Applestar's 2015 Tomato (and Pepper and Eggplant) Garden

[applestar]

[applestar]

[applestar]

8/17 Harvest Photos

CORN
- Glass Gem (2)
- Glass Gem x Golden Bantam
- Kandy Korn F1 x (Glass Gem, Golden Bantam)
- Golden Bantam x Glass Gem
CHERRY TOMATO/berries, Jasmine
- red Rose Quartz MF not (4)
- yellow Chello
- ivory Champagne
- tiny Hundreds and Thousands (14-3=11)
- Jasmine blossoms (2)
- Prelude raspberries, some with grey mold?
- Triple Crown blackberries (2)
GROUP PHOTO including 3rd stevia harvest wax and purple beans, Dixie Butterpeas, Solstice broccoli side shoot



- Girl Girl's Weird Thing
- Beauty King
- Gail x Everette's Rusty Oxheart F3 PL Bi-color (cat)
- Hawaiian Pineapple (2)
- Butter Apple
- Carbon Copy not (6)
- runty Feherozone or Romanian Rainbow
- Fish LeastVar (2)
- Tollie's Sweet



8/18 Harvest Photos

TOP
- Group incl. Jasmine blossoms, basil, cuke, wax/purple beans and Kikuza squash
- Glass Gem all from GG patch

BOTTOM LEFT & MIDDLE
- MoCross Elgin #9, Wes, Mikado White PL
- Lyn's Mahogany Garnet, Bosque Blue (2), Not Brazilian Beauty F2
- Juicy Saladette (4)
CHERRY BOWL
- medium red Rose Quartz MF not (3)
- large red Idyll (2)
- brown grape Stormin Norman (3)
- small ivory w/ calyx Petite Pomme Blanche vgc (2)
- small ivory no calyx Coyote hbr (3)
- small ivory w/ calyx Champagne (11-1=10)

[applestar]

8/24 Harvest Photos

Today's tomatoes totaled 7-1/2 Lbs. On zeroed for 2-gal bucket and clear bowl scale:



GROUP PHOTO
- (not pictured -- colander of Purple Ruben Basil and Sweet Dani Lemon basil, some Drangon's Tongue wax beans)
TOP RIGHT:
[large beefsteaks and hearts]
- light antho top pink Alonzo's Medals might have been
- green striped red Girl Girl's Weird Thing
- pink Fish Lake Oxheart (2)
- dark antho top and stripe Pink Siberian Tiger (2)
[salads and saladettes]
- striped purple Sailor's Luck (4)
- green striped red Lyn's Mahogany Garnet
- dark and light antho top yellow striped Purple Dragon (2) -- 2nd one was shaded
- sweet pink Whippersnapper x Faelan's First Snow less variegated F1
- dark antho top Brazilian Beauty not (3)
- runty Diamond eggplant (2)
- Mini Paprika Yellow pepper
- tiny red Bolivian Rainbow pepper (2)
- Vernissage Yellow
- Juicy Saladette (5)

WHITE BOWL
- Prelude raspberries,
- White Soul alpine strawberry
- tiny loose Coyote hbr (3)
- normal cherry size antho top Amethyst Cream (forgot to take topside pic)
- small Petite Pomme de Blanche (1)
- over exposed pile of Maid of Orleans Jasmine blossoms
- trusses of Champagne cherry
CLEAR BOWL
- fire engine red with antho Fahrenheit Blues (5)
- smaller Rose Quartz Multiflora not
- medium not Carbon Copy not
- large round mottled with yellow Idyll
- yellow pear-shaped Ildi
- large green when ripe Samocvet Nefritovy
- brown pear-shaped Stormin Norman

- Pink Siberian Tiger
- Fish Lake Oxheart
- Whippersnapper x Faelan's First Snow less variegated F1
- Fahrenheit Blues

[applestar]

Today's Harvest Postcard

image.jpg (58.31 KiB) Viewed 15552 times

[applestar]

Since I'm growing so many peppers this year, they are necessarily crammed together in some very tight spaces. I'm trying to learn to bag unopened blossoms to prevent accidental cross-pollinating by nectaring insects, and even air currents, so I can save the seeds without worrying.

It hadn't been very successful so far because we kept getting very humid, very hot days soon after I bagged and the blossoms didn't set and all just died. This happened twice and I was discouraged... Less alert...

Then today, I realized something very important when I stumbled upon one of the bagged truss on a GIANT Marconi. I need to keep up with checking the bagged blossoms for signs of fruit set....

[pepperhead212]

It's tough keeping track of all those bags! It's also difficult finding unopened blossoms, esp. later in the season, as many that seem unopened are actually started peppers! It's sort of a catch 22, as I don't know which is the best plant, that I want to keep seeds from early, yet that is the best time to do it.

BTW, how is that pea EP doing?

[applestar]

My nagging worry that I had set it back by pruning turned into reality when the single original stalk the I DIDN'T top earlier --at last -- developed the very first floral clusters -- WAY up there above the top of the tomato cage....

[applestar]

This one is called Lucky Cross. It is gorgeous with yellow and red bicolor interior flesh and clear epi. Look at how the bicolor striping is revealed after slipping off the ripe "pink" (clear epi with red underlying flesh) skin.

SWEET front end flavor with complex, full flavored middle and lingering tangy/acid finish. EXCELLENT.

[applestar]

Terhune has been our family's Number One Favorite for flavor.

image.jpg (27.33 KiB) Viewed 15518 times

...But we had an upset tonight. DH SAID HE LIKES EARL'S FAUX BETTER.

DD2 still likes Terhune better, which was surprising because I thought Earl's Faux was just a bit sweeter and Terhune's lingering acid was sharper/more biting. They are both incredibly tasty varieties with great deal of flavor. Both starting out sweet, building up to full, rich explosion of flavor, and finishing with lingering acid.

This was first time I had two at almost exactly the same ripeness though. Hopefully they will produce a few more fruits to compare....

-- Definitely growing both as returning favorites next year.

[applestar]

TOMATO OVERLOAD

-- processing these have become Priority #1 for today.

(I REALLY don't know how some of you manage to process pounds and gallons at a time -- I feel overwhelmed just looking at the pictures. )

[applestar]

Dwarf Mr. Snow. 10.8 oz.

[applestar]

I LOVE having these big tomatoes to slice up for sandwiches at the height of productive tomato season.

DH enjoyed the best center slice off of this one on his hamburger -- he looked so happy when he said it was bigger than the bun.

This is a new variety still undergoing segregation and selection process, but it's got great flavor with lingering acid tang (great in sandwiches because it asserts itself), productive with plenty of these bigger sized fruits. I grew two, and one plant produced flattened globe beefsteaks while this plant produced blunt hearts. This one is a fused bloom -- looks like a double. It also has a blush of antho in the shoulders.

[applestar]

Peppers and Eggplants

[applestar]

Big and beautiful peppers!

TOP LEFT:
Donkey Ears, Mini Paprika Yellow, Mini Paprika Red, (King of the North, Pimento, or Lipstick)
RIGHT: Chocolate Cake, blushed to brown

BOTTOM LEFT:
- Chocolate Cake, almost entirely red (over mature?)
- Giant Marconi Red, unevenly ripened to almost entirely red

[applestar]

Even though I am enthusiastic about growing tomatoes, a wrinkle has existed because DH has only shown interest in eating a slice or two of only the GREAT tasting bigger tomatoes in a sandwich a couple of times a week.

But I have discovered DH's weakness -- dehydrated tomato chips.

I made some a few days ago, using all four trays in the new dehydrator and yielding a 1 quart glass bowlful (Pyrex with tight sealing lid). I gave him one small piece to taste and he irresistibly finished the bowl in two days.

...I made some more today...

[applestar]

Subject: Self Watering Container and Sub-irrigated Planter

This was from October 5:

Eggplant SIP as of today.
A Hari eggplant I'm hoping to collect seeds from, and the Pea eggplant blooming at the top of 10ft stems:

...and today, I FINALLY got around to processing the seeds -- the fruit was getting browned and soft for about a week already....

[HoneyBerry]

Dehydrated tomatoes sounds fantastic. They must taste similar to sundried tomatoes. Dehydrated tomatoes will be my next adventure.

[applestar]

I promise you won't regret it. So pretty, too when made with different colored fruits. I peel the skin and save the seeds from the top and bottom pieces, but keep the skin, gel and seeds in the equatorial slices for the stained glass effect.

I can't get to the next step which would be cooking with these. They disappear too fast

Dehydrated cherry tomatoes are not as popular, though they can taste like raisins if dehydrated to soft shriveled stage and kept in the refrigerator. I tried a batch that I soaked in chianti, then dehydrated and that was kind of yummy. There's too much skin and they can get rock hard when dehydrated crisp. I suppose one way to work with them after that is to try soaking them in olive oil.

I did take about 1/4 cup of the hard cherry tomatoes and ground them up into powder in my coffee grinder designated for spice grinding.

[HoneyBerry]

Ground up dehydrated cherry tomatoes would be great to cook with.
Soaked in Chianti sounds good too. Reminds me of the Jose Cuervo cake recipe. I can just picture you downing a few of those Chianti tomatoes and dancing around the kitchen.

[Duh_Vinci]

Thoroughly enjoyed the "walk" through your garden, amazing range of colors, shapes, sizes and surely flavors!!!!

Regards,
D

[applestar]

Hello Duh_Vinci old friend! Thank you so much

So happy to see you posting

[Duh_Vinci]

Cheers Applestar!

I'm not even sure where and how small my garden would be this year - but indeed will have something for sure (haven't had a garden in 3 years), so I'm excited!

You, however have exploded with varieties and looks like utilizing every square foot available - great job!!!

Regards,
D

[Mr green]

Beautiful garden I like the woodshavings as mulch it looks really pretty! You take good pictures as well!
Mmmmm and dehydrated tomatoes, I must buy a dehydrator! Some home made herbal salt to sprinkle on top before drying them *droool*. Haha my mouth is actually watery now.