The Cardinal & the Tomatoes

I haven't had a "Veggie Tale" to tell in quite a while, so I was happy that Mr. Cardinal showed up and presented me with a story to share.

About a month ago, I was drinking a cup of coffee and looking out the back window at my garden. All of a sudden, a Cardinal landed on the stone wall surrounding the patio. My first thought was of pleasure at seeing this beautiful red bird in my garden. Seeing Cardinals is a common sight, but one I never tire of.  

Then, much to my dismay, he hopped on to one of the tomato plants. In a split second, I went from being pleased to being anxious. The thought that he is going to take a bite out of one or more of the fruits had me holding my breath.  It didn't take long before I exhaled with acceptance, and a reminder to take the good with the bad. If I want wildlife in my garden, I have to accept the fact that they might want to feast on those delicious Sweet Baby Girl cherry tomatoes, too. Right? 

But a few seconds later, I was relieved and delighted to see him emerge from the plant with a big fat green worm in his beak. That sight put a BIG smile on my face, as I realized I was observing nature working together in one of the best ways. 

I went out and checked, and my shiny red orbs were untouched! I was amazed at how wrapped up I got into that little bit of garden drama. 

It's the Great Pumpkin(s), Charlie Brown!

Not to long ago I posted about the serendipitous pumpkin vine that launched itself all over my tiny backyard. When I recently returned from vacation, I noticed the extra large leaves floating on top of the fence had died, and the fence was no longer holding up the BIG pumpkin.  Fortunately, the BIG GUY hit the ground gracefully without splitting open. 

A few days later I carried it (at least 20 lbs.) and the other 3 over to this bench for a photographic memory. I couldn't let this opportunity slip by as I certainly would not have had this much success had I planned this whole "veggie tale" event out. We had a total of 5 pumpkins - I left the one on the other side of the fence for the two sisters who live behind me. They were excited a few months back when they discovered a pumpkin growing on their side of the fence. I totally believe in "sharing the joy!" 

Now, I seriously want to display these beauties (yes, I'm proud - even though I can't really take any credit for them) in the front yard, but GOOD GRIEF it's the middle of summer!

Do you think if I put them inside my dark and cool closet that they'll last until autumn?  It's only 73 days away.

The Big and the Small of it

As all of you veggie growers know . . . sometimes you get lucky with your crops and sometimes you don't. 

Sometimes you get a plentiful harvest . . . and sometimes you don't.

Sometimes you can grow an extra large veggie . . . and sometimes you get a paltry looking specimen. 

And, so it goes with my garden . . .

This past winter we enjoyed watching our super-sized Georgia collard green grow and grow and grow  . . . 

We ate off of another collard green plant while we enjoyed the beauty of this beastly-sized collard in the garden. Oops, when I took this photo I didn't notice the teenaged Lubber grasshopper on the gigantic leaf. He wouldn't dare touch my prized collard! Would he?

and then there's the other side of the coin . . .

One of the potato plants that we planted on Valentine's day died back. Hhmm, that shouldn't happen until sometime late in June, so I decided to take a look to see if, just perhaps they were ready to harvest early.

And, what do I find? Two miniature dime-sized little potatoes. Definitely not enough to fill one's hungry belly. Oh well, I can only hope the other potatoes still in the ground can go the distance. 

And, that's the BIG and the small of it in my May garden.

The Tale of a German Giant

Back in July I placed my order for tomato seeds with Tomato Supply Co.  Their Website had promised a "free" packet of GERMAN GIANT seeds if you ordered a certain dollar amount. Well, my order didn't quite add up to the specified amount but they sent the free packet of seeds anyway . . . quite generous of them, don't you think? At first, I wasn't going to plant them but then I decided . . . oh, why not!

Well, I'm definitely glad I decided to plant the seeds after all. Not only is the tomato a giant but so is the plant. At 8 feet tall this healthy large-leafed plant just happily keeps on growing. 

I eagerly waited for the blossoms to set tomatoes. Each day I would go out and look for a tiny tomato. Finally, I spotted one. Each week the little tomato grew bigger and bigger. 

Four months after I planted him the first (and only tomato, I might add - I guess it takes a lot of energy to produce a giant) tomato is turning a beautiful holiday shade of red. Each day I checked to make sure he was doing okay, and a gentle squeeze revealed that he was ripening nicely. I went ahead and picked it fearing that I'd come out the next day to find . . . heaven forbid . . . that a bird had bitten into it or it had dropped to the ground and some other critter had devoured my GERMAN GIANT.

Ah, here it is . . . my beautiful GERMAN GIANT. He barely fits into the palm of my hand. 

Oh, I'm in love!

I proudly placed him on my kitchen island along with some other tomatoes from the garden and just admired him for a couple of days. 

Then the day came . . . time to slice this giant up and see if he tastes as good as he looks. Look at that beautiful red color and the meaty texure. My mouth is watering!

So what did we do with this GIANT (beef cake . . . oops, I mean beefsteak) of a tomato?

we made 3 BLT's

and 2 hamburgers . . . and, we still hadn't eaten the whole tomato. 

And, in case you're wondering. YES, the GERMAN GIANT tastes as wonderful as it looks. It's probably a good thing it only produced one tomato, as I'm not sure what we would have done with a dozen or more. 

I'm hopeful that if we don't have freezing temps we just might get lucky enough to have another GERMAN GIANT as he's still growing and blooming away.

Hope you enjoyed my little "Veggie" tale!"

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On a different note . . . Head over to Antique Art Garden to contribute to her "Flowerlady Love Offering" fund for Lorraine at Flowerlady's Musings who recently lost her husband after 43 years of marriage.