It’s Finished! Finished!
Yesterday, I stopped into the Waldorf school, where one of my sons spent five years, to say hello to Farmer Jack, who was giving a biodynamic demonstration for the children. You will remember Farmer Jack from episode 7 of Late Bloomer. I hadn’t seen him in a while. The children were taking turns stirring water with compost in a big bucket, creating a vortex, then, stopping the vortex, creating chaos, and back to stirring the vortex again.
I said to Jack that I had a burning question for him. “I have thirty green tomatoes on my vines. What should I do?” I asked. “It’s finished! Finished!” he exclaimed. “People want to hang on to their squash. It’s done!”
Brandywine Tomatoes, Late in Season
The summer vegetables have done their job and it’s time to move on. Hmmmm. I still have a few Patty Pan squash on my vine, and a handful of tomatoes will ripen every few days. This is yesterday’s harvest.
Yesterday’s Harvest
And I have five beautiful green peppers starting to turn orange.
Ripening Orange Sun Bell Pepper
And a couple of Japanese peppers from my five seedlings started late summer.
Immature Japanese Pepper
But, the weather has shifted. The air turned cooler almost like clockwork on October 1. The days are shorter, and the sun is dropping lower, which means less sun on the tomato vines. So, it’s just a question of time. But, doesn’t time have everything to do with gardening?
Celery Plants
My cool season celery, planted in the parkway September 8, is doing great, as are my tubs of carrots.
Carrots Growing in Barrels
The main focus the last few days, though, has been caring for my Monarch caterpillars (I could only find three today) and admiring the butterflies that grace my garden. I need to find the time to plant some more cool season vegetables and make the mental shift away from my tomatoes and cucurbits. There’s that word “time” again! Thanks for finding the time to stop by Late Bloomer! – Kaye
Category: Vegetables, Warm Season
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Hey Kay, In the past we have picked the green tomatoes at the end of the season and laid them out on paper to ripen. We have had tomatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. They taste great (better than the store bought ones). I have also made a green tomatoes relish. I have so enjoyed your posts! Thanks, Mary Ellen
Thank you, Mary Ellen! Can you please post your relish recipe on https://www.facebook.com/LateBloomerShow? I’m sure there are folks who would enjoy it! – Kaye
We’re expecting a freeze here tonight so that might mean that our entire garden is finished.
I agree that gardening and the passage of time are closely related. Who needs a calendar when one has a garden?
Exactly! Well put! I’ll be checking your blog to see if you got a freeze. Where are you located again? – Kaye
We’re in the Hudson Valley.
Absolutely pick your tomatoes green. Put them on paper and cover them with a sheet of newspaper. They will ripen just like outside, but are more prone to rot, so must be watched more carefully. Good luck with the end of the harvest.
Lucinda, I do not have a sunny window, is that okay? – Kaye
They do not need sun. There is a gas given off by a fruit and by putting them under paper, they ripen in their own gas. Sort of like putting green bananas in a cupboard.
Didn’t you do well!
loved the Farmer Jack video! 🙂
Thank you! I plant all greens with his technique. – Kaye