ISO: ISO EvaN - how are your tomatoes coming?

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dawnnys

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Are they overtaking your new house, or have you planted them already? Things here are a couple of weeks behind (and so am I!) so I am planting my 3-inch plants (all from seeds, again) outside this weekend.

I also have a few from some 6-packs I bought my mother.

Finger's crossed. I only have 50 this year!

 
Dawn, you have 50 tomatoe plants??? I settled for "only" nine this year

I have them outside on my patio in 10 litre pots (I think that equals 2 1/2 gallon pots).

I grew seven from seeds - I chose Gardeners delight this year. Then I found one cherry tomato and beef tomato at the garden center. they were so cheap that I bought them too.

My plants are at the flower stage now. My calendar says I planted the seeds on january 28th. I started early because even in March and april, it's kinda dark outside here so I have to start early.

It was scary the other night though, because the temperature dropped and we were so close to the freeze point. I got up at 3am and moved my plants indoors and thankfully they were okay when I moved them back outside the next day.

What kind of tomatos are you growing this year?

 
Yes - not any of them too big yet, though, so finger's crossed (more nfrc inside)

Well, I guess SORT of food-related! heheh

All of the seeds that came from a packet I bought on a whim. "Champion" I think it was - that's about 25 of them, at least. They ALL sprouted!

Then I have some "4th of July" seedlings that are DEFinately not going to be ready by the 4th of July - my fault though. The early ones I planted all got too dry and I had to start over in May.

I also have Golden Globes, Beefsteak, and grape tomato ones that I bought (all as plants).

Fun, isn' it!

 
If I may join in...

I planted (read husband) 12 Roma tomatoes, 6 Red Beefsteak, 4 Pink Beefsteaks, 2 Jubilees (one of my favorites, yellow), 1 Big Beef, 1 Yellow Pear, 6 Sweet 100, all of those are in the big garden.
Also in the same garden are habeneros, serranos, anchos, jalapenos, cubanelles, green bell, Big Bertha, and a Japanese eggplant.
Just a few days ago, I (still read my husband) planted some honey dews, canteloupes, Sugar Baby watermelon, Lumina Pumpkins, Triple Treat pie pumpkins, Big Max,zukes, yellow crookneck, and about 20 asparagus roots.
Now I (read me) am going to plant the pickling and seedless cuke seeds, green beans, yellow wax beans, and an heirloom bean that I cannot remember the name of.
Then in front of the deck, along the border, I planted my herbs, basil, marjoram, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, sage, pineapple sage, Thai basil, 2 Sweet 100s, and 2 Grape tomatoes, these are for the kids to pick anytime they want. A carton of grape tomatoes out here are expensive and they can eat one whole carton in one sitting.
I know that I am going to be overwhelmed with fresh produce. I am planning on canning stewed tomatoes, drying some, oven-roast some to freeze...what else do you with all your bounty?
I am going to roast some of the peppers and dehydrate some to make some different chile powders. I would like to make some dill pickles, but we shall see. I may buy some little pickling cukes from the farmer's market. Any helpful hints you can share? I am so excited about having such a big garden.

 
DawnNYS, I also have Beefsteak! I got one from my neighbour

the other night so now I'm up to 10 tomatoe plants! smileys/bigsmile.gif

I have to add, I also planted strawberries this year and I got my first ripe strawberry yesterday. Do not tell my better half though because I didn't share (I know, I'm baaaad!)
On the other hand, I bought, planted, fed and watered those plants single handedly so I felt that this first berry was mine and I'm giving my better half the next.
Probably! :-DDD

 
Dawn_MO, you are growing all the things I'd love to grow

peppers, melons, asparagus....most of it won't grow here because it's too cold. I can grow them at my summer house but I'm not there often enough to be able to tend to them.
Better Half (As in Boy Friend) has promised me a green house next year and the first thing I'm planting are peppers! Then I'm having asparagus!

As for my tomatoes, I make a lot of tomato sauce that I freeze. Both me and my BF loves Italian food and we eat an enormous amount of tomatoe sauce in a year.
I also "sun dry" my own tomatoes. They are expensive to buy and we use so much of them that we go through a jar in no time!

A friend of mine boils her tomatoes (in very little water) until they are soft, then she mash them and put the tomatoe "gush" through a sieve to discard the seeds and the skins. Then she let the tomatoe sauce boil until it's reduced till half. She uses it for a tomato base during winter, for example for tomatoes soup. I have never tried it but if i get a big crop this year, I will make some.

 
I would love a greenhouse, but I do not see one in the near future,

a potting table perhaps, and I would like to build (read husband) a cold frame for next year. The cost of produce is so expensive here, it really pays to grow your own. There is a seed catalog called Territorial Seed Company, or www.territorialseed.com that has a huge selection of seeds. And they ship Internationally, they have a wonderful variety of tomatoes and peppers and other seeds. You might give them a look. I will be anxious to hear how your harvests go.

 
Dawn_MO, thanks for the tip about the seed company.

I'll definitely check into them!

I don't have the money right now to buy a green house BUT an old neighbour gave us some wonderful, old windows and BF are going to build me one himself.
We might be able to get the cost as low as $1000 and as we jokingly say around here, "It's a lot cheaper than drugs and therapy"! *LOL*

I'd love to hear how your crop is doing too. Please keep me posted.
I just saw your plum butter recipe. I have a plum tree too so I printed out your recipe. It looked really good, and I'm always up for a T&T recipe!

 
A really good cookbook all about veggies is "The Victory Garden" by Marian Morash. also a recipe...

It not only has good recipes for using all those vegetables you have grown, but it also contains info on how to grow them.
It is very comprehensive and is arranged alphabetically, which makes it very easy to look up a vegetable without having to pour through an index. I love the bread and butter zucchini recipe she has in there. In fact:

Evelyn Higginbotham's Zucchini Pickles

6-8 medium zucchini, 6 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches
2 medium onions
1/4 cup pickling or kosher salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 cups vinegar (I use cider)
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp tumeric

Wash and trim the zucchini, and slice into 3/8inch thick slices. Place in a non-reactive container and sprinkle with the salt. Cover with cold water (I add some ice cubes with the water) and let sit for at least two hours. Pour of the water, and rinse and drain again.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a stainless steel or other non-reactive pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the onions and zucchini. Remove from heat and let stand for 2 hours.
Bring the mixture back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Ladle into hot sterilized pint jars and water-bath for 5 minutes. Makes 4 pints.
Dnote: I like to add some red pepper flakes to this to give it a little bite. Sometimes I will add a little curry powder also.

 
Dawn_MO, thank you for the book tip. I'm probably buying

one (or two?) of the Moosewood cook books (I posted about them a little further down the page smileys/wink.gif at Amazon and i will definitely look for The Victory garden.

As much as I love gardening, I don't have a lot of gardening books as I'm having a hard time finding really good ones.
Finding a good cook book is a lot easier in comaparison!

 
Dawn_MO, what a variety (and amount) you have! Surprised that your

produce is so expensive out there in the midwest... I would'a thought it was cheaper than here.

What are Sweet 100s? A kind of tomato?

I usually share with family, friends, and neighbors, make and freeze tomato sauce, and eat a lot of tomatoes in the summer. DH eats one a day like an apple, with a little salt, pepper, and vinegar.

We are also growing all-season bearing strawberries (yum, had my first one a couple days ago), 1 bell pepper plant, and my herbs: basil, sage, lavendar, oregano, margoram, chives (many!!), lemon balm, thyme, lemon thyme, garlic, and spearmint. I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two, but that's about it. Gotta get out there and weed before the mint takes over ;o(

 
I've never had NJ ones... the ones here are so plentiful in July and August that

you can find them everywhere for about $1 a quart at the height of the season. I had so many last year I was giving them away to almost everyone and still had some rotting on the ground.

I love to eat them just after they are picked, while their skin is still warm. We don't even wait to get inside for the grape tomatoes - just pop them in your mouth while we are still in the garden sometimes.

Is that where you were from, NJ? Somehow I thought Michigan.

 
Actually I'm from Pittsburgh, but spent 2.5 years in New Jersey/Philadelphia. I

have never been so charmed by the wonderful farm food I was able to obtain in central NJ.

Tomatoes, corn on the cob, eggs...I miss it truly.

 
I picked up some seeds yesterday from Kmart for 40% off the regular price

and they had some very unusual ones from the Martha Stewart Collection. Just a heads up.

 
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