If you’re not already reading Kristin at Going Country you should be. (And not just because she wrote the canning chapter for my upcoming book. Go get that chapter for free. I’ll wait …)
Her home garden is so big you would expect to find migrant laborers on it, but it’s all her. And this year blight wiped out her tomatoes.
Now, to clarify what I was saying about the size of her garden, her definition of “wiped out” is that she ended up only canning 23 quarts of plain tomatoes, 9 pints of salsa, and 10 pints of spaghetti sauce with meat.
Yeah, I know.
So let me take this chance to show off my rockin’ tomato harvest. See it up there at the top of this post? That’s three whole tomatoes baby! And that’s not even counting the one I ate right off the vine, still warm from the sun.
And there are still about a dozen green ones on the vine that, if they start to redden before the first frost, I can bring inside and let them ripen on the windowsill in a brown paper bag.
Yeah, fear my mad gardening skillz.
19 Comments
And in an interesting bit of timing, I just ate the very last of my fresh tomatoes for breakfast. Now no more fresh tomatoes until next July. Suck.
Sounds to me like its BLT time for you, Drew! Or perhaps some Italian Style Tomato Salad with Cukes (Cucumbers… back home in Oregon we call 'em Cukes), Purple Onion, Corn, Beans, Tuna or Shrimps, and oil'n'vinegar. OR both the BLT AND the salad! I tried Tomatos and Lemon Cucumbers on the balcony this year but my balcony gets too much sun.
Kristin, with the tragic loss of crazy amounts of potential tomatoes, I sympathize.
But Kate? Who just said, "My balcony gets too much sun," to a guy in Cleveland? In October? Man, I'm just not feeling the sympathy there at all.
Hmmm. A BLT would have been good for breakfast. Alas I have zero tomatoes.
I'm jealous of both of you, I don't get any fresh tomatoes.
Trixi, and I don't have any bacon.
Bob, that someone would be jealous of my tomato harvest … well, that's just so sad I can't think of any words for it.
Your harvest looks about as fruitful as mine. My husband hates tomatoes (gasp) so he only "let" me have one roma tomato bush this year (although with only me eating them, it was plenty). I've harvested something like fifteen of the things (mmm, pico de gallo) and there are another dozen or so on the bush (bruschetta….is it sad that I have so few tomatoes I have already planned what I'm using them for? haha), though they're racing the frost here in MN, too.
I find it sad and disturbing that you have no bacon. You're like my bacon hero…you should always have it on hand in case of emergencies! You just never know when you will need to use it to make clothes…
They are beautiful. I'm hoping to get a good crop this year, our season is just starting. Last year tomato hornworms, fruit worms, shield bugs, white fly, birds and fruit rats – yes rats- ate most of our crop and the neighbor's. Just part and parcel of gardening.
Tamara, I can only imagine what you think laundry day is like at my house.
Anon, you must be in the Southern hemisphere if your season is just starting. Care to trade?
Sympathy? Remember about me and bacon NOT EXISTING in Italy? I can only DREAM of BLTs. But just to tell you… too much sun and too many pigeons lead to the downfall of my plants. I got four tomatoes with bites taken out of them, and three Cukes that looked like I took a hair dryer to the poor things.
Prosciutto works in a BLT. Different, but good. Just a quick sear in a hot pan, enough to curl it up on the edges.
I just finished making tomato sauce and freezing in ziplock bags. I went to the glorious farmer's markets of Mom's House and Uncle Bob's Backyard. I took just a fraction of their bounty, but I ended up with 27 CUPS of sauce.
Mom's were enormous this year. She put a spoonful of Miracle grow on them this year, and the plants were as tall as me.
Hi Drew
Just wanted to know about the free chapter on canning. I sent my details through when you first mentioned the chapter, but nothing has come through my email.
I tried to resend my details in case something went wrong but got the message "That address is already a confirmed subscriber!"
Or perhaps they haven't been sent yet? Can you please let me know.
Thanks, Deb
Deb, check your email again. Then check your spam folder. I've had problems in the past with people using my domain as the "from" address in spam and it gets me blacklisted. If it's still not there, please email me from the account you registered with at support@cooklikeyourgrandmother.com and tell me who your ISP is. I'll see if I can track down the problem.
I wasn't making a comment about your laundry habits, Drew, I was attempting to make a witty reference to the bacon suit and bra that you shared. Sheesh, try to make a joke…
Tamara, I got it. I was suggesting that you think laundry day means I'm out of "normal" clothes so we all wrap ourselves in bacon. Annnnnnnnd now that I've had to explain it … [thud] (That was the sound of my joke landing.)
Looks like we both rule today
YAY BACON. There, I feel better. How about you?
I bow down to your superior gardening skillz, dude!
We harvested 6–yes, 6–tomatoes. That would be TWICE what you harvested. So…BOOM! 
Okay, so maybe we suck at gardening, just a little bit! Is there a part in Kristin's chapter about being a good tomato grower? I need that chapter:)
Oh, it gets better. Wait until you see what I post tomorrow.