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A really neat tomato paste

Well, I found a great way to make my own tomato paste and save it for future use. I just took a 28oz can of plum tomatos with juice and put it in a sauce pan over very low heat and smushed the tomatoes with a potato masher and cooked low until it looked like tomato paste. Read more »

Tomatoes and spheres

Crossposted at Dailykos.com

For those of ye who do not know me well, gardening is sort of a release and a creative direction for me. For those of ye that do, the same. I am inspired by the by the bounty that my garden is now providing, and some of that bounty consists of fresh, ripe tomatoes, in all sizes. That, like everything does, got me thinking.

Store tomatoes look pretty, but are of little flavor and practically no “nose”. Farmer’s Market ones are much better, but often blemished. I will trade blemishes for taste and nose any day. Part of this has to do with commercial varieties versus small patch varieties. Commercial ones are hard, and mechanically picked underripe so they can stand transportation. Small patch ones are softer and often are left to ripen on the vine.

But the best are the ones that you pick yourself, daily, at the peak of ripeness, from either a garden (I am lucky to have enough space for one), or from a patio planter. Anyone that has full sun for at least half the day can grow them.

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My Pitiful Garden

I am getting a really slow start this year. I started seeds two weeks ago tomorrow, and they are just now starting to germinate, and the germination rate does not look that hot. Because of the way that I garden, I can not direct seed into the ground, but must transplant seedlings instead. It has been on the cool side here in the Bluegrass, so I guess that has a lot to do with it. I guess that I should have started my plants inside, but it was warm when I put the pots out Friday before last.

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