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Garden Gate:  Over Doing it!  |
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MichelleTN
True Blue Farmgirl
118 Posts
Michelle
TN
USA
118 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 5:38:22 PM
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Since this whole garden bug hit me I am going nuts, I know I am planting entirely too much of some things....like 15 tomatoes for just me! lol Dh does not eat them. I kept seeing different kinds like Better Boy, Big Boy, and Celebrity that my mom grew when I was a kid so before I knew it I planted 15 plants. I planned to make salsa with all these tomatoes to can but then I read somewhere that you make salsa with Roma tomotoes. So, I don't know what to do, I am not going to plant Roma now with already that many planted...does anyone know for sure if only Roma tomatoes are good for canning salsa?
I planted only three yellow squash, three bush cukes, entirely TOO much cabbage...8 brocoli plants, 4 Watermelon, 4 Cantelope, one row of Okra, 5 rows of corn, 12 different peppers, 8 celery, radishes, lettuce (three kinds) onion and garlic, this just not seem like a good balance of things..lol...guess this first year will be a real learning experience!!
I don't how much all these plants will produce...guess LisaBee and anyone else I know will be getting veggies if this garden takes off!!!
Anyone one else running out of room??? I was kinda wanting to plant Eggplant but know nothing about it, don't think I have eaten it so maybe I will wait until next year to try it. Or is that a must have?
Hugs, Michelle
My Blog: http://tangledthreadsandknottedyarn.blogspot.com/ |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 5:47:48 PM
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i don't think that you have to use only romas for salsa. i think they just happen to be well suited to salsa because of their fleshiness and fewer seeds. if all of the tomatoes i have started make it i will have way, way too many tomato plants. And my husband can't eat them either. i'm like you. i love variety and can't resist when i find one i want to try.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 7:05:47 PM
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You can use any kind of tomato for salsa. For the tomatoes you listed you'll want to drain the excess water often. Paste tomatoes (Roma, Grandma Mary's, Heinz and others) are exactly what Laura said ~ fleshier and have fewer seeds, and they have a lot less water. Three yellow squash and cukes is good. That's enough for yourself (keep picking and they'll keep growing more) and some to give away. Summer squash is really good on the grill! It's also good in your salsa if you're eating the salsa fresh. The cabbage ~ when it's almost full sized you can give it a good tug up and a quarter turn, all at once, to preserve it in the garden longer. It will break some of the roots which will slow down/halt growth.
Do you have a flower garden you can put an eggplant in? The flowers are beautiful and the leaves add a nice color to the flower garden.
I can think of something you're missing and need. Cilantro. You've got just about everything for salsa but cilantro.
Good luck with your garden!
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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ali2583
True Blue Farmgirl
404 Posts
Alison
Winnipeg
Manitoba
Canada
404 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 8:01:43 PM
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Roma tomatoes are absolutely fantastic sliced up on their own, with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. The best tomato salad ever. I also like to throw in some sliced cukes as well.
And...romas are excellent for bruschetta, for the same reason as salsa. Fewer seeds and fleshier. I'm trying yellow Romas this year for the first time. Wish me luck!
"God's gift to you is life. What you choose to do with that life is your gift to God" |
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 9:08:22 PM
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You can always donate what extra you have left over. That's what I do.. I did this for years, it was a good lesson for my children too.
Carla...
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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LisaBee
True Blue Farmgirl
149 Posts
Lisa
Sparta
TN
USA
149 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2006 : 11:47:04 PM
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Michelle, I will be happy, happy, happy to come and help you can whatever you get out of your garden. So glad you planted cantaloupes! Yummy.
"There is no teacup too large, nor book too long."
http://lisa222.blogspot.com WEBSITE http://alittlepartasparta.com |
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MichelleTN
True Blue Farmgirl
118 Posts
Michelle
TN
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2006 : 06:11:23 AM
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Now I am really kicking myself for not making room for Romas and Yellow Bell Peppers...and I do have too little bushes of Cilantro and several other herbs in the raised bed..I think I need more Cilantro..and I would still like to plant a butter squash..I have never tried it but it sounds good. And I wish I had now planted potatoes, there is nothing better than fresh dug potatoes from the garden!
Last evening I planted snapdragons on the one flower bed border and tried to figure out where to plant the red Peony bush I got...need more flowers to fill in the perrenial bed, too.
Lisa, you will have to come over this summer for chips, fresh salsa and Margaritas!!
Hugs, Michelle
PS We are so blessed to be able to garden and watch things grow you know, I feel so fulfilled out there working in the dirt, wish I would have tried gardening sooner!!
My Blog: http://tangledthreadsandknottedyarn.blogspot.com/ |
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sonflowergurl
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Katee
Tampa 'Burbs
FL
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Apr 25 2006 : 8:12:55 PM
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A friend of mine just got an eggplant from Home Depot this weekend and planted it in a large pot! LOL You might want to try it.
Katee
The end will justify the pain it took to get us here.
"Looking Toward the Son"---- http://sonflowergirl731.blogspot.com
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2006 : 04:45:01 AM
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Michelle, you learn as you go! I always plant more incase you lose some to pests or the weather. And any tomato makes a good salsa, esp. green tomatos, one year at the end of the season I had a bunch of green tomatoes coming on so I made some salsa out of them and it turned to be the best!! And if I get too many, I donate them to the shelter or senior center. Keep growing girl!!
www.sageflowerfarm.blogspot.com
www.herbalfarmstead.blogspot.com
www.countrypleasures.motime.com |
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MichelleTN
True Blue Farmgirl
118 Posts
Michelle
TN
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2006 : 06:28:42 AM
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Katee,
Good idea! I am wanting to plant herbs in big galvanized tubs anyway that sould be another thing to put in them.
See, you all are full of the best ideas!!
Hugs,
Michelle
My Blog: http://tangledthreadsandknottedyarn.blogspot.com/ |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Apr 26 2006 : 06:58:55 AM
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Michelle -
Like you I have around 12 tomatoe plants (started from seed) I have half planted in the garden, rest in pots for now. I will probably plant 3 more in what I call my "overflow" garden area. The rest I will give to my mom. Mine are only two varieties - beefsteak and golden jubilee. You can make salsa from any type of tomatoe. These two I love to put together in salsa, wonderful colors with the orange of the jubilees and the red of the beefsteaks. I am also planning on making homemade ketchup since I am growing alot of onions and garlic too. That's another thing you can make, if you like that. I got hooked on the homemade stuff and now really can't stand store bought.
Anne
"Second star to the right, straight on till morning" Peter Pan
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Apr 28 2006 : 11:02:09 AM
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Here's another good recipe for toamtoes
Take a pita circle cut into 4ths .
Dice tomatoes, mix with feta cheese crumbles and fresh basil leaves.
Spoon this onto the pitas and lightly toast. This is good on any bread really MMM MMMMMMMM
We discovered a tomato variety last year called "Pink Girl" It is as its name implies and is incredibly sweet and mighty good for making tomato sandwiches. Sadly, I did not save seeds, so will scarf up any plants I can find this year and will save seeds! The place where I pick strawberries sold us the plants last year.
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Grits
Farmgirl in Training
11 Posts
kathy
hildebran
nc
11 Posts |
Posted - May 04 2006 : 10:05:42 AM
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Hello Sue/junebug,Wow,Ijust visited your blogspots and I'm impressed!Beautiful work.I do have a question-what is the vine growing on the arch-way in the greenhouse picture?Keep up the good work! Grits
You will never see your future if you live in your past! |
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LisaBee
True Blue Farmgirl
149 Posts
Lisa
Sparta
TN
USA
149 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2006 : 8:28:08 PM
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Michelle, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES! That's what we can do with some of those tomato plants! I went and got the canning book, too, even though I don't know anything about canning yet. Reading some of the other posts made me want to go to the "pick your own" strawberry place up the mountain and learn how to make jam NOW. I am home for the next three months, so please stop by ANYTIME. Hugs.
"There is no teacup too large, nor book too long."
http://lisa222.blogspot.com WEBSITE http://alittlepartasparta.com |
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Garden Gate: Over Doing it! |
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Over Doing it!
