I love my tomato plant!
I’ve been meaning to brag write about my tomato plant, but hadn’t had the chance to take a photo. I wanted to show you how big and plum my tomatoes are growing. The image (at right) is about three to four pounds of organic tomato! Do you know how expensive that stuff is at the grocery store?! Read on to find out how to assure you reap a bounty when growing tomatoes.
Here’s what I’ve been doing to help my tomato plant be good to me…
- Pick the right spot – Tomato plants need at least 10 hours of light and room for air to circulate.
- Rotate from season to season – Don’t plant your tomatoes in the same spot to help diminish the risk of soilborne diseases.
- Grow roots – When you transplant or buy a tomato make sure to plant your tomato seedlings all the way to the first leaves. New roots will sprout from the stem! More roots means you’ll reap more fruit. I credit this tip for the bounty I’ve reaped this summer!
- Give it a drink of water – Make sure to water infrequently — say, once a week — and water deeply for about ten minutes using a soaker hose or drip irrigation.
- Keep leaves dry – Wet foliage can encourage fungal diseases. Eww!
- Prune like crazy – Branches that are not giving fruit should be pruned so the plant can concentrate on growing big tomatoes. Don’t go overboard as well or you may stop production! Make sure to remove brown and yellow leaves. Also, remove any leaves that get mildew.
- Add compost – Encourage new growth by adding compost around the stem.
- Plant friends nearby – Make sure to plant basil and parsley near your tomatoes as these will intensify their flavor.
- Get rid of caterpillars – Here’s how to get rid of pest organically: Spray them with Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that attacks and kills caterpillars. Or go with the cheaper alternative and drop the caterpillars into a bucket of soapy water. Note that several species of wasp will lay their eggs on caterpillars. If you see one with eggs, don’t bother killing it. The wasps are already doing it for you.
I have so many tomatoes. The problem now is what to make with them. Have yummy tomato recipes? Please share them with me. I’m desperate for your help!
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Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
Try Matbucha, a Moroccan appetizer-salad dish, a rival to hummus and babaganush.
2 lbs tomatoes
1 lb red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, quartered
3 dried chilies (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons hot paprika
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1 Place bell peppers on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven at 350°F until the skins have browned.
2 Submerge tomatoes in boiling hot water for 10 minutes or until the skin falls off.
3 Cut tomatoes in half and squeeze out the juice and seeds.
4 Cut tomatoes in chunks.
5 Peel the skin from the bell peppers and remove the seeds and stem.
6 Cut bell peppers in chunks.
7 Add all ingredients to a soup pot and pour oil over top.
8 Bring contents to a boil, then turn down to a medium heat.
9 Cook covered for 2 hours.
10 Remove cover and cook uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated. 11 Stir occasionally to prevent burning. 12 Refrigerate and serve cold.
Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/matbucha-285297?oc=linkback
@Yazmin ~ I love having my own fresh tomato sauce to use in the winter time when tomatoes are at their worst in the markets. I keep it simple: Peel the tomatoes, if desired, but it’s not necessary. Do core them, however. Cut into chunks, and put in a large pot. Cook over a low/medium flame until the tomatoes have cooked down to a very soft consistency and a vibrant red color. You can either puree them with an immersion blender (what Emeril calls a boat motor), or leave them chunky. Put into freezer bags in the amount desired, and freeze them ’til needed. Using freezer bags for storage takes up less room in the freezer, and they can be put into that odd shaped space that’s too small for anything else. BTW ~ I do not add salt or any other seasonings, as I add what’s needed when I prepare a dish later.
@Yazmin 2 ~ The above is really handy for using those funny looking tomatoes that aren’t quite right for serving at the table… the ugly ducklings that never get chosen at the market. I buy half flats of “sauce tomatoes” at Tapia Bros. to make my sauce, as my tomato plants aren’t producing very well this year.
What I LOVE to do when I have too many tomatoes is to dehydrate them. I usually end up adding them to pasta dishes and even to salads. Dehydrated they keep, and the taste is so much more vibrant.
Yes, we do what EllieD does with our determinate tomatoes, the kind that all ripen at nearly same time. The Roma variety is good this way. We however, DO add italian spices as it simmers before freezing, and change the consistency based on making salsa (chunky tomato, garlic, cilantro, hot pepper) or pizza sauce (add a can of tomato paste in intensify the flavor), spaghetti sauce (be creative with sausage, eggplant, and some brown sugar) or everyday tomato sauce for a variety of pasta dishes. We label the bags as we freeze them.
The indeterminate are excellent fresh and cut up in salads, BLT’s and vegetable soups. One of our favorite appetizers is a simple slice of tomato, slices of cucumber, some ground parsley, and salt. Let rest for a few minutes, then serve. Even the kids love it!
If you’re really enthusiastic, you can have a canning afternoon and give them as gifts, and label them as your own!
Yazmin’s Favorite Sauce!
Enjoyed all of the comments in today’s post. I do something similar to BruceB’s appetizer or side dish, and enjoy it with nearly all my meals in the summer time. I peel and slice a tomato, fan it out on a plate, along with very thinly sliced red or green onion, add freshly ground pepper, and chiffonade of fresh basil. I love using basil from the garden, as it’s life is so short! I think I might also add thinly sliced Persian cucumbers to this dish, ala BruceB’s.
When my tomatoes get ahead of me, I fill up a freezer bag full. and place them in the freezer,whole and washed. In the middle of the winter, thaw. peels come right off and simmer for a delicous tomato sauce. It makes the house smell delicious and the winter not so cold and dreary.