Garden Journal – 4th Week of June

A Grandson is Born

We were blessed this past week by the birth of our second grandchild, Theo.  Born in New Orleans the day after Father’s Day, Theo weighed six pounds, 10 onces and was twenty and one half inches long.  We are looking forward to seeing him in person in the next couple of weeks.

Harvest Time at Greg’s Garden Party

We’ve been enjoying lettuce, kale, asparagus and peas.  This week we added cabbage, beets, Jalapeno peppers and “Glacier” ultra early tomatoes to the mix.  I grow “Tender Sweet” cabbage because it is tender and sweet and makes the best cole slaw on the Planet.  Check out one of my earlier posts entitled “The Best Cabbage for Cole Slaw”.

I do love my beets.  I’ve waited patiently.  Beet season has finally arrived.  Last Friday night, we made some slaw, grilled some chicken, par-boiled the beets and finished them off on the grill.  Slightly charred, ever so lightly enhanced with smokey flavor to go along with their earthy freshness;  We live for these treats.

“Glacier” Tomatoes, the First Tomatoes of the Season

After experiencing some “critter” problems, I surrounded my three “Glacier” tomato plants with plastic chicken fencing last week.  Finally, I am eating tomatoes from my garden.  C’ant say enough about these babies.  For an early tomato, “Glacier” has great tomato taste.  This is a salad tomato, approximately 1 1/2″ in diameter, weighing in at about 2 oz.  “Glacier” is a great way to start the tomato season.

Tomato Plant Maintenance Continues

This week I fed all of my tomatoes and other fruit crops with organic fish fertilizer.  In addition, I pinched off new suckers, pruned the plants to rid them of leaves close to the ground and sprayed them with Copper Fungicide.

At this point, my three “Black Ethiopian” tomato plants appear to be leading the pack in terms of growth and vigor.  I will keep you updated with progress photos over the next six weeks.

All the best,

Greg Garnache