AMY'S GARDEN
This page is dedicated to my lovely mother Amy. She's one of the main reasons that I came to realize how important it is to take care of people through food, that by feeding other's I am nourishing a part of their soul. From a young age her and my father never let us go hungry. Whether it was Hungarian cabbage rolls, or Cincinnati style chili, our stomachs were full and hearts warm. Over the past few years, my mom has taken her natural gifts of nurturing and used them to start a garden. She's worked tirelessly, kept meticulous notes, and learned in order to keep her garden healthy. Thank you mom, for always teaching me that cooking comes from the heart and that feeding others is one of the purest forms of showing love.
WHAT'S IN THE GARDEN
"My garden is home to 5 different types of tomatoes, 5 different types of peppers, 11 types of herbs, 6 other vegetables, 4 types of fruit (plus the lemon, lime, orange, plus kaffir lime trees). So 31 different things plus the 4 fruit trees."
TOMATOES
"All of my tomatoes are indeterminate, which means that they can get very tall (10+ feet) versus bushy. So it’s important to provide them with something to climb, like the netting I have. Determinate tomatoes get bushy and those are better in the tomato cages that you can buy at the store."
AMY'S TOMATOES THIS YEAR
1) Big Rainbow (large, heirloom, yellow tomatoes with red swirls, mild and sweet flavor)
2) Costoluto Genovese (heirloom, intense flavor, meaty texture, from Genoa, Italy)
3) San Marzano (plum tomatoes that originated in the Campania region of Italy, sweet and robust flavor, perfect for sauces)
4) Chocolate Sprinkles (small, meaty, rich taste with a high brix level (measurement of sugar content), sweet with a hint of smokiness)
5) Tomatillo (tart, great for salsas, you have to plant at least two tomatillos together because they need another plant to cross pollinate. You don’t need this with the other tomatoes).
PEPPERS
"Peppers are great companion plants with tomatoes. They require a similar amount of water. Companion planting is important (can Google what goes well with what). It’s important to match water and nutrient requirements and to make sure that you’re not pairing plants where one is highly susceptible to pests and can negatively impact other plants. Cucumbers, for example, require a lot of water. Tomatoes (especially once established) don’t. So you would never want to plant them together."
AMY'S PEPPERS THIS YEAR
1) Thai chili
2) Shishito
3) Habanero
4) Jalapeño
5) Serrano
HERBS
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"I plant all mints and rosemary in their own containers because they can spread a lot and take over beds. Both are good for natural pest control. Sweet Basil is a great companion plant for tomatoes."
AMY'S HERBS THIS YEAR
1) Genovese Basil (sweet basil)
2) Sage
3) Italian Oregano
4) Thai Basil
5) Mint
6) Chocolate Mint
7) Mojito Mint
8) Rosemary
9) Dill
10) Flat leaf Parsley
11) Thyme
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MORE PRODUCE FROM THIS SEASON
1) Sugar Baby Watermelon
2) Burpless Cucumber
3) Soybeans (Edamame)
4) Carrots
5) Strawberries
AMY'S TIPS & TRICKS
THE IMPORTANCE OF FLOWERS
"Flowers in garden to serve two purposes:
1) to attract bees for pollination
2) a natural pest control-either a) their smell repels pests or b) their smell attracts pests and they’re more likely to eat the flower instead of your veggies. It’s not perfect, but it helps and it’s important to me to not use chemicals on our food.​
The flowers I use in my garden are:
1) Alyssum (white and purple small flowers)
2) Nasturtium (orange, yellow and burgundy vining flowers…flowers might be edible…might want to Google)
3) Calendula (taller yellow flowers)
4) Borage (taller purple flowers…these are the ones that the bee is on in the pics…also the flowers are edible)
5) Marigolds (smaller yellow and orange flowers)
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Other plants that I have for pest control (smell repels plants):
1) Chives
2) Scallions/Green Onions
3) Leeks
Garlic and other onions are also good, but they’re more of a winter crop here."
PLANTING TOMATOES
I planted April 11th this year. This is actually a little later than normal for here, but it was cooler and more rainy this spring. When you plant is completely dependent on your zone and the weather that particular year. We live in zone 9b and we can plant earlier than a lot of other zones. There’s a map of zones that you can Google. ​
I remove a lot of the lower leaves so that I can plant the stem deeper. The reason for this is that there are a bunch of little “hairs” on the stem that will form roots underground and it will make the root system and therefore the strength of your plant that much stronger. Tomato plants like to have deep roots, so deeper beds and/or straight in the ground planting is best for them. I like deeper raised beds best because they help with natural pest control since the pests have to work harder to get to the plants.
When you pick out your tomato plants, absolutely resist the urge to buy the bigger plants that are already flowering. 1) they’re way more expensive, 2) you lose the ability to remove those lower leaves and plant deeper to establish more roots) and 3) the plant is putting its energy into the flowers and not as much into the roots). Your plants are going to look smaller at the beginning because you’ve planted deeper, but trust in the process. The long-term benefits are worth it!