In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

Aug 24

Aug 24 In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen

The truncated summer garden winds down now in late August. Travel and other commitments altered the usual rhythms of the warm season garden. I did manage to grow a dozen Dwarf Rosella Purple tomato plants from seed, planting five of them June 6 and sharing the others with gardening friends. They’re not picture perfect but they grow reasonably well in my fog belt garden. Their similarity to Cherokee Purple , which does not do well in my garden, makes it a favorite tomato. It also checks the small garden box.

Rosella Purple is a dwarf tomato variety that produces medium to large oblate (flattened) fruit, weighing between 6 to 12 ounces, with a rich deep purple exterior and a delicious flavor similar to Cherokee Purple. It grows to about 3 to 4 feet tall and is ideal for small garden spaces or containers.

This was the first and likely the best tomato from the five plants. I’ll save the seeds if the taste and texture match the appearance.

The season will be over soon as there are no new blossoms and a dozen or so tomatoes remain to mature. Our current heat wave has accelerated the ripening. The raised bed will then be prepped for the cool season garden.

Emerite pole beans scramble up the trellis and are just beginning to produce well. They weren’t planted until July 6. I’ll freeze many of them for winter pleasure.

I purchased a six-pack of red bell peppers and planted June 13. I prefer to let most mature to their red color but pick a few here and there for recipes. No Baby Belle peppers this year.

We’ve reveled in using almost all of the 12 pounds of Yukon Gem potatoes harvested in early June. Our young grandsons watched on FaceTime as we pulled the plants up so we took some of them back on our visit to Massachusetts earlier this month. Their mom roasted them to perfection. Our last potato salad of the summer season.

We are harvesting or gathering from under the tree hundreds of strawberry guavas every day. Thankfully, we have willing recipients. Later today I’ll make guava puree and then some Guava-Lime Agua Fresca.