Friends. Summer cold.

Fortunately off work (although on call as backup).

Nasty cold today, cough, headache, congestion.

Kitty doesnt mind the dogs when she is closer to their height. At ground level they can be like overly frisky elephants (compared to her size) so she is less likely to put up with them.

Thursday. Tomatoes in Window. Bike miles this week.

Every day, a few more fresh tomatoes.






This year's favorites....

For large, 'meaty' tomatoes:

1. Lemonboy for production, earliness, and flavor. Kind of tropical fruity. Given all of it's qualities together, this is the #1 tomato for this year and last year.
2. Cherokee purple for flavor. Kind of smokey/salty. This tomato was neither purple, or as its other name suggests, black - it was more of a burgandy / brown. Wonderful, rich flavor. Not very productive (although not in the sunniest spot, so it may not have been a fair test).
3. Yellow Brandywine for flavor, although not very productive.

3. Betterboy for pruduction and traditional tomato flavor (not as productive as lemonboy which was #1 in number and size of fruits).
4. The remaining large tomato, Tomande, was more productive in numbers, than Cherokee or Betterboy, but really not much for juiciness (some fruits were almost hollow) and consistenct of good flavor.

For Cherry Tomatoes:

1. Sweet 100. Best flavor for cherries and second best production.
2. Distant second for flavor, Sungold - heavily hyped, very productive, the the flavor was a distant second.
3. Probably not worth repeating, Sweet Baby Girl and Sugar Snack. More compact plants, but flavor also a distant second from Sweet100 and not nearly as productive.
4. For persistence, the volunteer Golden Nuggets which were not planted in that location since three years ago, but came up from volunteer last year and this year (and ranks just behind Sweet 100 in flavor).

Bike miles 66 but I may be underestimating. Next Monday I need to drive, due to meetings in Portland, so will doublecheck the miles.

Computer room companionship

Is it the cool floor? Or proximity to this humble blogger? Either way, it's nice to have them here. One room away, they have soft beds but they choose the spot shown, at my feet.

Garden yield today: a big bowl of tomatoes, various sizes and colors, about 3 pounds. Sefveral large bunches of grapes. A handful of raspberries. Enough garlic chives to serve as the vegetable filling for Chinese dumplings.

Labor Day. Getting ready for tomorrow's bike commute.

So far not called in. This could change wiwthout a moment's notice.

Getting ready to bike to work tomorrow. Nobody needs to worry about "getting ready to drive to work tomorrow" but that's not true for bike commuting. The following are needed for me (if it's not actively raining - then there's more):

1. A clean change of clothes. If I forget something, I'm out of luck. I keep a pair of shoes at work, so I dont have to carry those too. CLothese are packed in rain-resistant bags, and carried in a side pack. If I happen to drive to work, I take some clothes to leave there, but that is happening less often now.
2. Sometimes, shower supplies like a towel & soap (although I leave them there so I dont need to take them every day).
3. Food. There are no 'healthy' places to eat near where I work. Really, zero, it's all fast food. And no time to go there even if there were. Lately, this entails salad greens, a few tomatoes, some bread, peanut butter, and some yogurt. For tomatoes & salad a non-mashable container is needed. A small rubbermaid box does the job.
4. The key card needs to be accessible so I don't have to stop and un-bungie everything to get into the building. Keys need to be the last thing packed, so I dont wonder while I'm riding if I forgot them. Can't get into the desk without keys.
5. Any home-work goes into a water- and dirt-proof package.
6. On the off-chance that I'll be paged, the pager needs to be on my clothing in a location where it won't fall off, and can hopefully be heard. So, the cell phone also needs to be out of the "bungied" rubbermaid box, and on my person, too. And in a safe location that wont fall off.
7. Now that it's darker in the am, the diode lights need to be in working order. So, the batteries need to be charged. These render me fully visible on the road (one bike commuter told me that someone thought he was a christmas tree on wheels. The better to be seen by motorists).
8. Bike gear set out. The best sweat band is a folded bandana - machine washable, no elastic to wear out, cheap. Currently, wool socks and hiker sandals; these will be exchanged for something more water-resistant soon. Bike shorts and a T-shirt.
9. Coffee pre-measured and water ready to turn non coffee maker on first rising, to saave a few minutes.
10. Check tires & lights before going to bed.

If it wasnt for the 'earth-friendly' and 'veggie' thing, it would be easier, but that isn't 'me'.

I can't believe that I do all of this. Actually, it doesnt take that long - maybe 15 minutes. It's remembering everything that was difficult, and once in the routine, not a big deal.

Still, it's worth it and the rewards are many - exercise that leaves me feeling good, doing something that I feel good about, observing the neighborhoods that I ride through, and feeling a bit like the 'road warrier' that I like to think I am. Sometimes. Sort of.

Oh - the photo. This is a brugmansia. These are in the nightshade family (like tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants). Faintly fragrant. Amazing to look at in person, they look tropical and lush, and vaguely sinister. Apparently they can be overwintered by letting them dry out and leaving them in the basement with a rare addition of water when very dry, same as fig trees, fuscias, and geraniums. We will find out, this winter.

Late Summer Cleanup. Vitals.

Since I'm on call this weekend and could potentially have to return to work, the day was spent puttering and doing late summer cleanup. Some painting was done, some weeds pulled, some deadheading.


This is the ginkgo seedling that I planted to replace the dying monkey puzzle. The seed was planted 6 or 7 years ago in a Chicago apartment, and transported to Vancouver 5 years ago. The original plan was to create a large bonzai-type tree. However, the need for attention (primarily the need not to miss watering) makes it safer to plant in the ground, so here it is.



Irises were dug and replanted. Dividing and replanting is needed about every 3 to 5 years. I already gave away a number of starts. Now was time to cut out the old rhizomes and replant. Irises are said to like lime, so several handfulls of crushed eggshells were mixed into soil.



The strawberry bed was cleaned up and thinned. Some plants were moved to the border of the tomato bed. I read that the leaves should be removed in July and cleaning done then, so I'm about 1 1/2 months late - but if they don't make it, it's not a big loss. Looks bare now but I suspect that they will fill in. They were too closely planted, and it was hard to locate strawberries. I may thin them some more.

Vitals today: 205.5# (lowest this year) BP=136/88 HR=68