August Dinner

We spent another great evening last night with family and friends.
And since it's late August, and tomato time, our entree was Tomato Cobbler.

I've made this dish before and it's always a big hit.  If you have lots of tomatoes as we do, then don't hesitate to try this.

Here's the recipe:  (click to enlarge)

Note:  Cherry tomatoes are not a requirement;  just chop up whatever tomatoes you have on hand.  Remember, this is a "cobbler", you wouldn't put cherry sized peaches in a peach cobbler.


Keeping to a late summer theme I also made this apple salad.

Dessert was super easy;  this frozen lime terrine is much easier than it looks and makes a good impression.  Be sure to unmold it before your guests arrive, sometimes it takes a bit and you'll be standing around waiting on it to defrost enough to come out of the pan. Unmold it onto a plate and put it back in the freezer until you're ready for it.

The recipe calls for blackberries but the store was out so I substituted raspberries instead.  No problem.

What have you been making with your tomato crop?

Random Summer Stuff

While doing some cat sitting for a friend, I heard rustling in her shrubs and turned to see this.
Can you see that little thing on the sidewalk?

I should have used the video on my camera.  These little guys were way too fast for me.

Here is the parent quail, being very brave.

This little birdhouse was adorable during the past few years in our garden;
seen here during the fall after a trace amount of snow.

But during the week Kim was gone to Montana the wasps did this:

Yeah, it's something, isn't it?
Wasp information.
There's a lot of wasp spit on that birdhouse, that's for sure.
This will get dismantled during their winter hibernation, that's for sure.

Kim planted tomatoes in the cold frame this year.  They're doing well.  He had to remove the roof.

And some random pictures of our garden.

And just look at my son and his family.  Casey is doing really well post surgery.

Using Those Green Tomatoes

Got a bunch of these?
Green tomatoes, that is.

Rosemary posted this recipe on her blog and I had to give it a try.

Here is the filling cooking on the stove. Looks good doesn't it?

And it tasted just as good. Nice and "spicy" as a mincemeat pie should.

Her version of the recipe:

The recipe made enough filling for two pies. I froze the second filling. The one thing I would change is to add some cornstarch or flour before baking. My pie took a long time to reach the point of being finished. (I also added some bourbon to my filling as Rosemary suggested; good stuff!)

Any other ideas for using up green tomatoes?

Tomato Update

Kim (aka The Tomato Traitor) has been doing some tomato experimenting.

(He has defended his being named Tomato Traitor by claiming he only thought we needed more tomato plants in general - as he wants to try canning some this year - NOT, repeat, NOT, that in his opinion my precious little handgrown from seed tomato plants were too small and puny.)

So, we have tomatoes growing in the garden with milk cartons buried beside them for good watering depth.



And we have tomatoes planted in containers. (These are my puny little tomatoes from seed - thank you Patsi - just look at them now!)



And we have tomatoes planted on the south side of the house (very hot and sunny) which receive a "compost tea" when they're watered. One of these has been destroyed by a cat - either ours or one of our neighbors. Should have seen that coming.



And finally, a real stretch, we have two tomato plants in the Tuscany Garden hallway. Not a lot of sun in there, but very warm.



It will be interesting to watch them during the summer and see what develops.

The Tomato Traitor

Yeah, that would be Kim!

Leave him alone for a day with a bit of money and look what he does.

We have perfectly good tomato plants, started from seeds, with my own two precious hands.



They look alright, right?

Right???

OK, maybe they're a bit small. OK, maybe really small. Really, really small.
But I have faith in them. I believe with all my heart they will grow up to be big happy tomato plants. And that they will yield glorious tomatoes that will make us perfectly happy.

Here is what was waiting in the plant room when I got off work today.



That's right. Tomatoes from THE TOMATO TRAITOR as he shall now be named!

Here they are showing off to my little tomatoes.



I ask you, is that fair?

And I'll tell you, no it ISN'T!

But, I will prevail with my little tomatoes. I am determined to do so.

Some tomato growing info from About.Dom, Gardening:

1. Don’t Crowd Seedlings.
Don't Let Seedlings Grow Into Each Other. If you are starting tomatoes from seed, be sure to give the seedlings room to branch out. Close conditions inhibit their growth, so transplant them as soon as they get their first true leaves and move them into 4" pots about 2 weeks after that.

2. Provide lots of light.
Tomato seedlings will need either strong, direct sunlight or 14-18 hours under grow lights. Place the young plants only a couple of inches from florescent grow lights. Plant your tomatoes outside in the sunniest part of your vegetable plot.

3. Put a fan on your seedlings.
It seems tomato plants need to move and sway in the breeze, to develop strong stems. Provide a breeze by turning a fan on them for 5-10 minutes twice a day.

4. Preheat the soil in your garden.
Tomatoes love heat. Cover the planting area with black or red plastic a couple of weeks before you intend to plant. Those extra degrees of warmth will translate into earlier tomatoes.

5. Bury them.
Bury tomato plants deeper than they come in the pot, all the way up to a few top leaves. Tomatoes are able to develop roots all along their stems. You can either dig a deeper hole or simply dig a shallow tunnel and lay the plant sideways. It will straighten up and grow toward the sun. Be careful not to drive your pole or cage into the stem.

6. Mulch Later.
Straw Makes a Great Vegetable Garden Mulch. Mulch after the ground has had a chance to warm up. Mulching does conserve water and prevents the soil and soil born diseases from splashing up on the plants, but if you put it down too early it will also shade and therefore cool the soil. Try using plastic mulch for heat lovers like tomatoes and peppers.

7. Remove the Bottom Leaves.
Once the tomato plants are about 3' tall, remove the leaves from the bottom 1' of stem. These are usually the first leaves to develop fungus problems. They get the least amount of sun and soil born pathogens can be unintentionally splashed up onto them. Spraying weekly with compost tea also seems to be effective at warding off fungus diseases.

8. Pinch & Prune for More Tomatoes
Pinch and remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it’s the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes.

9. Water the Tomato Plants Regularly.
Water deeply and regularly while the plants are developing. Irregular watering, (missing a week and trying to make up for it), leads to blossom end rot and cracking. Once the fruit begins to ripen, lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt and become stressed or they will drop their blossoms and possibly their fruit.

10. Getting Them to Set Tomatoes.
Determinate* type tomatoes tend to set and ripen their fruit all at one time, making a large quantity available when you’re ready to make sauce. You can get indeterminate* type tomatoes to set fruit earlier by pinching off the tips of the main stems in early summer.

From ivillage GardenWeb:

*Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called "bush" tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet). They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die.
They may require a limited amount of caging and/or staking for support, should NOT be pruned or "suckered" as it severely reduces the crop, and will perform relatively well in a container (minimum size of 5-6 gallon). Examples are: Rutgers, Roma, Celebrity (called a semi-determinate by some), and Marglobe.

*Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called "vining" tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost and can reach heights of up to 10 feet although 6 feet is considered the norm. They will bloom, set new fruit and ripen fruit all at the same time throughout the growing season. They require substantial caging and/or staking for support and pruning and the removal of suckers is practiced by many but is not mandatory. The need for it and advisability of doing it varies from region to region. Experiment and see which works best for you. Because of the need for substantial support and the size of the plants, indeterminate varieties are not usually recommended as container plants. Examples are: Big Boy, Beef Master, most "cherry" types, Early Girl, most heirloom varieties, etc.


An explanation of catfacing and why it's important to keep your tomato plants warm:

Insect damage, poor pollination, and environmental factors all cause catfacing, a term that describes the puckering, scarring, and deformation of strawberries, stone fruits, and tomatoes. You can recognize catfacing in tomatoes by the scarred indentations found on the blossom end of the fruit. Sometimes this scarring extends deep into the fruit cavity, making much of the fruit inedible.

The most common cause of catfacing in tomatoes is exposure to temperatures below 50 degrees F during flowering and fruit set. Low temperatures inhibit pollination and cause the blossom to stick to the developing fruit. Both of these factors prevent certain parts of the fruit from developing. The undesirable scarring and indentation occurs when unaffected parts of the fruit continue to expand.

Tomatoes that develop during warm weather do not usually experience catfacing problems. However, evidence suggests that even when temperatures are warm, excessive soil nitrogen, exposure to the pesticide 2,4-D, and erratic soil moisture can cause catfacing.

Some cultivars and varieties, including many heirlooms, are more susceptible to catfacing. You can avoid the problem by choosing resistant varieties, such as 'Homestead' and 'Monte Carlo'. If your favorite varieties are susceptible but you'd still like to grow them, either protect your transplants with cloches in cold weather or wait until day and evening temperatures are consistently warm to plant them.

Catfaced tomatoes are safe to eat; simply cut away the scarred areas.



I shall follow this advice and raise magnificent tomatoes!!!

I hope.