A Bowl Full of Color

Ain't it amazing what three solid days of normal summertime heat can do to a backyard garden?

The heat that I have waited for to arrive all summer long finally showed up this past weekend in the form of bright sunshine -- highs in the mid 90's and some of the warmest nights we've seen this year. It's not quite warm enough for the wife that is Venus to take off her sweater (the wife prefers "Fresno Warm") -- but I'm not complaining.

Lord knows -- I've done enough already.

The heat was just enough to kick some loaded cherry plants into production. Although the heat isn't expected to last -- it was apparently enough to give us this bowl full of color tonight. And I'm hopeful these harvests will not only continue -- but gain in intensity as the summer marches on.

Bill Bird is never quite satsified. I guess that's what keeps me going.

I'll be honest. We went a *tad* overboard with our cherry tomato plantings this year. I never intended to set aside room in our limited raised bed space to three different cherry tomato varieties (the wife that is Venus had other plans) and I also wasn't counting on the INFINITE number of volunteers that would suddenly spring up in spaces so arid it could be mistaken for a moonscape.

How Black Cherry tomatoes can grow without any source of water continues to amaze me. But grow they do -- and do quite well.

The Bowl Full of Color represents many different varieties -- both intended and unintended plantings. That list includes Black Cherry (volunteers everywhere plus one is planted in a raised bed, a Large Orange Cherry volunteer, Pink Ping Pong, Lemon Drop, Jelly Bean and Santa Hybrid.

Heirloom Tomatoes from the Bird Backyard

I'm not exactly sure where the Large Orange Cherry comes from. It showed up last year outside of a raised bed that contained a smaller orange cherry variety called SunGold the previous year. That bed also held a number of beefsteak tomatoes -- including Mortgage Lifter and Pineapple. Could these be a cross of two plants? I suppose it's entirely possible -- but I'll never know.

For now? It's called Large Orange Cherry. I'll seed this particular variety (it is quite good) in hopes of producing a genetic duplicate next season -- but one never knows with volunteer plants. I suppose that's half the fun of planting a tomato garden.

Cherry tomatoes are just the start though. The main part of the tomato garden is -- at long last -- finally coming into production. I'm not seeing the numbers that I saw last year -- and I highly doubt that I'll encounter those massive harvests -- but it looks like Venus and I will be busy with some home canning projects later this August.

Bush Beans N' Basil Anyone?

Since the 49ers are once again going with Alex Smith at quarterback and the Raiders are -- well -- the Raiders -- I'll be able to dedicate some NFL Sundays to home canning efforts without missing much in the way of quality football.

I said quality football people. Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y. If you're not a fan -- let's just say it's been missing around these parts for -- oh -- the past decade. I either can summer produce or hook up an IV to the Kegerator outside. I'll choose summertime produce -- thank you.

The "Rinky Dink" Seed Starting Effort

I suppose you could also call this "starting seeds on the cheap," because it is that and more. Venus and I took the time to start more varieties of tomato and pepper seeds on Saturday, because demand for what is growing in nearby greenhouses is growing.

I started to get a tad worried when the brother-in-law called up from his Serrano neighborhood in El Dorado County and attempted to "reserve" six of our tomato plants. How nice of him. Not only did he want some of our heirloom starter plants for his gardening efforts, he also wanted to give some away to his neighbors.

Wait a minute. Does that sound right? He wants OUR tomato plant starter to give to HIS neighbors? The brother-in-law is known for his rather outlandish requests after consuming a quart or four of Canadian Mist Whiskey (which we refer too as "Canadian Moose Piss"), but his request for plants isn't the first and I don't think it will be the last either. In short, the backyard garden is back in a big way, and everyone wants those hard-to-find heirloom varieties.

I can't blame them. There's simply nothing quite like the taste of vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes. Once you bite into a Brandywine or an Azoychka, you're hooked.

Venus and I don't have a greenhouse yet (it's on the list of "things to do'), but we did convert and old wine rack into a seed starting rack -- complete with hooks to hold grow lights and space for heating pad to keep the babies warm. This is about as "frugal" as frugal can get, so experienced growers will be anything but "impressed." However -- as cheap as this setup is -- it does work.

Venus and I prefer to invest a few bucks in the Jiffy seed starting kits that are starting to appear by the millions in places like your big box stores (Walmart and Home Depot), and even in the smaller locations such as grocery stores or your independent hardware retailers. You can buy "big" like we did for large scale starting efforts. Or, if you don't have the room, you can buy the small package which looks very much like a carton of a dozen eggs.

These kits come complete with two trays and compressed peat moss pellets. All you need to do is add warm water, and those compressed peat moss pellets grow and expand like nobody's business. They have a somewhat erie resemblance to the pods featured in the now-famous movie "Alien," once they fully expand. However, I guarantee you that nothing is going to pop up and attach itself to your face.

After adding the appropriate amount of water (about a gallon) -- the pods are ready for planting. Venus and I planted three complete rows of green, red and yellow peppers. We then planted half rows of various heirloom tomato varieties, including Red Reif Heart, Pink Ping Pong, Green Zebra, Arkansas Traveler and a cherry variety we purchased at Lockhart Seed. It immediately drew Venus' attention, because the packet of seeds promised cherry tomatoes that are "very high in brix content."

That's important for an event that Venus and I will attend later this year with about three to four hundred other tomato nerds. An event that promises a payday of $2,500 or more! And for this event, you need tomato varieties that are high in brix content (the brix meter was developed to measure the sugar content in wine and table grapes, but does have other uses).

Venus and I used chopsticks to poke holes in each pod, drop in some seed, then use the chopstick to cover the seed. It's that simple. After labeling each row, we moved the pods inside the house to a bedroom converted for "seed starting purposes." If this looks "Mickey Mouse," I promise you that it is. But I promise you, this works. The seeds have everything they need to sprout and grow. The covered seed pods create a "rainforest effect," which is essential to starting seeds indoors. The heating pad ensures strong root growth and thick stems, and the light source is more than enough. In fact, the light might even be overkill.

As I've stated before -- you can put these seed starting kits on a windowsill and they'll be just fine.

From previous experience I know that the tomatoes will germinate first. The peppers usually need a bit more time. Peppers, unlike tomatoes, require HEAT to really get going, so these seedlings will be rather unhappy at first. But, by the time of plantout at the end of April, I'm expecting starter plants in the one to two foot range.

At some point, Venus and I will also transplant the pods into larger cups, but that's another project for another day.

Here's hoping we have enough to satisfy growing "demand." Stay tuned!