How and Why I Prune My Tomatoes
How I prune my tomatoes is a popular question and while I was out doing that work yesterday evening, I figured it was high time that I address it here on the site. There are countless ways to approach...
View ArticleHerbaria (August 17, 2012): The All Tomato Edition
This week’s Herbaria, which you will notice is (once again) last week’s Herbaria, is all about tomatoes. Several varieties ripened at once this week and canning has begun. I am writing this at the...
View ArticleHerbaria (September 14, 2012)
I took a break from posting the Herbaria recently. I did continue shooting the photos so I am resuming where I left off a few weeks back. This week marks more tomatoes. All varieties have come in and...
View ArticleTomatoes Gone Wild
It is a chaotic blanket of thin, tangled branches smothering the lilac bush. A wild thing in a garden that has gone mad with wild things and wildness. And once it got going that poor potted dahlia...
View ArticleTomatoes Worth Growing: ‘Mennonite Orange’
Meaty, dense, huge, and prolific: I didn’t intend to grow ‘Mennonite Orange’ last summer, but boy am I ever glad I did. The details: 80 days Indeterminate Open-pollinated heirloom Beefsteak, Slicer...
View ArticleFive Favourite Italian Edibles
I went to my local Italian grocer this week and chose seed packs for the contest. I tried to stick with varieties that winners can grow in a variety of conditions whether that’s location/climate,...
View ArticleThe Lifecycle of a Garden Tomato
Davin surprised me with this drawing on our kitchen chalkboard this morning. I know that some of you in the warmer regions have already started your tomato seeds. Around here I still have a month(ish)...
View ArticleTomatoes Worth Growing: White Currant
I have a special place in my heart for currant tomatoes. They’re wild and free-growing. They are quite literally their own species (Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium). Naughty, unruly, and rebellious, they...
View ArticleTomatoes Worth Growing: ‘Giallo a Grappoli’
2011. It was the first year in my new garden, and with what initially felt like space to spare, I went wild, starting seed from every tomato that caught my fancy. I had heard about Italian long keeping...
View ArticleGuide to Growing and Eating Tomatoes
It’s no secret that I love tomatoes. Growing them is an exciting, ever-changing challenge with a big reward at the end. I strive each year to experiment with as many different varieties as I can fit...
View ArticleTomatoes Worth Growing: Lime Green Salad
‘Lime Green Salad’ is a compact, bushy, dwarf variety that produces loads of tangy, green fruit. Coming in at 2′ tall, it’s a great tomato option for containers when space is at a premium. However, the...
View ArticleHeck Yeah! Sicilian Ammoghiu
Last night we enjoyed dinner at The Black Skirt, a Sicilian/Calabrian Italian restaurant here in Toronto. Before the meal, we were served slices of Italian loaf, as is the custom in most Italian...
View ArticleLate Summer Preserving, Canning, and Seed Saving
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People.More squashes have joined the pile since I took this photo! Can you tell the real squashes from my ceramic collection? Earlier in the week, Toronto was flooded...
View ArticleWe Need to Talk About Tomato Hornworm
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People.First things first: I don’t have tomato hornworms (Manduca quinquemaculata) in my own garden. What you see above is a photo that I took a few weekends ago of a...
View ArticleFive Gorgeous Ruffled Tomatoes Worth Growing
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People.Clockwise from Top Right: ‘Noire de Coseboeuf,’ ‘Constoluto Fiorentino,’ ‘Zapotec Pink Pleated,’ ‘Yellow Ruffles,’ ‘Tim’s Black Ruffles.’ This is the time of...
View ArticleHanging Tomato Plants to Ripen Indoors
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People.Since moving to a house with a basement three years ago, I have been experimenting with hanging whole tomato vines before the frost to ripen indoors. I’ve tried...
View ArticlePhoto: Plants for Sale, NYC
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People.I was browsing through some of my old photos this morning and happened upon this one, taken on a trip to New York City back in May 2005 when I was promoting my...
View ArticleTomatoes Worth Growing: Rose Quartz Multiflora
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People.I grew my first multiflora tomato variety back when I had the rooftop garden. Multifloras (aka compound inflorescence) are tomato varieties that produce legions...
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ShisoMania: A You Grow Girl PSA
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People. Oh hello there! Don’t mind me. I’ll just be over here plucking baby shiso plants from this raised bed for the next 100 years. Be fruitful and multiply. Fill...
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What’cha Growin? Podcast Episode #3 Karen Walrond
You Grow Girl - Gardening for the People. “I thought, “Gardening requires so much attentiveness that I will feel put out if I do this.” I literally spend 10 minutes a day… It’s become 10 minutes of...
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