That's It For 2011!

Yesterday's harvest: 2 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

Today's harvest: 17 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

The grafted SunSugar that my wife had severely cut back (from at least 5 feet in length down to an inch or 2) is recovering nicely.

And that's it for 2011! 

Harvested Over 600 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

Saturday's harvest: 15 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

Monday's harvest: 9 SunGold(1) tomaotes.

Our "koi pond" fence has fallen down in places but SunGold(1) still produces. But the cold nights will be the downfall of this plant. My wife tasted these tomatoes and still was impressed with the taste. They're not only good, they're excellent!

We've now harvested over 600 SunGold(1) (604) tomatoes! SunGold(1) is now the third highest harvest total for an individual plant for 2011. 

And Then There Was One...

Late last Sunday my wife pulled out Stupice, Jaune Flamme and Berkeley Tie Dye. She cut back SunSugar severely, so much so that I consider it pulled out for 2012. Since this is a grafted tomato my wife wanted to see if it would come back if it was cut back like a rose. It seems like a reasonable experiment.

That leaves SunGold(1) as the remaining tomato plant for 2011.

On Saturday I harvested 16 SunGold(1) tomatoes and today I harvested 4 more.

We've now harvested over 575 SunGold(1) tomatoes (580)! SunGold(1) has moderate wind and cold damage but still should produce a few more good tomatoes. We had them for dinner tonight and last Sunday night. They're still quite good! 

Harvested Over 550 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

On Saturday December 3, we harvested 11 SunGold(1) and Stupice for a total of 12 tomtaoes.

Last Sunday we harvested 6 SunGold(1) and Jaune Flamme for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Yesterday we harvested 20 SunGold(1) and 3 Stupice for a total of 23 tomatoes.

Today we harvested 9 more SunGold(1) tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 550 SunGold(1) tomatoes (560)! This plant is weakening (the winds and the cold nights are affecting the plant) but it's still producing some very good tomatoes.

Jaune Flamme is ready to pull and Stupice isn't going to last much longer, either. 

Harvested Over 500 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

Today's harvest includes 20 SunGold(1), 3 SunSugar, 2 Stupice and Jaune Flamme for a total of 26 tomatoes.

On Sunday my wife pulled out Green Doctors Kiwi(2) and on Tuesday she pulled out the mighty Matt's Wild Cherry. We ended up harvesting an astonishing 2727 tomatoes off of that plant.

We've now harvested over 500 SunGold(1) tomatoes (514)! I'm impressed with the late output. It's not just producing large tomatoes, they're tasty as well!

My wife has 9 maturing pomegranates on her pomegranate tree. She harvested one of them today. 

Harvested Over 5000 Front Yard Tomatoes!

Wednesday's harvest: 4 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

Thursday's harvest includes 8 SunGold(1), Green Doctors Kiwi and SunSugar for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 9 SunGold(1) and SunSugar for a total of 10 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 5000 front yard tomatoes (5004)!

Also, we've now harvested 375 SunSugar tomatoes.

The cold weather is taking a toll on the remaining productive plant, SunGold(1). But the plant is still productive and will be in the short term. 

Harvested Over 9000 Tomatoes For The Year!

Today's harvest includes 5 SunGold(1), Green Doctors Kiwi(2) and SunSugar for a total of 7 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 9000 tomatoes for the year (9004)! While this won't be the largest harvest we've had, we've been happy with the taste of this year's tomatoes.

Several people I know have reported a year that was just okay. I believe we've done better than just "okay". However, in my five years of harvesting, this year will come right in the middle of the pack -- 3rd highest total.

I've also harvested 25 Green Doctor's Kiwi(2) tomatoes. 

Harvested Over 150 Jaune Flamme Tomatoes!

November 10 harvest: 5 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

November 11 harvest: 2 SunGold(1), Matt's Wild Cherry and Stupice for a total of 4 tomatoes.

The Husky Cherry Red(2) plant was pulled and the Matt's Wild Cherry was cut back a bit.

November 12 harvest includes 2 Matt's Wild Cherry and SunGold(1) for a total of 3 tomatoes.

Wednesday's harvest includes 10 SunGold(1), 4 Jaune Flamme and 2 Stupice for a total of 16 tomatoes.

The Matt's Wild Cherry plant was cut back some more.

Today's harvest includes 13 SunGold(1), Matt's Wild Cherry and Jaune Flamme for a total of 15 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 150 Jaune Flamme tomatoes (153)! Also, we've now harvested over 450 SunGold(1) (459) tomatoes.

All the tomatoes from today's harvest and prior harvests were used in this morning's egg dish. The tomatoes were quite good!

We're only three harvested tomatoes away from 9000 for the year! 

Harvested 425 SunGold(1) tomatoes!

Thursday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1) and Stupice for a total of 3 tomatoes.

Friday's harvest includes 3 SunGold(1) and 2 Jaune Flamme for a total of 5 tomatoes.

Saturday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1), Matt's Wild Cherry and Stupice for a total of 4 tomatoes.

There was no harvest on Sunday.

Monday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 2 Matt's Wild Cherry and Jaune Flamme for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Tuesday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1), Jaune Flamme and Matt's Wild Cherry for a total of 4 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 5 SunGold(1) and Jaune Flamme for a total of 6 tomatoes.

We've now harvested 425 SunGold(1) tomatoes! And strangely, the SunGold(1) tomatoes are frequently twice the size of the first flush of tomatoes. That's unusual.

Also, we've now harvested 8950 tomatoes this year. Will we make it to 9000? 

Harvested Over 4000 Back Yard Tomatoes!

Tuesday's harvest includes 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, Husky Cherry Red(2), SunGold(1), SunSugar and Stupice for a total of 6 tomatoes.

Then had relatives house sit for five days while we were at a conference. We got back home yesterday evening. I told our housesitters that they could harvest whatever was ripe. I was told they did harvest but I didn't ask how many or what was harvested.

Today's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), 2 Stupice, Jaune Flamme and Husky Cherry Red(2) for a total of 9 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 4000 tomatoes in the back yard (4002)!

There's a definite fall chill in the air this morning. If it starts getting too cold I'll have to pull the rest of the tomatoes. We're not there yet, but we're getting there. 

Harvested 2700 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes!

No harvest done on Wednesday -- it was raining!

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 SunGold(1), Jaune Flamme, Patio, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Sweet Carneros Pink and Husky Gold for a total of 14 tomatoes.

Friday's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Michael Pollan and Dr. Wyche's Yellow for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Saturday's harvest includes 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Patio, Michael Pollan and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) for a total of 9 tomatoes.

Sunday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1), 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, Jaune Flamme, Husky Cherry Red(2) and Michael Pollan for a total of tomatoes.

We visited with Winnetka Farms, got some advice on compost and bought some seeds.

Today's harvest includes 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, SunGold(1) and Stupice for a total of 6 tomatoes.

We've now harvested 2700 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes! A remarkable total.

More plants are ready to be pulled (five or six), it's just a matter of time and room in our green recycle bin before we pull them.

We've found several hormworms on SunGold(1). The plant is so thick it's also acting as a "grasshopper hotel". 

Pulled Out Eight More Tomato Plants

No harvest yesterday.

Today's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Patio, 2 Honkin' Big Black Cherry, SunGold(1), Green Zebra(1) (picked yesterday evening), Large Pink Anna(1), Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Sweet Carneros Pink, Green Doctors Kiwi(2), Husky Gold and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) for a total of 15 tomatoes.

Yesterday evening I pulled out Green Zebra(1) and Golden Mama in the front yard. Only three tomato plants are left in the front yard. In the back yard I pulled SunGold(2), Pineapple, Red Zebra, Green Grape, Chocolate Stripes(1) and Aunt Ruby's German Green(1).

We just passed the 8800 harvest total for the year (8807) but due to the weakness of Matt's Wild Cherry, reaching 9000 for the year may me a stretch. 

Pulled Out Three More Tomato Plants

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, Persimmon, SunGold(1) and Orange And Green Zebra for a total of 9 tomatoes.

Later on in the afternoon I pulled out Vorlon, Persimmon and Orange And Green Zebra.

Friday's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, Honkin' Big Black Cherry, Kellogg's Breakfast and Green Zebra(1) for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Saturday's harvest inlcudes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, Large Pink Anna(1) and Patio for a total of 5 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, SunGold(1), Large Pink Anna(1), Patio, Jaune Flamme and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) for a total of 7 tomatoes.

The SunGold(1) tomato plant is both full and healthy. But it holds many grasshoppers. It's a grasshopper hotel. I've found a couple of hornworms on the plant. Hornworms have been rare this year.

There are more plants ready to be pulled when the weather is more temperate. 

Harvested Over 2650 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes!

Tuesday's harvest includes 5 Matt's Wild Cherry, Green Grape and Honkin' Big Black Cherry for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 9 Matt's Wild Cherry, SunGold(1), Stupice, Honkin' Big Black Cherry and Dr. Wyche's Yellow for a total of 13 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 2650 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes (2662)! The Matt's Wild Cherry plant is now looking tired.

A couple of more tomato plants are ready to be pulled. 

Harvested 200 Sweet Carneros Pink Tomatoes!

Saturday's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunSugar, SunGold(1), Golden Mama, Jaune Flamme, Orange And Green Zebra and Green Doctors Kiwi(2) for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Sunday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, Green Grape, Sweet Carneros Pink, Green Doctors Kiwi(2) and Husky Gold for a total of 12 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 5 Matt's Wild Cherry, 4 SunGold(1) and Sweet Carneros Pink for a total of 10 tomatoes.

We've now harvested 200 Sweet Carneros Pink tomatoes!

As you can tell, our harvest has dropped dramatically. Dribs and drabs now.

We picked up some great tomatoes from our local farmer's market grown by Tutti Fruitti Farms in Lompoc, California. Highly recommended! 

Pulled Four More Tomato Plants

Monday's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, Golden Mama, Jaune Flamme and Husky Gold for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Tuesday's harvest includes 8 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 Jaune Flamme, 2 SunGold(1), SunSugar, Sweet Carneros Pink and Kellogg's Breakfast for a total of 17 tomatoes.

Wednesday's harvest includes 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Jaune Flamme and Stupice for a total of 7 tomatoes.

I added fertilizer to the back yard container plants.

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Green Grape, Orange And Green Zebra, Garden Peach and Pineapple for a total of 12 tomatoes.

I pulled out four more tomato plants: Big Zebra, Neves Azorean Red, Garden Peach and Green Doctors Kiwi(1) (not Green Doctors Kiwi).

We've now harvested 8700 tomatoes for the year!

Today's harvest includes 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Orange And Green Zebra, Aunt Ruby's German Green(3), SunSugar and SunGold(1) for a total of 9 tomatoes. 

Harvested Over 2600 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes!

Today's harvest includes 8 Matt's Wild Cherry, Golden Mama, SunSugar and Garden Peach for a total of 11 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 2600 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes (2607)! Amazingly, this plant is starting to get another wind. For about a week I has harvesting tomatoes from this plant that were smaller than a pea but now they're nearly full size again.

The SunGold(1) tomato plant has been on a growth spurt lately. Let's hope it produces more tomatoes!

My wife watered both the front and back yards yesterday. 

Pulled Nine Tomato Plants

Wednesday's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Golden Mama, 2 SunSugar, Husky Cherry Red(2), SunGold(1), Green Grape, Green Doctors Kiwi(1) (not Green Doctor's Kiwi), Aunt Ruby's German Green(1), Orange And Green Zebra, Garden Peach, Oaxacan Jewel(2) and Sweet Carneros Pink for a total of 20 tomatoes.

Thursday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 SunSugar, 2 Garden Peach, Vorlon, Porkchop, Golden Mama, Matt's Wild Cherry, Large Pink Anna(1), Green Grape and Sweet Carneros Pink for a total of 17 tomatoes.

Thursday we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! We went out to lunch to celebrate but it was hard not to think about our Manchester Terrier. Still, I'm really happy in our marriage and am proud we married four years ago.

Friday's harvest includes 8 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Green Zebra(1), Husky Cherry Red(2), Large Pink Anna(1), Michael Pollan, SunSugar, Garden Peach and Yellow Brandywine for a total of 17 tomatoes.

My wife watered the back yard container plants.

I raked off the hay in the south portion of the "koi pond", put in a bag of planter mix and scraped away a small trench around the edge of the plantable area. Afterward, my wife came in and planted pea seeds (sweet peas, but perhaps snap peas).

Today's harvest includes 9 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Golden Mama, Porkchop, SunGold(1), SunSugar and Coyote (not Coyote) for a total of 15 tomatoes.

I pulled out several tomato plants. In the front yard I pulled Porkchop and Haley's Purple Comet. In the back yard I pulled Big White Pink Stripe, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Crimson Cushion(2), Oaxacan Jewel(2), Paul Robeson(2), Yellow Brandywine and Coyote (not Coyote). The back yard cutout is nearly clear of tomato plants.

The back yard harvest has slowed down simply because there's so few plants left. And the ones that are left are mostly in containers. And containers constrict the harvest for the contained plants. 

Yesterday Was Buster's Day

No harvest yesterday.

There was no harvest yesterday because we had to put down our beloved Manchester Terrier, Buster Brown. We took him to the veternarian as he had projectile vomited overnight and hadn't eaten in a day and a half. When we got him there he had lost more weight than before (we brought him in about a week prior). My wife and I discussed it and decided that nothing more can be done.

So yesterday was Buster's day. I carried him on his favorite walk, the long walk, in the late morning. My wife spent quiet time with him in the back yard. She carried him around the back yard. After a few chores, I brought him back to a local veternary clinic.

I first met Buster when I met my then girlfriend. I remember him being aggressive and pugnacious, but he was clearly just protecting my girlfriend. I liked him. But soon he dug himself out of the backyard and ran away once or twice.

Later on I found out he had a rough upbringing and may have been abused when he was a puppy. My now wife got him around the age of 2.5 to 3 years and thought he owned her and her back yard. If a male had originally treated him badly and a female treated him nicely, one can fully understand his reaction. I didn't quite understand that at the time but Buster was a dog's dog, both good and bad. Even if I didn't like some behavior I pretty much always knew where he was coming from.

Then I moved in. More adjustments. He still thought he was the alpha dog and it took a while to convince him otherwise. Sometimes I wasn't gentle about it, but I had to show him that he wasn't in control of me. I also had to show him that there were no hard feelings.

My then girlfriend didn't walk the dogs, but I did. And Buster loved it. And we bonded.

One night Buster was misbehaving in some fashion just before I was to walk both of them. I tried something different -- I put him on his leash without punishing him and attached the end of his leash to the table leg. And the other dog and I went for a walk.

He got it. Punishing him was hit or miss but taking away this privilege while the other dog enjoyed it. His behavior got much better. We bonded some more, understood each other. He never ran away again.

He'd picked off my ripening tomatoes which I didn't like but it would frequently make me laugh more than anything. Him and I would coordinate so that he could catch grasshoppers. I'd call him over and then spook the grasshopper, making it move and Buster would do the rest.

He was a chatty dog. That was one of his charms. It was noisy, but charming. He was affectionate, moreso as he got older. And he loved walks. And dog biscuits.

He had lost weight pretty dramatically over the last several weeks. He had inflammatory bowel disease but we believe it was more than that. Regardless, he felt good enough on Friday night/Saturday morning that when he was placed on our bed he was licking my calf for 5 or 10 minutes. With force. Like nothing was wrong. I had walked him to the end of the block earlier in the evening.

On Saturday he took a turn for the worse. Sunday night he didn't eat all day and it all came out and more on Monday morning. Even though he was wobbly legged, I did get him outside and walked to the sidewalk and back.

The toughest part of putting him down was the one hour wait.

Eventually he was brought in, talked with the assistant, waited about 5 minutes, talked with the doctor (she said several times that we were doing the right thing) and waited some more. She brought in Buster in a warm blanket.

The lethal injection was made in the IV and Buster shot up like a cannon! The doctor said he's not in pain but some times dogs react because it is cold. Buster was so thin he couldn't regulate his temperature (we had a jacket on him almost all the time) so this made sense. He went back down and I had my hand on his protruding rib cage. His breathing became very very light after 30 seconds. The doctor examined him for a few seconds and declared him dead. I placed my hand on his rib cage and he wasn't breathing.

I'll really, really miss Buster.

Today's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 SunSugar, 2 Sweet Carneros Pink, 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 Garden Peach, 2 Patio, 2 Persimmon(1), 2 SunGold(1), Green Zebra(1), Porkchop, Husky Cherry Red(2), Golden Mama, Large Pink Anna(1), Green Grape, Green Doctors Kiwi(1) (not Green Doctors Kiwi), Michael Pollan, Orange And Green Zebra, Oaxacan Jewel(2), Yellow Brandywine and Coyote (not Coyote) for a total of 33 tomatoes.


We've now harvested over 350 SunGold(1) tomatoes.  

Harvested Over 8500 Tomatoes For The Year!

Today's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, 6 SunGold(1), 3 Garden Peach, 3 Husky Cherry Red(2), 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 Orange And Green Zebra, Large Pink Anna(1), Green Zebra(1), Green Doctors Kiwi (not Green Doctors Kiwi) and Oaxacan Jewel(2) for a total of 27 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 8500 tomatoes for the year (8520)! As mentioned in the last blog post, we'll end up around 9000 tomatoes total for the year when it's all said and done, and I believe we'll be over 9000 tomatoes.

Also, we've harvested over 500 tomatoes for the month of September (508)! I believe we'll end up with about 850 tomatoes for the month, but we'll see.

I added fertilizer to the container plants.