First Tomatoes!

On Friday I picked the first tomatoes of the year! Finally.

Baby Boomer Hybrid Cherry Tomatoes

My neighbors make fun of me every year when I plant tomatoes so early (the mantra up here is not until after Labor Day - it's tradition, the way it's always been done).

To them I say nyah, nyah, nayah. They're still weeks away from getting theirs.

To myself I cringe, realizing that my early planted tomatoes that do well EVERY YEAR are a sign of The Oncoming Storm of Global Climate Change.

On a more cheerful note - these were tasty after a winter of not having fresh tomatoes.

Sorry, Husband, you'll have to wait for the next ones to ripen.

Veggie Garden Update

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional time for gardeners in my area to put in tomato plants. Traditionally Memorial Day has been about the time of average date of last frost. 

Global Climate Change is making a mockery of tradition. If you average data for the past 20 years the average date of last frost has been around May 10. In the five years I've lived here we haven't had a significant frost in the month of May.

Since I didn't know the tradition of waiting till Memorial Day when I moved here I looked up the average date of last frost and used that as a guide. And because, when it comes to spring planting, I have the patience of a Jack Russel Terrier puppy I usually plant a bit early.

Memorial Day weekend and MY tomatoes are blooming. Yum. How long after pollination till we get fruit? Good thing I plant a lot of other things to attract pollinators so I should have a high pollination rate, and lots of tomatoes.

LOTS of tomatoes.

Do you think The Husband and I can eat everything produced on ALL NINE of these plants? Don't worry. I have plans for freezing enough to get us through the next long New England winter.

NEW USDA HARDINESS ZONE MAP

Related to yesterday's post...

The US Department of Agriculture has created a NEW plant hardiness zone map (located here).  The Edge has moved from hardiness zone 6a to hardiness zone 6b.  Woo-hoo!  I can't wait to make lists of all the plants that are now considered hardy here.  Muhlenbergia (pink muhly grass) please?