Ah yes, 'tis that time of the year again.
What time would that be, dave? It'd be the time of year when I get to talk all about all the juicy, fresh, ripe, sweet, wonderful, organic tomatoes we grow each summer!
BTW, did any of you notice the title of this post? Some of you may remember a song called My Sharona from 1979. Some of you may not. Some of you might now have the annoying lyrics from that song stuck in you head.
I was going to put the Sharona lyrics up, and then my own lyrics centered around --take a guess-- My Tomatoes. But I decided not to.
Why?
Firstly, you all already know I'm funny (looking) so I don't need to prove it.
Secondly, My Sharona is actually about an older guy having the hots for, shall we say, younger women. Quite young. I, of course, am above such things!
Thirdly, it seems to be trendy now to rewrite song lyrics on blogs and I AM NOT A SHEEPLE!
Fourthly, I'm just too lazy after lounging around in the pool.
OT: I've promised on my Twitter account that I won't make fun of, or make any inappropriate jokes about the difference in temp betwixt my hometown in Alaska and where I am now. I'll just leave it at this: Fairbanks, AK is
-22 F. Outside the window overlooking the pool right
here the temp is
+106 F. Just stating a fact, that's all. Nothing mean or malicious about that now is there?
Another OT: To Rebecca in NC, lemme know what kind of critter pics (koalas, parrots, roos, etc) you want for your screensaver, no worries --email is alaskandavedownunder(at)gmail(dot)com.
More OT: To some new friend/lurker/stalker in Maryland, USA who has visited over 150 times this past week: Hi!!!! Welcome to Oz and you're invited to join the fun! And thanks for visiting too! I hope I didn't embarrass you, sorry if I did. Don't worry, no one here bites.
Just some more OT: Regarding the previous post, yes that is the foot of an emu. Don't know what an emu is? Why don't you let "ma google" 'splain it to ya?
Back to My Tomatoes! Oh, wait. Gotta tell ya there will be pics of another momma and baby koala at the end of this post.
I planted 12 tomatoe (flashback to Danforth Quayle!!!!) plants this season while Wifey-Poo took pictures and High Royal Highness, Prince Bagheera helped by keeping the bricks warm. You'll get pics next time, but not today. Why not? Ummmm, haven't downloaded and looked at them yet (dang, a month can really fly).
Last year we did one cherry tomato truss and 6 Mighty Reds. Mighty Reds grow very well in Oz. Ended up with around 330 by the end of last season. This year we are hoping to get around 600 to 700 tomatoes!
Good thing WP and I like tomatoes, eh?
Growing tip: when planting your tomato plants, mix half potting mix with half dried cow poop. Top dress every 2 weeks with a bit of dry cow poop. You'll get LOTS and LOTS of fruit. Also, plant some basil. The two plants love to grow together.
We went with a medley of plants this year:
TomatoBerry -Never seen this one before. It'll grow to 2 metres and it produces tomatoes that are heartshaped and about the size of raspberries. This is a "pluck the fruit and plop in mouth" type. Should look like a Christmas tree. Should I decorate it?
Italian Tomato -Not your standard Roma. Full bodied, very sweet and juicy.
Beef Steak Tomato -Late maturing with globular fruit. Very good for sauces.
Sweet Bite Cherry (x2) -Should get over 100 sweet cherry truss tomatoes from each plant.
Large Cherry -About golfball sized fruit, very sweet.
Apollo Improved -Supposedly disease resistant, large globes, firm and great for grilling.
Black Russian -I'm so looking forward to this! Traditional, meaty tomato with a strong flavour. And it should look really cool too.
Health Kick -This is a new roma type tomato with 50% more lycopene than a regular tomato. Mmmmmmmm, lycopene... drool...
Reggae Roma -Early maturing, sweeter than a regular Roma, and very prolific.
Cherry Red Truss -Could easily get 150 cherry tomatoes off this one alone!
Yellow Tomato -This one needs side pruning. Low acid, very sweet and a neat colour. Should get 2 metres tall.
Well, thanks for putting up with reading about Muh-muh-muh-muh Myyyyyyy Tomatoes. As a reward (gee, just like you'd train a dog, eh?) here's some pics from Belair National Park. BNP is the oldest nat park in Oz, btw.
Do I even need to tell you what kind of bird this is?
Yes, it's a kookaburra.
Saw another momma and baby. This "baby" is just about ready to go out on his own now.
And just so you know which is which...
Don't forget, coming soon to this blog: Full Frontal Nudity with Yours-Truly! Hmmmm, I wonder if I'll get paid as much as Levi?
