The Tomatoes Don't Lie, VII

In spite of it feeling like a mild summer to me --not nearly as hot and humid as usual; in spite of my putting the plants in the ground a good two weeks later than usual out of sloth, I plucked the first home-grown tomato of 2011 today, July 7.

You'd have to go back 5 years to find a tomato ripened that early around here. Maybe it is warming after all.

Thanks to the late start, I wasn't expecting any fruit until late in the month at the earliest. But then I was looking out the window while speaking on the phone and what caught my eye but a bright red Early Girl. (For control purposes, the First Tomato of Summer is always an Early Girl). An excellent cap to the day.

Local warming trends as measured in tomato ripening: 

• July 7, 2011
• July 23, 2010
• July 16, 2009  
• [July 12th, 2008]
• July 8, 2007
• July 5, 2006
• June 23, 2005