-
Tomato harvest and fun in the kitchen
It has been several summers since the tomato crop has come up this abundant and delicious. This means instead of immediately devouring each small, cracked, sad piece of fruit we pick, we can do a little cooking and storing. Several days of picking builds up in the dining room before the fun starts This Dutchman pink tomato passed the cheddar test. Brandywine! After I lost the first plant, I wasn’t sure we’d get any this summer. Tomato basil soup has been cooked and frozen for the fall. This is what I named “Red Kiss of Summer” but is likely an Omar’s Lebanese tomato. The colors and shapes this summer have…
-
Persimmon Tomato
This is our first summer growing Persimmon tomatoes. The description from Burpee’s was spot on: “A heirloom originally from Russia, this beefsteak type has very large, persimmon-colored 1 lb. fruits. Uniform and blemish-free, the tomatoes have high flavor, low acidity, and a small cavity. Performs well in short-season areas. Indeterminate. Harvest about 80-96 days after transplant.” The color is really beautiful, and my husband actually thought I was making peach cobbler when he saw the pan of chopped tomatoes. I didn’t find this tomato to be very sweet, but it was full of flavor and a little tart. There were few seeds and it was quite meaty. I didn’t do…
-
Tomato Problem – Help!
This evening I discovered that the newest leaves on one of the main stems of a Brandywine tomato plant had dark brow speckles and blotches. Some had turned almost fully brown and crunchy. The rest of the plant looks healthy, save for some curling of the oldest leaves. The foliage is dark green and perky. The fruit are small and don’t appear to have any problems, and only the stem of the worst leaf had some brown legions on it. Identification is proving difficult because there hasn’t been any yellowing of the leaves or a halo around the spots. Any ideas what this might be? Do I need to pull…
-
Volunteer Tomatoes in the Asparagus Bed
The asparagus in our garden hasn’t been able to catch a break. Just before what would have been its third year in our yard, and the glorious spring in which we’d finally be able to harvest it, I dug it all up and moved it to a new bed. Its original location was terribly overgrown with weeds, and my husband insisted on mowing it over whenever I wasn’t looking. So, in it’s third year, I moved it just outside the garden fence into a more controlled area, and heaped on what was left of our compost pile. This past month as I watched tiny asparagus spears push through the mulch,…
-
Simple Technique for Saving Seeds from Tomatoes
Saving seeds from tomatoes is super easy. Last year I had a friend give me tomatoes from her garden that were delicious. I didn’t know what kind they were, so instead of asking and worrying about finding them this spring, I just saved the seeds and planted them this year! In the long run, saving seeds translates to saving cash and acclimating tomatoes to your land and climate. 1. Pick a healthy, vine ripe tomato. While you are slicing up that delicious tomato, scrape some of the seeds and pulp into a small ramekin. If you are saving cherry tomatoes, just squeeze the whole thing right into the ramekin. 2.…
-
A Little Pickin’
This morning’s walk through the garden gave me a couple handfuls of produce. It’s always awkward when there is just one okra pod to pick. Seriously, what do I do with one pod? The okra have been slow getting starting, but a time will come soon where I have a nice pile to chop, batter and freeze for frying later. I am still eating down last years harvest! The potato plants were all yellowed and the new leaves were yellowing right away, so I went ahead and pulled them out. This last batch had slightly larger potatoes than the last. I haven’t checked to see if the sweet potatoes in…
