Category Archives: gardening

One Step Closer To Tomato Wine

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I’ve been looking at the 10-day forecast for clues on when to transplant my tomatoes. I wrote about the balancing act between trying to get them in the ground as soon as possible, so they can start spreading their roots in the soil right away, and keeping them from cold overnight lows that will hold back their growth. Well this morning’s forecast calls for overnight lows of 50 (10 Celsius) starting on 5/22, dipping to 47 (about 8 Celsius) on the 26th. Historical averages are 49-50 for the rest of the month. I think planting them on the 22nd would be a good balance between getting them in the ground early and keeping them from the cold. I’ll be keeping an eye on the forecast between now and then, but I’ve tentatively marked the 22nd as Transplant Day.

I’m tempted to say something like, “I can almost taste the tomato wine,” but I can’t because I have no idea what it will taste like. I’m still excited though!



Between A Pot And A Cold Place: When to transplant tomatoes outdoors

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I’m making tomato wine this year, and for me that starts with growing tomatoes from seed. I transplant them into the garden when it gets warm enough, meaning overnight lows of 50 Fahrenheit or higher. The latest forecast is for lows in the mid 40’s for the next 10 days, though, so I should delay transplanting them because it’s still too cold.

The Gold Nuggets of my future tomato vineyard are getting crowded in their pots - 5/10/07

The photo above shows my Gold Nugget tomatoes on 5/10/07, and as you can see they are getting crowded in their pots. They need to go somewhere else soon, either the garden or other pots. No matter how carefully it’s done, digging up the plant and relocating it delivers a shock that temporarily stunts the plant’s growth. Repotting them would mean delivering this shock twice in a short time, once when I move them to new pots and again when I move them to the garden. So I should transplant into the garden right away to avoid this.

I’m not sure how I’ll resolve this dilemma yet.



Future Tomato Vineyard

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Gold Nugget tomato seedlings barely an inch tall on 4/24/07For my tomato wine, I’m growing Gold Nuggets. They’re cherry tomatoes that turn yellow-orange when ripe; here’s how they looked on 4/24/07. In the ten days it took to expose the roll of film, process and digitize it, the seedling have grown from less than two inches to over four inches tall; maybe I need to rethink this whole digital camera fad 🙂

Rhubarb Wine

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I remember when I was offered my first taste of rhubarb wine. I had never sampled non-grape wine (country wine) before, but my thoughts changed from “is this a joke?” to “how much of this have you got?” with the first sip. I have since planted rhubarb in my garden, and I’ve been making wine from it for two years. I owe a lot to the Hutterite colony in Montana, they still make that terrific wine, for their inspiration and generous advice.

Rhubarb stalks on the cutting board - 4/25/07

The first harvest of 2007 yielded 10 oz (about 275 grams), and I expect to harvest every month through August. I discard the leaves, chop up the stalks and freeze them. Once I’ve gathered the entire harvest (last year’s was 4lb or about 1.8 kg), I’ll begin work on my third vintage.

Not Just Grapes

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Almost all commercial wine is made from grapes. There are good reasons to ferment grapes, but there is no good reason to ignore other fruit. I’ve sampled good commercial cherry wine, and while it’s not available locally, I know of some wineries that specialize in blueberry wine. I have made good, if I say so myself, wine from blueberries, raspberries, plums, apples, and rhubarb.

Since I’m particularly excited about making wine from what I grow in my own garden, I’ve started growing fruit trees in pots, just like my grape vines. A rhubarb patch yields enough “fruit” (most of us think of it as fruit even though it’s technically a vegetable) for rhubarb wine every year. But my bonsai orchard won’t produce fruit for years, and I’ll count myself lucky if my bonsai vineyard offers up enough grapes for a gallon of wine this year. So I’m going to make tomato wine this year!

It’s not as weird as it sounds. Though we all think of tomatoes as vegetables, they’re botanically fruit. Fruit of the vine, no less, and I can grow them from seed, harvest the fruit, and make wine in one season. The future members of my “tomato vineyard” have already sprouted, and I hope to transplant them outside in mid-May. I’ll keep you posted …