Tasty Tomatoes and recipes

Out of all the vegetables we can grow, for most of us tomatoes rank high of the top five favorites.  It is peak tomato picking now in South Florida.  With temperatures reaching the mid to high 80's and the heat index in the 90's the tomato plants are showing signs of fatigue.  Mid day wilting requires watering both morning and evening to my potted plants.  As the plants mature, their leaves are turning yellow and brown at an alarming rate.  I pick bowls of both cherry and plum tomatoes every other day.  Their red ripe color contrasts with the leaves.  There are fewer and fewer green ones left on the plants.

I grow my tomatoes in large containers in full sun.  I never spay my veggies with any pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, nematicides or any other harmful chemicals.  I do use commercial fertilizers, a gentle one you add to water.  I buy composted manure and add it to my own compost and I mulch the pots.  I buy eucalyptus mulch which keeps pests at bay.  I always grow heirloom everglades tomatoes from seed.  I also supplement with various varieties I purchase at garden centers.  Here are some quick videos on how to grow tomatoes.

Quick and easy tomato recipes

Veggie omelette 
I love to saute onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes cut in half in a pan, and then sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper, some oregano.  Add beaten eggs and either scramble or make an omelette.  You will have a feast of a meal.

Summer pasta sauce
Make a summer sauce for pasta by cutting up plum and cherry tomatoes and add to a bowl.  Add fresh garlic, a few teaspoons of olive oil, a dash of salt, pepper and a hand full of chopping fresh basil leaves.  Let marinate on the counter a few hours.  Later boil pasta of your choice and serve with your sauce.  Delicious.

Israeli Middle Eastern Salad
Chop up cherry tomatoes into fine cubes.  Chop up green peppers in fine cubes. Chop up cucumber in fine cubes.  Add all together and add a dash of salt and pepper.  Marinate  with vinegar.  Serve cold.  Delicious dish traditionally eaten for breakfast in Israel.  You may serve as a condiment for a sandwich or as a side dish instead of cole slaw.

Enjoy your veggies right out of the garden as well.  Nothing tastes as fresh or delicious.

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Secrets, tricks and best bets for your successful garden this spring

For most of the country, this is the time to start tilling the soil, adding organic amendments, buying the seeds, starts and accoutrements to begin the planting season.  (Those of us in South Florida are winding down our main fall to winter vegetable planting season.)  This is a new article I wrote for Examiner.com giving you top tips for your new spring planting.  Click on the purple sentence below to read article.

Best goals for your garden this spring

Fresh lettuce greens are quick and easy to grow.

I am excited to share this wonderful method of organizing  seed packets.  I have tried many methods over the years.  I have kept them in boxes, bags and recipe card holders.  On one of the social networks there was a post on utilizing small photo albums to hold seed packets.  I love it!  Here is a quick video to show you how.

It is also fun to try new varieties  it keeps gardening interesting.  Remember to rotate crops, they produce bigger yields and it helps the soil as well.  I never spray any insecticides and always have plenty to eat, even in my small urban garden.  I am going to try some yard long beans and maybe some tropical root crops this summer.  New to me also is a tropical green called callalo, which is utilized like spinach.  You may know it as amaranth.

Creative salads from garden produce is always a healthy easy to digest meal during hot summer months.

Cherry tomatoes ripen quickly and can be diced and added to salads, omelettes   sandwiches and burgers.

The mango tree is putting out a second set of blooms this year for two crops of fruit, very unusual.

I hope you find these tips useful and have a happy, productive, fun, healthy growing season.


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