On June 1, Westbury Community Garden held its 8th Annual Tomato Tasting. It seemed that tomatoes ripened earlier this year. Climate change? Though some tomato varieties were already spent for the season, 20 tomatoes were presented for the comparative taste test. About 45 people took part in the tasting and voting. The winner in the […]
Archive | Nightshades
Tomato Tasting Sponsors and Donors
WCG was extremely fortunate to receive a sponsorship donation from Southwest Fertilizer, our favorite independent neighborhood garden center, located at 5828 Bissonnet. Southwest Fertilizer’s support covered the supplies and printing associated with the Tomato Tasting Festival – a huge boon to the garden. Southwest also donated two items to the Fishbowl Raffle fundraiser for the […]
Fall Tomatoes in Houston
Spring planted tomatoes are more productive than fall planted tomatoes, but in most years, and with a good amount of care, a nice amount of cherry tomatoes can be harvested in the fall. Planting time: Mid July to end of August. WAIT until temperatures have cooled. It will be very difficult to start and keep […]
Tomato Tasting Winners
What fun we had tasting all 45 types of tomatoes that the Westbury Community Garden’s 7th Annual Tomato Tasting on June 3. The winners by show of hand votes in the four categories of tomatoes were as follows: Favorite Cherry Tomato Golden Gem HybridIndeterminateSize: 0.5-0.75”Shape: RoundColor: GoldMaturity: 65 days / early Stunning golden color and […]
The Annual Tomato Tasting Is Back (June 3)!
After a three year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the Westbury Community Garden Annual Tomato Tasting is back! We will resume scheduling this annual event on the Saturday after Memorial Day weekend, as in the past. To participate, purchase a Tasting Scorecard at the event for $15. There will be over 30 varieties of […]
Spring and Summer Vegetable Gardening
This seasonal class offers many tips and techniques to insure successful spring and summer vegetable production specifically for our Houston climate. Timing is everything! You don’t want to miss this important class! For those who need to look back at the information presented, the instructors have offered the presentation material here. The March 4th class […]
Tomatoes! How To Be Successful
When and where to buy plants When to purchase plants – mid-February if weather is mild When to plant. When nighttime temperatures are expected to be above 45-55 degrees. March 1 is a good date to plan for. Where to buy plants – Buchanan’s, Another Place in Time, Southwest Fertilizer, Wabash. Varieties (cherries vs large) […]
Harvesting Tomatoes, Peppers and Other Spring Vegetables
To avoid pests and diseases, we harvest tomatoes and peppers (both sweet and hot) at the first sign of blush (red, yellow, gold, purple, black). They are then put on our kitchen counter or other surface (not necessary to be in sunlight) to ripen. In this way, we prevent damage that would have happened between […]
5th Annual Tomato Tasting – A Celebration of Summer
What says, “Summertime” more than vine ripened tomatoes? Westbury Community Garden celebrated the tomato at its 5th Annual Tomato Tasting on June 2. The event was our most heavily attended to date with approximately 80 gardeners, friends and neighbors participating. We had some old time favorites and some new varieties this year, as we do […]
Garden Goodies
My tomato garden has been very productive this year. The picture shows tomatoes canned today (24 pints) plus those waiting to be canned.I had previously canned 56 pints in the last couple of weeks. That makes 80 pints so far of tomatoes and tomato sauce. I will get at least 15 more pints from those […]