- \n
- of many sizes: cherry, grape, plum, pear, Roma, small, medium and large round ones, beefsteak, heart-shaped and more;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- and with many uses: sauce, salad, slicing, cooking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I was satisfied growing three varieties:\u00a0\u00a0 Roma (for sauce), Better boy (a large, round slicer), and Brandywine (an heirloom beefsteak).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/IMG_1889-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Bitty")
<\/a>The last tomato harvest, both green and red, comes when you pull the vines.<\/p><\/div>\n
It was pure pleasure watching the little plants spring up under lights late in March and grow quickly and healthily for transplanting them to medium-sized pots for a few weeks. In late April, with a prayer and a hope, I set them in the ground in Smith<\/a>, where out in the open exposed to all the elements, they continued to grow full and fast.\u00a0 I soon had a tomato rain forest<\/a> on my hands, with lush green vines growing higher and longer, some taller than me, producing blossoms and setting fruit by the dozen.<\/p>\n
In mid-July, I picked my first bucket full of tomatoes<\/a> at one visit and was able to continue doing that for about six to eight weeks.\u00a0 Not once did I heft that heavy, full bucket without thinking that each fruit, itself filled with seeds, was one of many from a vine I started from just one seed.\u00a0 I compared the weight of a tomato and of a bucket of tomatoes with the weight of a packet of seeds.\u00a0 I figured what I paid for seeds this year (what few I bought) and compared it to the market value of all these tomatoes.\u00a0 I never, never get tired of or immune to the miracle of growing things.\u00a0 Picking one juicy, large, red tomato after another was nothing but pure pleasure.<\/p>\n
We ate fresh tomatoes in so many different ways this season.\u00a0 We enjoyed them:
\nin a Caprese salad (with fresh garden basil)
\nraw
\nstewed
\nin spaghetti\u00a0 sauce
\nfried as a side to eggs at breakfast
\nin fresh salsa
\nin Ratatouille
\non a sandwich
\nin a salad
\nwith onions and okra over grits
\ncooked on the grill
\nin a huge batch of chutney
\nas gifts
\nbaked in a casserole
\nsome ways I’m forgetting<\/p>\nThe final harvest happens when you pull the vines in the fall.\u00a0 I was surprised to find a couple dozen golf ball sized ripe tomatoes.\u00a0 We’ve been enjoying them all weekend.\u00a0 If you pull the vines just before a frost you may end up with many green tomatoes.\u00a0 I’m a little disappointed we didn’t.\u00a0 You can fry or pickle these and they taste pretty good.\u00a0 I think what started out as a farm way to use up end-of the-season green tomatoes has become a popular dish whether it’s fall or not.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/IMG_1899-300x225.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Where they once stood<\/p><\/div>\n
I was sorry to see the tomato plants go, but their time was over. \u00a0 As I pulled the vines, I thanked them for their service.\u00a0 We buy a few tomatoes during the off season, mostly Roma for sauce, but not many.\u00a0 It will be a long wait until next summer when we pick and eat the first, juicy, delicious new red tomatoes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I bid a fond farewell to one of the smash hits of the garden this season, the now nearly bare tomato vines.\u00a0 The fun (maybe the best word to describe my tomato year) began last Christmas when I received the … Continue reading
- and with many uses: sauce, salad, slicing, cooking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/IMG_1889.jpg\" "\\"Bitty")
<\/a>