Big tomatoes

Urban gardeners, like country ones, have to contend with pests. In Baltimore, rats are our counterparts to Seattle's raccoons and possums. I am learning that the timing the harvesting of tomatoes can be a delicate art - leaving the fruits on the vines for as long as you dare to get them to be as sweet as possible but not so long the furry critters start to nibble on them. That is why today's tomatoes are slightly greenish around the stems. I could not bear the thought of having to loose these gigantic ones into the compost. According to our office scale, they weigh over a pound each. (I am not sure what one has to weigh to be considered to be of county fair championship caliber) Here is a snapshot of our house mate, Anna, modeling with the fruits. Also, while I was watering the tomatoes this morning, I met the owner of the first row house north of us. He was patching the broken concrete on his front steps. We had a nice visit.

Bee on sunflower

More veggies from the garden

The tomatoes are are a day or two from being ready. The tomato plants, forced by the wire cages to grow upwards, are beginning to be top-heavy. I am using guy wires/twines (like tent poles) and sticks to keep them from tipping over. Garrison Keilor talks about competitive tomato growing in Lake Woebegon. One can definitely lapse into obsession while in pursuit of the perfect tomato. I can definitely see why that can be a sport in the Midwest although it would be a stretch for gardeners who have to labor in the mild summers of Seattle.

Notice the black eye peas to the left. My Sudanese colleague at work tells me that she cooks the vines and the tender leaves.

Garden photos

The recent heat wave has done wonders for the vegetables. The cherry tomatoes are the vanguards of the this year tomato crop with the rest catching up in the next couple of days. I am eager to see what the heirloom tomatoes will look like. Some little fruits have formed on the purple and red pepper bushes. I have seen for the first time, black eye peas in pods hanging off their vines.

Our neighbor, Glynette, stopped by this evening as while I was watering the vegetables. She is the retired school counselor from Florida I mentioned in an earlier posting. Ellen and I had a fun visiting with Glynette and we learned about her fascinating childhood on her parents' dairy farm and of the upcoming Bowers family reunion in Bascom, Florida, when about 200 relatives are expected to attend. We sent some cherry tomatoes with her but not before she gave me instructions on preparing the black eye peas.

Other refugees in Reservoir Hill

Ellen and I had the good fortune to meet John who lives three blocks south of us on Eutaw Place. He is a refugee from the Congo but had come by way of India. He now works in the IT department at Johns Hopkins University. Quite an amazing guy. at some point he decided to serve other refugees by providing housing. He bought a three-story row house and is housing single men who are struggling to establish themselves. There are four men who live with him. They are all from the Congo and are either students or working. He charges them a small amount of rent but forgoes the rent if they have difficulty paying. We dropped by a couple of days ago to visit him.

John also volunteers as a family mentor for refugees resettled by the International Rescue Committee resettlement office in Baltimore. He recently bought a small condo on Park Avenue in Reservoir Hill and is providing cheap housing for a couple of refugees. We hope to organize a Reservoir Hill refugee/immigrant potluck one of this days. Speaking of immigrants, I recently became acquainted with Jose, who lives, with his wife and child, catercorner from us on the intersection of Whitelock and Eutaw Place. He is from Guatemala and works as a maintenance man in the building across the street. The face of Reservoir Hill is changing. Here is a snapshot of Ellen with John in front of his house.

Off to the Appalachian trail.

RHHP over the 4th of July weekend

With 15 people living in RHHP, the house still feels empty. I feel like the lord of the manor (minus the servants) with the whole house to ourselves. The exodus began before Saturday with some of the volunteers house sitting for someone from church. Jeff and Sarah had been preparing for their backpacking adventure for the past few days. The have been carefully planning their inventory of food and equipment.

On Wednesday, VSer Beth, and her colleagues at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service invited a local song writer and some refugees over for dinner and music jam session. Some folks from church also joined us. The song writer plans to compose a piece for use by the LIRS mission advancement department to promote the work of LIRS.