Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Last of the Tomatoes and Luka

When the frost killed all the tomatoes, I took Blogger Tina's advice and put all the green ones in a paper bag. It will be going in the garage, and I guess we'll see if I will get to taste any ripe garden tomatoes soon...

Below: Beautiful green tomatoes


As I look back on this summer, I will miss these ripe tomatoes the most. They were so tasty and so delicious in my salads. Store-bought tomatoes just don't taste the same; they are too watered down. Now that I've tasted the real thing, I don't think I can ever go back. I have to wait until next summer and try to grow some more.

I may be planting a few seeds in pots and place them in the sun room, and hopefully it'll be like a green house for these seeds and maybe I can have some veggies in the winter. We'll see if this experiment works out.

In the meanwhile, it's time for a Luka update. Skeeter mentioned that I should've posted pictures of Luka for Halloween... but I forgot, so here's my belated Luka pictures. As you can see in the photos, she's been a busy kitten... (and it's very hard to take photos of her cute little face)




Now that we're starting to bring a lot of our potted plants inside, I'm trying to keep Luka away from them. She really does like to eat those leaves, and I noticed that she ate some rose petals (from a vase on the living room table) when we were away... And then she threw up... and it was not pleasant to clean up. So I bought her some pet grass at the pet store, and hopefully this will keep her thirst for greenery away from other plants.

I'm keeping my eye on her!

15 comments:

Dan said...

I wish I was still picking tomato's even if it was the last of them! I bet they will be very tasty when they ripen.

I'm guessing you could probably start brussels sprouts now maybe even broccoli. You could always put one of those hoop covers over them if you get a cold spell. Then you could be harvesting sprouts in the early spring.

Cute luka photos.

Cindy said...

Luka is so cute and growing :)
Our cat goes insane over pet grass. He doesn't eat too many other plants, only ones with pointy leaves like spider plants, those have to be kept out of reach.

Anonymous said...

HI DP, you have lots of nice tomatoes there. I have picked ours but forgot to bring them inside, wonder if it's too late? Your Luka is a cutie, I love her with the bath spigot. She sounds like my Hazel, she will eat anything I bring inside, growing or dried even and then of course throw up. I bought the cat grass seed but haven't planted any yet. The last time I planted grass for her she would pull the whole thing out of the soil and get dirt everywhere. I need some hardware cloth to protect the dirt. Good luck with your indoor garden. Remember, lots of light!
Frances

tina said...

Thanks for the link and I am so glad you see you did bring them in. They ripen up nicely. Just like store bought tomatoes:( Not the best, but better than nothing. Some of the small ones will not make it but as long as you check every day or so you'll be fine.

Luka looks like Skeeter's kitties. All black. I am posting a pic of Compost tomorrow. She has really grown too. ttyl

Roses and Lilacs said...

What a cutie. I had a cat that was fascinated by running water too.

I brought my green tomatoes inside. They are ripening slowly.
Marnie

John said...

Indoor plants don't stand a chance with one of my cats. He eats everything green that he can reach. And yes, he always throws up in the floor afterwards. I have to really watch him when I'm raising tomato seedlings, as I've been told that their leaves can make animals sick.

Susie said...

My mother-in-law use to have a cat that liked to eat her houseplants too! She also liked to sleep in the pots on top of her plants. Needless to say, her plants suffered tremendously.

Love that picture of Luka drinking from the faucet. How cute!!

Did you fry any green tomatoes? That's always a tasty treat!

Anonymous said...

My cat drinks from the faucet too, lol He refuses to drink water from a bowl. Luka is a pretty kitty.

J said...

I think I'm going to miss tomatoes the most too. We are attempting to grow some things inside over the winter. Not sure how it will turn out, but it seems worth a shot.

Luka is too cute. Aw!

Skeeter said...

Luka has the same trait my Sheba has. Drinking fresh water out of the faucet! She will jump up on the vanity and wait for us to turn the water on! She is a nut.... Luka is getting really big now. Has that slim face like a Siamese type cat.... My girls have rounder faces but all fur babies are cuties to me no matter whether round or slim or whatever. Just lovable fur balls to me… Watch those plants…. I have mine all in the guest room with the door closed to the kitties….

We still have maters growing in the garden....

Gail said...

Dear DP,

Everything that can be ruined by cat vomit is covered in my house...we don't bring in fresh flowers unless they can be up higher then the cat can jump! Cat grass made the cat vomit, too.

Lots of tomatoes! Yummy!

gail

Dawn said...

Hi Dp,
Your tomatoes look good and Luka is cute. I like the picture of her drinking from the faucett and she has some white on her underbelly. Black cats are something else.

ashok said...

nice blog


http://ashok-discoverindia.blogspot.com/

Zach said...

LOL, Luka is so precious. My sisters cat Pouncer, is the same way. They can't have any indoor plants or else Pouncer will eat them all! When ever my sis opens the refigerator door the cat comes running over hoping and praying to be given some spinach or some sort of herb! SOME CAT. She too bought some pet grass and that cat eat it all, down to the dirt. Oh well.
Good luck with the tomatoes, we have already brought our green toms in and eaten them all. They don't last long in our house.
I don't know if you have ever tried Grow Boxes, if not you really should. We get all sorts of huge yummy tomatoes! You should look into it! They are also great for small spaces. I think I may have to write a review on them...Well I had better get busy!

DP Nguyen said...

Hi Dan- brussel sprouts sound good and broccoli. I'll definitely think about them, once I finally pull up all my dead plants.

Hi Cindy- I've been trying to get things out of Luka's reach but she can jump pretty high! She ends up knocking potted plants and killing them. She thinks it's fun to play with the soil, lol.

Hi Frances- I'm hoping it's not too late. Hopefully, they have rotten or gotten too soft. Luka goes crazy over plants, and we've placed aluminum foil over the base to protect them from her little paws digging in the dirt. They are all by windows, so hopefully they'll survive the winter!

Hi Tina- Thanks so much for your advice on the tomatoes. Some of them are already starting to ripen. We're pretty excited about that! Can't wait to hear all about Compost.

Hi marnie- I love my little luka-she is so adorable. Your cats are too! Green tomatoes do ripen very slowly... too slow for my taste, but I can't control them, lol.

Hi John, I've also read that tomato leaves are poisonous to cats, hopefully your cats will stay away!

Hi Susie-Aww, how cute! I love cats that are a little special and act in funny ways! Nope, haven't fried any green tomatoes yet. Will have to try it!

Hi Raquel, Thanks for your comment on Luka. She also doesn't really like to drink out of her bowl. She loves the water faucet, she just sticks her head in and drinks.

Hi Jennifer, I hope something turns out for your winter garden. I'll keep an eye out on your blog!

Hi Skeeter- That's how Luka acts. She does wait for us to turn on the faucet and then sticks her head in and licks. It's so cute. I'm not sure what breed she is, I t hought she was a regular ole domestic shorthair, but she is thinner than most cats that I've seen. She has food ready for her all the time, and I know she eats, so who knows? maybe it's her kitteness.

Hi Gail- We did put the roses up high, above the fireplace, but somehow she found a way to climb up high. She's a crazy little cat!

Hi Dawn- She has some white underneath her chin and her front paws (like white underarm hair, lol) and a bit spot of white on her belly. She's a bit brown too, but I think that's from lying near the window and the sun has bleacher her fur!

Hi ashok- Thanks for visiting my site!

Hi Organic Gardener- Thanks for visiting. Cats are something else. I've never heard of Grow Boxes, I'll have to google and find out what they are!