The dog days are over

Hail to the conquering Romas

The excitement, this week, was mostly about torrential downpours flooding the drain by our kitchen door, even more shitey weather, and making ice cream. Except for this one bright spot, captured in a brief moment of sunshine, this morning.

Yes, intrepid readers, our plum tomatoes are ripening, and it's the best thing that's happened since the cherry tomatoes started to ripen, and that tells you everything you need to know about how this whole pandemic nonsense is going. 

I'm pretty sure this is an exact replica of Rome's expansion plan, but in food

I can't get over how perfectly red and round and photogenic these things are. Like, they practically look fake. I hacked up a pile of the cherry toms, the other day, to make some pasta sauce, and that glorious red goes all the way through the fruit. There's something very satisfying and morally superior-feeling about that. They're also quite tasty - just a bit sweet, just a bit tart, and they made a helluva sauce. We'll be growing more next year, although perhaps not three plants worth.

In other news, the lettuce re-planting was largely a bust, so I've pulled out all but the actually-producing plants (of which there are three), and put some Lambs Ear lettuce in to see if that fares better, now that we've moved on to The Cold Times. The chard is carrying on, although being enjoyed by some creatures. The Second Coming of The Caterpillars isn't producing nearly as many of the little bastards, so the nasturtiums are rebounding nicely.

The basil is responding incredibly well to being re-potted, which is hugely surprising but, under the circumstances (see above), is splendid. 

I also put some golden beet seeds into the ground. I'm not overly optimistic, but you never know. Our method of "planting instructions are for chumps" + "benign neglect" has worked out OK for a bunch of other things, so we'll see.

Perhaps tomorrow, when I have my next burst of energy, I'll try to get the Spring Green going, again, and I'm giving lots of thought to what I want to plant next year. More herbs, I think. And definitely more flowers. Peas, again, for sure...