I am still enjoying the bounty of the harvest as Thanksgiving is fast approaching.  This year I was able to do something I haven’t done in such a long time and I am sure I was not the only one. Our city lot is small and when we moved from the country into the city way back the garden space like our household became an empty nest. Our yard is filled with flowers, shrubs, trees and grass with little thought of growing our own fruits and vegetables as the grocery stores are so close at hand. Our summers normally consisted of travelling to visit our children and grandchildren and a trip abroad. The yard basically took care of its self while we were away with a little help from mother nature and a good mowing of the lawn when we returned.

This spring I dragged out a couple of pots I had stored in the shed and made my way cautiously over to the local greenhouse and decided I needed to plant a couple of tomatoes, perhaps cucumbers that could be grown in a pot and some herbs. Years previously I had grown the usual varieties of tomatoes from your Beefsteak, Manitoba and Roma but I decided if I was going to do it I needed a bit of a challenge. I had done some prior research.  I purchased one Black Krim, one Brandywine, a four pack of cucumbers which stated could be grown in a pot, rosemary, basil and mint.

The two tomatoes were planted in the same pot as I had limited landscape, all four cucumber plants in their own pot and the three herbs rounded out the garden. With time, sun, and some healthy doses of fish fertilizer my garden grew, and those tomatoes plants towered above my head. The maturity date was late August by the time we started to enjoy those tomatoes and the cucumbers were a bonus that just kept coming for weeks. Granted, I was picking perhaps only one or two a day but what a treat.  Despite an early hard frost, pots can be dragged into the shed and I kept those tomatoes going well into the first week of October.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching I am most thankful for the little joys such as picking sour cherries from our neighbour’s tree and making the best jam I have had in a while. The crabapples that were given that resulted in spiced crabapple jelly and yes, those tomatoes.  I picked the remaining ones green and we will be enjoying them for a while longer. Next year I have already planned to double my production and I hope some of the larger pots will be coming on sale soon.