Time For Tomatoes!

By now you're probably enjoying one of the best summertime pleasures we have in the Southeast - the home grown tomato!

We planted our crop a bit late so every morning I run out and nibble on the few husky cherrys we have dribbling in, it makes for a great breakfast.

But anyway, onto today's topic. I noticed that with the smaller tomatoes, you really have to keep up with them to pluck them off the greenery before the birds get to them or the hot temperatures in the area burst the skin of the fruit.

Don't be afraid to pick your maters a bit early. When they start to get a nice pink you can take them off the vine. I wanted to make sure I'm not steering you wrong so I did a quick Google search. I found at www.garden.org that scientists say the red color won't form as quickly when the thermometer goes above 86 degrees. Well it gets that hot around 10 A.M. in these parts. I'm not a scientist, but I do figure your tomatoes will turn red. I think the point here is that its perfectly fine to let them finish off their process in the comfort and care of say your kitchen. And in my world that completely protects them from bird beaks! On the other hand I do have to keep them away from Salty our dog, but that's a whole other blog, my friends.

Happy Gardening.