Sunday, September 10, 2017

Harvest Monday - September 11, 2017

Tomato harvests are picking up. The first of the big beefsteak types were ready to harvest this week. It's a variety that I've been growing for a few years now, Chianti Rose is a cross between Brandywine and an unnamed Italian variety. It's well adapted to the climate here and reliably sets a good number of tomatoes through the cool summer nights. It also very tasty!

Chianti Rose


The rodents have been raiding the tomatoes so when the first Chianti Rose fruits started to develop some color I took a piece of some old row cover fabric and tied it around the ripening fruits. The rats could chew through the fabric if they wanted to, they certainly have done so elsewhere in the garden, but they seem to prefer easier targets so I was really relieved when I uncovered this bunch and found them to be unmolested.




Here's what the Damn Rodents will do to unprotected ripe tomatoes. I went through the tomato patch on Sunday and covered up all the large fruited tomatoes that were starting to ripen. It's not practical to swaddle the cherry tomatoes so my strategy with them is to pick them a bit under ripe since the Damn Rodents seem to prefer perfectly ripe tomatoes.


As you can see there was quite a parade of tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes.

Jaune Flamme, Marzano Fire, Chianti Rose, Mavritanskite

Marzano Fire




Some sweet peppers have been trickling in too.

Marzano Fire & Jaune Flamme Tomatoes
Petit Marseillais & Violet Sparkle Peppers

Violet Sparkle
I harvested the first Shepherd's Ramshorn pepper fairly green because the tip of the pepper was resting on the soil and had started to spoil. I'm harvesting all of the peppers before they fully ripen to try to beat the rodents to the harvest.

Shepherd's Ramshorn, Petit Marseillais, Gogosar

And then there were more of the usual suspects. The Romanesco zucchini is quickly winding down though because the plant is fast being overcome by powdery mildew.

Romanesco Zucchini, Green Fingers & Chelsea Prize Cucumbers

The Tromba D'Albenga vines put out one big flush of squash and now are taking a rest, probably a prolonged one since I cut the vines back quite severely because they were spreading across the ground and providing cover for burrowing rodents. The burrowing seems to have let up for now because I've deprived the Damn Critters of the cozy vine coverage.

Tromba D'Albenga 

That's the latest from my garden. I'll end with a shot of one of my favorite critters that hangs out in the garden, a Western Fence Lizard. I call this particular one "Mr. Funky Tail" for an obvious reason.

Mr. Funky Tail
Mr. Funky Tail very obligingly gave me a lesson in what lizard poop looks like just before he posed for this shot. I always thought those little doo doos were either bird or rodent poop, but now I know better. I learn something new all the time! (I'll spare you a photo of the specimen.)

Harvest Monday is hosted by Dave on his blog Our Happy Acres, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting lately.


13 comments:

  1. I'm in sympathy with you. I pulled up tomatoes months ago because of the rats eating all those beautiful almost ready fruits. I just couldn't stand it.

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    1. I'm with you, rather compost than rat chow. Sometimes I feel like I'm just growing an all-you-can-eat rodent buffet. Ugh.

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  2. I must have tossed one in every 5 tomatoes due to vole nibbles, makes me crazy! But what they've left you certainly are beautiful looking fruit!

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    1. My neighbors must think I'm wacko woman for all the times I've gone into the garden and found rodent damage and then proceed to have a ranting melt down...

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  3. The Chianti Rose is beautiful! I think it would be a good choice for us too, as our nights this summer have been mostly cool and the tomatoes are suffering for it. The baskets of tomatoes and peppers are just so colorful. And thanks for sharing the lizard picture--we have no lizards of any kind here, and I miss them!

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    1. No lizards at all, how sad, I guess your winters are too cold. The Western Fence lizards are the most gregarious and are out and about all the time, but I also catch glimpses of Whiptails, Western Skinks, and most rarely Alligator lizards. It's so much fun to have them around.

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  4. Great looking tomatoes and peppers, varieties I've never heard of, and cool reptile. With feet like that, it must be able to walk vertically.

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    1. The Fence lizards do climb all around, up walls, fences, and even up into the plants in search of bugs to eat. They're fun to watch.

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  5. At least it looks like you are getting a lot of tomatoes in spite of the rodent issues! It is a shame having to keep everything covered, and I can commiserate for sure. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm Mad Mr McGregor when they see me chasing the deer, often on the riding mower. I chased them off 4 times yesterday, once on foot while banging pie pans together.

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    1. You've got me laughing, thank you! I yell at them and they turn and stare at me as if to say why are you making so much noise, you're disturbing the peace and quiet. Then I throw rocks and they get the idea.

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  6. That Chianti rose totally looks like a Brandywine and it must be tasty having it as a parent - I think that Brandywine is one of the tastiest tomatoes (which surprised me as I'm always skeptical of that type of hype). Your rodent damage looks like my slug damage on some of the tomatoes, and not necessarily those near the ground either - so frustrating!

    Ha - lizard poop - don't think I would recognize that!

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    1. Chianti Rose could easily be mistaken for Brandywine, except that in my cooler climate it tastes better. I've grown a few different strains of Brandywine and they have never lived up to the hype, I think they need more heat to develop their vaunted flavor.

      I'm not sure very many people do recognize lizard poop for what it is - I've been seeing it for years without knowing!

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  7. What a fantastic tomato harvest. I love Mr Funky Tail. I'd love to have lizards in our garden

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