| Author |
Garden Gate:  Calling All Farmgirl Gardeners!!  |
|
|
TJinMT
True Blue Farmgirl
211 Posts
TJ
Billings
MT
USA
211 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 10 2010 : 12:39:54 PM
|
I think that wherever you are, you should sometime this month grab another farmgirl sister - grab ten! and have a tomato tasting party. I think we all should! I'm having one with my mom tonight!
Mr Stripey is finally turning color, here 3 days before our average first frost date. I have somehow never had a Mr Stripey tomato before, never tried them. Finally I meet a tomato who puts the FRUIT in tomato fruit! Almost a citrusy undertone?? Try it with a light sprinkling of sugar or stevia instead of salt - wow!!
And Brandywine? Hello my True Tomato Love??? And Husky Red cherry tomatoes? And yellow pears, I somehow missed planting them this year... Celebrities are coming out my ears (and going straight into canning jars) but they're more for canning than flavor to me, at least, with the heirlooms in the house I just can't bring myself to reach for the regular perfection of an apple-red celebrity - the heirlooms have their roots too deeply in my soul! But who could can a Brandywine??? Would it taste the same???
It would be so fun to have 3 or 4 different salts and try them with slices of the different tomatoes - like the black sea salt advertised in MJF (never heard of it! but cool!!). And some great mozzarella and some lovely basil... aw gee. I'm drooling on the keyboard.
Who needs chocolate cake??? Well maybe for winter and early Spring... but in the meantime my tastebuds and I are eatin' love apples!!!!
Deliriously,
~TJ of Green Willow Place
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -CS Lewis |
|
|
RaspberryBee
True Blue Farmgirl
291 Posts
Karen
Montrose
Michigan
USA
291 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2010 : 1:13:57 PM
|
Oh my you are in tomato heaven for sure!! I love Mr. Stripey!!!! He and the Brandywine are my top fave tomatoes!!! A few years ago my neighbors elderly step-father was telling me that his daughter was planting tomatoes that were not red and he was NOT going to eat them and that was that. Well, I needed to know what kind of tomato would be planted facing that kind of wrath...Mr. Stripey! He makes a good BLT great!!! This year I have my two faves and some new Italian heirlooms going. I got a late start but there are some big ones out there if the weather would just cooperate and warm back up - a few weeks at about 65 does nothing for the tomatoes. Enjoy your yield and thanks for sharing your tomato fever with us :-)
Farmgirl Sister #918
I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
-Henry David Thoreau- |
 |
|
|
LenaSassafrass
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Leanne
Hamilton
Montana
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2010 : 01:46:51 AM
|
Hey TJ!!! JUst a couple hours from you in Hamilton! We had our first yellow pear tomato today;) My romas have been trying to turn color but with all this rain/cool weather they've been having a tough go at it..still hanging on! Hoping that the frost will hold out for just a little longer so everything can finish ripening...don't know if mother nature will comply though!
Leanne
Maizy-brownswiss/jersey
Sassafrass-06/20/10 |
|
|
|
Fiddlehead Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
4562 Posts
Diane
Waupaca
WI
USA
4562 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2010 : 03:52:01 AM
|
I have oodles of green zebra tomatoes, is that like Mr. Stripey? I have so many that I canned some green salsa with them, yummy! I also have some big golden sunray and Wisconsin 55's. They are all heirlooms. I mixed all three in 12 quarts of crushed tomatoes, they look so pretty with the red, green and yellow mixed together. I have already canned a lot but still have many on the vines. Hopefully the weather here stays nice so they can ripen. In WI, the tomatoes were late and the apples were early!
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
Happy to be a "Raggedy Ann" in a Barbie World! |
Edited by - Fiddlehead Farm on Sep 11 2010 03:52:35 AM |
|
|
|
TJinMT
True Blue Farmgirl
211 Posts
TJ
Billings
MT
USA
211 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2010 : 6:52:41 PM
|
Mr Stripey is an orange/red mix - at least mine turned out that way! I kept thinking they were taking forever to ripen until I touched one, oops - live and learn! They're sure good!
I'm raging against the dying of the (sunlight) here... I crave some more warm days simply for my tomatoes! Otherwise I'm an Autumn Girl all the way, bring on the pumpkin pie!!!
I love the idea of mixing tomato colors in a canned jar!!
In what ag zone is Hamilton??
~TJ of Green Willow Place
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -CS Lewis |
|
|
|
MInwife
Farmgirl in Training
42 Posts
LEA
OXFORD
NC
USA
42 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2010 : 7:48:10 PM
|
Sadly our tomatoes have come and gone. We have tons of sauce in lovely jars... but for some reason I just can't eat a raw tomato.. I want to... I truly want to eat some basil and fresh mozzarella and tomato..but for some reason my mouth just can't take the texture. I love all things with tomato sauce.. just not raw ones... I'm jealous!
Lea
www.theendoftheroad.typepad.com |
|
|
|
nampafarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
494 Posts
Kim
Nampa
ID
USA
494 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2010 : 11:42:02 AM
|
Be careful on the tasting parties. I had one. we all got little blisters on our lips and tongues due to the acid levels int he tomatoes, although, it was worth it, we had oodles of fun...
Kim
Farmgirl Sister # 302 |
|
|
|
texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2010 : 6:10:25 PM
|
I see I am not the only "farmgirl" here who has truly enjoyed this summer's bounty of tomatoes! I love the idea of the tomato tasting party - good chapter activity idea! We've been eating them on organic rice cakes for snacks, with pesto on bread, in salads, stuffed, broiled with cheese, and this weekend I am making fried green ones! Cheers, TJ!
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE |
|
|
|
Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1409 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2010 : 6:15:14 PM
|
You are so lucky to have tomatoes. I planted eight vines and not a one produced anything. I must have caught a blight or something. My neighbor across the street had lovely tomatoes, but not me. It sickens me because I was hoping to can tomatoes this year.j
I know that next year I shall plant my own tomatoes from seed inside.
Betty in Pasco |
|
|
|
Littleredd
True Blue Farmgirl
174 Posts
Patty
Norwich
NY
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2010 : 08:46:38 AM
|
Betty; blight is a serious problem and there's early and late blight! We built a mini house over our tomato bed this year since it's the water splashing from the ground up on to the tomatoes that spreads the blight. We put plastic over the top and a drip hose beneath and in a very small space we planted tomatoes tightly. We didn't lose a single one to blight this year and there were no cracks since the drip hose meant even watering. We had to bale out the water that pooled in the plastic but it was a small sacrifice!
Consider making an umbrella for your tomatoes next year! Also, the spores for the blight are in the soil, be sure to rotate where you plant your tomatoes and pick off leaves as they show signs of the blight so it doesn't spread.
LR |
|
|
|
Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1409 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2010 : 08:52:20 AM
|
I am certain that rotation is a possible cause for the tomato problem. However, I have zucchini on one side and eggplant and green peppers on the other that are doing marvelously. They are especially doing well with this cooler weather! Got down to about 46°F last night. Probably frost is just around the corner and winter is on its way. BooHoo
Betty in Pasco |
|
|
| |
Garden Gate: Calling All Farmgirl Gardeners!! |
|
Calling All Farmgirl Gardeners!!
