everybody salsa!

After over a month of casually whining about my tomato plants, which had flowers but hadn't pollinated, I decided to take matters into my own hands and begin the arduous task of hand-pollinating them.

If you aren't already aware, this process really just involves tapping on flowers once a day to dislodge some of the pollen, and it's really only necessary when it's unusually hot or humid out, because tomatoes are typically self-pollinating, which means that: 1) the tomato flowers on a single plant can breed with one another, and 2) one tomato plant is all you need to get oodles of tomatoes. Tomato flowers are what are called "complete" flowers, which means that they contain both parts necessary for reproduction (some other plants, such as squash, have two different sets of flowers that have to interact, often multiple times, for there to be a fruit).

As I went out with my trusty bamboo spoon in hand (converting your kitchen utensils to bamboo is not only better for you, but also for your pans and the environment!) and began to tap lightly on the flower clusters, I noticed the most amazing thing-- a tiny green tomato. After I then rushed around, shouting my triumph to everyone I knew, I took a closer look. Three tomatoes. Closer inspection still (and the help of my roommate at the time, Rick) showed that there were in fact five Black Plum Tomatoes and over a dozen Hillbilly Potato Leaf Tomatoes-- all small and green, but certainly coming in. A day later, I noticed a tiny heirloom hot pepper coming in (Mulato Isleno), and, to tell the truth, I had given up all hope of growing peppers this year.

Excited, I checked my Purple Husk Tomatillo, resigned to the fact that it would probably have nothing more than pretty yellow flowers for the season because its sister plant had met an unfortunate end during my move to my new place, and I had read somewhere that tomatillos were not self-pollinating (in the sense that you need two plants to get any fruit, although they also have complete flowers like their tomato cousins). Apparently, whatever I had read had been incorrect, as my tomatillo plant is now covered, yes, in pretty yellow flowers, but also in about 20 little paper lanterns, the sign of impending tomatillos.

It's not the season for much of anything else yet, but I have quite the head start on my salsa crop for this year.