Hey Guys, I've got Tomatoes

Steelfan · Aug 20, 2002

Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Well I've been picking tomatoes for about 3-4 weeks, and most times I get a 1/2 bushel basket full or so. I pick every 2-3 days, and things were just fine. My wife, and I being on vacation this week, left the picking go for 3 days. We went down to the garden this morning, and we got bombarded./w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif My rows are about 30 feet long, and I have 8 plants in each row. I got one basket per row. Meaning 8 baskets or 4 bushels of Tomatoes this morning. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif They are all ripe in ready to be used. So we got to work, and made 16 quarts of salsa. We just finished. My Father was here helping , and told me, a veggie market he knows is selling their tomatoes for $7 per 1/2 bushel. Man I'm thinking of setting up a stand out front. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Not really none will go to waste. I've got friends.

Chuck52 · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Steelfan

You got the peppers to go with those tomatoes? I may yet get a few tomatoes since we finally got rain, but the jalapenos kept going all through the dry spell.

In the early summer, I had cabbage, but nothing else to go in the chow chow. Now I have peppers, but no cabbage for relish, and no tomatoes for salsa. I think I'm gonna be eating lots of nachos.

I've also got some of the hottest cherry tomatoes I've ever encountered. They get nice and sweet, but I ate one the other day that came close to taking the hide off my lips. The Hungarian wax, a hot banana pepper, are coming on strong too. The wife fried a few of them with some okra and squash, since we had a little of both. Real tasty, and the bite from the peppers wasn't too dramatic. I suppose I could make some mixed pepper relish, but it would be hot enough to use as pepper spray.

Chuck

Steelfan · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Chuck,
I've got plenty of hot peppers also, but those green bell pepper are my problem. I had to buy a couple for my Salsa./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif My wife and I love mexican style food, so the hotter the better for us. Now where do I get these hot cherry tomatoes? I'd love to try them. One more thing how did your onions do? Mine got to about the size of a tennis ball, and boy are they good. Yellow Spanish plants are what I grow. Thanks for the reply. Kent

Thomas · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Sounds like your tomato harvest gpoing well /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif and don't forget to can some spaghetti sauce for the cold winter months ahead.

Chuck52 · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Kent,

The onions I pulled early as green onions were great. Very mild flavor...my two year old grand daughter pulled one herself and ate it, dirt and all. I planted 200 each of yellow spanish and white. However, the long dry very hot spell we had from June through all of July did them in. I got a few small very hard onions. There are still some in the ground, but even with the recent rain, I expect they were probably ruined. The hot cherry peppers were part of a packet of seeds I got for "mixed hot peppers". I think I picked it up at Walmart, and I thought the seeds inside the main pack would be separated and identified....they weren't. I grew starts from them anyway. There were more seeds than I wanted, so I tried to pick different looking seeds so I'd get a selection. I don't know what variety of cherries were included...the packet didn't say. I like hot peppers, but for cherries, I also like the fairly mild pickled ones, when I can find a jar that's mostly red. These are really pretty hot. They'd be way too hot for most folks to eat by themselves, pickled or not. I suppose they could be used in something like salsa. They might add a nice sweet-hot touch. I think I've seen hot cherries advertised in some seed catalogs. I do like to grow a variety of peppers, if for no other reason, because pests don't bother them. The mixed hot peppers turned out to be mainly jalapenos, with fewer cherries, hot bananas, cayennes, and something that looks like a Bermuda hot, which is about as hot as a typical bell pepper.

Chuck

Steelfan · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Thomas,
Spaghetti sauce is next. I want to do about 20 quarts to hold us. We started making our own sauce about 5 years ago, and I don't even care for the store bought stuff anymore. We still have Chili Sauce from last year, so I'm done after the Spaghetti Sauce. Great to hear from you.

Kent

Chuck,
Thanks for the tip on Walmart. I may try that next year. Sorry to hear about the onions. Nothing better then going down to the garden, and pull one out to have for supper. Thanks for the reply.

Kent

webbmeister · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

"Spaghetti sauce is next. I want to do about 20 quarts to hold us. We started making our own sauce about 5 years ago, and I don't even care for the store bought stuff anymore."

Recipe Please!

Jim

Steelfan · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Hey Jim,
Here's the recipe we use. We really don't measure, so it will not be exact.

1/2 bushel tomatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
3-4 cloves garlic (we like our garlic)
3-4 onions, tennis ball size, chopped
3 bell peppers, chopped

saute chopped garlic in 1 cup vegetable oil
add tomatoes, onions, and peppers to oil and bring to a boil. turn down to simmer. Add 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, salt & pepper to taste. Simmer until thickness is to your liking.

makes close to 10 quarts.

Steelfan · Aug 20, 2002

Re: Hey Guys, I\'ve got Tomatoes

Jim,
Two things not mentioned. First I got my wife to type that, and give up our recipe. She's the main woman with the spices, and such. I do the dirty work.

Second thing most people strain their tomatoes to get the seeds out. We do not. I don't mind seeing them in my sauce, and they are soft after cooking them. Good Luck Kent