Third pile of tomatoes, 2008

(eight pounds)

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Weight of goods: 8 pounds

Weight total to date: 23.5 pounds

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My Roma Strainer is coming via UPS today. Think I'll try it on this batch. I'll let you know how it works with another handy-dandy product review.

Second pile of tomatoes, 2008

(Many more to come, too)
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Weight of goods: 5.5 pounds

Weight total to date: 15.5 pounds

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I should have weighed the pile yesterday, but it was about the same as this pile. I'll call it 6 pounds. Adding in the dribs and drabs from the past two weeks, I'll call those 4 pounds.

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I lied yesterday when I said I'd make salsa. I shortly realized that I had squash and eggplant in the fridge, so I made ratatouille instead. It was last night's dinner and today's lunch and it was amazing. I've been making the same recipe for 20 years. Though I don't refer to the written recipe anymore, it's from my first cookbook: Laurel's Kitchen. It's probably the first dish I made by following a recipe, too. That book taught me how to cook.

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Tonight, I make salsa. Really!

First pile of tomatoes, 2008

(In bowl- San Marzanos. At 6:00- one Pink Beauty. At 10:00, mix of Japanese Black Trifeles and Paul Robesons.)

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Tomatoes have been coming in dribs and drabs for the past two weeks. I pick 2 one day, 4 the next. That long cold spring we had this year strikes again. But lookit! Here's what I picked today at lunchtime.

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Salsa. These tomatoes tell me they want to be salsa. I'll roast the San Marzanos first, but the Pink Beauty, Japanese Blacks and Paul Robesons will be blanched for skin removal, diced, and added fresh.

As the Tomato Turns

(cue organ music)

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Will Victor succumb to Deirdre's feminine wiles?

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Will Dr. Mayfield recover from amnesia in time to deliver the baby?

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Will Ilex's first tomato satisfy her wildest culinary desires?

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We'll be right back, after this message from Ball Canning Supplies.

Tomato party

(Go tomatoes go)

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These fellows really took off with the 70F+ temps this week. When I went to repot them into the SWCs, I cut off most of the lower branches and planted them as deep as they would go; now all 8 plants are very well rooted. They seem to like the constant cool water on their feet that the SWCs provide-- the abiding rule of growing tomatoes is cool wet feet and warm dry leaves, and you should never let the soil dry out. SWCs are perfect for that.

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I'll feed and mulch them tomorrow, and they simply MUST be caged. The plan is to build bamboo supports with a center coil for each tomato hung from the top... but I've sort of been, um, avoiding the task. I can't avoid it anymore, so that's tomorrow's garden job number one.

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At this rate of such healthy growth, I can easily forsee a total production of 60 pounds of tomatoes per pot by end of season.