It was a frustrating evening.
I did a big round of tomato seed processing a few days ago and finished rinsing the last bowl tonight, a huge glass Pyrex mixing bowl of tomato innards. All the fruits the plant made went in there. And in my first pour I saw that I let it go too long. Sprouted seeds. Wow, that really smarted. I've been looking after that plant for over 6 months and I blew the whole endeavour just like that. My only consolation is that it was the Italian tomato 'Siccagno De Valledolmo', and I wasn't amazed by it really. It was okay, but not mind blowing. Somehow that makes the loss less severe...I guess.
We had a major deluge yesterday night, and at 10 o'clock I went running out with an umbrella to my Elephant's Head amaranth to cut the tops. More than once this year the weather has caught me off guard. I don't know how sensitive amaranth is to the seeds getting wet, so I chopped only the best ones and brought them in, leaving the rest. They look so pretty out there in the fall landscape, such an intense cheery color, I would like to leave them as long as I can. Terrible pics given the light, but I put one of them against my cupboard door, a standard size. They got quite large really. I'm really happy with this new plant!
The leaves and stems all developed that bright coloring. I've enjoyed this so much I may even grow it again next year. Always so many new and interesting things to try, but in the front yard edible project I really am enjoying the things that last deep into fall. Kales, carrots, Hamburg parsley, celeriac, collards, cosmos, 4 o'clocks, even the runner beans - these all seem to survive the ravages of light frosts very well.
The capsicum flexuosum journey continues...for now. I did get fruit this year! However I'm more & more inclined to try and find a home for the plants as well as my fig tree. Just not feeling it to keep going, too much work, not enough outcome. Interestingly, for a wild species the peppers have only a single seed per fruit. And a black one at that.
Spent a good chunk of time today cleaning up the front garden, pulling out bean plants, spent flowers and doing a tiny bit of hoeing. There was very little weeds that grew really between the plants, but it felt great to just tidy up back to zero weeds. I am so impressed by the effect of the beans on the soil, in 2 years there has really been a significant improvement. I've also added a fair bit of fine straw, which also helped. Working with rich fluffy soil is a pleasure.
And last but not least, the beans that I emptied from the front yard today - 'Malawi Mix'. This is only a small sample and I imagine that there will be other kinds of beans in the mix. One of them looks a little like 'Van Gogh's Olive', which I grew a couple years ago and really liked. A grey bean with no speckles, just hints of other shades in there. I'm quite looking forward to seeing what else might be in this mix! The blackish grey little beans remind me of Fort Portal Jade. I recall none of these colors in the seeds I planted!
Tomorrow's project, complete this last little leg of the tomato journey. I'm using the food processor for the rest, no more darn cutting of tomatoes in half. I want speed and closure. SO close to being DONE. Thank heavens!!!!!! Right now I feel like I
never want to see another tomato!!!
) I think these can get quite a bit bigger than this really, but for my garden they're already big and clunky. Excellent flavor too. A seed trading friend in Spain tells me that this is the carrot of choice for her because summers are so hot, and she has really clayish soil. What a funny turn of fate that my row of 'Kyoto Red' and this one are side by side in the hottest spot of the carrot garden. The least tolerant next to the most when it comes to heat.
And how long it will take me to pull each one off, and then go through them again to de-husk all those fruits.
They don't detach from the stem easily, I eventually stopped trying to pull them off and left them attached like cherry stems when I pureed the lot. I poured the stems out when I decanted the seeds.
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