 1: P5 Code 2: 03 
Bean with Bacon – Code 1: EST4C Code 2: 29 
Beef with Vegetables – Code 1: EST4C Code 2: 11

Floppy-ear blooms

I’m excited to see the flower season bursting out at last.