While Jaime was away on her honeymoon, I spent some time of my own away. No exotic flora and fauna for me though. I went to Chicago to take classes in chocolate.

It was lots of work and great fun, and I sat on the plane on the way home wondering if my tomatoes would be ripe when I got to the garden. I guess you can take the (Green)girl out of the garden, but not the garden out of the girl. Come to think of it, every time I travel, I find myself making a mental list of what I’ll likely miss in the veggie plot before I book.

I was delighted to see the tomatoes were indeed ripe and ready to go. Three different varieties, in fact. Now I’m preparing to make salsa, and after that, pasta sauce.

So, what’s the report from your garden? What’s ripening? What’s not?

And, what’s your fav salsa recipe?

I’ve always been a perennial person, so I’m kinda used to that work cycle. I spend a lot of time in the spring improving the soil, putting in new plants, transplanting, etc. After that, my plants are good to go, save for the necessary watering and dealing with the occasional disease or nasty pest.

But this year, I pulled out some of my perennials (!) to put in vegetables. I planted tomatoes (too many, of course), peppers, cucumbers, squash, broccoli, salad greens and a whole bunch of herbs. I figured that I’d plop them in the ground and more or less ignore them until harvest time. But these upstart plants have been downright demanding. 

 The tomatoes need to be watered almost everyday and after an initial scare, I’ve had to monitor them constantly for blight. The squash (which I’m growing in a container because I have no space) needs to be feed weekly or it pouts and produces yellowed leaves. And the herbs, well, half of them have bolted already (the cilantro, the basil) and the other half are refusing to grow.

My perennials, on the other hand, look spectacular. Too bad I can’t eat them . . .

So, here’s my question: Am I just whining or is growing veggies more work than growing perennials?

From Lee Kafkas:

I have a tomato conundrum that I’d like some of the best gardening minds to ponder. My tomatoes are growing too well. While you may be wondering “where is that conundrum?”, allow me to let me lay out a little history of our yard and the tomatoes that have grown in it.

My wife and I have a small home plot in Minneapolis. Though close to downtown, we have a active wildlife population of birds that nibble on our raspberries and blackberries, rabbits that nosh on our greens, and squirrels that snack on our tomatoes. I haven’t waged war, haven’t been too concerned about pest control, our solution was to grow smaller tomatoes that provided ample fruit for both us and the squirrels.

This year I started some “red currant” tomatoes by seed and planted four inch high seedlings in a bed that I had recently built over the remains of an old tree’s ground stump. I figured there would be some good nutrients deep down for years with the remnants of the decomposing tree. Maybe I underestimated the powerful punch of nutrients that lay in this area because that four inch seedling, a month later is about five feet tall with almost thirty lateral branches off of the main stalk. It’s not all green stalk-y growth. There has been abundant flowering and fruit formation. My problem comes with the neighbors of this tomato plant.

In this new bed, I had also planted multiple asparagus seedlings from the farmer’s market. They are about ten-twelve inches tall, are a healthy green, and have sent up q-tip sized asparagus shoots (which I have left in place and not disturbed). They seem to be doing well, I know they need a few years to get established and I am patient, but I thought that a couple plants could share space with them in the first year, not knowing how humongous the neighbor would get. My main fear is that I may have retarded the asparagus’ root and stalk growth this year by this crazy tomato plant.

Are these plants incompatible companions? Am I safe letting the tomato keep growing how it wants to this year? Should I prune back all superfluous branches to give the asparagus more light and topside room? Whatever I do, I don’t want to encourage extra tomato root growth. My ideal is to get a bounty of red currant tomatoes and have a healthy patch of asparagus when the tomatoes are done. If any of you think a sacrifice needs to be made, let me know. All plans of action are welcome.

Are you ready for fall? Did you see it could frost tonight –  in the Metro. Fall was an abstract concept on my calendar just a week ago. This morning, I had to break out the polar fleece.

Maybe like me, you’re ready for apple crisp and planting bulbs and little fires on the patio. Then again, I’m just not ready to run out and cover tender plants, protect all my fruit trees from the deer and build those raised beds I’ve been putting off.  Suddenly it feels like there are a thousand things to do.

But I’m trying. I’ve been canning pasta sauce like mad. I even made a yummy dish out of cherry tomatoes that I skewered and grilled. Last week I saw free chokecherries on craigslist, and I picked half a bucket. I’ve never made chokecherry  jelly before, but I’m eager to try it, even though I hear it’s hard to get it to set properly.

I’m not sure I’m ready to say goodbye to the pleasures of summer. Are you? How long do you try to extend them? Will you cover your plants tonight? Is there a point where you usually just let fall be fall?

How are your tomatoes doing? Are you getting bushels or are the plants suffering in the heat and lack of rain?

I’m getting some great slicers to eat, but few romas so far.  I was making pasta sauce on Aug. 8 in 2007, and I don’t have anywhere near enough ‘maters to do that yet. I think I will. There are lots on the vine. But oh, they are taking their time. It makes me wonder if September isn’t going to be a train wreck of everything ripening just about the time a frost hits. H’mm. The things we gardeners worry about.