Tomatoes, we hardly knew ye
As I’ve said before the growing season in the Colorado mountains is July 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This year’s tomatoes are struggling to ripen and I’ve had only one perfect, red and ripe cherry tomato.
It’s not that they’re in bad soil; it’s my compost mixture and everything else grows well. It’s just that we’re already getting cold nights and temps settle in the mid-30s at night. It’s been that way since the end of August.
It’s going to be an early winter and people are already looking to the winter and prepare. Halloween decorations are in the stores and people are already ordering “pumpkin spice” drinks at Starbucks. Summer is like, “Why doesn’t anyone want me anymore?”
I tried a few of the tomatoes before they were totally ripe and they were awful: Sour, chewy and thick-skinned. The ones the last few days are really tasty and sweet.
It’s my plan to save seeds from a couple of the tomatoes for next year and start them myself. This variety is plentiful and quick growing. The problem is the deck is already losing sunshine and the tomatoes are cold.
Soon they’ll be part of the compost pile and the foundation for next year’s tomatoes. This year my compost pile needs some manure in it. Oh, the choices.
I wish I could get more tomatoes to ripen but again, it’s a short season, as always. If I could get pumpkin-spice tomatoes, I’d be all set.