Sunday, August 26, 2007

Tomatoes in a Tub

Anyone for fried green tomatoes?



For the sixteen years E. and I lived in Chino Valley, a rural community about fifteen miles north of Prescott, we grew vegetables in a huge garden plot. Each autumn found us busy canning and freezing just about every vegetable you can think of.

We pickeled cucumbers and beets, tried our hand at sauerkraut, and one time...one time only.......made some horseradish. It was an overpowering experience. Tears streamed from our eyes. Near to unconsciousness from the overpowering fumes, we gasped, "Never! Absolutely, never, ever again!"

One of the reasons we chose the One Acre Wood as our home when we moved to the big city of Prescott was the old garden plot, a flat sunny area in about the center of the acre. For ten years or so, we gardened here and continued to preserve much of our own food.

Fresh summer tomatoes mean a lot to me, so now that our well no longer produces enough water for indulging full scale vegetable gardening, I grow two tomato plants in half-whiskey barrels each year. Although these plants aren't as productive as tomato plants grown in rich garden soil, I'm always rewarded with some home grown tomatoes. Early Girl is not the biggest tomato, but as the name implies, an early tomato for our short growing season. And here's the first ripe tomeato of the year!

8 comments:

Granny J said...

I suspect that you and E have the touch! The only tomatoes I've been truly successful with in my pots and tubs are grape-sized cherry tomatoes! Besides, they indulge my have it now mentality!

meggie said...

That ripe tomato looks so wonderful! The only tomatoes I have had 'growing' are the ones in the fridge with mould on them!

Linda G. said...

gj, those little grape size tomatoes have so much flavor! I was going to try planting one this year, then just did my usual.

meggie, there you go..making me laugh again!

Joni said...

Early Girl Bush variety is my favorite! You better tell those tomatoes to hurry up!!

Linda G. said...

joni, thanks for stopping by! As you can tell, I've always longed to live on a real farm as you do.

quilteddogs said...

Those are some good lookin' tomatoes. I hope you enjoy them

Old Sourdough said...

Growing tomatoes is the one thing I miss about Minnesota. The nights up here just don't get warm enough. Plenty of heat and sunshine in the daytime, but the chilly nights just stop them. I have a few harvestable green ones, but simply gave up on having a red tomato on the vine. ...sigh...

Oh, by the way...my son and his family used to live out your way. They were in Chino Valley for a while, then Paulden.

Linda G. said...

quilteddogs, thanks for stopping by, and for leaving your nice comment.

liz, I think you're a tomato lover to grow them even when none ripen. I too, end up picking lots of green tomatoes. The growing season is much shorter than even Chino Valley and we're only about 1000 feet higher.
Interesting that your son lived in Chino and Paulden. When did he live there? Small, small world...