These shall be protected from the troublesome Trixie

These are Park Whoppers, still small, but it’s early in the season, and these set not long after I transplanted them.

These are the San Marzanos – a hybrid variety that should top out around 2-3 plump inches. This year I’m still trying to determine the proper amount of shade-sun ratio (at this altitude, full afternoon sun will stunt tomatoes) since my neighbors cut down their trees.  I am using growing bags and then placed the growing bags into one of my many baby pools (ducks!). One group is in a shadier area and the other is in full sun. We’ll see how they do.

The shadier ones have just as many tomatoes but also more leaves. The pools, btw, were just a thought so my pet sitter could water easier – or if I was just gone for the weekend, not water at all. But it turned out to be genius. The bags are porous, so they absorb the water easily and my plants are super healthy – no yellow leaves, no blossom rot.

I’m sorry to say, my peppers, even my jalapenos which are almost fool-proof, are not doing as well, planted directly into the raised beds. I think they’ll go in bags next year, too.

Having a cookout tonight and trying out a new marinade I made on the fly. I’ll share if it is yummy (which it better be, since I’m cooking for a crowd).