I now have blossoms on my tomatoes. I have no idea if they are early or late for the season but I do know they are good:
It is very gratifying to watch the plants gradually develop. Only a few months ago this plant was just a seed that I put in some soil and now it is beginning to form fruit. It just doesn’t seem possible but the proof is right there in the garden. Of course , it’s still early and a lot can go wrong. Some animals got into the garden and ate the tops off three of the plants but I don’t think any permanent damage was done. I have since built a fence. Incidentally, I read the other day that tomato plants make a good natural dye so I have that to look forward to.
This year the experiment garden is all about tomatoes.
I have never had much luck growing tomatoes which I blame on the fact that they do not thrive on neglect. However, this year I planted six tomato plants in my special little plot and will devote to them the attention they deserve. Or so I say now. The purpose of this experiment is to find out how much fruit, measured by weight, these plants will produce. All six plants are heritage tomatoes that I started from seed. There are three Livingston Perfection, one Moscow, one Urbanite and one Howard German. They got off to a late start due to the cold, wet spring but I think they will come ahead just fine. The first task is to build a fence to keep unwlecome animals out.
I’m back to dying wool this time using black beans. The beauty of this method is that nothing is wasted. I began by soaking the beans overnight as if I were to cook them. The next morning I drained the beans but instead of throwing out the water they were soaked in, I used it for a dye bath. Since the wool and the beans never came in contact , the beans could be cooked for eating. I used my usual natural coloured Briggs and Little wool pre-mordanted in cream of tartar and alum. I brought the dye bath to a simmer, added the wool and let it simmer for about one hour, then let it soak overnight. The result is a beautiful shade of blue:
I was very surprised by the colour since it is quite a departure from the greens and yellows I usually get. It doesn’t quite have the vibrancy of a commercial dye but if I wanted a commercial dye I would use one. The only problem with this dye method is that I am left with a lot of perfectly edible black beans. A lot of them. Since I wanted a strong dye bath I used about a pound of dried beans. Throwing them out seemed an incredible waste so I dug out some cookbooks that I thought would have some recipes:
By my calculations, which I have never had reason to doubt, I think I can make every recipe in these books. I hope they freeze well!
Late last week the robins flew away with no one to witness them go. The nest just sits there empty. The whole thing has left me feeling strangely bereft which does not bode well for the future when I will do this again with little humans flying from our nest. We have seen some small robins hopping around the yard and I like to think they are from the nest but it’s hard to tell since all robins look alike. So, now we will turn our attention to insanely cute kittens:
