Oh Tomatoes!

Way Back Garden 42 tomato plants

Has been a long hot week here, pushing 90 some afternoons. Crazy early spring, I can remember years I was still making an occasional fire this time of year.

This is the way back garden, because it was "way back" of the house, it's really not that far from the house tho. Some pick and shovel work and I planted 42 tomato plants, they seem to all be doing well.

Tomato Cage

Since I had to move in with mom my old chicken pens are empty. Well now they are full of tomato plants!  Gives a whole new meaning to tomato cage doesn't it?  I have gotten 86 plants in the ground, with 40-50 more in pots waiting to be planted. I have 12 plants in permanent pots at mom's house.  Why so many? I sell eggs and veggies at our farmer's market from June through September. For the past 2 years there have been almost no tomatoes from any vendor because we have all had a horrible problem with viruses and wilts. So I just decided to plant lots of different kinds and see what happens.

Found one of my lost marbles

carrot seedlings

ripening mulberries

nasturtium

You know nasturtiums are edible, right? Blossoms, leaves and seedpods have a spicy flavor reminiscent of watercress to which they are related.

A pot of flowers

baby silkie

zucchini blossoms

And in an exciting development we have zucchini blossoms at about the time of year I am usually just planting seeds!

Dreaming of Spring & Edible Flowers!

Violas are yummy edible flowers.

Yes, I know, it's not even Christmas and I'm drooling over seed catalogs and dreaming of spring! I just can't wait to really get my garden going full steam again.

One of the things I'm thinking of are all the yummy sorts of edible flowers I can plant. Violas are very nice, a sweet flowery taste to them.

Pea shoots and blossoms are edible and taste like peas. This one is Dwarf Grey Sugar.

Another thing I'm looking forward to are all the sorts of peas I've planted. I haven't ever tried the pea shoots but I have tried the blossom and they taste very much like peas.

Tulips are also edible.

Tulips are also edible as well as beautiful in the spring landscape.

Nasturtium leaves, flowers and seeds are all edible.

Nasturtium leaves and blossoms are edible, but have a hot spicy flavor not enjoyed by everyone. The green seeds are sometimes pickled for use as a substitute for capers, but that sounds like more work than I want to do.

Roses are another edible flower that is often used in the landscape, but so far I haven't really found any with a flavor that really stands out. Some are a little bitter even if you trim off the white part at the bottom of the petal, while others are just sort of bland. So I'm still looking for one that actually tastes like roses!


There are dozens of other edible flowers that you can use to add color to your edible landscape. Most herb flowers are edible and some are colorful. Some vegetable flowers are edible, like zucchini.

If you'd like to read up on more edible flowers I'd suggest Rosalind Creasy's book to get you started.