Well, those tomatoes didn't taste much. I have a feeling that if this fruit* are put to ripe in a bowl instead of on the plant loose the ability to form taste, which means I may have been prejudiced. Or I may have picked one that wasn't ready yet. In any way I can rely on the fact that we'll have new tomatoes in a few weeks. Cultivating Tiny Tim is pure joy, the plants are dark green and of the modest height of fifty centimeters (about one and a half foot). The first flower clusters have lost their leaves, which mean I'm watch over them to see when the first fruit forms - I never grow tired of that.
The advantage of growing tomatoes is that they are sensitive to pollution. If there is anything unhealthy in the air or the water they'll start wither. The interesting thing with these and my previous plants is that neither seems to suffer. The first plants were watered with water from our dryer - water that smelled of non-ecofriendly softener. I've changed to an ecofriendly one; you tends to be squeamish when the softener returns to your own stomach via the vegetables you grow. Perhaps I didn't need to worry since my old tomates did fine. However, I can now bask in the warm and cosy feeling of being ecofriendly.
*Yes, tomato is a fruit, but used as a vegetable.
2 comments:
Hi! I just found your blog for the first time today and I think it's amazing! I've been trying to start a few indoor plants and want to gradually build up from there. I started with a Meyer Lemon (which Martha Stewart said would be easy to grow indoors- it's proving to be difficult but I'm working hard to make sure it's happy) and also have a little strawberry plant (growing slowly) and a little mint plant (the soil seems to have iodized for some reason, so that seems like a lost cause though there is one tiny little sprout).
Any suggestions for starter plants? I live in an apartment which makes it slightly more difficult, but have MANY windows and quite a bit of space. I'd love any and all suggestions you have- I just bought a great cookbook you'd probably also appreciate- it's called Vegetable Love. It's huge, and I bought it at a used bookstore so it was a steal. Recipes for every vegetable! (many I've never even heard of).
Thanks! I'll continue to read your blog from now on for more tips as well. :)
Carolyn
Heh, I live in an appartement too, a dry and warm one. Indoor climates changes from country to country as well as from home to home, which may explain why the lemon Martha Stewart find easy is hard to grow in your flat. Try some spices/herbs, like basil (likes a warm spot in the sun, and grows like crazy when you get it started), sage and thyme (thyme stands drying every now and then).
As for more classical vegetables I would suggest dwarf tomatoes - 'Tiny Tim' is doing very well in my own windows and is an old established variety I hope is easy to find. Chard and amaranth are grenery used like spinach, and you can pick continously from them. Big leaves are tough, so if you pick them you need to cook them in some way. (Chard is my favourite.)
Nasturtium, especially the 'Alaska' variety is spicy to eat raw, and you can eat leaves, flowers and seeds from it. The plant grows fast when it surfaces and need something to climb, but will be managable with a trellis of some kind.
These are a few sugestion, I hope some of them will be usefull to you. Thanks for the tip about "Vegetable Love" - I'll check it out.
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