Passing on the tradition: HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

 ”There’s a freeze coming.  What do I do?”

I love hearing from my girls, but I’m really excited when they ask for my advice, although it’s often shared even when not requested.  Both of my daughters have inherited the gardening gene passed down from my dad, so when the youngest called a couple of days ago, we got to talk tomatoes.  Her heirloom ‘Texas Wild’ crop has been prolific this year.  She and her husband recently bought a house, warranting a relocation of her Topsy-Turvey, apartment garden to a more stable home in raised garden beds in the back yard.  With her traveling tomatoes at various stages of ripeness,  she wasn’t sure what to do about the impending Blue Norther scheduled to appear.

I explained the difference in PERENNIAL plants and ANNUAL ones, like the cherry tomatoes and her sweet basil.  Annuals, as the name would suggest, live their life out annually: seed to plant to flower to more seed. Theoretically, anyway.

Tomatoes are warm season plants, native to Peru.  Her heirloom tomatoes (those here before the 1940′s that have been passed down from someone else) are open-pollinated, so their seeds produce plants identical to the parent.  The seeds of the Texas Wild tomato I gave her yielded this year’s crop, but if she chooses to grow more next year, she’ll need to save some of the seed to re-plant once it warms up a bit next spring.  Sound difficult?  I promise.  It isn’t.  That’s the beauty of heirloom plants.

a bountiful harvest, courtesy of Sarah Colburn Stock

So, how can you save the crop AND the seed of heirloom tomatoes?

1) Lay out the ones that aren’t quite ripe yet, UNWASHED, on newspaper or other absorbent material.  And they are as touch-me-not as my girls were on a road trip, so give each one its own space. (Do not refrigerate them, as that will make them taste grainy.)

2) Green tomatoes can be sliced, coated in egg and then dredged in PANKO or other breading and fried or baked. YUMMY!

3) If you plan to cook soup or sauce with a tomato base, ripened fruits can go into a Zip-lock and then the freezer, as is.

4) Slice some of the ripe ones thin and remove the seeds.  Put the seeds onto an absorbent material to dry for next year’s crop.

In some areas, the seeds can go straight into the ground after the temps are above 70 or so degrees.  Otherwise, you might want to make starter pots to put into the garden later.  We’ll have that lesson this winter……if it’s requested!

Vines to Cover a Multitude of Sins (Part 1)

Our old wooden fence is in full sun and about 6′ tall, but ugly so I’d like to cover it.  I’m afraid wisteria would be too heavy and tear the whole fence down.  What are some other vines to use? Jo, Oklahoma

evergreen native crossvine

A wooden fence covered with any vine could spell disaster.  Let’s look at some options for vines first (Part 1), but then check out ideas of ways to “cover” the fence without destroying it (Part 2).

CHOOSE A VINE:  What is the vine’s purpose?  Do you want the area covered all the time?  If it is an ugly fence you are trying to hide, it won’t be any more attractive in the winter, so an EVERGREEN vine is the way to go.  In the case of an arbor or pergola, you might want sun to shine in to warm the space in the winter months (or to allow more sun into your home’s windows, if the structure is attached to the house or just outside it).  For that circumstance, DECIDUOUS (looses its leaves) plants might be more appropriate.  Also look at whether the climber is PERENNIAL (continues growing all year or comes back from the roots in spring) or ANNUAL (lives its life in a season and must be replanted).  Will you need it to climb of its own accord and wits, or can you provide a helping hand? Here are a few of my favorites to cover your part of the country with beauty.

HIT: vines can cover a multitude of sins in the landscape

trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) – *native plant; sun or part shade; red blooming perennial, evergreen or semi-evergreen native in much of North America;  favorite of hummingbirds; also look for yellow blooming ‘John Clayton’ selection; requires support (CHERIE’S NOTE: I also use this one at my house as a lovely ground cover in a raised bed.  Just be sure it doesn’t have anything in the bed to climb, because it WILL!)

fragrant and vigorous evergreen wisteria

evergreen wisteria (Millettia reticulata) - sun or part shade; maroon blooming tender perennial or annual, semi-evergreen; requires support (CHERIE’S NOTE: This gorgeous, fragrant vine hangs above a fountain in my front entryway and I have a constant stream of admirers when it is in bloom, which is much of the time.)

crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) – *native plant; sun or shade; brownish-red throated with gold or orange-to-red blooming evergreen perennial; hummers love it; climbs on its own with sticky tendrils; cultivated varieties include ‘Tangerine Beauty’ (CHERIE’S NOTE:  Initially, I started growing crossvine against the brick of my home to fill a niche and get some heat off the house.  It soon had gone past the brick and began twining its way into the attic!  By laying it down and installing a wooden trellis for it to climb, we are getting along famously.)

climbing rose (various Rosa species) – sun to part sun; mostly pink, red or white blooming perennial deciduous or semi-evergreen (CHERIE’S NOTE:  One of my favorites is the native climbing prairie rose - Rosa setigera - admittedly as much for its beauty as the wonderful legend behind how it got here!  But the thornless, evergreen Lady Banks rose in either yellow or white is a must have for any Southern garden, as far as I’m concerned.  In Oklahoma and other areas where the temps dip below freezing, use the Lady Banks only in a well-protected area.)

cypress vine

cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) – sun or part shade; red, sometimes pink or white blooming annual vine; great climber, but needs support; hummingbird food (CHERIE’S NOTE:  I always have a pot of cypress vine growing near my kitchen window to watch the hummers attack it.  It grows easily – TOO EASILY – from seed, so having it in a pot where I can control it is the only way I can use it in my area because it becomes invasive.)

MYTH: "I can control that invasive plant"....remember the kudzu!

In the next installment, you’ll see supporting roles for vines that won’t have you climbing the wall!