December Growing Dome Update

The veggies in the Growing Dome have been lucky so far this year, with no roving cattle inside milling about wondering how the heck they got there and an extended warm weather growing season this fall. It's December in Northern New Mexico and it's been in the 60's outside and in the 80's in the dome.

Although I have removed most of the tomato plants to make room for cool season veggies, I kept the Black Cherry and Amy's Sugar Gem plants just to see what happens. Both have continued to set fruit, and, most important, the fruits continue to ripen so they have been reprieved. Once really cold weather arrives, their days will be numbered, I suspect.

The Black Cherry is gigantic. I can't believe how big it is and how many tomatoes are still hanging in there.

When I visit the dome I spend lots of time creeping around, peeking inside the plant to find ripe tomatoes.

Aha! There's one! The dead leaf in the bottom rear is from the Poona Kheera cuke plant, which is done. I was afraid to remove the plants for fear of disturbing the Black Cherry.

But I haven't been dwelling in the past season, no, indeed. We've been eating lettuce and radishes planted back in early September.

Between the rows of lettuce and radishes are slower growing beets.  If you haven't seen the video of Udgar demonstrating how to cut your lettuce for harvesting, check it out here. You cut it with scissors and it grows back! Toward the back left and back right are kale seedlings. I sowed a bunch of kale seeds in a corner and am now transplanting them here and there.

The sugar snap peas are about six inches tall and starting to twine around their supports. In the back right are some volunteer tomato babies. It has been so warm that even tomato seeds are sprouting. I will remove them, but it's pretty weird, isn't it?

That blank patch is where the Cherokee Purple tomato plant was. I've seeded some stuff there: more lettuce, chard, peas, and I don't remember what else. I took those green tomatoes off the plant. Some are ripening and others may end up as salsa.

The carrots look healthy as does the chard in the back. My radishes are erratic and there's nothing worse than an Erratic Radish. Some plants make radishes and others do not. It may have to do with how fertile the soil is. Too much good stuff makes just the tops grow. Or it may be too warm. If you have an idea, let me know.

I wish I was teeny and could go on an expedition through the carrot fronds.

What Ms. Pearl wants is an expedition to sniff out coyotes, and deer, and elk, and turkeys and bear. And bunny rabbits.

Black Cherry Tomatoes

I know summer's over, but some tomatoes are still producing inside the Growing Dome.  I am a happy October gardener. How long they will last depends on the temps this winter, but a lady in Pecos had tomatoes up until a February deep freeze of -20 killed them. She covered the lettuce and other greens, though, and they survived just fine.

The tomatoes are called Black Cherry.

Most of the red cherry tomatoes were gone by the time these guys ripened in late August and I'm still picking about ten a day in October. That's not many, but I still have the Cherokee Purple ripening, too, with green ones still on the vines.

A word about Black Cherry plants: They grow gimormously and I should have done a better job helping them to climb. Instead, they slumped over the tallest tomato cage so I used another tomato cage to prop it up. Branches are crawling across the dome's floor. It's The Plant That Ate Guadalupita!

How do they taste? Black Cherrys taste sweet with little or no acid depending on how ripe they are when picked. When you bite into them there's a burst of fruit flavor. Some folks describe it as smoky, but I don't get that.

Here is a link http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/88786/  with more comments about this tomato which I will be growing again next year.

I bought my seeds from Tomato Fest.