Saturday, July 27, 2013

What Kind of Tomatoes do you Grow?




Our garden is growing in leaps and bounds - and lots of overgrown weeds!

All day yesterday we cut and weed whacked the garden. At the moment I am a little sick of our garden. I wish you could just plant and pick. But there is so much more to do.

We have tiny tomatoes, regular tomatoes and what I call Whoppers! The whoppers are heirloom tomatoes our neighbors keep the seeds from every year. They are delicious.



The tomato on the left is approximately 2 lbs. It is nowhere near the world's largest tomato that weighed 7lb 12oz. Can you imagine a tomato that large?

I never realized how large and spindly a cherry tomato plant can get. They are driving us crazy trying to keep them tied up. I was letting most of this one just lay on the ground, but when we were cleaning up the garden yesterday, my husband wanted it tied up.


These are the tall plants the whoppers grow on. They are taller than I am (which my cousin jokingly said, 'that wouldn't have to be very tall').






I sliced a tomato for breakfast this morning. I ate so many slices that I had to slice two tomatoes. They are so good!


I peel, cut up and cook my tomatoes for 20 minutes, then cool and put in freezer bags. When I have lots, I also make spaghetti sauce and salsa out of them and freeze. I then use my frozen tomatoes to put in soup and chili. I make breakfast tomato gravy with them, I have a recipe where I mix chopped up tomatoes, cooked cubed squash, sauteed onions and a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper in the skillet and simmer for 15 minutes. I make tomato and mayo sandwiches, tomato cucumber and mayo sandwiches. And best of all, I eat them fresh off the vine.

How do you eat your tomatoes?

What kind do you grow?

Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.



Monday, July 1, 2013

Around the House


It has been a while  since I posted on my blog.  During that time, we have had a family reunion.







Our garden is growing and growing. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, squash, potatoes, strawberries (which are doing very good for their first year) and even a couple of Brussels sprouts and eggplants.


I have had to pull up and throw away hundreds of baby Rose of Sharon plants. My advice to you -  don't ever surround a Rose of Sharon plant with mulch. Plant it out in the open, so the thousands of seeds won't sprout into plants. I wish I had a nickle for every baby plant I have pulled from the ground.


And we have built a deck. I love it! My son Andrew is a wonderful carpenter (among other things) and we were his helpers.






And, it has been very hot and rainy.

What has been happening around your house this summer?

Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.