July 19, 2011
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Tomato Hell Is Real!!!!
TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM
It’s been a while since I ventured out back to the *farm* but, since men don’t really look hard for veggies that might be buried inside various bushes and/or vines, I really needed to check and see what was hiding. I gritted my teeth and proceeded to hobble over to the planters and go through the various plants. I found several cucumbers that were starting to look a bit like a zucchini and were buried deep enough that they weren’t even green any more (if they ever were). They taste fine, just look a bit odd since they are mostly yellow.I worked down the planters and stopped dead. Two of the tomato plants happen to be next to a trellis that is screwed in place on the end of that particular planter. They are already supported by those tomato plant support cones but they have actually climbed up the trellis and have to be darn near 7 foot high!!
The last couple of feet have happened in the 10 days or so since I was last out there AND….they are both just LOADED with tomatoes. I was shocked to see that all 7 of the tomato plants have more blooms on them. It was enough to send me into tomato shock! I looked at the Beast and said two words….*Tomato sauce*. He totally understood.I found about four green peppers the Beast had missed and I have to tell you that they are all just gorgeous! Plus they taste wonderful. I use a lot of green peppers in my cooking so I am happy about that. The Beast bought some extra Italian sausage *links* and some good hoagie rolls so I will probably cook up some on the grill and steam some onions and green peppers to put on sandwiches for us later in the week.
As far as any of the squash, zucchini and eggplant, the Beast didn’t miss anything this time. I told him to go ahead and pull out the eggplant because it’s just loaded with bugs and the eggplants that are on them are a disaster. He says he is going to leave one for a bit because he thinks it might be keeping the bugs off other things.
He pulled out three of our carrots and I could have choked him. They look great….just tiny. It’s way too early to think about those. Ditto the onions but he didn’t touch any of them. Half of the corn stalks are hale and hearty. The ones that were wind-whipped don’t look too well but we are leaving them for now. The strawberries are coming along great. I told the Beast I was glad we did this without Chewlee because she would have been picking and eating the little strawberries that will be wonderful in just a couple more days.
My blackberry and blueberry bushes are growing well. I think we might get some blackberries from them in the fall. The blueberry I am not sure about since I really think those are supposed to be early crops. I don’t know. I’ll check online in a day or two. I’m learning about some things for the first time, too, here.
Chewlee was ecstatic today because she got to pick flowers from our flower garden. I had the scissors and she checked out the ones she wanted and told me where to cut them for her. She didn’t do too bad a job and she wasn’t greedy. She only took five flowers. That’s what she told me she wanted but I really did expect her to pick more.
I know what her new *phrase* is going to be for the next couple of weeks. It’s *are you kidding me?* She cracked me up with how she used it twice tonight. The first time was when we were talking about her staying with me all the time (not going home). I told her she would miss her mother and she looked at me, shocked look on her face and in her voice and said, *Are you kidding me? I always stay with you, Grandma.* I told her, yes, she did stay with me when mommy was in school or working but she went home at night. She shrugged her shoulders and said, *Well, I guess you could say that.*
Later, we were out picking the flowers for her and she and the Beast were planting some new flowers in the planter. I told her to try not to dig so enthusiastically because she was knocking a lot of the good dirt out of the planter and the flowers really needed it. Her comment? You got it…..*Are you kidding me?* I told the Beast, *Guess what the new comment of the month is going to be?* He just laughed.
After they planted the new flowers, the Beast let her water the planter while he added some mulch to the top of the box. She looked at me and told me to go in the house and she would come and get me when they were done so I could see how beautiful they made it look. I laughed and did as I was told. When she came in to get me, all excited, she stopped in front of me and told me what I had to say when I saw it. She said *You have to say Oh my goodness. How beautiful!* When we got outside and I looked at it, I said what she told me I should say and she just beamed. She then said, *We did a good job, didn’t we, Grandma?*
She spent the next couple of hours playing *the balloon game* on my computer except for the short time she left it to eat. She ate in a hurry so she could get back to the game and I was given strict instructions that *I* couldn’t play *her* game. Kids are amazing when you watch and see how quickly they pick things up. She asked me to use this one *tool* that you get to help in balloon popping at times. Her comment to me was, *I am going to watch you to see how you do it and then I can do it later when I am bigger.*
What she means by bigger, I am not sure but I know she won’t be waiting too long before she will use them on her own. I am still trying to get her to understand what the tools are for and when to use them. When *she* thinks she understands, she will do it on her own.
The heat here is building and we will be up to the high 90′s tomorrow and the next day. In fact, up until Saturday, we will all have to be very careful how long we are out in it. Our humidity is very high, too, so the heat index will be around 104 or 105 they said. If you are going through anything similar, just know there are people in 21 states (that’s what the weatherman said) that are all going through this. Be careful. Stay hydrated. If you exercise, do it early in the day or in the evening when it cools down. Love you all and please use common sense the next few days. Life is too short to be reckless.
