For My Northern Friends . . .

. . . in England and Upstate New York.

Just after we ended our conversation about gardeners and Social Media, Silvia and Karen, I went outside to cut some lettuce and pull tomatoes off the vine for this evening's salad. Aaah - the joys of fresh produce in late October!

The lettuce is a mix of 'Garden Babies' and 'Monet's Garden Mesclun', both from Renee's Garden. The tomatoes are 'Red Currant', off a give-away plant from the State Botanical Garden in Athens.

The lettuce is just about finished, but there are still hundreds of little green tomatoes on the vine; I don't think they'll ripen before the first frost. This is the tomato to try again next year!

Oh, I did dress it before I ate it! Added salt, pepper, half an avocado and a few croutons and then two teaspoons of a dressing made of a mix of 2 T. EVOO, 1 T. balsamic vinegar and 1 t. Dijon mustard - yummy!

Saturday Garden Adventures

This has been a brilliant day. First a garden club meeting with an excellent program about soil, lawns and trees (need to talk with presenter; she should do some videos), then the Agri-Fest in Cleveland (bought some tomatoes from LoganBerry Farm and a Sedum from Full Bloom Nursery), then to Lula (bought planters at Wayne Wilson's), a stop at the Hall County Master Gardeners' Garden Expo (OMG - I got this gorgeous, gorgeous,almost 3-feet tall Hinoki cypress from Bannister Creek Nursery for $5; try finding it on-line, anywhere, for less than $25). Finally, I stopped at a local nursery for a bag of organic soil amendment stuff (peanut shells, chicken poop and cotton stalks, I have been told . . .) and a few bales of pine straw. Guess what I will be doing in the morning - until the rain arrives. And do we ever need that rain!

When does a garden get listed as 'critical'?

Mine may be approaching that point. I'm throwing out the last of the tomatoes. Those pretty Cerinthes? Not so pretty any more. The stately Butterfly Weed? Seriously drooping. The Salvias? Gasping for air. Aye, aye, aye!

I still water, but with less enthusiasm. Especially since receiving a water bill more than twice the usual amount. Rain chances today range from 10% this morning (not a drop!) to 40% this evening (here's hoping!) and less tomorrow. It's tough to be a gardener in North Georgia these days.

To-may-to, To-mah-to . . .?

Every autumn since 2006 I have said to myself: "Next year, I am not going to grow tomatoes". Then the winter catalogs arrive and I am once again seduced. This year, though, I've got it figured out. I will continue to grow tomatoes, but only small ones!

Top: Red Currant. I pick a handful every day now and toss them in a salad. Delicious flavor; this tomato deserves its name.

Center: Micro Tom. Only three harvested so far; I have not yet tasted them.

Bottom: Red Robin. None picked yet.

I also have "Early Wonder" in my garden (nothing early about it, in comparison to the three noted small ones), "Black from Tula", which has developed blossom rot, and "Black Krim", which has so far produced, in addition to some "green golf balls", one fist-size fruit that is still green (and creased) on top and already dark red at the bottom. For the past few days I have wondered: "Should I pick it or leave it on the vine longer". It's still on the vine.

The Harvest Is In!

This is already my second "harvest" of blackberries (yesterday I picked four), but it is my first "crop" of tomatoes. These are Red Currant and the plant has lots of clusters of green tomatoes and blossoms - so, lots more tomatoes to come!

Tomatoes Garlic Basil - An ordinary title. A great subtitle!

“Tomatoes Garlic Basil” tells us exactly what this book is all about. “The Simple Pleasures of Growing and Cooking Your Garden’s Most Versatile Veggies” not only makes us pick it up, but also buy it and read it from cover to cover.

Doug Oster has an advantage over many of us; his wife is Italian (or, at least, of Italian descent), so it is logical to suspect that she is the inspiration behind some of the wonderful and simple recipes in Tomatoes Garlic Basil.

The cover entices. The introduction inspires. The content compels us to make room in our gardens for (more) tomatoes, garlic and basil. And Cousin Mariella’s Eggplant Parmesan recipe has us both shaking our heads and determined to make this a project.

As a fairly recent gardener who became a Certified Master Gardener before she knew the difference between a Petunia and a Geranium and who loves basil, has a love-hate relationship with tomatoes and is growing garlic for the first time this season, I love this book! I will probably still keep buying my pesto at the local Farmers’ Market, instead of making it myself, and I’m not enamored of a garlic soup with grapes, but I can’t wait to make “Easy Baked Basil Fries” or cook up a batch of Pasta Sauce with Thyme (thyme being another one of my favorite herbs, with several varieties growing in my garden).

The trend for creating home gardens is undeniable. Newbies can’t go wrong with trying tomatoes, garlic and basil; Doug Oster’s book it a wonderful resource for them – and for veteran gardeners.