A cold Spring.

An unfinished Hothouse.

Tomato seeds that started off slowly and went down hill from there.

The ground not warm enough to plant tomatoes outside during that cold Spring even if we bought large seedlings or tomato plants.

Waiting for things to warm up.

Buying the last of the local growers tomato plants.

Some of the tomato plants he had sprayed with an anti fungal spray, those ones never took off. Note to self, if the plants are struggling and need to be sprayed with  something, even if it is organic, so early on in their very short lives, they will continue to struggle. Make sure I ask this question before buying them and don’t assume that they come spray free.

The warmer weather finally arriving, a finished hothouse. Space is precious. Pulling out tomato plants that aren’t thriving. It’s a short growing season here, no time to waste. Replace the tomatoes with beans and lettuce.

Lots of Green Tomato chutney made in February and mid March. Those tomatoes won’t ripen in time. Cut our losses and make lemonade out of lemons. 15 jars of Green Tomato Chutney made by Lil, Joy’s recipe of course, that amount will not go to waste during the colder months. The Green Tomato Chutney will make a good substitute for Quince Chutney since we lost all of our Quince Orchard harvest in a short hale storm.

I’m down to two tomato plants in the hothouse, a cherry red and a yellow pear. I’ll pull them out today. They are far gone enough for the tomatoes to ripen in a bowl on the kitchen bench.

I saw this photo in my camera roll just now, dated 24 april 2021. Our tomato season is finishing so much earlier this year. With only a few bowls of tomatoes on the kitchen bench to ripen it isn’t an abundant crop.

But I remind myself it isn’t just the size of the crop that counts. It’s being grateful to learn from the earth. Practice resilience. Come up with a plan b or c or d. Tend the crop with love and care. I’ll miss that tomato plant smell as I brush past it. And next year look forward to only planting red tomatoes. I think I am done with trying the yellow and orange varieties, although a fresh homegrown yellow or orange tomato is better than no tomato at all. Time to go back to some good old fashioned heirlooms that prove their place each and every year.

Are you already making notes for next growing season?

Sending Light & Love,

Jude x