Sometimes it is good to understand your history and family. Here is a photo I found of my mother and dad holding me in my Grandfather Bojko's garden in Flint. He was my mother's father. I will bet there are some tomatoes there!
The trend today is to have small family gardens, community gardens, big city roof gardens and to support local farming. Seems we are coming full circle and I am happy to be a small part with Beulah, Crystal and the Herbs.
How I wish I had the advice of mom and grandpa for my garden. I am sure they see me anyway:)

Closeup

This is Beulah. I am getting good growth but am worried about the small scars. I don't think she has worms, but not sure why they look like this.

I will take any advice I can get.

This is my favorite time. Dinner on the beach, wine, local and fresh food. Could life be better than this???

Moon on the water

The weather has been great. Not so hot but hot enough for the tomatoes I hope. This is our beach and boats and the moon.
I watered today, put some insecticide on the branches and snipped some basil for dinner.
It is great to see so many farmers markets now and we can cook and eat local! Even the governor is promoting eating local.
We have had some local but hot house tomatoes, with fresh mozzarella, green beans, lettuces, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, good breads and pies and the best darn turtle donuts ever! ( they are cinnamon cakes frosted with chocolate and carmel with chocolate chips and pecans. YUM. I have only had 2 so far....

No manicure

I am wearing gloves. It might be to protect my manicure but I don't have one! Shocking. Between building the rock wall, digging in dirt with Beulah and Crystal and fixing the jetty in the lake I have NO color on my nails.

Here we are at the Bowers Harbor Inn on Old Mission Peninsula. We attended the celebration for the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. They do a great job preserving lakeshore, land and farms in this area, including Crystal Lake.
This is Mike, Kerri Finlayson, speaker Tom Clynes, Matt our Certifed Arborist son and me.
Tom (tomclynes.com) is another UM grad, a writer, adventurer, photographer. He told some great stories about people stepping up to save natural resources worldwide. Kerri teaches at North Central Michigan College and is an adventurer in her own right. Check out her blog on her bike trip across Africa at tda2008.blogspot.com. She is a UM grad too! It is always fun to meet people with interesting lives who work at what they love.
And they served bowls of fresh cherries :)

Beulah today

She seems fine so far. The stalk with 5 is growing and the largest is about 3-4" in diameter. I think they should be getting red as I think Early Girl is a smallish tomato. Meanwhile we are eating local veggies and tomatoes from the hothouse which are fine.
Notice the rigging? We had a big branch that was dragging so Mike and I hooked up a long string and are attempting to keep it up but not break the branch. There are other strings in various spots you just can't see.
We had some rain and some sun so I am still watering a lot. I think food is called for this week as we transplanted last week.
We spent most of the day messing around on the beach, one Doo is not working and needs a mechanic, sailboat was out and it was too windy, we built a rock wall in front and hope it holds.
Grandma Bojko lived here with my parents for a number of years and said "there is always something to watch on the lake" true. Could be ducks, the waves, someone building a rock wall or my tomatoes!

More local goodies

Tomatoes are trying to ripen but meanwhile the cherries are here! This part of MI is full of wonderful old family orchards and the kids still sell the fruit on the side of the road. This one sold on the "honor" system after 5pm. We bought a quart and they are tasty.... The other photo is Mike's art shot. We may frame this one for the wall. It had just rained and the drops were still on the fruit. These are tart cherries, not quite ready to be picked. The grape vines behind are the next generation of farm products. They are keeping our lands from over development and creating a great new industy up here.

Vette in the Vines

Beulah and Crystal are just growing away so we took a little drive up the Old Mission Peninsula to taste some wines. We liked 2 Lads ( the 2007 Cab Franc) and Bowers Harbor 2896(2007 bordeaux blend). We hear Michigan palates prefer sweeter wines, but as Californians we like the bigger reds so we hunt for those wineries trying better reds.
This is my 81 Vette which I bought in MI and had in CA for the last 17 years. We shipped it home and are driving her all over the state.

Uncle Al and Judy at Betsie Lighthouse

My Uncle, a great gardener and Judy the ferns from spore queen.

Our Florida Family

My cousin Bebe sent this photo. It seems she is growing tomatoes in her south Florida home. She reports some varieties tolerate Florida but these look pretty good to me. Mine are pretty tiny and green.
Our family, with the exception of me, has had "green thumbs". My polish grandfather had a whole lot next to his house and he grew everything from beans to pears and apples. I heard he experimented with grafting. I remember the sour grapes and the great flowers. My Mom loved his yellow string beans. To this day, I search all the markets for them.
Mom grew wonderful flowers. She had the biggest blooms on geraniums at the lake I have ever seen. Her advice-fertilize the heck out of them and deadhead...My sister has a great yard. My other cousins both have lovely yards. Judy claims to have won a prize for the best ferns grown from spores.( top that)...Uncle Al always had rows of juicy raspberries among other things. Maybe I did inherit some of their skill with plants. Stay tuned to see!

New Babies!

The latest count is 12 for Beulah and 9 for Crystal. I had to take 2 from Crystal as they appeared to have worms or some other icky blight. I also added some cilantro to the herb garden and finally got a much bigger pot for Beulah. All seem perky and happy at the moment. Sun was out today, even though clouds and rain were predicted.
We restaked Beulah and I am working on pruning "suckers". I just don't know what they are yet. A call to MSU Extension is needed.

Flowers in the yard

By way of background, my family came to Crystal Lake in 1911. Great-grandfather worked the railroad and bought 5 lots and built a cottage with lumber he brought up on the train. My Dad spent summers here as a child with his grandmother Sternaman. He loved it, I think it was a calm time for him as his parents divorced and it was not easy. I first came "in utero" in late 1949. My Dad built our current cottage with help from friends and family in 1966. So I have been here virtually all my life. I love it too. I knew when I retired I would do what Dad did and live here in the summer.

After Dad ( Jack ) died, we brought Mom up for a few weeks in the summer. When she left us, my sister and I remodeled a bit and now Mike and I are here for the whole summer.! In honor of my Mom Stella who had a green thumb, I am growing flowers and tending to what she left behind. I think Dad might have had a tomato too.

Life is a gift, thanks Great-grandfather Sternaman.

The sail boat.

Here is the yet unnamed Flying Scot sailboat, under way! It was warm and not so windy so we ventured out. Mike steers and handles the main sail. I am first mate and manage the sheets and the jib. Crystal Lake is such a perfect lake for this kind of boat. We do have lots of wind and sometimes whitecaps but not yesterday.
Thanks to Michelle next door for taking this.

Big News

"Woke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered"--Bob Seger, Michigander

We got some much needed rain and it came with thunder and lightening. Not something we see much of in my winter home in Foster City, CA. You actually have to remember to close windows overnight just in case.

Beulah got a buddy yesterday and this is Crystal. I went to the Crystal Gardens to get tomato food and some annuals for the side of the house and they were GIVING AWAY some tomato plants. I wanted all of them but settled on a Jet Star, now named Crystal. By the way, I am pretty sure Beulah is an Early Girl. Crystal was a bit floppy and perked with water. She has many offstpring but 2 had what might be the dreaded tomato worm. I picked one out and I think I am going to just cut those babies out before the stuff spreads to Beulah. I also found some insecticide which I applied, hoping it saves the plants. I welcome advice!

Some new blooms on Beulah. Great sunny day today but I still haven't got a new pot. Mike went to the MSU Extension office here and Steve gave him lots of good info including why the black pot is not good. He says heat dries out the roots too much. Must get a pot....
They have lots of good advice on tomato worms (take them off with your fingers), other bugs, feeding( he says low nitrogen, Rapid Grow works). What do you do with a tomato worm ( which is actually a caterpillar) I am thinking of throwing them in the road-splat.

Just got back and had a great time at the wedding. This is Mike and I actually dancing!
Beulah survived her stay with Jenny and Tony and is home now. Weather is cooler than normal and cold at night so I am nervous about it. We need some rain too, maybe later this week.
Spent some time with Sally who worked for the MSU Extension and she says that Beulah needs to be in a clay or wood pot and not in the black plastic one. It seems tomatoes do NOT like hot roots, so tomorrow I need to transplant her.
PS. those are my cats following me. They don't get to come to the lake. ( thanks Jeff and Cat )

Beulah is visiting with Tony for a day or so as we travel to a family wedding. We were hoping for some rain but it looks doubtful at the lake. Since Beulah needs a lot of water ( I learned this from Sherry) she will be cared for by Jenny.
I read in a Sunset article that Basil is perfect to grow by tomatoes(and my favorite pairing with fresh mozzarella) and it keeps bugs away. I just did it by accident but got lucky! Basil seems to have its own share of bugs but maybe they don't like tomatoes...
Tony is growing in a wheelbarrow as it keeps him off the ground and out of the way of some kind of blight. I am considering a bigger pot for Beulah too when I get back.

The actual fruit!

I recounted the fruit and found 9! I have at least 12-14 small blossoms too. I am getting pretty nervous about blight, worms, feeding etc. I could use some expert advice. Sun or part sun, afternoon or morning sun...too many choices.

Last night it was unusually chilly (48) and I was a little worried. We are going to Ohio for a niece's wedding this weekend and Beulah is going to be cared for by my neighbor Jenny. Jenny has a tomato plant too (now named Tony) and they will be together for a short visit.

Beulah currently had 8 offspring. She came to me that way but it is my job to nurture them to their full potential.

Today was day 2 of our sailing learning adventure. This is a shot of the new Flying Scot safely on the hoist. My husband Mike and I went out in what seemed a low wind when we left the dock but turned was much rougher a half hour after shoving off. I am not a good sailor, or a good second mate or a good passenger in big wind, leaning boat and lots of sails flapping about. Luckily we made our dock and decided we need more practice.

Weather 75 and sunny. Beulah watered. Gone sailing.

Here is a shot of Beulah next to her buddies, Rosemary, Basil and Chive. They all came to the lake on the same day.

Yes, Beulah already has progeny. This is how I adopted her. Since this is my first tomato I thought that this is how you buy/adopt them....besides the summer is almost half over so who has time to start from seed in mid July?

This is the beginning of the story of a tomato plant named Beulah. She is my first tomato plant. For years people asked me what I would do when I retired and I always said "I am going to grow the perfect tomato".

Follow her as she grows, bears progeny and spends the next 2 months of summer at Crystal Lake, Michigan.