Monday, March 9, 2009

The Tomato Removal photo essay

Totally Inept Balcony Gardener is currently Slightly Poorly Balcony Gardener. Whether due to overpartying at the wedding in Adelaide on the weekend, the plane flights which disagree violently with my ear (and subsequently with my balance) or I have caught the bug that everyone has been sharing at Uni, I am not up to writing a lengthy tome on the tomato haul removal. But the tale needs to be told. So I shall tell it in pictures, with sparing epithets in ill thought out captions.

Once upon a time the tomatoes on the balcony looked like this, the four overcrowded friends, Green Zebra, Tigerella (who never fruited), Black Russian and Mortgage Lifter (and yes, without labels I had to wait till fruiting time to tell which was which)


Then it grew to this


This is how it stood minutes before the cull last weekend - browner, leaner, slightly deadified.


And partway through the cull


Removed and ripened the last of the greenies (most worked well)

The Roma went too, though here he is in the good old days


Another victim was the oversized inside Red Tumbler - here he is doing and impression of my old Cactus Mr Floppy.


Had to mop the site - it had become bug, mould and dirt central. Not good for a balcony to be that dirty!


Dead branches cluttered the balcony as I napped - had to wait for the mopping to dry - well at least that was the excuse


Realised the cherries still had some life so cut back but did not remove. Added a Hillybilly just to keep the overcrowding in force.


However, the Green Zebra and the mislabeled Greenzebra/Black Russian survived the cull.


et voila - the new, improved, second run of tomatoes including White Cloud, Hillbilly and Purple Cherokee.


Now bring on the summaries of each variety - stay tuned for my ideas on Tumbler Tomatoes, Mortgage Lifters and more.

4 comments:

Chandramouli S said...

So sad, Prue. I love your tomatoes and before visiting your blog I never knew there were so many varieties!

Dan said...

The remaining tom's look very nice. I have grown hillbilly & cherokee purple, they are two of my favorites.

PJ said...

Hi Chandramouli - hehe I didn't know there were other varieties of tomatoes until the obsession began last year. Don't worry, there are still Green Zebras, Black Russians, White Clouds, Purple Cherokees, Hillbillies and some cherry tomatoes in the garden so there are plenty more pictures to come

Dan - hopefully they fruit and flower properly. Can't wait for hillbilly, are they more red or more yellow (in taste and colour) or does it vary?

Sue Swift said...

Tomatoes look so sad when they succumb...
Mine are seedlings at the moment, sitting by my bedroom window. hope I can keep them healthy