Our Tomato is a Survivor, a Fighter, and Triumphant

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tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms

 This is the very first tomato that has grown, ripened, and been picked without any worm holes, blossom end rot, or any other bug, fungus, or disease.  TRIUMPH!!  As you can see the stalks look a bit bare.. it seems, from what I Googled, that they were getting some powdery mildew.  We continued to pull and pick off the dead leaves and stalks, and this is all that was left! 

tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms

This particular tomato is called a "Lemon Boy", though as you can see was closer to orange.  Either way, lovely!  We sliced our tomato up into pieces, each took one, counted "1, 2, 3" and ate them at the same time, experiencing our fresh, homegrown fruit together.  It was fun, and something we will remember.

tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms

Tiny Baker and I saw that our Lemon Boy was ready to pick, but we waited for Mr. Google to get home so we could make it a family affair.  We were all smiles.

tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms

Hello, little lonely tomato.  {there are two more tiny green ones.. I'm praying they survive.}  I go out and talk to my little tomato.. someone has to cheer him on.

tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms

We don't have green thumbs.. the key to our success and the the growth of our herb garden {and flower beds and veggie plants}.. wait for it.. are you ready?  Think you can handle the BIG secret??

DRIP SYSTEM!!  That's right!  We forget to water our plants, so we installed a drip system, and by golly, things CAN grow in our dirt.  

tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms

OK, not everything survives.  I learned a tip this year.  These sad, dead plants were our cilantro.  Once your herbs begin to flower, PICK OFF THE FLOWERS.  That means they're about to DIE!  Don't let them "go to flower". 

As you can see from our basil below, there are some flowers on them which I need to pick asap.  {I'll go do that right now}  We've got basil for dayyyyyys.  I love that Tiny Baker can go outside and pick some {whether we eat it or not} because we have a plethora of basil.. and she loves to pick flowers and plants.  She receives so much joy by picking a few leaves of basil, smelling it, and playing with it during her time outside.  She's much more of a nature gardening girl than I am.  She must take after her Bubbe.

tomato, gardening, produce, fruit, vegetables, green thumb, san diego, beckycharms, becky charms 

This one tomato has give me hope.  It has taught me to continue to "do".  Never be afraid to try new things that you might feel are out of your reach or at which you won't succeed.  You will surprise yourself.  

Oh yeah, and don't forget to water! {manually, or with my personal favorite, DRIP SYSTEM}

- BeckyCharms