I just harvested my first tomato from m y garden:)

“Yup its that time of year, tomato and zuccini season. WOHOO! In the next few days I will be picking loads of cheeries too (i have 3 trees full of them) But my favorites are the tomatos. I can never get enough of them and always miss them during the winter.”

“I'll send you my mailing addy ASAP.
OK?

hehehe”

“Yum yum send me some”

“lol maple i usually have soooo many tomatos i cant even give them away by the end of the season! You can come over to the west coast here and pick em yourself :P”

“I had zuchini bread this morning. Somebody brought it in to work. Good stuff!”

“I've got malabar spinach taking over in the yard. It grows as a tropical vine, is very tasty, and grows faster than kudzu. It reseeds itself better than anything I've ever seen.”

“Ive got weeds growing.. does that count?”

“I have dill as high as my head! :)”

“wait that didn't sound right.

Ive got some very nice house plants growing in my Apart.

(no you can not smoke them!!)”

“Well, you could... with unpredictable results

LOL”

“I planted dill last week and something, a rabbit probably, mowed it to the ground. Someone needs to teach these animals that if they eat a little the plant won't die and they will then have more later.

Free, is your garden fenced in?”

“Hot pepper spray keeps the bunnies away. But for God's sake, don't stand downwind when using it!”

“nope...but then I dont have rabits or deer to munch it down...just opposums, and they come for the cherries and peaches.”

“something you learned the hard way tree?”

“LMAO. Im having my vine ripe tomato for lunch today :P man the flavor on home grown ones are so superb! nothing can be compared to it.

Tomoato of dreams
Now has come to fruitation
It will be sandwiched”

“We Canadians like your veggies too, but the price is high. I'm cooking chicken tandoori this evening and will have it with basmahti rice and almond pilaf and a California zucchini on the grill.”

“high price for zuccinni? heh I cant even give them away! then they become the size of baseball bats and the only thing you can do is make LOADS of zuccini bread and throw it in the freezer. I use to sell em as a kid, 10 for a buck. Made a lot of $$ that way”

“Man you guys are way ahead of us here. plus the rains have slowed things up.

My tomato plants are only about a foot and a half tall.

We have deer and rabbits that have been a problem in the past. This year I planted cayenne pepper plants around the edge of the garden and there's been no damage yet even though deer and rabbits have both been spotted in the yard.”

“my plants are almost head high now :) Last year they were 14 feet high, YIKES!”

“(by the end of the season that is)”

“It’s been so cool and rainy my tomato and pepper plants aren’t doing squat. It was 39 degrees yesterday morning.”

“Do you used cages, stakes? What are you feeding them. Them's big plants”

“i stake em. Cages are too small to contain the monsters

i guess i have a green thumb, all i feed them are mannure and compost at planting, thats it.
My grandfather used to grow them even taller with miracle grow but i think it is just the climate.”

“It’s been so cool and rainy my tomato and pepper plants aren’t doing squat. It was 39 degrees yesterday morning."
must hike
01:13:39 PM
06/03/03


well they are doing squat. they are squatting.

HAHAHHA”

“I'm trying liquid fish emulsion on mine this year. It's high in nitrogen. Working good so far. I poke a hole and poor it down toward the roots. The nitrogen can burn the part of the plant obove the ground.”

“I just made elderberry jelly today.”

“Watch the high nitrogen IJ. You'll get tons of plant and few tomatoes.”

“Hey Tango- got any extra? I'll buy some from you.”

“Hey Lyndy...try planting marigolds around the perimeter of your garden to keep bunnies away. They don't like the smell or something...trust me. We've got all sorts of bunny food growing (carrots, 8 varieties of lettuce, beans, tomato, etc.) AND we have a momma bunny with 3 babies that live under our shed. The babies are old enough now that they are romping around the yard - too friggin' cute! Anyhoo...not so much as a nibble in the garden. The marigolds seem to be working.

Congrats on your tomatoes, Free. It'll be a wee bit longer before we see any produce here in PA.
:o)”

“Woodchucks are a problem for my garden and other than shooting them does anyone know how to repel them.”

“rich - try mothballs (works great for feral cats!)”

“Good idea! I'll give that a try since it's supposed to work on the porcupines too.”

“AmyG-It sounds like you have a welfare queen single mother living under your shed.”

“Violin, I use the nitrogen to boost growth when they're young then stop before they start bearing fruit.

FYI -- Anyone have trouble with their tomatoes splitting. I used to and found out it was from uneven watering.

They were having growth spurts and splitting thier skins. If you water a little each day it will prevent this from happening.”

“Since SnackBoy is sleeping on the job here...

Tomato Pie

4 tomatoes peeled and sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped”

“I just put my plants in the garden last Thurs...jealous!”

“We have the beginnings of a blush on our strawberries. Should be red w/in two weeks”

“Since SnackBoy is sleeping on the job here...

Tomato Pie

4 tomatoes peeled and sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup Green Onion
1 (9inch) prebaked deep dish pie shell
1 cup Grated Mozzarella
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

place tomatoes in colander in the sink in 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt and allow to drain 10 minutes.

Layer the tomato slices, basil and onion in pie shell. Season with salt and pepper. Combine the grated cheeses and mayonnaise together, Spread mixture on top of the tomatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

to serve, cut into slices and serve warm

(Reheats in microwave well!)

Vary this recipe any way you like, I like tomato spinich and feta cheese for the greek flavor!”

“grilled in a pan with green peppers and onions

slapped all that inbetween 2 tortiilas and some mexican cheeses

grilled the quesedia in the pan :)

YUM!”

“my mom makes the best zuchinni bread in the world, so moist and delicious. i've never tasted anything better.

my grandma loved zuchinni, she made zuchinni bread, zuchinni pizza, zuchinni fritters...

i hate the taste of raw zuchinni, though.”

“my mouth is watering, time for lunch!”

“People who are already harvesting tomatoes give the sport of gardening a bad name. I just got mine in the ground Saturday.

Marigolds at the corners, chicken wire on the perimeter, garden fencing to secure the base of the wire. The first teeth marks I see in any of my leaves or produce, I'm going to be having rabbit stew along with my salad.”

“and nobody noticed that Free, the queen of Haiku-Hating, wrote a haiku for her first tomato?!?!

my 2 tomato bushes, planted in the 1'x4' strip of earth in front of my townhouse, each have tiny little baby tomatoes that TEASE me every morning with their immaturity. ha! they'll be eaten and dried soon enough! salsa season is here - now if only i could keep cilantro alive.”

“The blueberries at my folks home are getting ripe. I'm going to pick and eat a bunch this weekend.
Going to try drying a few in my snackmaster. Yum!”