AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
The other day was a BLT day… Well, sort of.
I’ll be honest. We were out of lettuce. That was bad planning on my part. So, technically, it was a BT day but that just sounds weird. So, I’m taking some liberty here, and for my story, it will still be a BLT day.
For what it’s worth, the bread was homemade... honey whole wheat. So, maybe that buys me a little slack?
Anyway, this one... this BLT... was special. You could even say it was magical.
A BLT with fresh garden tomatoes is always a treat. But when you have fresh juicy garden tomatoes in the middle of January, well now that’s a magical treat
This BLT had a lot going for it!
The tomato involved in this culinary caper came from our own garden. I picked it along with a couple hundred of its siblings back in mid-November, right before cold temperatures put an end to them. You may remember me writing about that abundant harvest.
If you think back all the way to last fall, you might remember warm weather held on late, keeping the killing freezes out of the picture until much later than what we typically see. Our little veggie garden suffered only minor damage through the first frosty nights and most of the peppers and several of the tomatoes rebounded nicely during the warmer weeks that followed.
It was almost a month later when cold weather finally shut us down for good. By then, it was mid-November.
That final harvest produced hundreds of tomatoes, almost all of which were still very green. You may recall this picture I shared with you previously, the one of our kitchen counter under a mountain of tomatoes.
Since that picture was taken, they have been slowly ripening, turning red, and juicy one by one and that mountain of tomatoes has little by little grown smaller.
(As a side note, in case you didn’t know, most green tomatoes will fully ripen successfully on the kitchen counter as long as they are far enough along when you pick them and you leave them alone long enough to ripen. It just takes patience!)
With only a few exceptions, they all ripened nicely. Sure, a few developed soft spots and had to be pitched but they were definitely the rare exception. We’ve been enjoying fresh garden tomatoes pretty steadily for the last two months. Not a bad deal.
And that brings me to the other day and my magical BLT.
It was our last tomato standing. One by one they disappeared, but this last one took just a little longer to ripen than all the others.
So, I guess it was the winner...or did it come in last? I’m not sure how to score that one.
It wasn’t very big, and it certainly wasn’t the prettiest tomato I’ve ever seen, but it was still bright red, juicy, and had all the wonderful flavor I’d hoped for... and it was mid-January!
So, maybe I was the winner?
Regardless, it was a very special tomato and it made for a magical BLT. Mid-January is a record for me. I’ve had some tomatoes last until the end of December… maybe the first day or two of January… but never this long. Pretty cool.
But now, they’re all gone... until next summer.
Cameron Rees, General Manager
It’s going to be a while before any of us see that next round of tomatoes planted back out in the garden. There’s a lot of cold and snow we’ve got to work our way through first, it will get here...eventually.
In the meantime, if you need a gardening fix, try starting some seeds inside to keep you busy. That can be a fun way to get your hands dirty while it’s still frozen outside and at the same time get yourself primed with transplants for this spring’s garden. That’s a win-win in my book.
And you never know, you might just end up with something magical in the end.
—Cameron Rees
IT’S TIME TO GET SOME SEEDS STARTED
With all the snow and colder temperatures, thinking about gardening probably isn’t on top of your list of priorities. Spring will be here in no time, so now is the time you should be thinking about starting your vegetable seeds indoors.
Things like kale, spinach, and lettuce are good seeds to start in January. Many others also benefit from getting their start indoors and you don’t need any fancy grow lights or special equipment.
Start with a good seed-starting soil like Fertilome Seed & Cutting, properly sized containers with good drainage, and a good light source. Something like a great, well-lit window will work just as well as an expensive grow light, as long as the seedlings get the proper light throughout the day. You can choose to go with propagation sheets, seed trays, or maybe go with something like Jiffy Peet Pots which allow for good root growth. The netting also holds the soil like a pot but is still permeable, allowing roots to grow.
Seeds need a soil temperature of 65° to 75° to germinate, so the use of a heating mat is also a good option. With some tender loving care and a little patience in no time at all, you will have a good start to that spring garden ready to be transplanted.
Stop in today and have one of our friendly staff get you all the tools you need to get started!
Melissa Anderson, Store Manager
—Melissa Anderson
SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!
Mark Your Calendars for the 2025 Kansas Lawn & Garden Show! Join us February 6-8 to beat the winter blahs in the warmth of the Stormont-Vail Event Center in Topeka, KS, and get inspired for the coming spring! We’ll be down there all three days with plant and design ideas, lawn and garden advice, seasonal tips, and more... come see us! We look forward to visiting with everyone about the upcoming season.
EVENTS, SALES & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Keep an eye on this section in the future for all the important info and extras you won’t want to miss!
