By Chrisanne Sikora
Social Media Coordinator

Let me get this out of the way first:  I have tomatoes!!!

Okay, now I’ll back up a bit.  Last time I checked in, I’d just transplanted my seedlings from the kitchen greenhouse to the backyard.  That was back in early June, and almost immediately afterward we had a little cold spell.  My tomato seedlings went into shock and of the ten that were planted only about three looked like they were going to make it.  Though that was a little disappointing, there wasn’t much I could do about it – can’t control the weather after all.  What I did do was spread some mulch over the garden bed to protect the roots, and watered.  Every day.  If I’ve learned one thing it’s that tomatoes are thirsty little things.

As it turns out, most of the seedlings recovered from the cold snap and I soon had about a half dozen thriving tomato plants (and one oak tree trying to pass itself off as one.  If you look closely at the picture above, you can see it hiding in the middle of the pack).  Right before I went on vacation in July, I noticed a few little yellow flowers popping up on some of the vines – a good sign that tomatoes were not far behind.

Sure enough when I got back home there were still a few yellow flowers here and there, and a number of little green tomatoes.  The vines had also grown another several inches while I was away and they’re now peeking up over the bottom of the deck.  Amazing how they went from scrawny not-sure-they’re-going-to-make-it seedlings to a mini jungle in about a month and a half.

So after a few false starts, I’d say my home gardening experiment was ultimately a success.  A few tomatoes have already started turning orange, and there’s enough young fruit that I expect to have home grown tomatoes in my salad for the rest of summer and into the fall.  Hmm, what should I try growing next year?

Got any good tips for a newbie gardener, or a suggestion for my next gardening  adventure?  Leave me a comment below.