Monday, September 28, 2015

Mr. Stripey

So Fall has officially descended on the Northern Hemisphere. Here on the northern plains the mornings are cool and the nights offer the best sleep with windows open, allowing the house to breathe in fresh, clean air. The days, however, are just plain hot-- in the 90s F still. The lawn is as brown as it has been in the heat of summer. The mums seem to relish the heat as long as they get plenty of water. The weed patch garden continues to produce tomatoes. Despite the weeds, we seem to have the best tomato crop in a longtime with large, nicely shaped tomatoes of different varieties. Healthy tomatoes.



I picked tomatoes yesterday, adding them to the collection. I have tomatoes on the counter ripening, I have tomatoes in the spare fridge out in the garage, I have tomatoes in an egg carton, I have tomatoes all over the kitchen. And more to be picked. There are beef steaks, big boys, Roma, cherry, and grape tomatoes. And one egg plant.

Wednesday they will converted to salsa. I will gather them all up and haul the harvest to Jen's where we will make salsa. I hope to have enough Romas to have at least one batch. They are the sauce making tomato. I need 5 pounds of tomatoes per batch, so it will be fun to see how that salsa differs from the other. I'll let you know. This is first year that we have had such success with the Romas.




And then there is this guy. I had planned on posting about tomato disease and imperfections, which would have required some research. The Head Gardener had returned home late yesterday afternoon. I asked him about why so many tomatoes were discolored. He grinned broadly and answered, "that is Mr. Stripey, an heirloom tomato." Ah ha! Not diseased after all. It is an heirloom beefsteak that is sweet, juicy, and large.

I will get back with you on the salsa making project on Wednesday. We tend to make it mild, but I would like to make at least on spicier batch.  

I have to thank you all for your kind comments on the roses. Here are the girls all smiling, showing off their prettiness. The three tea roses have all bloomed now in the late summer, giving me hope that they will be gorgeous next year. The David Austin on the end continues to struggle. I do hope that it has enough leaf material and a strong root to gather and store food for winter. I had intended to feed them, but I am wondering if it is getting too late in the season to add food. They certainly do brighten up what has been a dark spot in the yard. Their smiles make me smile, too.


I leave you this morning with the Harvest moon and last night's eclipse. As it rose just before dark, I drove down the road to get clear shots of it over the barren farm field. Then I took the rest of the shots from the patio.





Were you able to see the eclipse? 

A busy week here. My two classes are taking up a lot of time. How did I ever work full time? I am loving the students; it feels good to back on campus.


Have a wonderful week and thanks so much for taking time to visit.

10 comments:

  1. I did not stay awake for the eclipse but I'm glad so many did!
    The tomato supply is HUGE at your house!

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  2. The roses are looking good and although I've never heard of Mr. Stripey, heirloom tomatoes still have the taste of summer we crave.
    We watched the eclipse while in the hot tub on our deck - I know, it's a tough life.
    Glad you're enjoying being back at school Ann.
    Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday.

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  3. Wow - tomatoes galore - what a fortune!!! Love the photos of the moon. We didn't get to see it until after it was the full eclipse as it didn't clear the trees until then - but it was glorious anyway. We watched it for a while with a neighbor who was out walking her dog.

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  4. I know what you mean about part time work taking up so much time. Teaching two high school classes a day is absorbing most of my time.
    Your tomato harvest is wonderful! There are still more of them coming here, too. I caught a glimpse of the eclipse last night, but didn't watch it for long as we were watching grandchildren.

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  5. Good harvest of a large variety of tomatoes and yes we did see the eclipse Sunday night. F. set the alarmclock at 3 o´clck at night.......and we went out to watch, he made the photos.
    Have a nice week Ann!

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  6. My sky was covered with clouds, so no eclipse for me. I enjoyed your photos of the show. I love tomatoes. There just is nothing that tastes better than a fresh, home grown tomato. Have a lovely week.

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  7. It was too cloudy here to see the eclipse, very disappointing. I can just taste that fresh salsa. Mmmm.

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  8. Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. Glad to have the chance to visit you and to enjoy these beautiful photos ... exquisite moon pics.

    I can almost smell the tomato ... love the way the leaves release their pungent fragrance when you touch them. I can almost taste that tomato in a sandwich. Yum!

    Wishing you a beautiful month ahead...
    Brenda

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  9. You got some great photos of the harvest moon, I do so love that color. It was beyond beautiful when we finally got to see it...lol. Thank goodness my husband went back outside to see if it showed up.

    Do you give your roses 0 0 50/ potassium sulphate to put them to bed Ann? Around here I think it's a good idea to do that in November, we seem to have this really warmish weather, and then boom one day it's a killing frost -18 C don't know what that is in F but it's a killer.

    I keep meaning to buy some and forget to do it...it's good for them.

    I can totally understand your being so busy, lol...time expands to fill the space available you know.

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  10. You got some great photos of the harvest moon, I do so love that color. It was beyond beautiful when we finally got to see it...lol. Thank goodness my husband went back outside to see if it showed up.

    Do you give your roses 0 0 50/ potassium sulphate to put them to bed Ann? Around here I think it's a good idea to do that in November, we seem to have this really warmish weather, and then boom one day it's a killing frost -18 C don't know what that is in F but it's a killer.

    I keep meaning to buy some and forget to do it...it's good for them.

    I can totally understand your being so busy, lol...time expands to fill the space available you know.

    Jen

    ReplyDelete

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