In spring, we have a nice and neat image in our heads of our gardens with their paths and airflow and easily accessible harvests. Fall is much different. The tomatoes went feral and a few volunteers snuck their way in too. I'm not too mad at the squirrels this year, though I still chase them away hissing and flailing my arms like some kind of zombie. They didn't do too much damage to the tomato crop since they, like the finches and sparrows, were much more interested in the sunflower forest.
Out of all the different kinds of tomatoes we had this year, these were my favorite. The seeds came from some "heirloom" tomatoes I bought from the store. They weren't planted in the tomato forest but along the fence between the roses, where I also planted other types I tasted and liked. They were mostly round yellow cherry type, which I think has gradually replaced sungold as my new favorite. The particular plant in question did well, better than the others, actually. It got the most shade thanks to that striped tarp my neighbors put up to get more privacy. Trust me, we're not even thinking of looking at them. But they cover the fence with tarp and put up poles with more tarp until they make their yard look like the traveling circus came to town.
Since my indoor tomato pollination experiment worked so well, I might save this tomato indoors for the winter. I already have a cutting with rootlets. I also put one tomato aside to save the seeds. I don't have the space for a big pot and full-blown tomato plant. I might be able to get some delicious tomatoes this winter. The taste is mild. None of that pungent tomato-y taste like a beefsteak. More subtle. More sweet. They don't pop when you bite them. They sort of crunch like soft little apples.
I saw this giant beautiful monster nearly finishing off my potted orange cherry tomato that my sister gave me. Just look at the colors!
Despite being so big, it didn't really have any defenses. It doesn't have a stinky forked tongue and didn't even try to do anything with its small horn. I guess you don't need defense when you're poisonous. That's right. Any of you reptile keepers out there can't feed these to your pets since they have all the tomato leaf toxins concentrated in their tissues. I couldn't yank the critter off so I just gave the bare branch a good smack to knock it off. This plant suffered a lot so I saved it a bit more suffering by moving this nearly-grown caterpillar to the tomato forest. It doesn't have much left to grow anyways. I wish I could see its cocoon but they move to safer plants during that phase. They prefer plants of a different species that won't be mowed down by their kin.
The cactus tip that I stuck into some soil is finally showing some green growth. It took many months to reach this stage but it finally has roots. The pot used to have polkadot plant. It drains too quickly and that's why it must've died but I enjoyed it for good while and even saw it make tiny delicate blooms. The fast draining soil is perfect for this succulent. Now I have two!
When visiting a friend's container garden, I saw this striking bird. They said this bird always visits. It moved quickly and tried to be elusive as I snapped a photo. I've never seen any bird like this. It was the size of a sparrow and almost completely white. It reminded me of some sort of pet bird.
The wildlife that flowers attract is one of my favorite parts of having a garden.