An Abundance of Tomatoes

We have had issues with gardening in the past, but this year we finally did something right.  (I use the term "we" loosely as Matt and Caleb did all the work.)

First they spent about 2 hours getting everything ready before planting.  This included clearing out all the grubs in our box garden that were enjoying living there.  Caleb thought this was great fun, counting the grubs and then decapitating them or stepping on them.  Matt got a really good top soil and tilled the dirt well.  I think the preparation before planting made the difference this year.

Caleb has really gotten into gardening this year.  He called up my parents (who are great gardeners) pretty much on a daily basis to ask them how many green tomatoes they had.  He is very competitive (as are his parents...but I don't know that we meant to rub that off on him!), so he called Grandma and Grandpa simply to rub it in their faces that we had more tomatoes growing.  They were great sports, and when they admitted that they had fewer than we had, Caleb would give them expert advice like, "Well, it's probably because you didn't kill all the grubs in the garden before you planted."  Then the phone calls turned into how many red tomatoes they had.

As much as Caleb has enjoyed the harvest and picking red tomatoes each morning, I'm the only one in the family who really enjoys eating the tomatoes.  We've given several away to help keep up with the harvest, but I am in heaven, enjoying one of my most favorite foods on a daily basis.  I love BLTs.  Love them.  But only with fresh, homegrown tomatoes.  It has been my daily lunch (probably 5 times a week) for the last 3 weeks.  Usually a person gets sick of eating the same thing every day, but I'm not at that point yet and it doesn't seem to be in the foreseeable future.  Since bacon is a main ingredient, it is obvious that I am tearing through the bacon.  Although my sandwiches are heavy on the tomato and light on the bacon, it's still a lot of bacon.  I've never made a secret of the fact that I run to eat.  Plain and simple.  I run most mornings knowing that I have bacon to eat later in the day :o).

I've also made some salsa, and I'm looking into canning some salsa (anyone have any tips or great recipes?).  But hands down, my favorite way to eat fresh tomatoes is with bacon, on a sandwich.  I also enjoy them plain.  I am in tomato heaven right now!  

We also planted carrots and herbs.  The carrots were to humor Caleb, and we didn't do our research.  (Again, I use the term "we" loosely.)  We are getting some carrots, but the carrots are less than the size of my pinky finger.  So we keep them in the ground, hoping that they just need more time in the dirt to grow bigger.  The cilantro did well at first, but not anymore.  The basil has done well, and the parsley is non-existent.  It was our first year trying herbs, so it's a learning experience.  I'm enjoying cooking with fresh basil though!

  Thanks Caleb and Matt for all your hard work!