Canning, canning and more canning

This week we canned the following items:

Banana Pepper Jelly
Basil Banana Pepper Jelly
Jalepeno Pepper Jelly
Hot Jalepeno Pepper Jelly
Pickled Banana Peppers

All in one day, close to 50 jars of good stuff.
Pictures to follow.

Best Tomato Harvest ever!

150 regular and heirloom tomatoes were harvest on August 8, 2010 in our little garden.  Wow.  Crazy.  Never so many tomatoes.  The best tasting are still the whoppers, with the Black Krim coming in a very close second.  Jeremy enjoys the chocolate cherry tomatoes and the black zebras.  Jill likes the black krim and really, really ripe  red tomatoes.  Here are a few pics.

Mirror Lake

This is Mirror Lake. A fairly easy hike on our first full day in Yosemite 2010. Overall, we estimate we hiked between 25-30 miles during our trip. What a beautiful place to hang out for a week. John Muir once called Yosemite God's Cathedral. So true.

Tomato Plants are In!

Mother's Day 2010, May 9th, we planted our first set of around 50 tomatoes. We have more to plant and will do so this next weekend. We are waiting for them to grow a bit inside. We planted 300 inside and they have been growing under grow lights. Why 50 + and why 300?

Well, we like to give stuff away.

With 70+ plants planted this year, we estimate 1500 or more tomatoes. We can't can or eat that many. Sooooo, giving them away.

And 300 tomato plants will provide possibly 10,000 tomatoes for friends and family.

We will slowly be giving plants away this next few weeks. Show up to church and receive some free tomato plants!!!!!

So It's May 2010

It is almost time. The tomato plants are growing well under their grow lights. Currently, we have approximately 256 tomatoes growing. We will need to split numerous more as there are three to four per plastic holder. We plan on planting on Mother's Day, May 9th this year. Last year we planted in April and although everything went well, the wind kept us worried for about a week. We had to purchase straw to place around the plants so they would not get wind-whipped.

Wind-Whipped: (definition)- When the wind blows your tomato so much that it lays over and dies. It gives up. The leaves lose their strength and the plant dies. NOT GOOD.

We did a topsy turvy last year and well, the tomato was wind whipped and died. So, protect your tomatoes as best you can and in one week, the fun really begins!!!!!!

Preparing Your Garden- April 19, 2010

Well, we had over 8 yards of pulverized topsoil delivered from American TopSoil in KC this weekend. We placed a few wheel barrels of dirt on the herb garden. The rest of the dirt was moved by a Dingo, rented from Bledsoe's here in Lee's Summit. If we had just moved it ourselves, it would have taken two days. But with the Dingo, it took 3 hrs. So we placed most of the topsoil in our garden. Our main garden is 70 ft x 6 ft. The amount of topsoil might have been a yard too much, but we did not want to run out. American Topsoil delivered it in a timely manner and we were able to get it all done on Friday. Then we went mushroom hunting. Went looking for Morels at James A Reed Wildlife area and well, found nothing so far. We hear people are starting to find them, but we did not. So next Sunday we will go out again.

As for our seeds, currently was have over 200 tomato plants growing under our grow lights in the basement. We did our last move from the small containers to the bigger ones. We are patiently waiting now. The peppers are doing well. We only need to purchase two more sections of cattle panels and well, we will be ready to plant!

We did put some strawberries in this year. Never planted them before. We will have to see how they do. Rheau (our puppy) decided to attach the onions. She does not eat them, she just picks them from the soil and plays with them.

And, another GREAT DEBATE has started in the Vickers/Rilinger household again.

Can you grow potatoes above ground under straw? Well, we are trying it this year. We will see. So, get your gardens ready friends. We already have tilled once and are eagerly waiting for Mother's Day to start planting some tomatoes! Happy Gardening.

Heirloom Tomato

Here are a few pics from last years bounty. Last year we grew almost everything from seed. The Heirlooms were all amazing. The paste were very meaty and just downright good. The pinks were good too. One of the best was the Dixie Golden Giant. Absolutely amazing. As we plan for this year one new one we are going to try is the Cherokee Purple. It's an Heirloom that grows well in the Midwest.

One note of caution with heirlooms in this area. We had three last year that, well, just did not produce.

Aussie, Blue Ridge Mountain and sadly, the Church did not grow well. The Aussie and Blue Ridge Mtn both produced less than 3.

The church did more like 7, but for our production desires, we were disappointed. The hope and anticipation of our slowly growing seeds means that we are checking the seed boxes every day, sometimes, every few hours. Six weeks from now we will have large plants to begin to give away. Again, this year we are going with the cattle panels, doubled up against each other in 8 ft runs. We should end up with 32 ft (doubled) of tomatoes.

Exciting!

Seeds Planted Today- March 27, 2010

Jill prepares the soil. Jeremy plants.

Tomato-

Whopper, Early Girl, Fourth of July, Early Challenge, Starter Hybrid, Razzleberry, Sugary, Cupid, Big Beef, Big Mama, Red October, Orange Wellington, Big Pink, Kellogg Breakfast, Chocolate Cherry, Pineapple, Delicious, Yellow Pear, Jet Star, Early Girl, Better Boy

Tomato (Heirloom)

Black Zebra, Dixie Golden Giant, Bulls Heart, Dinner Plate

Pepper-

Mini Bell, Cascabella, Banana, Jalepeno, Jolly Yellow, Ancho, Karma

Herbs-

Thyme, Cilantro, Oregano, Basil, Dill, Chives

Flowers-

Cockscomb, Snapdragon, Jet Set Mixed

We still have seeds on the way.

Even though it has rained most of the day, we are planting our garden.

What we used-

Miracle Grow Seed Starter Mix

Grass Pad Seed Starter Mix

Seed trays- from the Grass Pad

Seeds- Henry Fields, Park Seed, Ferry Morse, Burpee, Tomato Fest

Anticipated day of planting is May 15th.

Today was a great day!

It's Time Again

Well, it's time again. Time to start ordering seeds. Yes I know it was 15 degrees this morning, but spring and summer are not that far away. We are looking through the numerous seed magazines and trying to discover which seeds we want to plant. How many? Where? What? It helps me (Jeremy) get through the cold days of January and February. We are thinking, more tomatoes, less Okra, more peppers, more onions and more cucumbers- for pickles. And of course, expansion of the herb garden. We also have a new path that will work great to add more veggies. So for those of you that can't see beyond these very cold days, here are some pics to

maybe move your mind a bit

.

Crown Center, the Plaza and Christmas

We traveled down to Crown Center this past Friday to spend the night at the Westin. We enjoy hanging out down there because between the lights, the music, the atmosphere, well, it just feels like Christmas. Friday night we had dinner at The Classic Cup on the Plaza. The grilled duck was awesome! Wholeheartedly recommend it. Jill had the Mahi Mahi.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at Eggtc. My Eggs Benedict were perfect. The french toast and omlet were really good!
The Classic Cup for dinner- 4 stars
Eggtc for breakfast- 4 stars

If you have a chance to visit either one, please do so.

Tomato Harvest Thus Far- August 28, 2009

407 Tomatoes have been harvested!
That is 38 more than all of last year.

In Honor of Top Chef- Homemade Enchilada Soup

So the Top Chef Masters finale was last night and Top Chef Las Vegas started. What a great evening. Usually, on Top Chef nights we cook something from one of the contestants or inspired as such. Last night we made enchiladas (Jill) and I (Jeremy) made vegetarian enchilada soup. Go Rick Bayless!

Here is Jeremy's recipe for vegetarian enchilada soup-
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can of tomato sauce or 4 small tomatoes blended
1 can of water
1/2 cup of diced green peppers
1/2 cup of diced red peppers
1/2 cup of onions
1 cup corn
1 cup black beans
1 tbls of cumin
1 tbls of red pepper
1 tbls of chili powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of black pepper
1 cup of Cheddar cheese (or whatever you like- the cheese makes a huge difference)
Cook on medium for 1 1/2 hours
Sprinkle crushed tortilla chips on top for some crunch!
Season to taste and ENJOY!
You can add chicken if you want- dice it, cook in skillet and toss it in!

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.

Fresh Summer Salad

Jeremy's version of a great salad that Jill would enjoy (and she did).

Iceberg Lettuce
Spinach leaves
Basil
Red Onion
Feta Cheese
Croutons
Bacon bits
Fresh Strawberries
Pecans

Lightly peppered, lightly drizzled with EVOO and homemade pepper relish.


And as a side note- basil and fresh strawberries (lightly sugared) is amazing.

Heirloom Tomatoes- Still Growing and Keeping the Bunnies OUT!

June 4, 2009
Our tomato plants continue to grow well. We did plant them a little early this year, so we have almost 10 little green tomatoes already. We also are using the Topsy Turvy to see if it really works. We have two patches of cucumbers, two patches of potatoes (red and white), two patches of beans, lots of okra. And of course 42 tomato plants. Not sure if they will all make it, but hopefully we will enjoy some tomatoes by 4th of July! There are three bunnies that have decided our yard is interesting. They appear in the mornings and evenings. Rheau has done her best to keep them out. One of the little ones is making it's way over to the herb garden. Rheau can't protect that. So it looks like it's time to pant a few extra marigold flowers. We've heard they keep away the bunnies. We will see. We will keep you all posted.

These pics were taken with our brand new Canon Powershot. Our last camera died. This one works great and we found it at Office Max on sale.

Heirlooms- Giveaways- Bunnies

As of yesterday we have given away 105 tomato plants, mostly heirlooms. The plants grew well on our shelves with the grow lights purchased from Westlake. Almost every tomato plant has done great, except the Aussie and the Blue Ridge Mountain. The Aussie seems to be a late grower and we have two plants doing much better. So we will hopefully see a few Aussie tomatoes this year. As for the Blue Ridge Mountain, we have one plant in the ground and it's not going to make it. We do have one under our grow lights that might be able to replace the one already in the garden. We hope. Right now we have 40 tomatoes growing quite well. 30 different varieties. Last year we harvested 369 tomatoes.

We are trying to reach 500 this year, which we might easily do if the weather cooperates. We have already had to spray for blight once. Now all we have to do is feed, water and keep the plants safe from bunnies. Several of you have told me that bunnies have already destroyed a few of your tomato plants. Sorry to hear that. We are more than happy to share the harvest. So throughout July, August and September there will several tomatoes at the church during the week and on Sundays. Hope to also take some to Restart if they harvest falls correctly.

We have seen one baby bunny running around the yard but that poor thing has no chance against the mighty Rheau (roo).

She stand guard over her backyard like no one else. Bunnies have a very small chance of taking out the garden, as do squirrels or another other rodent. She chases them and when she catches them, it's playtime!

Here are the tomatoes we can't wait to harvest- Whopper (6 plants in), Valencia, Church, Grandfather Ashlock, Yellow Pear, Aussie and the Black Zebra. Very unique sounding eh?

Alright, good gardening to all.