This has been a great year for tomatoes and if I had planted non-hybrid ones, they would have been even better.
This year I didn’t pluck off side shoots every day and side branches got away on me so I ended up trimming off far more than was good for the plants. I like to prune side branches, leaving only two to grow on in order to keep things airy and the leaves dry so they don’t get mouldy, and fewer branches means larger tomatoes. Also, too many side shoots becomes too heavy for the plant to hold up so they sprawl on the ground where slugs et al eat them. More than two shoots becomes unmanageable for me.
Despite my trimming off many fruit-bearing side branches, the ones that are left are still producing red fruit, but since it got down to just above zero last night, it’s time to bring in the green ones before the plants freeze. I’m keeping this last batch in the fridge for fresh eating, because I’ve canned, frozen and given away all the previous tomatoes. Although I’ve read that tomatoes lose flavour when refrigerated, they don’t last long outside the fridge and attract megatons of fruit flies, so in the fridge they go.
I acquired some Galapagos Island tomato seeds and planted them in the greenhouse but all they’ve done so far is grow masses of tiny leaves on long branches and a few flowers so I don’t plan on growing them again because they take up too much room. Maybe they’d be nice in a pot indoors just as attractive plants, but I won’t grow them again for food production.
I tie tomatoes up to a substantial trellis that I leave in place in the garden. I have two trellises like this so I rotate crops that need trellising on the four sides of these two beds. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and beans grow here and in the temporary spaces while they’re still small, I grow lettuce. After fall harvest I clean out the spent vines and plants and toss them into the pile destined for compost. The following spring I amend the soil with finished compost and organic fertilizer before planting seedlings, and as soon as these are ensconced in the bed, I lay down a soaker hose and cover each one with a warmed up Wall ‘O Waters that remains on them until overnight temperatures reach 10 C.
Here’s an excellent recipe for tomato sauce from a cookbook called Laurel’s Kitchen that I’ve printed before, but it’s so good that I’m printing it again:
½ onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
2 T. oil
1 small carrot, grated
2 T. chopped green pepper
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. thyme
1 tsp. basil
2T. chopped parsley
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 six ounce can tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
(1/4 tsp. honey)
Directions: saute onion and garlic clove in oil until onion is soft. Crush garlic. Add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Makes three cups.
Variations: Mexican sauce — when onion is nearly done, stir in one tsp. cumin and one tsp. chile powder or to taste. Increase oregano to one tsp.
Italian sauce — Add a pinch of fennel. Increase oregano to one tsp.
Please contact mary_lowther@yahoo.ca with questions and suggestions since I need all the help I can get.
