- The Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, also known in North America as the Arctic Owl, Great White Owl or Harfang.
It had been a strange growing year here at TomatoTown, but evidently it was a strange year in other parts of the world. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, there are larger numbers of Snowy Owls visiting the Kansas City Area this winter. Farmer T and Farmer J, longtime bird nerds, decided to investigate. Five snowy Owls have been spotted around Smithville Lake. On New Year’s Day, we found this fellow near the dam. Mark Robbins, a Kansas University ornithologist, has been collecting data on the birds. According to Robbins, 15 snowy owls have been spotted in Kansas and 12 in Missouri. Robbins has compiled a cool photo gallery of images of the birds seen in the region.
A shortage of lemmings, the bird’s natural food source, has driven the Snowy Owls to our part of the world. The sad thing is most of these birds will die of starvation. Makes me wish I could bring this guy a snack. They are truly, amazing-looking birds.
- A Snowy Owl spotted at Smithville Lake.
Category Winter Posts |
- A Whole World Beneath Our Tomatoes
- Roots That Go All the Way Down
Farmer T has been troubleshooting as we continue the process of pulling up our long-dead tomatoes. Could we have watered our plants more? Did we water them too much? So, in the spirit of learning, we have been examining the roots as we pull out our plants. Despite the intense summer heat, we’ve discovered that the Tomato root systems appear to be healthier than we first thought. Of course, with temperatures dropping, remembering the summer heat was, is a challenge.
Category Autumn Posts |
- Frost Marks the Season's End
Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether the summer clothe the general earth
With greenness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree, while the nigh thatch
Smokes in the sun-thaw; whether the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.
Sadly, frost arrived at TomatoTown. Of course, Farmer J would prefer to cover up the whole garden with a warm, fuzzy blanket, especially, when the plants had made such a perfect rebound. Instead, Farmer T and Farmer J filled baskets and baskets with green and slowly blushing tomatoes. We had planned to make a green tomato pie for Thanksgiving, but after a couple weeks inside in our cozy kitchen, most all of the green tomatoes have ripened. Farmer T isn’t complaining. He has eaten more tomato sandwiches in the last couple weeks than he ate all summer. What a strange end to a strange growing season.
Category Autumn Posts, Event |
- An Unripe Harvest
After a dry summer of record heat, cooler weather brought a resurgence of blossoms on tomato plants we had long surrendered to mother nature. These late bloomers never had a chance to ripen on the vine, so last week Farmer T and Farmer J harvested 68 pounds of green tomatoes. In the coming weeks, we will be experimenting with our harvest.
Category Autumn Posts, The Count |
- Cold-Mottled Tomatoes
With cooler temperatures have come some odd spots on a few of our varieties. The Cuor Di Bue seem particularly prone to this variegation. The color does not effect the taste, although after a couple tomato free months, Farmer T enjoys just about any fruit from the garden, strange or not.
Category Autumn Posts, Varieties |
- The Green Fairy
Though named for the hallucinogenic spirit that reportedly prompted Vincent van Gogh to remove his ear, this Absinthe is harmless. Packed with flavor, this fruit made it into the top ten best tasting tomatoes at this year’s annual KCTT Tomato Tasting.
Created from a cross between Emeraude, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, and Brandywine, the characteristic green color has charmed us here at TomatoTown. This specimen was one of the few we harvested this year, which would have been disappointing in an ordinary year. We hope to bring Absinthe back next year to study how the variety fares in normal Midwestern temperatures.
Category Varieties |
- The Stunning Pale Yellow of Wapsippinicon Peach
This fuzzy-skinned fruit is named after the Wapsipinicon River in Northeastern Iowa. Slightly larger than a cherry variety, this tomato has been a little disappointing to us here in TomatoTown. While we enjoy the novelty, we’ve found the ping pong ball-sized Wapsippinicon Peach lacking in both flavor and texture. To put it plainly, it seems mushy, even our tomato-deprived palates.
Category Varieties |
- Sunflowers Always Shine in TomatoTown
Throughout the intense heat of the summer and into the beginnings of fall weather, our sunflowers have thrived, blooming without restraint.
Category Blooming Things, Pollinators |
- Greener Shade of Green
Farmer T loves his green tomatoes. Not unripe tomatoes, but the juicy, green when ripe varieties. Much discussion ensued this spring after a proposal that, in the name of experimentation, we should only plant a single Aunt Ruby’s German Green, one of Farmer T’s favorites. Farmer T won out and we currently have two ARGG plants.
Grub’s Mystery Green has been a fine addition to TomatoTown. It is a relatively new breed discovered in Australia by David Lockwood, better known as Grub, and appears to be related to Paul Robeson. As a new strain, not all Grub’s Mystery Greens are created equal, however, this specimen appears to have the standard characteristics of the variety.
Here at TomatoTown, we have six green varieties in our plots this year. Many gardeners wonder, how does one know when a green variety is ripe? The answer is that they blush like any other tomato, but with subtlety. Usually, the blush is the lightest pink or a pale yellow. A gentle squeeze is the next test. If the fruit is even the slightest bit soft, your tomato is ready.
Category Varieties |
- One and a Half Pounds of Luscious Red Fruit
We have been inspired by oxheart varieties this season. Kosovo intrigued us with its gracefuly-shaped pink fruit last year, so we decided to experiment with more oxhearts. We’ve mentioned in previous posts how much we’ve enjoyed Cuor Di Bue. We loved both flavor and shape of the Thessaloniki Oxheart. Unfortunately, shortly after harvesting this beauty, our plant succumbed to the heat.
Category Varieties |
