A good tomato harvest always eluded me in my earlier balcony garden. The first deterrent was not having enough space and sunlight. And then, the only space that got some sunlight was the small flight of stairs. I did grow a few tomato plants there. They'd grow extremely well and give out a burst of beautiful yellow flowers. And after that, I remember how excited I would get at the sight of those teeny weeny pale green knobs, heralding the forming of tomatoes ! But alas, the moment the tomatoes grew even as big as marbles, the monkeys would have them for a treat ! I tried shifting them into the shaded balcony area. But then the shade didn't let them grow strong enough to sustain the tomatoes, and they'd drop off as little fellas... And one fine day, the monkeys discovered how to get into the (supposedly) safe and secure balcony too. And I lost the fortune of harvesting even those few green tomatoes for chutney. In my one-and-a-half years of organic vegetable gardening in the two narrow balconies, I may have harvested just a couple of well formed red tomatoes and a handful of green ones...
The moment I set eyes on the relatively much larger gardening space around the new house that we were going to shift into, I began dreaming of growing and harvesting baskets of tomatoes... And as fate would have it, I didn't have to sow a single tomato seed in the ground. Within a few weeks of shifting in, dozens of tomato plants sprang out of the earth on one side of the house. And very soon, along with a thicket of amaranthus, I had my very own "Tomato patch" !!
It wasn't long before I harvested the first few well grown red and juicy tomatoes. And now, almost two month from the first harvest, my volunteer Tomato patch is still gifting me beautiful tomatoes by the basket full...! I cannot thank my Tomato patch enough and hope the pictures I keep taking and the tomato posts I keep presenting, here and on my Organic Terrace Gardening group are a fitting enough tribute...
The first few teeny weeny pale green knobs. Raising my hopes of a beautiful red harvest...
In my little green patch on the balconies, at the old house
And this was when the monkeys would choose to feast on them...
The first full grown ripe tomato that I harvested after a year of trying and trying...
The second one... And that's it ! After this I stopped trying to grow tomatoes in my balcony garden.
And yipeee ! I spy the first few tomatoes in my volunteer patch at the new house...
And don't they look so beautiful...?
There... they are beginning to get bigger, and I am finding it difficult to believe my luck...
The patch is gradually filling up with bunches galore...!
And my volunteer patch is taking on a wild yet charming look.
And within a month, there were more tomato plants popping up !
And phew... I stopped counting...!!
The amaranthus took over the tomatoes and this turned into a beautiful A&T jungle...!!
Bhuvan and Rohan have been enjoying the early-morning tomato harvests. Bhuvan especially, would come in the evenings to spot the red tomatoes to be harvested the next morning. These two buddies of mine, are sure adding a fantastic fun angle to my tryst with tomatoes.
And it wasn't long before my dear volunteer Tomato patch began gifting me harvests. And my dream of harvesting baskets full of tomatoes, did come true ! Here's presenting a few pictures of harvests from the past two months. And folks, since the past two weeks, we've been harvesting literally half a kilo of beautiful plump red tomatoes every single day !!
And finally, I could have the privilege of harvesting even raw tomatoes without thinking twice. For there were enough of red ripe tomatoes... :)
And then, I have even had impromptu harvests, while strolling around the compound...
The latest harvest !
And my sweet little alien tomato...
And after today's half-a-kilo harvest, there's so much more to be harvested immediately tomorrow and the day after and the day after... :)
I think it's going to be two harvests today ! Spied these orange-red ones after the morning's harvest...
The moment I set eyes on the relatively much larger gardening space around the new house that we were going to shift into, I began dreaming of growing and harvesting baskets of tomatoes... And as fate would have it, I didn't have to sow a single tomato seed in the ground. Within a few weeks of shifting in, dozens of tomato plants sprang out of the earth on one side of the house. And very soon, along with a thicket of amaranthus, I had my very own "Tomato patch" !!
It wasn't long before I harvested the first few well grown red and juicy tomatoes. And now, almost two month from the first harvest, my volunteer Tomato patch is still gifting me beautiful tomatoes by the basket full...! I cannot thank my Tomato patch enough and hope the pictures I keep taking and the tomato posts I keep presenting, here and on my Organic Terrace Gardening group are a fitting enough tribute...
In my little green patch on the balconies, at the old house
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