Tomatoes and more tomatoes!

[luckytrim]

happy gardening !

 

[CWS4322]

I have 4 plants of tomatoes, and so far had only 2 ripen ones. They are slow this year.
CWS, where do you get the seeds for heirloom tomatoes? Do you keep them from previous year or do you by seedlings? I'd like to plant some next year. My kids love them.

We keep seeds each year. Most of our heirlooms are Brandywines. They have a leaf more like a potato plant than like a "modern" tomato plant. Thinner skins, so they don't keep as long "on the shelf" as modern tomatoes, and they are not as "pretty" as modern tomatoes, but man, are they ever good.

 

[GotGarlic]

Charlie, I've bought heirloom seeds from Tomato Grower's Supply Co. http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ They also have bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, etc. Very good quality. I love Brandywines, too, as well as Mortgage Lifter.

We had a very cool, wet spring, so I didn't get my plants in as early as I usually do, so our crop is behind, too. I've had a few small tomatoes and a bunch of cucumbers, Fresno peppers, jalapeños and cayennes. I got two summer squash before the borers did.


We also have a tomatillo volunteer in the bed we're going to redo - I just noticed it yesterday, so I need to weed around it.

 

[vitauta]

happy gardening !

thanks so much, lt! i didn't realize i was getting a tomato cookbook when i clicked onto your link. i won't be doing any tomato gardening, but i will surely make use of some of the tomato recipes in there!

 

[CharlieD]

We keep seeds each year. Most of our heirlooms are Brandywines. They have a leaf more like a potato plant than like a "modern" tomato plant. Thinner skins, so they don't keep as long "on the shelf" as modern tomatoes, and they are not as "pretty" as modern tomatoes, but man, are they ever good.

Would you, please, consider sharing some of your seeds for the next year?

 

[Dawgluver]

Would you, please, consider sharing some of your seeds for the next year?

Charlie, Seedsavers. Org is a good place to get heirloom seeds: http://www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/

As I recall, Burpee's also has heirloom varieties.

 

[CWS4322]

Would you, please, consider sharing some of your seeds for the next year?

Oh yes.

 

[CharlieD]

Good, so some times the next winter we have to figure out how you could send them to me. Thanks in advance.

 

[FrankZ]

The canner is heating for my sauce. Be about 5 pints.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I have 4 plants of tomatoes, and so far had only 2 ripen ones. They are slow this year.....

Charlie, I read this trick in The Mother Earth News decades ago: to fool your tomatoes into thinking it's time to ripen, take a garden spade and cut into the soil about a foot (maybe a bit closer) away from the stem. They think it's autumn and start to turn red.

This was written up in an article about a guy getting tired of his neighbor always bragging about the first red tomato - and this guy just HAD to beat out his neighbor! Never tried it - our garden was on the south wall of our house. They ALWAYS ripened early!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Just said to Himself that we have to get ourselves over to the closest farm stand to get a glut of overripe tomatoes. I want to make a batch of his Mom's Spanish Sauce. Have had a taste for it over eggs, but I'm sure I can think of even more foods to use it over.

 

[CWS4322]

Good, so some times the next winter we have to figure out how you could send them to me. Thanks in advance.

We go down to Ogdensburg, NY often, so that would not be a problem. We save the seeds in the fall (dry them, etc.).

 

[Dawgluver]

I gotta do something with all the cukes and cherry toms, so I'm taking Vit's suggestion of gazpacho, Ina Garten's recipe, with low sodium V-8.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/gazpacho-recipe/index.html

I smushed the cherry toms before processing, used 1/2 white onion, 1/4 T kosher salt, and discovered I only had red wine vinegar, so I used that. Turned out great!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Sounds good Dawg! If you have a glut of those cherries again you can roast them up into a sauce. I made it once (Aldi's had grape tomatoes for 99 cents a pint) and we used the roasted sauce on pasta, Italian sausage sandwiches, and something else. It was yummy.

 

[Dawgluver]

Yes, thanks for the reminder, CG! I've made it before too, it was so good!

 

[Kathleen]

The canner is heating for my sauce. Be about 5 pints.

Yay!

 

[CWS4322]

I'm so envious. Our tomatoes are just starting. I can hardly wait to use my Tomato strainer again. LOVE the tomato juice.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Yes, thanks for the reminder, CG! I've made it before too, it was so good!

How do you make yours Dawg? Mine is tomatoes (duh!), onions, mushrooms, tabasco sauce and sliced stuffed olives. Mmm, so good!

 

[FrankZ]

In the end it was only 4 pints. That's bettern' 0 pints.

 

[Dawgluver]

In the end it was only 4 pints. That's bettern' 0 pints.

Yum! I usually put out a couple additional empty jars, just in case. I tend to overdo making whatever I'm canning....