Tomato Report

 Our one little Yellow Pear Tomato plant likes the sheep tank and being next to the garage. 

Even the parts that fell over in the wind are doing okay.  I will need a ladder to pick tomatoes before long.

Right now we get about two sometimes three ripe tomatoes per day.

We had a quiet day...we did a few errands in town and then went to our usual Sunday Lupper Patio spot because this Sunday that little town will be full of people...so we did Sunday on Friday and will try out a different place on Sunday.  That is a win win for cooking!

Minnesota Weather:  We got about 1/3 of an inch of rain...enough to perk up the brown lawn.  High 78F or 26C   Low 57F or 14C

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First Tomato

 It is always something to celebrate when we get our first tomato of the season...luckily I found two so we can each have one.  

We like the Yellow Pear Tomatoes the best...less acid and great flavor.

Far Guy went out and found two more so we each had two!!

We are real exciting people when the highlight of our day was a couple of tomatoes:)

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Tomato

The Yellow Pear Tomato sure took off when we had that warm weather.

It is half way up the garage.  Yes it is planted in a stock tank and surrounded by a dog kennel to keep the deer away.

There are flowers and even a few tiny tomatoes started.

I had a busy day on Tuesday...time to clean the bathroom really good...laundry and put some bread to bake along with a few other things that never show.

What's Cooking?  Lasagna that was in the freezer.   One of these days I will have to really cook.

Minnesota Weather:  Rainy  High  80F or 27C.  Low was 60F or 16C.

Far Guy had more of a rough day on Tuesday...forward progress is slow.

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Tomato

Our Yellow Pear Tomato is really growing!  It has flowers.

It sure likes the sunny spot next to one of the garages. 

We have a very busy week with many doctor appointments...six over a couple of days. 

We are both tired of Doctors. Do this... do that... hurry up and wait. 

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Tomato Update

 The tomatoes are surviving! 

The Patio tomato.

The Yellow Pear and the Cherry tomatoes in the sheep tank.  The old dog kennel works great to keep the deer out!

Far Guy will put some tomato cages up and wires for support soon before they get too tall.

They are standing nice and tall and not flopped over anymore:)

Thursday we had a nice visit and supper with Jen, Maddie, Benton, Hey Mikey, Cee Cee, Peach and Sadie.  We had pizza and breadsticks...those kids all like Ranch with their pizza. 

Minnesota weather High : 81 F or 28 C  Low 56 C or 14 C eh.

Far Guy had his infusion on Friday this week.  I picked up groceries and went to the bank. I finally made it through round one of lawn mowing. We are supposed to get heavy wildfire smoke this weekend.  Supper was Chicken Salad sandwiches and raspberries.  Clean up was easy! 

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Time to plant

 Finally the weather outlook is good as it may not freeze anymore. 

I am done rotating the seedlings in the kitchen window and saving them when the sun was too warm and blowing on them to simulate wind they will encounter when planted out doors.  

We have one patio tomato, one yellow pear and one cherry tomato.   The yellow pear and the cherry were planted out in the sheep tank and the patio tomato in a container out on the patio.  The seedlings were all very sad after planting...I sunk them really deep into their new soil ( lower leaves can be stripped off...each little hair on the stem will become a root)  I will take photos after they recover from their transplant shock!

Cross that project off our list. 

Wednesday was a quiet day with a long nap for me. 

Minnesota weather;  High 68 F or 20 C  Low 48 F or 9C eh.

We had over easy eggs for lunch and spaghetti for supper. 

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Green

 The tomatoes may be planted out this weekend.  I started them from seed back in late April.  They sit in the kitchen window and I turn them around a few times a day...and blow on them...simulating a wind:)

I grew some for my brothers and sister...nice to share. 

The belt slipped off my lawn mower, my baby brother came to fix it...I need to become more mechanical.  Then my other baby brother sent Mason over to fix it...I have a village surrounding me! 

Yesterday I saw a Dr for a sinus infection and got meds.  After that I had a four hour nap.  What is the time limit on a nap anyways?  You can guess the color of drainage...yuk.

Far Guy and I took Ranger Blue and went to recycle...stopping off at the cemetery where his parents are buried.  Flowers were left.  Friday before Memorial Day and the grass has not been mowed yet this year...buggers anyways.  I noticed that a few people brought their own mowers and mowed their own. 

Far Guy had a quiet day...he managed just fine the 70 minutes I was gone to the Dr.  He is resting and taking it slow and easy.

Minnesota Weather;  High 65 F or 19 C  eh  Low 40 F or 5 C eh.  

No cooking happened...supper was whats in the freezer already prepared..lasagna. 

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A Wildlife

Yes we live a wildlife. 

Picking tomatoes every day and sharing them with others. 

  Painting the Christmas ornaments, Far Guys says there are 109 ornaments.  

We got our Covid Boosters Friday afternoon  So far so good...but as I write this it has just been five hours. So who knows. 

We went for a Ranger Blue ride the other night.  My hip is not as sore as it was so we got to have a longer ride.   I still have some pain, but I am doing the exercises and the whirlpool and heated rice bags.   I hope PT can fit me in their schedule next week...I am on the call list. 

More Doctor appointments have been scheduled...seems like it never ends. 

Far Guy got a call from his Doctors office warning him of an increase in covid hospital admissions, the covid wards in Fargo, ND are open again.  They told him to isolate and stay out of crowds.  We are practically hermits already. 

A fawn with fading spots.  The fawns are slowly turning a darker color.  Their Mama is really dark.

A Grouse on the back road...she is living right behind our house...safe except for the Fox that is a frequent visitor.  Sure hope there is more than one Grouse...we have not seen one in this area for a long time. 

Such is our wildlife:)

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Looking

I had an eye appointment, it all went well and after some further testing that I do every year since I am a Glaucoma suspect, I am certain that I will get the all clear.  My Ophthalmologist is retiring the end of September.  So it is a good thing I am getting everything done before he retires.  Six hours after the appointment I still have dilated pupils and can hardly wait for the sun to go down. 

Look at the Yellow Pear tomato plant!  Only a few tomatoes have ripened so far but there are many coming on.

The sheep water tank works great there are two plants that were planted, they had such intertwined roots that Far Guy planted them together.  They are almost as tall as the garage. 

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Yellow Pear Tomato

 Our Yellow Pear Tomato has been planted in the sheep watering tank that sits inside our old dog kennel.

Far Guy has various forms of anchoring in place....cages, wires and fence posts.   This year the sheep tank sits on cement blocks.  Perhaps I can forego the ladder this year when picking the tomatoes. 

It is a nice spot up against Tilly's garage, a little protected from the winds and the kennel should keep out deer...maybe.

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Tomatoes

 We had a great tomato crop this year.  One plant...a Yellow Pear.  It grew so tall that the wind knocked it over but she kept on producing the rest of the Summer and I didn't need a ladder to gather tomatoes.  It looked kinda funny but the tomatoes tasted great. We ate some, gave away some and I froze a bunch that I will juice soon.

Yesterday we cut apart the plant and hauled it into the woods...the deer will find it...or mice. We dug all the soil out of our sheep watering tank and will put new soil in it next year. Next year the watering tank will sit on cement blocks instead of a wood stand that made it so tall. We both got tired but one day soon we will have the cement blocks in place and put the tank on its new stand.  Far Guy says we are both getting old. 

So our Fall clean up work has begun.  It did not reach 50 F yesterday...our high was 49 F or 10 C.

This is our one plant before it tipped over in the wind.

The tomatoes are small and pear shaped. 

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Just one plant

 We got one Yellow Pear tomato plant this year. 

It grew! 

It has many green tomatoes, we are looking forward to them ripening:) I will have to get the ladder out again this year to harvest them.  

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A reach

 The tomatoes are still producing.  The plants are looking worse for wear but they are still reaching upward. 

Yes I have to use that ladder sometimes. 

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In the kitchen

 It was a cloudy, rainy day best spent in the kitchen. 

Jambalaya is a lot of work...chopping, stirring, building flavors and stirring some more.  Far Guy followed the video by the Cajun Ninja on You Tube.   Far Guy used a pork butt roast, chicken thighs and andouille sausage.  He should cut the sausage into smaller pieces next time  or use a different sausage...  it was a tad warm...like makes your nose run and your brow sweat.  If you were a beer drinker you probably wouldn't notice. 

My old cast iron Dutch Oven is just perfect for cooking and then finishing off this dish in the oven. 

We omitted celery as neither of us really like celery and sometimes it does not agree with me.  We used gluten free broth base and seasonings.   Jess and Floyd said to use Cajun two step as a seasoning so we did.  

It was delicious and we froze up individual servings.  In fact it was so good that I suggested Far Guy cook ALL the time.   I had a long nap after my help as a sous chef/dishwasher was complete. 

In other kitchen news the window is full of tomatoes. 

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First Tomatoes

 We finally had some ripe Yellow Pear Tomatoes!  They are our favorite!   Waiting so long for the first ones to ripen on the vine is so worth it! 

There are many more to ripen.

These are the La Roma tomatoes.  Similar to Roma tomatoes...we like them on salads. 

Not sure what is causing the leaf curl...perhaps the heat. 

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Tomatoes and Flowers

Tomatoes are not ripe yet, we are not so patiently waiting. 

Here is a photo after the pruning...they were taller than my garage.   There are two different plants there...Yellow Pear and La Roma.   Both plants are loaded with green tomatoes. 

The flowers out front are not doing much this year.  Not sure why...perhaps I should have cut them back right after I planted them....usually I pinch all the flowers off. 

They are what they are....the squirrels and chippys are of no help.

It was quite warm yesterday, we were in a heat advisory.  The high was 91 F or 33 C eh!  with high humidity.  

I water the plants every evening when it is this warm.

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Saturday stuff

 We saw a double rainbow one night last week. 

Far Guy wood carved yesterday.  I went to town to visit my parents.  Mom says that Dad is having some very confused days.  However yesterday he was having a good day and knew who I was...not my name but that I was his oldest "kid."   He talked about when Mom and he first met and how she slipped and fell last week and he was not strong enough to help her up.  She has fallen twice recently...she has a bump on her head and a bruise on her arm.  On his confused days Dad is a hand full for Mom.  

In the evening we trimmed back the tomatoes...they were getting way too tall, we had to get a ladder out to trim them.   It was a warm humid day yesterday. 

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Green

 So far this summer the rain has helped to keep non irrigated fields green.  Some so green it almost hurts your eyes. 

Not sure what this field is ... when it was planted they went over the whole field with a very large roller. 

Here are the tomatoes

They have grown much taller in the past couple of days...I may need a ladder to pick them. 

Far Guy got Tilly back yesterday...she now has power disc brakes.  I have not driven her yet but I heard she stops on a dime.  I should mention that I have a recurring dream where I am driving a car and the brakes make the car go faster and faster.  (yes I am a tad strange)

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Tomatoes

 The tomato plants are really growing! 

This is the Roma tomato plant and it is flowering and has small tomatoes! 

Yellow Pear tomato on the left Roma on the right.   The Yellow Pear is also flowering and has tomatoes forming. 

The sheep watering tank works great, the South side of my garage is the perfect spot against the steel building the tomatoes stay toasty warm!   The dog fence keeps out the deer...so far anyway. 

We should have tomatoes mid July!  

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Green grass and tomatoes

 The front yard looks pretty good as it should with the rain that we got last week. 

Freshly mowed with no dandies raising their ugly heads...but give them a couple of days.   No regular flowers like Impatiens or Salvia have been purchased or planted...yet.   I haven't decided what to do....maybe next week.  

We planted two tomato plants this year...a Yellow Pear and a Roma.   The Yellow Pear already had blooms and now has tiny starts of tomatoes.   Our sheep watering tank works well for tomatoes and the dog fence keeps the critters out.   It ain't fancy smancy but it works for us.