Garden Tuesday 06/30/09 - Tomato Suckers and More!

Gouda Garden Greetings! While taking time out to sip some ?nettles? tea (supposed to help allergies ... I?ll let you know if it works), I realized it?s time to share what?s going on in the Gouda Garden. I know, I know ... you need a container for your joy! Still (ahem), I?ve got to admit that I?m simply enamored with my tiny garden plots. Especially now that the sun is gracing us with daily appearances, the garden is really starting to take off. In fact, summer is supposed to hit tomorrow with temperatures in the 90?s (it was in the 40?s last night!).

So, let take step outside the patio door and see what?s happenin?!

Tomato Tutorial: See Ya Round, Suckers!

There are two types of tomato growers: those who remove suckers and those who do not. I belong in the former category. What?s a sucker, you ask? They are branches that grow out of the joints on the tomato plants. Suckers don?t hurt your plants, but there is some evidence that they do ?rob? your plant of fruit production energy. Since my garden is so small, I pinch off the suckers to keep the plant focused on growing fruit, not leaves. Suckers do NOT bear any fruit themselves, they just produce leaves.Look for suckers growing at the plant joints. In the photo above, my pointer finger is touching the new sucker on this plant.Grab hold of the sucker (sounds like a move scrip ... ?Hey, you, grab hold of that sucker!?) at the base.Simply snap it off! See ya, sucker! (That's probably the only time I'll say that. It's just so out of character for me. If you knew me, you'd understand. Even if I did mouth the words, you'd shake your head and tell me that it just doesn't work coming from me. *sigh* My friends would bust out laughing, and then they, too, would tell me to give it up and stick with "blast and darn it".)Suckers grow fast!

The Case of the Fascinating and the Curious: Things that make me go ?hmmm?!

Here are a couple tidbits in the garden that fascinate me.

This is the first time I?ve grown cherry tomatoes. This plant doesn?t have a center stalk!It is growing in a V formation. Do all cherry tomato plants grow this way?

Someone?s been eating my porridge ... uh, make that beans. Some little creature decided to chow down on this leaf. No others, just this one. Don?t you just love the vein structure on the underside shown here in this leaf? I feel a homeschool lesson coming on! Hey kids, come look at this!
Isn?t this a hoot? It?s called ?salad mix? which is basically a bunch of different types of lettuce! Ha!


I just love the delightfully delicate yet Samson strong qualities of pea tendrils! Plus, aren't the two-toned pea leaves darling? (I like the word darling. I use it often.)

I just love the fuzzy quality of these Potato Flowers! Do you like fuzzy things? You know, like small critters, and, uh, potato flowers!

What?s new in your garden this week? Anything fuzzy?