 |
| Trees turning color |
Yesterday when I saw these trees from the bus, I realized that they are already begin to turn color. These particular trees become scarlet and very beautiful in the fall, and this is the start of their change. Today I was ready with my cellphone to take this picture. The black dots are on the bus window, and there are a few reflections since I took it on the fly through the window. I was actually pretty amazed it turned as this well. The wonders of the iPhone 6 camera.
 |
| My tomatoes, red and juicy |
Then I went out to the garden to check on the progress of my tomatoes. As you can see, they are ripe, or almost so. I picked one off the vine and ate it and decided to let the rest stay there for a little longer. Plenty of the tomatoes are just beginning to get color, but these, as you can see, are ready to eat. Will they get sweeter if I leave them on there, or should I bring them in for the final ripening? Any instruction will be appreciated for this novice tomato grower.
By the way, my sister identified that spider for me. It's an
Eratigena atrica, or giant house spider. When I first looked it up, I was unsure if it was the same one, since they are mostly found in Central and Northern Europe. Hmmm. But upon reading more, I found this:
The giant house spider is indigenous to north western Europe. However, it was unwittingly introduced to the Pacific Northwest of North America circa 1900 due to human activity and strongly increased in numbers for the last century. Its original habitat consists mostly of caves, or dry forests where it is found under rocks, but is a common spider in people's homes.
They show pictures of the nest and web of this spider, so I'll be checking around to see if I can find where this one might have come from. They only bite when provoked, and you can be assured I'll try very hard not to do so.
:-)
From my experience, if you don't bring them in pretty soon, the critters will get them. The deer, the raccoons, the skunks, the moles and rabbits ... they're all out to get us!
ReplyDeleteNever have I been so glad to feel fall in the air & experience raindrops on my skin once more. I left Texas to get away from hot & dry. I assume this house spider is not poisonous if it should decide to bite?
ReplyDeleteSpring is well on the way here. I would pick those tomatoes before the birds, bugs, critters do. And aren't they a treat?
ReplyDeleteI'm with Tom and Elephant's Child on the tomatoes question. The longer left on the vine the more likely they will never make it to your kitchen.
ReplyDeleteUnless they are being attacked, we leave our tomatoes on to get the full benefit of the sun. However rain might be on the way this weekend, so considering that, you might pick the reddest ones. Any you pick that are turning color will continue to ripen inside.
ReplyDeletei sure hope winter will bring some moisture to you, so maybe early fall is a good thing. :)
ReplyDeleteVine ripened is best but pick a few each day for awhile until you are caught up, pick more often if the birds are a problem.
ReplyDeleteI can tell by the amount of leaves in my yard that fall is on the way. Falling leaves is a usual August thing...some leaves just cannot make it to fall so the weakest fall off:).
Those tomatoes look very good. We grew some on the porch this year. The plant has already died back and we got three tomatoes that we could harvest. Bugs or birds got two others. Jim said the tomatoes cost us $4 each. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteTomatoes are looking good! Ours are just a tarting to turn red.
ReplyDeleteSome trees are turning here. It seems a bit early. My tomatoes are pretty slow to ripen. I could eat more if they ripened faster.
ReplyDeleteWe are on the cusp of all of our green turning gold.. Fall has been in the air the past week, chilly! wet and rainy, too. We went from heat in the 90's with extreme humidity to daytime highs in the low 50's almost overnight. Today we hit back on perfection.. I'd like to hold on to it a bit longer!
ReplyDeleteI've always heart tomatoes are best ripened on the vine, so if you can leave them - I would. I'm sure they'll be great either way, though!
I hate you. You can grow tomatoes. Red ones.
ReplyDeleteSay it ain't so that it is fall already. I hate the current heat I'm in, but I'm not ready for fall. I have to do stuff then. Get ready for holidays and such. I prefer lolling. Enjoy those tomatoes. I would imagine they will taste most wonderful.
This is the first year we have had tomatoes ripen on the vine rather than inside paper bags indoors. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't being provoking a spider...might step on it! Your tomatoes look great, and I'd love a fresh one, right now.
ReplyDeleteWe only have 4 little yellow pearl drop tomatoes left from our harvest. I suspect their days are numbered. But I managed to use them all. FYI!
ReplyDeleteLove your tomatoes, but really dislike the spider.... argggghhhhhhh! I sure hope they don't import them to Hawaii. We have enough spiders.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I hate spiders.
ReplyDeleteThose tomatoes look so good. You should pluck them before they go bad.
And that tree, please take photos of it once a week until all the leaves drop to the ground.
Your tomatoes look wonderful. I think I would go with the advice of picking a few a day as here the critters would definitely be after them.
ReplyDeleteThose are some good looking maters. Hope you have a lot of recipes to use them. They are also good to share.
ReplyDeleteWe had giant spiders like that in Fl. I would think their bite would be quite painful. Hope your catch and release was passed on the any remaining ones and they will spare you.
I watched the leaves falling today, at first I thought it was because we are on the back-side of a dry spell, but later in the day, when I was passing the park, I saw many trees are changing their colors already.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look delicious, your TLC is commendable !
I never used to kill any spiders since in England we didn't have any lethal ones, but here especially in the south, we have those darn Brown Recluse and Black Widows.......aghh !
~jo
I can tell you that fall is NOT in the air here just yet. Today was the first day sans high humidity & excessive heat that we've had in a while.
ReplyDeleteIf it were me, I'd bring the tomatoes in rather than risk critters getting to them.
And, I echo the other Gigi...it would be wonderful if you could take a picture a day of the trees and then post the subtle changes after they turn scarlet.
I bet your autumn will be beautiful! And those tomatoes look delicious!!
ReplyDelete