The Tomato Lady

10/03/2024

About my leg, a funny thing, yesterday was my appt with the doctor and I am now cleared to walk again. No brace or cast. For some odd reason, I thought that I would be walking, hiking, maybe pencil in a marathon ,and horseback riding. After all, I am "ELIZABETH" and usually persevere until I accomplish my goals.

Not so much. I hurt as much today as I did yesterday! So much for mind over matter.

Not sure why I considered myself above common human foibles. My husband got a good laugh out of that this morning. Sigh.

Thankfully, we didn't have a frost last night, just in time for me to be fully weight-bearing and dancing around the garden.

Here are some pics of our harvest the day before. I will be canning with Steve's help.

09/14/2024

For all of you who are gluten-free. I can usually tell the difference but I recently had brownies where, try as I might, I couldn’t tell the difference. Here’s to you Karen and all my other gf friends.

After developing hundreds of gluten-free recipes, we know what common problems arise. Here's how to avoid dense pancakes, gritty cookies, greasy cakes, and more.

09/03/2024

A recent harvest from our garden, notice the white tomatoes “White Tomesol. Along with an Amish paprika and several Chocolate Striped Candy Cane peppers. The basket is filled with mostly cherry tomatoes: Coyote, Black Strawberry, Ildi, Sweet Aperitif, Midnight Snack

09/03/2024

Dahlias, zinnias, mimulus, from my walkabout in the garden today. My ride is a wheelchair and my honey. He gets his workout pushing me through the garden bark and the gravel. There is also a picture of what we call our “Gary grass” from our friend who recently passed away. He was in the Spokane Symphony and this grass is used to make oboe mouth pieces. It is about 15 feet already. The trellis covered with Mina lobata aka firecracker vine.

08/14/2024

Here’s an update for anybody who is interested. I came home Sunday afternoon and it is so lovely to be at home. I get to see my dog and my cat. Food is definitely better.

This morning, Steve took me out to the garden, requiring a great deal of effort because wheelchairs don’t roll real well on grass or gravel or bark, but he did it and I got to see my vegetables and my flowers. It was really beautiful.

I had no illusions as to how hard it would be. Steve is very attentive and overwhelmed at times but I get it. My husband is the best thing I’ve ever done and is such a blessing to me. The hard thing is that if I need a glass of water, I can’t get up and get it or if I need a magazine that’s over on the couch It’s very laborious to get up, ARRANGE THE WALKER, AND SHUFFLE over and get it and getting to the bathroom is, well it should be an Olympic event, that’s what I’m thinking. My prayers are for patience and a positive attitude, for both Steve and I.

Below is a picture that I took and that is what is going to be my view for the next month and a half or two. I appreciate all the prayers, and all the good wishes.

08/04/2024

Well, I’ve done it again, don’t ask me how I did it. There was a dog wanted to play with my dog and got excited and ran into the back of my knee. This is a fairly sizable dog, and I fell down and I’m telling you if you’ve ever had any transplant, you know what pain it is when you do, an orchestrated bending of your knee. That’s all I felt at the time, we ended up having to call 911, ( I also had a gash in my head about 3 inches long they put four staples in the back of my head.) We called the EMTs and they thought I should have an ambulance so they took me to Deaconess Apparently I broke my lower leg in two places again, this time above the ankle and right below the hardware for the knee. So they’re trying to come up with something that controls the pain and they want to get me up and move with a walker

It’s pretty bad they want me to go to rehab. I don’t want to go to rehab my husband is an excellent companion/keeper
And has plenty of experience taking care of me. I miss my home. I miss my pets. So they were talking about putting a hard cast on it.

Right now I need lots of prayer.

I am flabbergasted as to how I got myself in this position.

05/30/2024

So this is finally it. Our last two days. Can't say I am sad, it's been a really good run but I need to recuperate. Getting older is ok but tiring! We thank all of our returning AND brand-new customers for your business. We enjoyed offering our selection of tomatoes, flowers, veggies, herbs and peppers, even though it made choosing somewhat mind-boggling. I hope you tried something new!

I have a blog, and, obviously, a facebook business page as well as a website. Keep checking it periodically for updates and news. Come and visit my garden and have a cup of coffee with me.

We still have flowers. No tomatoes though or peppers. I am doing a vendor's market at 1014 N Pines and will be bringing flowers to sell. 3 pm to 6 pm. There will still be some flowers here as well as my husband who can help you. We will also be open here on Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. It will be our final day of the season.

822 N University Spokane Valley 99206
www.thetomatolady.com

05/25/2024

We will be closed on Memorial Day. We are entering our final week. Slim pickings, but we still have a few tomatoes left, herbs, and flowers. See you on Tuesday.

05/23/2024

Good morning! This is probably going to be our last week before we close. Here's the scoop: Our hours are 10 am to 4 pm, Monday through Saturday, closed on Sundays.

The remaining plants are: Gallons: $8 and the regulars are $3. We need them to be gone. The flowers are still $3.

Parking can be a bear but everyone is kind to each other. You can park on the street at the back of our house. Please don't park on the grass. Our neighbor is kind enough to let folks walk through their property to our back gate

822 N University Spokane Valley 99206

05/19/2024

This is Verbascum that I planted last year. It is supposed to be a perennial but I wasn't sure. Now I am. I am going to offer this next year. These are Katie's Candles and Southern Charm. Aren't they pretty?

05/18/2024

The Tomato Lady still has flowers (and tomatoes).

05/17/2024

I'd like to make a public service announcement today, if I may. Since everyone's peonies are either ready to open or have just opened, I'd like to explain why you may have seen ants on the flower heads. Rest assured those ants aren’t harming those flower buds in the least. The buds actually contain what are called “extrafloral nectaries,” which secrete nectar. The ants are attracted to that nectar because it’s an excellent food source. I used to hear that the flowers needed ants to remove that sticky nectar in order for the petals to open. It turns out that isn’t true. What actually happens is that the nectar attracts the ants, which in turn will kill off insects such as thrips that would damage the flowers. This means the ants benefit from the nectar while the flowers benefit from the ants’ predation on troublesome insects. This is known as biological mutualism. And what if you see ladybugs on the peony buds? In addition to eating aphids, insect eggs, leafhoppers and whiteflies, they also eat pollen and nectar as a supplement to their diet. So there you have it! (NOTE: a few folks have been confused that there are ladybugs in the photo: I only use my own photos and did not have a peony photo with ants on the buds, so I used this photo as this is what I was seeing on my peonies last spring.)

05/17/2024

Too funny

😂😂

05/12/2024

New Hours: 10 to 5 pm, M-F
10 to 4 pm -Saturday
Closed on Sundays
Last day will be Friday, May 31 (unless we sellout)

Tomatoes
3.5” Pots $4.00
Gallon pot $11.00
Buy 6 or more - $10.00

We still have lots of flowers: zinnias, petunias, nasturtiums, coreopsis, pansies, dianthus, gazanias, calendula, asarina, bedding dahlias, lettuce, herbs, herb pots, and Mother’s Day baskets, complete with a hanging cherry tomato and flowers. For yourself OR your Mother!

822 N University Spokane Valley

10/29/2023

These are two of our largest tomatoes, both are "My Loves Pink Oxheart". Those are also our pumpkins, "New England Pie Pumpkin". Best for pies. We only got two this year. Small but mighty! These tomatoes are bigger than they are.

09/21/2023

Time to put in your fall crops. These are healthy, organically grown vegetable plants, growing bigger every day. I have the following cole crops. Cauliflower - Snow Crown (white) TJS Song (white...

09/08/2023

Are you a crafty person? Would you like a chance at reasonably priced craft supplies? Quilters and crafters will love this sale. We have Cricut cartridges (see the pictures), yards and yards of fabric, some bigger pieces, some panels, ⅛ and ¼ yards, Calicos, home dec, and lots of cottons for quilting. Fill a grocery bag of scrap fabric, as much as you can fit in it for $5. Xylon machines and tape, lots of pens, pencils, and ribbons of all sizes.

There are lots and lots of stamps. Close to My Heart, Stampin' Up, wooden stamps, and acrylic stamps

Also vintage Blow Molds, Womens step-through Comfort 21 speed bicycle, Some mid-century modern items MCM, Lamps, computer monitors, things for horses (a cinch, saddle pad, hay bag, and a sheet to keep the flies off), bread machine, bread mixes, books, stainless steel pots and pans (most with their lids), non-stick skillets and lots of miscellaneous.

We will not open before 9 am. Early people will be charged double! 8^)

822 N. University, Spokane Valley 99206

Cash please

08/29/2023

Zinnias, Marigold, Portulace and and Calendula/ Coreopsis "Swirls"