Its been plenty warm out and the plants are loving it! Even my sad little container garden is looking a bit better.

The plants up at Sam and Earl's (this is a little info about what they do - they manage the Burlington Hotel and run a sweet little cafe. Earl has bees and his honey is Magick!) are literally growing like weeds! These tomatoes are monsters and I had better start thinking about what Im going to do with all these babies!  Im pretty proud that they are actually growing and producing. My confidence was not high when starting  this project. So far, Ive not seen any signs of bugs or those hideous worms. Although, with my luck. I'll reach in and accidentally touch one. I'll realize what Ive done, scream, and wake up the dead.

I don't want to get my hopes up, but it would be nice to at least have enough to freeze for a few months. I'd also like to purchase a canner set. Unfortunately, I used to have all that stuff and it has disappeared over the years. Oh well. I have no idea exactly how many tomatoes it will take to make enough to freeze for the winter. I might not have enough, but I do have a lot of plants in various states of growth. It will be a wait and see.

By the looks of my container garden, I'll have some kind of yield  - at least enough for a few salads and sandwiches!  I'm also surprised that Ive managed to get this many. This is so much better than last year on  many levels. Onward and upward. I'm pretty happy about it. Despite the raccoons digging around in the pots.

 I don't know how people get high yields out of 5 gallon containers. I read all sorts of things online, but no matter what I do, my plants always look anemic. So for me, I need to either put them in the ground, or give them bigger containers and probably more or better  food. I can water the hell out of the ones in the ground, or leave them for every other day. They are mulched and happy. These in the bins are either too wet or too dry. There never seems to be a happy medium.

BUT - I have learned a thing or two. And now that I know I can get SOMETHING out of them, its just a matter of regulating water and food. I think the bigger container the better and as much dirt and organic material as possible.

I'm going to eat this tomato today. The first of the season!