Tomatoes, for the record, are almost past but not my memories of them....

Tonight, in Monkton, Vermont- frost threatens and I'm happy that my lettuce and tender crops in the raised bed gardens are snuggly wrapped with blankets.  My hoop house is shut up tight, but will need more work before I deem it fit to grow suitable cold weather crops into the early winter months.  Lucky for us we will see a reprieve in weather by the weekend.  But I know it won't last for very long!

All summer, as I trod down to my hoop house, I had every intention of starting a blog.  Time is just what I had to think about it, since it takes me about an hour to water my 30+ tomato plants and other assorted  warm weather crops.  And during the heat of summer I would make that trip two to three times a week.  It's a small hoop house by industrial standards-but for a home-owner, whose desire is to feed my husband and I, it's a suitable size. 

I mentally took notes on what tomato plants seemed to be performing best.  And I had every intention to weigh each plant's yields and take detailed notes on what varieties tasted like-or how they were best used (salsas, sauces, or freshly eaten), we even dreamed up a tomato tasting, my husband and I.  Did any of this come to fruition?  Nope.  I lost count around 150 to 200 lbs of tomatoes.

What I can tell you is this, I ate fresh tomatoes from summer to fall.  I still have buckets to can and I am cursing when I will find the time to process them.  Yet, it seems like just yesterday I was lamenting for the taste of a fresh tomato.  Now I can't wait to rip out the lovely beast that tower to the top of my (kind of short hoop house at about 7-8'tall) and still dangle lovely green orbs. 

 

I have a lovely collection of home canned products put away for the chillier months and into the season before we hopefully see an abundance of this fruit again.  Ketchup, salsa, pasta sauce and a gem of a condiment that we refer to as sweet chili sauce (something passed down from my grandmother).  A concoction of tomatoes, onions, peppers and a few spices that boiled down with vinegar make the most delectable condiment on pork, eggs and just about anything!  All these canned goods line our shelves and make me smile with pride. 

So who cares if I don't quite recall how many tomatoes came off the Constuluto Genovese and why it took so long to put in the Purple Cherokee and Red Siberian tomatoes this year (our favorites from last year)-or even that the Brandywines just didn't do that great.  I was thrilled by varieties with great names like: Mater Sandwich and Giant Tree Tomato.  Jet Star was so super prolific, that while I was checking the hoop house this evening I picked a few more tomatoes that were ripening.   Through out the growing season I popped various cherry tomatoes into my mouth like candy.  I'm over-joyed with how our first year of raising tomatoes in a hoop house turned out.  And we were fortunate in that we escaped blight, something that many of my gardening friends had their entire crops wiped out by when tropical storm Irene blew it into their gardens. 

For now I dream of the seed catalogues arriving during the snowy months and what tomato varieties I will try next.  I have great memories of an exceptional tomato year and until I get out the yogurt cups and seed starter mix I will enjoy what I was able to preserve.