Back in the New York Groove

To quote Lil' Kim, "I’ve been gone for a minute now I’m back at the jump off." I'm back! Barbados was absolutely amazing. Followed by my boyfriend's birthday and 4th of July, I've been super busy since the end of June. With all my running around though, my tomato crop has suffered. I'm disappointed that I neglected my new tomato, but now I can show you what NOT to do. Glass half full.

Once your tomatoes are starting to ripen it is very important to consistently water them. Plant cells have a very large empty space in them called a vacuole, which is used to store water. When filled with water, these full vacuoles provide structure for the plant. When your plant is droopy and shriveled from lack of watering, it's because the cell's vacuoles are devoid of water and, therefore, devoid of structural support. Makes sense right? If you inconsistently water a tomato plant the cells within the ripening fruit tend to expand and contract, causing cracks in what would be the delicious, fleshy, red fruit. This is what happened to my poor tomato:

If you can not consistently water your tomatoes during the summer, you can pick the greenish/reddish fruit before it is completely ripe and put it in a sunny window or a brown paper bag. This will ripen it without the danger of under/over watering and cracking. I have a new little guy popping out and promise to take better care of it!