Tomato Cat

07/03/2024

Golden hour tulsi harvest! I’ve been doing a fair amount of night gardening lately, due to the heat. This tulsi basil produces a harvestable crop of flower spires every week. It’s phenomenal, and the pollinators love it! Tonight’s harvest has been washed and is in the dehydrator now to use for tea 💚

06/28/2024

As a vegetarian/aspiring vegan, harvesting herbs is a painstaking process because I ferry every creature I find out to a new home on the patio garden. This little guy was in my basil, and we spent some time together before I rehomed him on the citrus trees 💚

06/26/2024

Garden walk!

06/23/2024

I went to the garden tonight to water, and I found a totally unexpected harvest! Cucumbers (Itachi, Marketmore 76, Dar, and China Jade) and one zucchini 💚

06/20/2024

We are at the Moon Hollow Brewing Summer Solstice Makers Market tonight until 9pm. Come by and try the iced tea buffet and check out all the other fabulous vendors 🖤🖤🖤

06/19/2024

I just put my third tulsi harvest of the season in the dehydrator! I have a lot of garden goals this year, one of which is to finally figure out basil. As such, I’ve been pruning the tops off regularly before they flower to encourage bushier growth, and it’s been working wonders! My Italian and tulsi basil patches are both super happy and very full. My other goal is to be proactive versus reactive with regard to disease and pest prevention by making and applying my own organic sprays. More on this later!

06/16/2024

First harvest! (L-R) China Jade, Itachi, Marketmore 76. We harvest our first cucumbers a little small to encourage the plant to growing. Full sized cukes of these varieties are about twice the length.

06/15/2024

We’ll be at this event on Thursday! Swing by to try the iced herbal tea buffet. We’ll also have a wide assortment of witchy s**t, including luffa soap, bonfire tea and bath milk.

Our first Maker’s Market is Thursday, June 20th from 6-9pm!! Celebrate the Summer Solstice with local and handmade goods.

Vendors:
37 Latitude-Permanent Jewelry Co.
Augusta Poplar Art
Blacksburg Books
The Chocolate Spike
Misfit Beauty Club
Odd Fox Pottery
Tomato Cat
letterpress
The Stray Shop
The Whole You
Glade Road Growing

06/14/2024

Garden updates!

06/06/2024

There are potentially huge developments under way at Tomato Cat so to cope, we’ve been stress gardening. Check out these glamour shots!

06/04/2024

It’s the first week of June, and we have fruit setting throughout the garden! Early producers include Bush Baby zucchini, Apricot Zebra and Prairie Fire tomatoes, China Jade and Itachi cucumbers, and Candycane and Fresno peppers.

06/02/2024

Coming soon to a Summer Solstice Market near you! The Tomato Cat + Moon Hollow Brewing collaboration is underway. Watch for a new tea blend, collaboratively developed and featuring lavender from the Moon Hollow garden 💚💜 June 20 at Moon Hollow!

05/30/2024

I just checked in on our large in-ground garden, and the tomatoes are going gangbusters! Especially Girl Girl's Weird Thing, a slicing variety I've been looking forward to growing for a couple years, and our patio citrus trees. I'd love to see some photos of your gardens!

05/28/2024

I finally got the garden weeded, trellised, remulched and labeled! We use bamboo poles and connectors to create the kinds of structures we want. They aren’t always gorgeous, but they are cheap, easy, reusable and dissemble for concise storage at the end of each season 💚

05/27/2024

Plant giveaway! We have our organically-grown garden starts out for free today from 12-4pm at 475 Tall Oak Blvd in the Oak Tree Townhouse complex in Christiansburg. Please read whole post if interested.

***Please return pots so we can reuse them next season, which helps keep our prices accessible for all. ***

We will not be assembling trays or responding to the chat/messages with updates so if interested, please swing by.

Watch the video to see what’s available. This is everything we have left so once something is gone, it’s gone. There are cardboard flats out for transportation. Do NOT take the black trays.

And, of course, happy planting!

05/26/2024

We’re going to have a Memorial Day plant giveaway (FREE) from noon to 4pm! More details tomorrow (including address), but we still have organically-grown tomatoes and varying quantities of peppers, okra, cucumbers, melons and herbs. We’ll put them out front of our townhouse in Christiansburg for people to drop by and peruse. We hate for our plants to go unplanted so we hope these will find good homes 💚 All we ask is that you return the pots, if at all possible, so we can reuse them next year. This allows us to reduce waste and maintain accessible prices for all.

05/24/2024

Tomato Cat will be at this Moon Hollow Brewing event selling herbal tea (with free iced tea sample buffet), luffa soap, herbal bath soaks, and witchy fire teas (herbs to throw in the fire for good smells and witchy vibes)!

Send a message to learn more

05/23/2024

Before and after! I finally got all the plants in the ground, but I found early hornworm damage on the nightshades so I removed the tunnels to prevent a full-on tomato buffet. The new fence is nothing gorgeous, but it will make working with the plants much easier. Next up: another round of weeding, another layer of straw and another layer of wood chips for the paths. I applied the second round of homemade organic insecticide and will keep applying this every week to prevent a bad hornworm infestation since we have 150+ tomatoes in the ground 😵‍💫

05/18/2024

We’re at Moon Hollow Brewing until 7pm tonight selling plants and, you know, drinking. Stop by—I’m here and happy to answer questions and do some plant matchmaking 💚 Veggies $3, herbs $2, and we have a $1 tray of mystery tomatoes, peppers and herbs (because sometimes I drop my labels😵‍💫)!

05/18/2024

We’re selling garden starts at the Narrows Farmers Market until 1pm and Moon Hollow Brewing from 4-7pm, where we look forward to enjoying some Saturday slushees!

05/17/2024

The joy of planting Dwarf Metallica tomatoes while listening to Metallica 🖤🖤🖤 90% of the garden planted. Just the jalapeños and bush beans to go!

Dwarf Metallica Tomato - Another great creation from the Dwarf Tomato Project. These dwarf beefsteaks flavors are sweet, fruity and tangy.

05/13/2024

FREE Garden Giveaway! I need to harvest my spring crops to make space for the summer plants. As such, I will have organic lettuce, parsley and cilantro to share tonight from 6-7:30 p.m. Pickup at the Christiansburg Community Garden (1525 Roanoke Street, next to Dude's Drive In). I will be working in my plot and can harvest directly from the garden for you. Please bring a bag or basket to transport in.

05/12/2024

The second day of our plant sale has begun, and Pinga, the original Tomato Cat, is at her supervisory post! We are all set up at 475 Tall Oak Blvd in Christiansburg. Drop by until 7pm. We have tomatoes, peppers, cukes, zukes, squash, melons, watermelons, okra, gourmet herbs and tea garden herbs. Come by and shop at your own pace—we’re inside if you have any questions or want to pay with cash. Otherwise, VenMo codes are outside, along with trays and bags for transport. All plants are grown organically and most are heirloom varieties.

05/11/2024

Things are kicking off at the Narrows Farmers Market Locals Night! Artists, bakers, jewelers, candle makers, farmers, killer ice cream cones, tea—the list goes on. We’ll be here until 8pm. The weather is just perfect 😸💚

05/11/2024

05/10/2024

We will be having a plant sale this weekend! We use the honor system and will leave a VenMo code outside with the plants. If anyone has questions or would like to pay with cash, just knock/ring the bell. All plants are grown using organic methods, and we specialize in heirloom varieties. As small space growers ourselves, we have compact/patio/container varieties available for all crops we offer, including watermelon! I love plant matchmaking so if you need help selecting the right plant/variety for your space/taste, please don't hesitate to conjure me from inside!

05/09/2024

We're going to be having a plant sale this Saturday and Sunday, weather pending! Tomatoes (slicing, paste, cherry, dwarf), peppers (sweet, spicy, bell), eggplant, okra, cucumbers (slicing, pickling, dwarf), zucchini, squash, melons, dwarf watermelons, gourmet herbs, tea herbs, etc. Everything grown using organic methods. Most plants heirloom varieties. More details to come. Location: Oak Tree townhomes, Christiansburg.

05/06/2024

We had to miss last week’s homestead swap, but I had already brewed tons of ginger beer (non-alcoholic) that is currently taking up our entire refrigerator. If anyone wants to try/trade and can pick up in Christiansburg, let me know! I have a few flavors: Original, lavender, rosemary and watermelon. I usually trade or sell it, but since we need our fridge back, I’m happy to gift it right now 💜💚

09/19/2023

We’ll be listing our house in a few weeks so today, I planted some winter gardens for the new owners: radishes, turnips, peas, kale, chard, lettuce and arugula 💚 Weird planting a garden we won’t be around to harvest, but a different sort of lovely.