It's Labor Day

Soon the school buses will be blocking the roads on the way to work. Soon the parking lots will once more be filled with cars. Soon the birthday parties and Halloween parties will start up.

Hard to believe it's already Labor Day. Still have one green tomato on the vine with some promise and a few more babies probably born too late. Like most generation x's these tomatoes will not live up to their parent's expectations. Happy Labor Day All!

Editor's note: Artwork ny Barbara Vizet.

Gardening and marriage

Like children and pets, gardening is often a point of contention among married couples. Here is a typical conversation you might hear.

Me: So Uncle Tony, how are the tomatoes doing this year?

Uncle Tony: They were doing okay til we had that hot weather and then I hurt my back and couldn't water no more.

Me: But that's why you have Aunt Marie. I'm sure she was happy to water.

Uncle Tony: Don't get me started.

Me: So Dad, the two of you go out every morning and putter in the garden?

(Father points to our dear mother)

Father: Her... she grew up on a farm and won't even walk in the garden.

Our Dear Mother: Don't get me started.

So, slowly but surely, I'm getting more tomatoes and peppers. Even the basil is coming up. And the peppers will turn red around Labor Day and then go from hot to very hot in Scoville units

The flavor of a Ramapo tomato

So now we have a tomato that is almost fully ripe. Not that big, but red enough to be sampled. Not as tart as the other ones. A mild, sweet flavor but with

a strong tomatoey taste that you rarely find in the stores. I'm not a foodie or anything but these tomatoes definitely are flavorful.

Mid August report

You can see two tomatoes almost ready under the bird netting. A few cayenne peppers are becoming ripe too. Next year I think I'll go back to cherry tomatoes. They are more manageable than Ramapo's, unless you have a yard.

Hello to all of our readers in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Guess for some of you the season is just beginning and you want to hear from the experts on the procedures involved in container gardening, along with a few witty anecdotes.

You don't have to log in to comment, so don't be shy!

the Olympics

Yes this week everybody is talking about the Olympics. Not bad, really. Turn on the telly, sit on the couch, pop a few cans of brew and watch women's beach volleyball. Doesn't matter who wins. It's the competition that counts.

Yeah the tomatoes are doing fine. What's left of them. Maybe I can have a couple more in a few days.

Won't be eating that one

Oh well, one of the tomatoes fell and is now feeding the birds and squirrels of the neighborhood.

THE day is cold, and dark, and dreary,
It rains, and the wind is never weary.
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,But at every gust the dead leaves fall, And the day is dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart, and cease repining,
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hansel and Gretel

Here's Hansel and Gretel with that nice lady who owns a house made of gingerbread and her Ramapo tomato. The tomato plant is a little spindly. Closer examination does, however, reveal a green tomato.

If you have Hansels and Gretels of your own and live in New Jersey you may want to visit the Butterfly Festival this Saturday. Lots of butterflies, music, food and nature related stuff.

The happy gardener

At top: I decided to take some basil seeds I harvested from a plant last year and see if they would would produce new basil. Apparently the answer is yes.
Bottom: Note the reddish tomato at the top of the Whiney tomato plant. The cayenne pepper is also finally getting some fruit. This is the golden time in gardening. Everything is working out. To think, in a few months, we'll be late for work, scraping ice off of our windshields.