Tag Archives: heirloom tomatoes

Today’s Harvest Basket 10/19

Basket of Gold

Pineapple tomatoes, eggplant, golden bell peppers.

The harvest basket is loaded with end-of-the-season vegetables. Four of the tomatoes hover just around the one-pound mark.

One of my favorite heirloom tomatoes. The beautiful yellow fruit with red marbling through the flesh. The flavor is very sweet and fruity; good yields!

Simply replace red tomatoes with yellow in your favorite recipe.

One slice of these big tomatoes will cover a slice of bread. Tomato sandwiches, BLT’s and fresh eating are where these tomatoes shine. The late glut of 1-pound globes will also make a small batch of golden salsa.

 

 

 

 

 

About the Seed

I purchased the original Pineapple tomato seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This year, I am going to save seed. These are beautiful tomatoes, though not always high yielding. Try them.

These are big plants that need heavy staking. Pineapple tomatoes are late season producers, sometimes weighing as much as 2 pounds. While some tomato plants succumbed to blight, this plant remained healthy all season.

Also grown from seed:

Long yellow eggplant is a mild, prolific Asian eggplant. The peppers are sweet Golden Cal Wonder Peppers.

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Today’s Harvest Basket 7/30

July 30, Harvest Basket

Eggplants, sweet peppers, Anaheim and poblano green chile peppers, giant heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sweet onions.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, onion

Eggplant at last!

Finally, the eggplants are plentiful. That completes the ingredient list for ratatouille. Ratatouille is a showcase of summer garden in one main dish. By the time all the ingredients are assembled, the dish is big enough to ensure leftovers. I believe the dish is better the next day.

This vegetable casserole is great served with rice. I make a slightly under cooked version of this and freeze it. One snowy winter day, I’ll enjoy my homegrown taste of summer.

Julia Child’s Ratatouille

Eggplants* grown in a container on the deck.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Cherry tomato pie

I love cherry tomatoes, they start producing early and just keep on growing till first frost. With the full size tomatoes coming on strong, cherry tomatoes are good for dehydrating.

Mix colors and shapes of cherry tomatoes for a mix of sweet and tart tomato flavors.

Easy, fast, tomato tart suitable for serving at any meal. The tart is a lighter version of tomato pie. Tomato Tarte Tatin is a simple summer-only treat.

This is a great way to use up a lot of cherry tomatoes. I used a mix of red and yellow cherry and pear tomatoes. Caramelize a small onion, and fill the skillet of onions with a single layer of little tomatoes. Cover with a layer of puff pastry. Bake tart until crust is puffed and golden, about 30 minutes.

Cool tart in skillet 10 minutes. Loosen pastry around the outside of the skillet. Place large platter over skillet. Hold skillet and platter firmly together and invert, allowing tart to settle onto platter. Garnish with fresh chopped basil and Parmesan.

*   Container Eggplant Little Prince grown from Renee’s Garden Seed.

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A gardeners final day of winter.

A slow cooked pork stew on a snowy day tastes even better loaded with foods from last summer’s garden. One tasty stew addition to the stew pot is sweet potatoes. Loaded with root vegetables potatoes and sweet potatoes, plus garlic, onions and carrots. Mild and sweet yellow sweet potatoes and homegrown garlic are from the garden. Here is a great post to read on the best garden and tree falling services.

White and sweet potatoes make this rich pork stew an even hardier winter fare.

White and sweet potatoes make this rich pork stew an even hardier winter fare.

From the summer farmers market: locally grown shiitake mushrooms – dried in the dehydrator and stored in plastic ziplock bags.

Home made tomato soup, several versions of stew and chili are wintertime mainstays here at the Hobson Estate.

Home grown tomatoes, garlic and peppers enhance the flavors of pork chili.

Home grown tomatoes, garlic and peppers enhance the flavors of pork chili. photo PBH

As we wrap up winter, it’s inventory time for the deep freezer and pantry. We ran out of salsa around the first of the year. So, I need to grow more tomatoes (plus, onions, garlic, peppers, herbs)

We need more salsa, crushed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, sun dried tomatoes, even more tomato soup.

We need more salsa, crushed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, sun dried tomatoes, even more tomato soup.

Today, I think, “I can never have too many tomatoes.” In August, that will be a different story.

Paste tomatoes, Arkansas traveler, Giant Martian, Gold Medal

Paste tomatoes, Arkansas traveler, Giant Martian, Gold Medal

August:

“What was I thinking!?”

Todays Harvest Basket 9/3/14

Today’s Harvest Basket September 3, 2014

Tomatoes and Peppers galore! Bell, Jalapeño, Habanero, Felicity peppers

Hot and sweet peppers. Photo: Patsy Bell Hobson

Hot and sweet peppers. Photo: Patsy Bell Hobson

 Chile, “Classic Jalapeño” Pepper, hot

Felicity, sweet pepper, no heat.

Red Bell Pepper, sweet

Arkansas Traveler, Martian Giant, Brandywine and assorted cherry tomatoes.

Brandywine tomato

One slice will cover the bread on a BLT.

One slice will cover the bread on a BLT.

Big old Brandywine was so heavy, it dropped off, stripping the vine’s exterior by several inches.

From an old line of Brandywines, known as the Sudduth’s strain.

Sudduth’s strain comes from tomato collector Ben Quisenberry in 1980. He got it from Dorris Sudduth Hill whose family grew it for over 100 years.

Big pink beefsteak-like fruits can grow up to 2 pounds on indeterminate vines.

This is the tomato by which all others are measured for taste. Brandywine is a consistent winner in tomato taste contests. The intense tomato flavor is the perfect balance of acid and sweet taste.

Todays Harvest Basket 8/5/14

Today’s Harvest Basket August 5, 2014

Cucumbers and tomatoes

Juicy cucumbers and tomatoes.

Juicy cucumbers and tomatoes.

Big tomatoes are coming on everyday. BLTs are on the menu every week. Tomato sandwiches are a lunch specialty. Fresh sliced cucumbers in vinegar are always in the fridge.

This long Japanese “Tasty Green” cucumber is thin-skinned (no need to peel) and is “burp-less” Cucumber season is much too short, so when they are growing in our garden, we eat them every day. Slice up one of these cucumbers, put in a covered container.

Cover cucumbers with herb vinegar or apple cider vinegar diluted with water, if the vinegar taste is too strong. Sometimes we add sliced onion, separated into rings.

Once the cucumbers are gone, reuse the vinegar water and add another cucumber. We  have two cucumber vines. A White Wonder and the Tasty Green.

Days are getting shorter...

Days are getting shorter…

I also planted a F1 English cuke which did not come up. I’ve grown them for years, so this was an anomaly. When the seed packet arrived, I took half and sent the rest to my mother in OK. “This is the best cucumber you have ever eaten,” I wrote in a note enclosed with the seeds.

“They didn’t do any good,” she replied last week. Who knows what happened? We both grew other cucumbers as well,  and have more than enough to share with neighbors.

I’m gambling on a late crop of little Kirby type cucumbers. The late planted cucumbers are just seedlings now.

Our unpredictable weather and extra seed make planting late crops a gamble but to a costly one. The cucumber seedlings are cheered on by the long slow rain today.

Cherrie's sweet tomato flavor is concentrated by dehydrating.

Cherrie’s sweet tomato flavor is concentrated by dehydrating.

All the cherry tomatoes are rinsed, cut in half and put in the food dryer. Here’s how: Make sun-dried tomatoes to use up cherries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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