Ripening Happens

[kath]

Husker nana,

Missed this post somehow- some crazy events here in the past 36 hrs.

Glad to hear your tomatoes have come through for you and that you are canning- very time consuming, huh?

How do I do it? Not nearly as well as I would like but with the help of DH both in the garden and delivering loads of tomatoes to neighbors, etc. so that I'm not dealing with them all! Keeping the plants to single vines and picking off the "ugly" fruits in August helped limit the total number of fruits. Many are cracking badly and rotting lately, so the season is winding down pretty quickly here.

The experience this year and last with large numbers of plants has shown me I definitely don't want to do it again, as I've found enough winners in the two seasons to do regrowing and comparisons next year as well as growing just a few select new additions. It's not good for me to get completely overwhelmed and not be able to keep up with bugs, disease and necessary spraying and to witness the demise of other crops. The goal next year will be to simplify and keep it manageable.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the posts.

Kath

Originally Posted by husker nana

Kath, happy to see that you made it through Irene with no damage and your still getting more veggies. I'm also happy to report that were getting plenty of tomatoes and have been busy canning. First year canner! It's takes us most of the day! With all of the plants you planted and tomatoes that you have I have to wonder how you do it. Maybe experience? Again, thank you as you have added so much pleasure to our gardening and now canning experience.