On Thursday, March 14th, I had everything I needed for my self quarantine. And so it began. On Friday morning I woke up and realized that my my tiny little patch of garden that I have been turning and raking and fertilizing with all sorts of things for the past six weeks ago had not plants. So I donned my latex gloves that I have been wearing to the grocery store and headed out to the Home Depot Garden shop. The parking lot was kind of full but the Garden shop is outdoors and there were not really lines to check out.
I didn’t get the plants I wanted, but I got plants. I bought two “cheat plants” the twenty dollar ones and one already has fruit. The other is a cherry tomato plant that was a month or so behind the other. I also bought four regular small plants that won’t mature for 80-90 days. Sadly, they had hardly any heirloom plants. I bought Cherokee purple which is the in thing in the ATL but honestly not my personal favorite. I can’t recall what the other three are but I think sadly, they are all probably hybrids. I was at Lowes a week or so ago and they did have heirlooms and I decided to wait because it was so early. I regret that now.
Gardeners Can Read Here For Previous Seasons of Tomato Talk!
I also bought two bell peppers one yellow one green. And Some cilantro, basil and parsley that I planted all together in a decorative porch pot. Cilantro is always sold out at my stores. I blame the Mexicans! 🙂 Kidding kind of. Cilantro is very popular in my neighborhood gardens. I also bought a pot of red tulips in bloom. They are inside with me. I don’t know why people would plant blooming tulip bulbs, but I guess they do. I will enjoy them now and plant the bulbs in the fall like normal people. 🙂
Honestly, I may enjoy another trip to Home Depot a bit later on and see what has come in. I feel like an outdoor shop with few customers is a low level threat. Unlike the grocery store. Plus I still haven’t worn my fancy mask out in public. lol. Holy SHIT! Idris Elba has tested positive! Why are all our favorites getting the virus!
Anyway, I am going to be enjoying weeding and watering my garden this year. It gets to be a PITA after the newness wears off. But I know I will be enjoying the outside time this year. I may go to the park and walk the track if there are not tons of people. We shall see.
So is anyone going to get some tomatoes in with me this year?
Not a single one of my seeds has started, but I did buy a blackberry and a blue berry bush and potted them, they’re the happiest little guys so far. I’m thinking I may need to go to the Home Depot and buy cheaters. I’m sad about that.
I haven’t started planting yet, but apparently they’ve designed a tomato plant where the tomatoes stay green. I’m super excited for that.
Cilantro is a vile weed!
Some people are genetically defective and for the defects, cilantro tastes soapy or something. This is God’s way of identifying the assholes of the world. Oh um. well, yeah. Sorry.
them’s fightin’ words, T! take ’em back! Ina Garten and I beg to differ. In other news, I have shishito peppers, peruvian lemon peppers, frizzle sizzle lemon berry pansies (yellow blue), terracotta rose colored cosmos (the picture was irresistible), all sorts of zinnias, and bulb fennel started because if I want the good stuff, I gotta to grow it myself.
Ha, I am just in a mood. But it is a genetic thing. I am insanely jealous of your garden
Also, I do not get fennel what am I supposed to do with it?
cooked in a gratin with potatoes, cream, and garlic or raw sliced thinly on a mandolin into most any salad (ok, not caesar), bulb fennel is a soft licorice flavor. the young leaves/fronds are a pretty and tasty garnish.
Check out Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Chicken Traybake With Bitter Orange and Fennel. Delishious AND easy. The fennel gets really mellow during baking. It needs to marinate for a while, so put together the night before.
Fennel is one of my favorite things cos I’m obsessed with licorice and anything that tastes of anise.
You can boil it. Fry it, but I think the best recipe is Finnochi alla Parmigiana (Fennel Parmesan) which is a dish I learned about from Lidia’s Kitchen on PBS — shout out for Lidia Bastianich. Google it. It’s perfect.
Also, you can use the fronds/leaves in salads or dry them for mulling wines (which should not just be a fall/winter thing).
OMG! I am so annoyed with myself that I cant stand cilantro. I love love Mexican food, the hotter the better, but then I have to be annoying and pick off the little leaves sitting in my dinner. Pity us, Tamara, we are cursed…
It really a genetic thing it tastes bad to some people. I an not usually an asshole to people in the Tomato thread. But that was their first comment. We shall see if she sticks around and becomes one of us. 🙂 I hope she does.
Supertasters. It’s a thing. Depends on the person’s genetics. Spouse physically cannot handle cole crops. The smell makes him ill.
I need to add my two cents to this..
I love cilantro, how do people eat/make guacamole without it?
Fennel is too strong, I can’t stand it.. but I don’t like licorice. I had fennel tea once, it was disgusting!
I think it’s just a matter of one’s person taste in food.
so it was a little hazing! cute!
Cilantro? Lor’ I can’t! Why not add some freshly grated Irish Spring and call it St. Patrick’s day? Come sit six foot away from me on the asshole bench of you agree. The nose knows.
lol! the first time I started realizing a problem was at a Mexican Restaurant…eating the rice and thinking “damn, something is wrong with their dishwasher…I taste soap” …then watching cooking shows with Ina Garten and Martha Stewart I realized it was the cilantro…I LOVE herbs but this one is a no go for me….I hate anything Licorace/rootbeer too so fennel is a no…but other than that…bring it on..I will eat it!
Laughing hysterically. Yes. A thousand times yes. Anything to distract from this *waves arms* thing.
A while back, I ended up with a little fun money. Every penny is going into a garden for the ages. I found a crew and said “build me raised beds I can garden when I am 80”.
They love a challenge. I am getting raised brick bed areas with smaller cedar beds inside.
Woohoo! Boxcar Willie tomatoes and Fooled You jalapenos!
A few years ago I made all my own self watering pots. The HUGE ones from Costco that look like stone and whatnot but are really plastic. I adapted an instructable that used plastic storage containers and one that used buckets. I didn’t want ugly on my front porch.
I’ve always dreamt that if I ever get a home with a great yard, I’d do raised beds that I somehow make self watering… meaning there are big ol’ tanks under the dirt that I could fill. (I’m a lazy gardener)
Thank you for the idea! A drip hose just under the ground, maybe. Tanks…hmmm
I highly recommend mixing red lava rock in your raised beds. Pots too. Even in the ground — almost everything benefits from good drainage.
Agree. I had not thought of lava rock. Will discuss it with the crew. They promised me the same beds like they made for their mom.
Wow wow please ask TT if you can share photos of structure, pretty please.I netted a raised bed last year using small pvc arcing it. Used zip ties. It looks ok, easy build & wasn’t costly.
I’ve gophers, gr. squirrels, a lot of birds. deer and moles. There have been years I just quit, Deer and ground squirrels were horrible last year. Also a few bunnies but think they mostly get eaten by bigger animals.
I want to order these that come in boxes that my sister had one year. I asked what they were but she hasn’t come back to me yet. I’ll update when she does?
Do you plant your cilantro in the ground or a pot?
You can do it either way. It is kind of tricky to keep alive sometime. But I plant my herbs in pots on my porch so I can open the front door and snip some when I am cooking.
And cilantro bolts fast, hatea humidity. I just keep replanting all summer.
*wanders outside to look at bee balm and daffodils *
It’s raining and I’ll melt if I go out in the rain. I am the one who got tomatoes because of bird shit. I’m in California and have a garden the size of 16 x 10 feet. Could probably do a basket of herbs.
I always plant a salsa garden. Jalapenos, green onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Delicious. I have a 3 tiered gutter garden for all my herbs. I also have moles and shrews because, apparently, I have “great soil.” I’m going to war with them this spring/summer. Hopefully before I break an ankle stepping in a mole crevasse.
Moles are impossible, trapping worked a little. Gassing the holes works, but it is work and takes two ppl. I have almost every animal but never a shrew, I feel left out. Not really.
a salsa garden! I love that idea!
We are way too cold to plant but I saved some herbs over the winter! Parsley, lavender, thyme and chives, still powering through until the frost is over and I can put them outside.
I haven’t decided if I’m doing a garden this year or not. My neighborhood was INVADED by groundhogs last year and those smelly, evil bastards destroyed just about everyone’s garden! I discovered them just as my eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers were almost perfectly ripe. Stupid me decided to wait a few more days to harvest the few plants of each I’d lovingly tended, only to go out a couple of days later and find every single plant stripped bare! They’d even eaten the heads off of my sunflowers and some other flowers I had in pots around my back steps! It’s illegal to trap them in my county. I tried every humane remedy to get them to move on. My neighbor just told me she’s spied them under her shed already this year. I am not amused!
Google Chunk the Groundhog! This guy set up cameras to see what the hell was eating his garden. Taking big bites out of his tomatoes, etc. Turns out, he had a ground hog under his shed, AND the groundhog liked watching himself in the camera lens while he eats. It is kind of mesmerizing to watch. And wholesome. and cute. The guy is setting up two gardens now… one for Chunk and one for himself (with extra fencing). I think I saw it on Dodo or something.
Sounds cute but I won’t be emulating him. I live in a small development that doesn’t allow any type of fencing. I gave the ones in my yard their chance to relocate. I tried every humane, non lethal method that exists. If they come back, I’m hiring the local rodent exterminator to do the job properly. And permanently! They carry too many diseases and their tunnels cause too much damage. I’m not risking my dogs or myself getting sick from them, their droppings or the ticks and fleas that they carry.
I am in the south, full garden all year long when I am not sure if I like something or not I just grow it and see if I can acquire a taste. The only thing that I cannot do is turnips I love the greens but the bulb is too bitter. I really enjoy tomato’s all colors they each have their own scent, texture, and flavor
I’m so jealous you’re able to plant the hot weather vegs all ready. I have to wait until May to plant. Glad to know Cherokee Purple is the “in” tomato this season and hope you have better luck than I did with them. Now that I have nothing but time to kill, this might be a banner year in the garden.
To be honest I am not a fan of the Cherokee purple, BECAUSE TOMATOES SHOULD BE RED! but I would also prefer to have a cheat plant and all heirlooms but I just took what they had.
Oh and it is way too early to plant, but did it anyway.
I take some wire and plastic sheeting and make little individual green houses for my tomatoes. Just make a circle of wire wide enough to slip over the plants. I make them about 3 feet tall. They work great if you are trying to push the season. When it really gets warm, just take them off. Helps with zucchini and peppers too.
No tomatoes here. My work is still open, which is funny because I work for the big G. Everything is closed so I’m going to pretend my birthday didn’t happen this year so I won’t turn another year older ?
I hope everyone is staying healthy, it’s getting scary out there.
Can you please delete this? Thanks.
I told everyone it’s leap year, I’m skipping my birthday…didn’t work, another year last Friday, yup the 13th. I don’t have superstitions about Friday 13, I also have a daughter born on a 13th I just didn’t feel like celebrating.
I’m glad you are employed, I’m glad you are having this birthday and I wish you and yours many happy, healthy years to come!
I love 13, For centuries, 13 was a lucky number. I used to know when/why that changed, but I’ve forgotten.
I think it was something stupid like opals being bad luck, which came about after a work of fiction (by Sir Randolph Scott?) had that in its plot. Opals were not back luck until then.
Kinda off topic since we’re expecting 4-10 inches of snow starting tomorrow here in the WWwest! Tomatoes? ?. A good tomato (beside my mother’s who I won’t visit for God only knows how long) is so few and far between for me! I’ll just add, sliced about 1/4″, salt and pepper, I”m just going to move on…the best at room temp…moving on.
I’m horrible on SM but one of my coworkers showed me a post…family member visits his G-pa daily, visitation is no longer aloud, he sits outside the window and they talk by phone daily!
We’re experiencing extreme isolation with our residents and their families already and we’re only days into this. I have taken care of some of these residents for sooo many years. Their families know me personally and I them. We’ve had to cut physical contact. It’s already horrible. We can’t allow ANY visitors into our building, we even do our Pharmacy, Lab pickup and supply exchange outside of the building. I should say, no Covid-19 in the building or in Northern AZ as of this evening.
Is there a window that could be set up for visits like that? With a space heater or something outside? The family could make appointments. They would have to bring their own chairs b/c of cross contamination.
We have a private office where we can do video phone, Skype, facetime etc. Thank you so much for understanding! I took this idea to management today.
Thank you for understanding! Great idea!
I am so sorry. I totally get it. I work as a consulting dietitian for skilled nursing facilities and we are considered non essential so I am work from home. I had residents I would see on a weekly basis and chat with and it made my day. Thank you for what you are doing.
Kipper, I co-sign with Maria.. Thank you for all that you do! <3
Man I live “in town” now. And I am struggling with my six year old. Because he has already written through the 60 booklet that his speech therapist sent home for him. I said give me ten minutes love, and he completed his booklet his teacher gave him. That is good, right?
I waited to plant during the early warm weather because usually it’s followed by rain and frost. Now, it is here and coming next weekend too.
I need to get a CO2 Rat Killer if I want any tomatoes this year. Out of five 6-foot tomato plants, I got only 3 ripe tomatoes. Roof rats… The bad thing is the device costs almost $200 and that is a HUGE CHUNK of my income. I can’t use poison (chickens and dogs) and I want it to be merciful and gardening is my therapy. So … CO2 it is…
I may do a container or two. I am excited to see what will come up in this garden of our new old house. Right now our energies are going into the lawn that had been let go. The hub doesn’t want to put in the effort for what he would call a $300 tomato and our space is purposely much smaller here. I am very interested in reading how y’all’s efforts come along. Good luck and successful planting everyone!
I was looking at my flower bed next to the house and regretting that I planted some flowers there instead of vegetables.
I have a spot for a vegetable garden but it needs an extreme weeding and a lot of work and my nausea already kicked in plus it is already 90 degrees here.
I do have a small herb garden going with basil, oregano, rosemary, and a pepper plant. I want to get cilantro but it always goes to seed to fast for me. Any tips?
Look up companion plantings and see what vegs you can have with your flowers. Certain combos help each other and it looks cool mixing flowers with edibles. (Unless it’s a specific look you’re after and veg won’t look good with it.) Marigolds are especially good because they help repel insects.
These are flowers that sprawl and take over so nothing can go with them…
Tomato and basil grow well together. The basil apparently repels some bug that likes to eat tomato plants, and having them growing together also gives the tomatoes a better flavor.
My son used to do a huge garden well huge considering it took up half our postage stamp sized yard. He moved out 2 years ago and I haven’t done anything. This year I plan to do a few garden pots for tomatoes and who knows what else. I can’t be sitting on the ground because I can’t get up so it’s gonna be where I can sit in a chair and tend it. With 5 grand kids only 3 blocks away they can all come help!
Shit just got real, y’all. The place where I get my hair done is closed until further notice. My next appointment is supposed to be April 1, and they’d better be back open by then. I’m not going through a national emergency with my roots showing.
So my mom had this plant called “money plant” my mind is mush but I guess my mamma some how sent me some because I am not sure she was alive when I bought this house. I know mama died first. And I moved here for because my daddy wanted me to come home.
Anyway, money plant is a plant that is used a lot in dried flower arrangements, It is called money plant because the seed pods are coin shaped. and when you tub them he seeds fall our and leave you with a beautiful coin shape. I spreaded the seed pods all over my back yard which is a bit of a pine forest with no grass. Today my backyard is a a SEA of purple flowers. I wish I could send this to all of you, And one fall comes and it will. I will be happy to share the seed with anyone who wants some.