Reaping What I’ve Sowed

After all the rain, the wind, and the distressing over endless baking sun, unknown insect and disease plagues, I am now able to enjoy the literal fruits of my labor. The mesclun salad mix has given me several overflowing bowls of lettuce, and the tomatoes are just starting to ripen, which means I will be enjoying plump, juicy tomatoes for several more weeks. Longer, really, since I’m already growing the seedlings to replace the current plants once they become too old. Now, I live in the tropics, and so presumably I could keep one tomato plant for its full life span (at least several years, or theoretically indefinitely, since it is a perennial). However, I find that my tomatoes succumb to pests or other diseases before they even finish fruiting for their first time. I feel that the best thing to do is start fresh, with newly-enriched and well-turned soil, with new seedlings that have grown in sterile potting mix. I have many more seedlings than large pots, however, so I’ve begun planting them around the yard, hoping that some will survive among the bananas and bougainvillea. I feel so grateful to live in a climate where I can grow tomatoes year round!

Tomato flower, waiting for pollination.

Young green tomatoes – one of five bunches on this small tomato plant.

The mysterious white plague that tends to attack my tomato plants. I snip off the affected leaves, but still it spreads!

Delicious, juicy, flavorful homegrown tomatoes.

Problems I try to ignore: probably this plant needs some nutrients, but the browning is a mystery to me.

Mixed salad greens: Tatsoi, Mustard, Arugula, and Endive.

Beautiful bright green tomatoes – almost ready!!