…I say, Oh boy.
We’re supposed to get hit with nighttime lows in the 30s next week, so after grocery shopping and lunch, I grabbed gloves and trimmers and yard waste bags and took down the tomato plants.
I did not realize I still had this many tomatoes. Possibly 15 pounds, maybe more.
I separated the ripe ones–about a quart of cherry tomatoes and several bigguns–and bagged the rest and stashed them in closets throughout the house. I hope I don’t forget about any of them, or I’ll be in for a messy time.
I see several pasta al pomodoro dinners in my future. And perhaps some forays into green tomato relish.
The peppers are still trying. One bell has a pepper about 2 inches long, and the Cubanelle has a pinky-size pepper. I doubt they’ll grow large enough to harvest, but I’ll leave them alone until the hard freeze comes. I bought the thyme inside for its second winter; the basil and tarragon aren’t worth the effort, so outdoors they shall remain until the inevitable befalls. I shall close my ears to their little plant cries, and they shall go the way of all things.
I had an extremely bad tomato year. I just got my first tomatoes off the vine…three little cherry tomatoes. I had bad pollination in general. Need to get a hive, but I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate it in the city…may just do Masons.
In any case, here’s a lovely recipe that I found recently and have been using other peoples tomatoes for. It would be lovely paired with warm soup now that the weather has finally turned chilly. http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/end-of-summer-recipe-three-cheese-tomato-tart-154226
That tart is similar to the goat cheese tart I made several weeks ago. I bought some cheddar last weekend–I should give your recipe a try. Thanks!
Tonight was Day 1 of Eat A Tomato A Day Week. I bought some flavored polenta in a tube–I cut 4- 1/2 inch slices and stuck them under the broiler. After they had browned a bit, I added slices of tomato. After the tomato had cooked, I topped with chopped fresh basil and cheese, 3 with parmegiano reggiano and one with tomato-basil goat cheese. Served them atop some greens. Nice light dinner.
If you had an extended heat wave like we did, the tomatoes won’t pollinate. Something happens to the pollen when temps hit the 90s–it gets sticky and won’t scatter properly, so the blossoms drop off. That happened to mine. I lost a good month’s worth of tomatoes.
Mmm…love the goat cheese…
I’ve got a tube of polenta too, but this week is homemade soup week since the weather is so perfect for it. Made a cream of mushroom soup last night (absolutely delicious if you like mushrooms and tarragon), and today made baked potato soup. I’ve got a carrot-ginger, sweet potato coconut, and cabbage paprikash in the lineup as well.
Good to know about the tomato pollen. I’m down here in St. Louis, so I think we pretty much get similar weather. I wonder if the heat has that effect on the other veggies. The peppers did fine and I got a few eggplants, but no cucumbers or winter squash. The root vegetables did marvelously, for obvious reasons, so I have beets and carrots out my ears and will have parsnips throughout the winter. And the herbs flourished. I generally leave my chives, tarragon, sage, oregano, and mint in the ground over the winter…they do just fine because they’re planted near the house and its heat-retaining cinderblocks. I wish I could consistently grow rosemary and basil inside…I miss them terribly in the winter.