Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Roof Top Gardening

There is nothing like standing on your roof and gazing over rows of tomatoes and peppers. In the midst of a barren wasteland (and it really is wasted land, all that wide open, flat space and sunshine just begging for tomato plants and solar panels!) my little patch of green is heaven. I had more peppers this week, including some of the paprika ones that are now turning pink, I can't wait to taste the difference when they finish changing. I am only leaving them on to turn red on one plant. When peppers are allowed to turn red on the plant, the plant thinks it has accomplished its task of producing fully ripe fruit, and thereby seeds, and stops producing flowers and more fruit. It's no wonder red peppers are so expensive at the market.



The tomato plants have a little disease problem and are a little whimpy looking. They are still producing though, and I have sprayed them with copper spray (much more diluted this time so I don't burn the leaves). I have also been monitoring their soil moisture more closely and have had fewer blossom end rot victims. I picked more than 20 tomatoes this week! Most of them are small romas, but they are still tastier than anything from the store. I am going to order tomato plant food next year from Garden's Alive and get them on a feeding schedule to hopefully better combat the lack of nutrients inherent in container gardening.

I think we'll have tomato, basil, mozzarella and green onion salad tomorrow for dinner....

No comments: