Bring them into your kitchen.

Core them.

Put them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer them into a bowl of ice water.

The skin just slides right off.

Holding the tomato in your hand,

Insert it into a large freezer ziplock bag

and squeeze!

Do this over and over with 10-12 tomatoes.

Then put in about a TBS canning salt.

Close the bag. Squeeze it around to mix it up.

Put it in the freezer.

Wala – tomatoes for the rest of the year for your soups, chili, and sauces!

As it stands.. I have cucumbers growing outta my ears! I think I planted too many this year – going by the cucumbers-in-waiting that are still out there on the vine? I have enough to keep the entire neighborhood in cucumbers from now ’till Christmas! Fa la la la la la la la la!

Tags: Garden, Gardening, Garden+Pests, Garden+Dust, Beans

One of those pieces of advice concerned garden pests and diseases that can hurt my plants. Mostly such insects as aphids, cabbage worms, harlequin bugs, bean beetles, Japanese beetles, stink bugs, thrips, and more. And diseases like bacterial spot, blights, and powdery mildew.

My natural question was, “Well, Garden Doctor Dad – how do I control these things?? Can I?”

He told me about a product called “Garden Dust” that he uses on his plants (and flowers) every year to keep the insects and diseases at bay. He told me to apply the garden dust the very MINUTE I start seeing holes in the leaves of my plants – - because that generally means there is some bug.. or two or three.. munching away at my precious vegetables and flowers!

Today, in my vegetable garden – I noticed that my pole bean plants had quite a few little holes munched in the leaves – - so, luckily, I had followed my Dad’s advice and purchased a few containers of Garden Dust. I went to the garage and got the container and ‘dusted’ all my plants in the garden.

Hopefully, this will now keep the little munchers at bay and AWAY from my plants!

A week later – they turned pure white, then they turned brown, dried out and withered away. I had to dig them up and replace them with new cucumber plants – which after a week are doing extremely well at the moment. They’re deep green and nice and perky in their new home.

But why did my old cucumber plants turn white?

I’ve found two possible scenarios:

1.) The soil is too nitrogen rich. When we prepared the garden – we mixed in rotted manure into the soil and planted the cucumbers in it – - along with vegetable slow-release fertilizer. This proved to be too much fertilizer with the manure and slow-release fertilizer combined. solution: when the plants died.. I dug them up.. made a large hole around the area and filled that hole with regular topsoil (non fertilized) then mixed that soil with the surrounding fertilized soil. This mixed in good nutrients, but decreased the nitrogen content of the surrounding soil. I then replanted the cucumbers.

2.) the very night I planted the cucumbers… it got down to 38 degrees overnight. While that is not freezing temperatures – there is a such thing as a ‘chilling injury’ that can occur in cucumber plants… in zones that are cooler. It happens in zones where the temperatures warm prematurely (in Wisconsin that would be early -mid April) – - then gardeners (like ME!) get anxious to plant and they go out and get their crops in the ground – - then the temperatures dip to an ‘almost’ freezing temperature.. but not quite freezing. The chilling effect occurs: “Exposure to chilling
temperatures results in increased ethylene production and leakage of cell membranes. The degree of chilling injury depends on the temperature, the duration of chilling, and other factors such as relative humidity and soil moisture. Because chilling results in cell leakage, damage to plants can stress tissues. These include loss of turgor (wilting or drooping leaves) and leaf scorch, appearing as a whitish ring around the leaf margins. Other symptoms include reduced growth rate after warming and plant yellowing.” [source]

So – my mystery white cucumbers may be solved with one, or both, of the solutions above. Either way – I replanted and they are currently doing extremely well – - let’s hope that continues throughout the season!

Here’s one of my absolute favorite garden recipes:

MARINATED TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SALAD
4 lg. tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 cucumbers, peeled & cubed
1 lg. Vidalia onion, peeled & sliced
1/2 c. olive or salad oil
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. oregano

Put prepared vegetables in large salad bowl. In smaller bowl combine remaining ingredients with wire whip until salt and sugar dissolve. Pour dressing over vegetables and let stand in refrigerator about 1 hour before serving for best flavor.

From the garden: Tomato, cucumber, vidalia onion, oregeno

From the grocery: Sugar, cidar vinegar, salt, olive oil

Man, I cannot wait!

Tags: Garden+Recipe, Tomato, Cucumber, Vidalia+Onion, Oregeno, tomato+cucumber+salad, salad

Thought we would join in the Thursday Thirteen fun this week. Instead of 13 things about Me – I have created The Garden 13 with 13 interesting gardening tips and tricks I’ve come across over the past week.

To start off our second Garden 13 – we’re talkin’ tomatoes! I’m a BIG fan of all types of tomatoes and have planted 6 different varieties in my own garden. I’m listing them here – along with 7 other fabulous varieties that I wish I would have planted, but did not have the room

Here are 13 fabulous tomato varieties (the first 6 are in my garden):

1. Beefsteak Tomatoes – This surprisingly compact plant (20-24″) is just loaded with large flavorful tomatoes. Combines big meaty fruit (8-12 oz.) and early maturity on a dwarf plant, perfect for a small garden and patio containers. Yeilds perfect slices for sandwiches!





2. Roma Tomatoes – Bright red, plum shaped, paste-type fruits with meaty interiors. Determinate plants. Ready to pick about 76 days after plants are set out. GARDEN HINTS: Fertilize when first fruits form to increase yield. Water deeply once a week during very dry weather.





3. Cherry Tomatoes - Scarlet, cherry-sized fruits are produced in long clusters right up to frost. 70 days. Bursting with sugary flavor. Scarlet, cherry-sized fruits are produced in long clusters right up to frost. Grow on stakes or fence.





4. Grape tomatoes - these are my favorite! I can pick these and just eat them right off the vine! nce upon a time, grape tomatoes were considered a specialty item. Now, as the word about grape tomatoes is catching on and are more mainstream.





5. Fourth of July Tomato – The first tomato to ripen by Independence Day! Be the first on your block to have vine ripened red, luscious tomatoes by the Fourth of July. Enjoy the plentiful harvest about 49 days after setting plants in the garden. Indeterminate plants produce fruits that average 4 ounces all season long. YUM!





6. Tomato Viva Italia Hybrid – The best tomato for soups and ketchup. Vigorous plants yield an abundance of 3 oz. fruits. Disease resistant.





7. Tomato Heatwave – Grow great tasting tomatoes in the most intense summer heat even at 100°F. Round, 6-7 oz. fruits on com pact plants are extremely disease resistant.





8. Tomato Sweet Tangerine Hybrid - Gorgeously golden and astonishingly sweet. These delectable tomatoes also ripen early for so large a fruit. The determinate plants set very heavy crops, even in hot weather. Strong disease resistance. Ready to harvest in 68 days.





9. Yellow Pear Tomato – This extremely old variety makes a vigorous plant, which bears enormous numbers of bright yellow, bite-sized fruit. The flavor is deliciously tangy. Perfect for summer party hors d’oeuvres.





10. Pink Belgium Tomato - A succulent and enormous dark 1-1/2 to 2 lb. pink tomato that many gardeners prefer to the more acidic varieties. The flavor is sweet and very mild, and the large fruits are very attractive. Indeterminate. Pink-skinned tomatoes occur as a result of a clear skin over red flesh. (Ordinary red tomatoes have yellow skin over red flesh.) When ripe fruits retain green pigment, tomatoes take on purple and brownish hues.





11. Brandywine Tomato – Exceptionally delicious pink fruits, up to 1 lb. each, grow on indeterminate plants.





12. Brandy Boy Tomato – Many gardeners consider Brandywine heirloom tomato (above) to be the best tasting of all tomatoes. But as all tomato connoisseurs know, Brandywine has its drawbacks. The tomatoes are often misshapen with uneven shoulder ripening. The plants grow wildly, set fruit late in the summer and yield a sparse crop at best. But not Brandy Boy! Our new hybrid Brandywine produces loads of large pink fruits, up to 5½ inches across, that ripen evenly, with soft heirloom texture, thin skin and that same incredible Brandywine flavor. Better yet the plants sport an upright more manageable growth habit. Brandy Boy is an indeterminate variety, ready to pick 75-78 days after setting out plants. If you love tomatoes like we do, and especially the rich, tangy-sweet taste of Brandywine, don’t miss Brandy Boy!





13. Tomato Tomande - Tomato connoisseurs rave about the flavor of these broad-shouldered beauties. Fleshy, juicy and flavorful,’Tomande’ will treat gourmet gardeners with both heirloom taste and abundant hybrid yields.

Happy Gardening!

Tags: Thursday+Thirteen, Thursday+13, T13, Thirteeners, Gardening, Garden, Tomato, Tomatoes, Vegetable+Garden

My list:

1. Tomatoes
2. Cherry Tomatoes
3. Grape Tomatoes
4. Green Beans
5. Peas
6. Onions
7. Carrots
8. Broccoli
9. Cauliflower
10. Cucumbers
11. Lettuce
12. Various Herbs

Once I had that list – I researched each plant to determine the spacing needs for each plant. This way – I knew ahead of time how many plants I could put in a row, and how much space I would need. Some plants are crawlers (cucumbers) – - others are root plants that don’t need a lot of room (carrots, onions) – - others are climbers needing trellises or cages (tomatoes, beans, peas).

Armed with this knowledge – we set about the task of creating the bed, first. We chose a nice location in the yard that was sure to recieve a good 6-8 hours of direct sunlight during the day. We used steaks and string to mark off the exact area we needed and started digging the edge.

Once we had the edges defined, we tilled the ground about 12 inches deep. Turning up all the soild and grass. Luckily, we didn’t find any stones or rocks in the ground at all – - we found real excellent and rich sandy soil that would be perfect for our garden.

Once the area was tilled – - we removed the top 3 inches of soil from the area and replaced it with a compost mixture with rotten manure for a good fertilizer base.

The whole process of edging the area, digging it up, tilling it, removing the top 3 inches and replacing with compost took us approximately 4 hours to complete. We would have kept going, except the skies were warning us to pack it in and head inside. We have quite a doozy of a storm coming our way!

Tomorrow, weather providing – we will finish the bed off by edging it with the brick that we bought from our local garden center:

We decided to put an edge around the garden to keep a good separation of garden and grass – since our grass is very rich, thick and fast growing – we don’t want it growing into the garden!

I’ll post updates on our garden progress as time goes on.

Tags: Garden, Gardening, Vegetable+Gardening, Starting+A+Garden

Size: Bush types grow one to two feet in height and just as wide; pole types grow 6-8 feet tall adn 1 foot wide.

Features: Tender green beans grow on bushes or vinelike plants.

Uses: Grown in a vegetable garden for edible uses.

Needs: Full sun. Good, well-drained soil with consistent moisture. Plant from seed 1 inch deep and 12-18 inches apart two weeks after your regions last frost date. Provide teepees or other supports for pole beans. Beans start to produce in 40-100 days.

Harvest daily for best production, picking beans while small and tender. If growing beans for drying, allow bean to dry on the plant, then remove from pods and store. For longest harvest, plant a new crop every two weeks. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers, which decrease yeilds. Working with plants when wet can spread rust. Mexican bean beetle is this plants worst pest, control with pyrethrin.

Tags: Garden, Gardening, Vegetable+Gardening, Green+Beans, Growing+Beans, Beans, Edibles

Size: 3-6 feet tall, 2-3 feet wide

Features:Thistlelike plant that gives an edible flower bud

Uses: For use in a the vegetable garden with the intention to harvest and eat. Some gardeners grow artichokes in the flower border because of it’s beautiful bold-featured leaves.

Needs: Needs full sun. Artichoke prefers rich, well-drained soil with good moisture but will tolerate poorer soils and less moisture. It may die out in winters with freezing temperatures. Plants lose productivity after 4 years. Plant established plants in late winter after all danger of frost has passed.

Planting: Plant 2-3 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart. cut off the artichoke with 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch stem before it begins to open. In winter, cut back plants to 10 inches and cover with loose winter mulch. In cold regions, grow as an annual.

Artichokes are bothered by few pests and insects.

Look for plants that are thornless, mature quickly and produce many artichokes per plant.

It is a good choice for growing as an annual.

Tags: Gardening, Garden, Vegetables, Vegetable+Garden, Artichokes, Growing+Artichokes, Artichoke