July 31, 2009 Tomato Report

210 Tomatoes Harvested as of today!!!!

76 Yellow Pear-thanks Tomato Fest for the free seeds

New Vickers Family Salsa Recipe (Jeremy's experimental salsa)

1 Mortgage Lifter Tomato

1/2 Vidalia onion

1/2 red pepper

2 banana peppers

1/2 teaspoon jalapeno pepper

1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of cilantro

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon lime juice

Blend well!

And of course, was have canned:

Sweet Pickles

Pepper Relish

And working on Cinnamon Cucumber Rings

FAVORITE TOMATO SO FAR IS STILL- The Black Zebra

MOST DISAPPOINTING TOMATO- Mortgage Lifter (hence, the use in salsa recipe)

The Black Zebra Heirloom Tomato

(Black Zebra)

So far this has been the most interesting heirloom tomato in our 2009 garden. Here is what someone wrote about the Black Zebra-

"This stunning, perfectly round 1½" to 2" fruits with tender, deep dark red to caramel colored skin beneath vertical dark green and mahogany streaks . . .Black Zebra has opulent, rich flavor with hints of smoke and sweetness"

It is an absolutely stunning and delicious tomato. We had no idea that a tomato could have so many flavors all wrapped up in one small package.

I (Jeremy) have been anxiously awaiting this one to ripen and after months of waiting, we finally tried it.

This is the best tasting tomato (or maybe a close second to the whopper) I have had this year. I encourage you to find one of these and try it with anything and everything. It is perfect on BLT's!!!!

Our List Thus Far of Top Five Favorites-

1. Black Zebra (heirloom)

2. Whopper

3. Dixie Golden Giant (heirloom)

4. Argentina (heirloom)

5. Bull's Heart (heirloom)

We have 41 tomato plants (6 whopper plants-year, we like whoppers)

And our total harvested tomatoes-

134

And it's not even August.

Total Tomatoes As of July 16, 2009

17 Yellow Pear Tomatoes
75 Tomatoes
And we just picked the first Black Zebra....it should be very interesting.

Right now, impressive of course, the Whoppers-23 of those so far. The perfect and best tasting tomato out there.

The Mortgage Lifter was interesting and we are excited to taste the Ultimate Golden Giant.

The 1st BLT of the Season

It's July 11, 2009. 2 pm. Simply perfect.

Smoked Bacon

Iceberg Lettuce

Tomato- Mortgage Lifter

Wheat Bread

Mayo

July 11, 2009 Garden Report

A total of 35 tomatoes have been harvested.

67 Cucumbers- ready for pickling.

55 potatoes

9 Okra

45 onions

8 peppers

67 yellow beans

The heirlooms are doing really well this year. Absolutely beautiful. We anticipate the last week of July to be the BIG harvest.