Sunday, February 8, 2009

....you say tomato, I say tomahto....

Whatever it is, its the same fruit, or vegetable, depending on how you like it to be. Its up to you. I won't argue about it. Because we can argue till the cows come home, fact is, its the same fruit. Read my lips....tomato!

Anyway, for those perfecionist out there, this is what the Wikipedia says....

Pronunciation
The pronunciation of tomato differs in different English-speaking countries; the two most common variants are /təˈmɑːtəʊ/ and /təˈmeɪɾoʊ/. Speakers from the British Isles, most of the Commonwealth, and older generations among speakers of Southern American English typically say /təˈmɑːtəʊ/, while most American and Canadian speakers usually say /təˈmeɪɾoʊ/. Many languages have a word that corresponds more to the former pronunciation, including the original Nahuatl word "tomato" from which they are all taken.
Source: Wikipedia

It started sometime in October 2008. When I finally feel that I am ready and green finger enough to grow vegetables. So I started by shopping for some seeds at the supermarket. Looking at the picture on the packaging, it looked like cherry tomatoes. Hmmm.....I love cherry tomatoes for my salad. I'll get the normal tomatoes later when I am succesful with this one.. So I grabbed a packet.

Then the 'gardener' began her mission. Because there were a few packets of seeds to be planted, I knew I had to label it religously.
But after a few days when it sprouted, I found it it was wrongly labelled. Now I am mixed up which is which. After a couple of weeks, I somehow discovered which was it without having to wait for its fruit. By googling online and visited some blogs about tomatoes. It was labelled as bittergourd.....hehehe

Then I learned that you need a vegetable bed for the tomatoes. My first futile attempt here. The 'bed' keep sliding down and show the roots.

Later on, I moved the whole batch, about 8 of them, to a new location at the corner, so I could at least control the 'bed'. I should have just used the bricks, as I later discovered. And soon after, I discovered that tomato plants need to have supports, because of the nature of the stems. Read the wikipedia link above to know what I mean.

While attempting to set the trainer for this plant, I accidently broke the largest branch of the healthiest plant.....oh no....! So I 'bandaged' it together with a leftover green tape from my flower arrangement project. Somehow it grew. In fact some little roots sprouts at the broken and bandaged stem.

And to my delight, my tomato grew big so fast, and started to bear fruits last month! And believe it or not, its from the broken plant on the exact branch! I am goooood!!!

And today, I victoriously plucked my first harvest of tomatoes. By the way its not even cherry tomatoes, but a full sized plump medium sized tomatoes you can find in the supermarkets. Its about 4" in diameters.

Now, posing at another angle with my 'continue life' leaves for salad.....LOL! See how bright the colour is.......and I am a show off! But can you blame me?

4 comments:

Gattina said...

Thanks for your comment on my cat blog. It would be nice if you could join Cats on Tuesday. It is very easy. Don't bother about Mr. Linky or the blogroll (it is out of work for the moment, I can't add anybody) the only thing you have to do is write a post about your cat(s) on tuesdays and put the little logo above your post. Come to my blog and put your link in Mr. Linky so that the other participants know that you are playing too. That's all. OK ?

Ellen Whyte said...

You must have green fingers! I kill anything green but give me a dying animal and I can nurse it back to health.

Thanks for dropping by the blog. Glad you like the column. Join us in Cats on Tuesday? As Gattina says, it's a fun group.

Ydiana said...

Hi Gattina

Thanks so much for the detail explaination. I am so looking forward to do Cats on Tuesday. I will start rightaway..!!

Ydiana said...

Hi katztales

I am very excited to join the group! I should have discovered you guys long time ago, except our 'path' had never crossed, at least until after the Star article. Glad I found your blog!