BLOSSOMS!!! Aaaaaah! I'm going to have tomatoes!

So, that's the big news. I am about to be the proud mom of some actual tomatoes (if everything goes well, that is.)

Qik Update 2

Hey y'all, just thought I'd end today's prolific posting with a second video update on my tomato. Here is: tomato!

rear view, post haircut. look how far out the tomato branches go at the bottom!

Does anyone see anything interesting in this picture? Stay tuned for news on what it might be...

topsy turvy after its haircut. the tomato is going crazy!

My tomato just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

so sad!

This is my grandma's tomato... not doing so hot. On Wednesday the 14th, I went up to visit and insisted on taking it out of the bag and replanting it in a pot. Its roots hadn't grown at all, and actually started to split at the base of the stem when I was trying to clean them off a bit. I got the little Jolly Elf into a smallish pot, watered it, and stuck it in the sun. Lo and behold, I talked to my grandma yesterday and it has NEW GROWTH! Hooray! Pictures will be posted when I go up there next.

the rear of the topsy turvy before its haircut

So the Topsy Turvy is apparently an ideal place to grow herbs as well as tomatoes, because my herbs got out of control. As you can see, my parsleys are pretty much covering the whole bag, and the mint is trying to wrap itself around the post. Also, I haven't posted progress of the tomato in a while - it's gotten quite big now.

Bad, bad news

So it's almost official; my tomato is winning and my grandma's is pretty much dead. We took it out of her fancy upside-down hanger yesterday when I went to visit, and the roots never grew! The stem was splitting right where the roots start. I have not given up hope and transplanted it to a small plastic pot in the sun where I am hoping it may recover enough to be replanted. I just really wanted to win this thing fair and square, not because of a potentially faulty product!

I also got her a normal topsy turvy since I've had such good luck with mine. I'm on the lookout for another pair of determinate, organic heirloom tomatoes to plant in our new topsy turvys. Apparently I'm obsessed with tomatoes... I came home from Whidbey with another one, so now I've got 4 - 2 in pots and 2 upside down. I need some gardening gloves and vegetable scissors so I'm off to Fred Meyer. Pictures of the progress will be up soon!