We know it’s coming… that first frost that leaves our heat-loving vegetables, including tomatoes, going down for the count. But there are ways to push back and outsmart Mother Nature before she brings the harvest to a screeching halt. The problem is that we’re greedy. I certainly am. I want
One of my delights of summer is fresh homegrown tomatoes… often right off the vine. I routinely grow a dozen varieties or more. Being drawn to gardening more than to cooking, “dinner” often consists of a plate of sliced tomatoes with little sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and maybe some balsamic
To me, seeds are magical: a little moisture, a little warmth… they crack open and the fun begins! If starting veggie seeds indoors this season appeals to your growing sense of spring fever, you’ve come to the right place. I’m going to walk you through some of the basics of
Like most veggie gardeners, I love growing tomatoes, but I’ll be the first to admit that they can drive me downright bonkers at times! Give them the very best TLC possible, and hopefully you’ll get terrific tomatoes and plenty of them. Then again, maybe you’ll find that somewhere along the
The term “Victory Garden” has been in the news lately. It pays homage to a time when our elders rolled up their sleeves and grew enough fruits and vegetables to feed their families during World Wars One and Two, leaving more food to support the troops. This newer notion of
I have quite the rogue’s gallery of tomato issues this year. In my own defense, I grow a lot of tomatoes. Twenty-three plants, to be exact. For a household of two. But that’s another story. With so many plants, maybe it’s not all that surprising that I also have a variety of
There are plenty of tasty edibles we routinely grow with our kids… but let’s look at some not-so-obvious options. Most children are naturally drawn to playing in the dirt, or “soil,” as we gardeners like to think of it. Why not encourage that by planting a few out-of-the-ordinary things they
If you want great tomatoes, then let’s spend just a little time in Tomato School… untangling the terms on all of the signs above the more than 100 varieties of tomatoes at Tagawa Gardens? Demystifying that tomato jargon can go a long way towards helping you select and grow the
It’s been a rough summer for the tomatoes in my garden. Record-setting heat has caused a lot of the problems. With so many weeks of 90 degrees and up, many of the blossoms on my plants failed. The heat damages the pollen and the flower simply drops off, leaving behind
Here at Tagawa Gardens, our plant advisers at Dick’s Corner are getting lots of questions about tomato problems. One of the most common issues is shown above, a condition that causes the tomato leaves to roll inward. This leaf roll isn’t a disease or the result of insect damage. It’s a classic
