We love tomatoes here at Wicked Raven! They are our favorite summertime treat from the garden over all the others I think - maybe a toss up between the Royal Burgundy Green Beans, and I do love some cucumbers as well.... but I'll start with tomatoes as it seems that that is what I remember to take pictures of the most! These are not in order of preference, just ones we love!
This is my greenhouse with the tomatoes and Cukes growing all over the place! Got a few peppers in there also but not that you can see in the picture!
Above you can see the Early Girl tomatoes in the front and throughout this mix of tomatoes. The others are Sungold, another favorite. I wrote a whole blog about the Sungolds - see it in "here comes the sun"- they are one I will not give up!
We found a new love in Bush Early Girl Tomatoes! They really are bush and they grow better outdoors than indoors I think but... they will grow in a very compact space about 3 cubic feet total and they are a beautiful tomato! Every bit as tasty as their grown up counterpart, they grow like giant grapes and - my father in law says - if you are single you better grow only one unless you have lots of neighbors who like tomatoes! My computer renamed some of my pictures during the migration to the new "upgrade" so I can't find a picture of the bushes that we grew this year!
San Marzano! A fantastic paste and sauce tomato! I sometimes even eat them off the vine, but they are definitely a sauce/paste tomato. Flavor is divine though and I made pizza sauce with them and it was best ever! They produce well and are a fairly determinate plant, not taking up too much of your space.
Above is a favorite that we found out about from Aunt Cinny (see her amazing greenhouse here at "I covet this greenhouse). These are "Cherry Punch". They are so sweet and tasty, and they grow like grapes off the plants! They are good for eating, cooking, salads and snacking! These, with the Sungold lend themselves very well to freezing whole as well - just put them in a bag in the freezer and use them when you need them - for whatever you need them for!
Another new one we had this year and that I will be growing again, is Chocolate Cherry. Chocolate Cherry is a bit bigger than the Cherry Punch and about twice the size of Sungold. They tgaste very subtly of chocolate and are a lovely reddish brown color - very chocolate looking- when they are ripe. Yes - we grow a lot of cherry tomatoes, but they are so delicious and they produce all summer - no waiting!
This is Parks Whopper - a variety tried by my dad that were new to the menu this year. It is a great tomato, the one above is about 4" in height, so it's a large tomato. Nice and firm and very tasty with no pith. This is a great sandwich/slicer. Not as productive as some we have had in the past but seem very carefree and somewhat determinate.
For Cucumbers this year I had three varieties that all did well - the above is a "Tasty Jade" . They grow profusely (feed throughout the summer though), and they are a great slicer, sandwich, or even for Cucumber dip! We also grew Northern Pickling and Bush Slicer and liked each of those as well. I think we will keep growing the triplets!
This is the new favorite squash "Grey Griller"! I learned of it from my Aunt Nancy, who grows it in containers where it is almost as cold as it is here most of the time. So I knew it should do well here. It is a compact squash that is wonderful sliced with a little olive oil, herbs, and grilled to al dente! Delish! It also stores well and I have used it in pasta dishes as well. We used our last one right before Christmas - harvested in September! I stored them on the counter in the fruit bowl - easy care! We also grew some Black Beauty Zuchinni and some Yellow Crookneck this year and we will grow those again as well.
For strictly outdoor growing, the champion is still the Royal Burgundy Green Beans! I grow them in the cold frame and if you missed it you can read about them here! Such great flavor and they are pretty easy grow!
That gives a good start to the spring lineup for seed starting! Stay tuned for some great garden plants and for the garlic progress as well!
Blessed be in your garden!
Here is a great pasta sauce recipe for using up extra tomatoes!
Oven Roasted Pasta Sauce
10-12 cups of tomatoes diced for bigger ones or whole for small cherries- any variety and more is better! I use the Roma, San Marzano, Sungold, Early Girl,and whatever you have that needs to get used up! I like to use a mix of yellow, red and chocolate - the color is so fun!
1 large onion diced
10 cloves of garlic - rustic cuts diced
2 tsp sea salt (use regular if you dont have sea)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 C. Olive oil
1 tsp dried rosemary or 3 sprigs fresh - leaves stripped
1 tsp dried oregano - or 1/8 C fresh leaves
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 TBSP fresh leaves
In a glass bowl mix all the above together gently so as not to break down the tomatoes. Place in one or two 9x13 glass pans and roast for 30-40 minutes. You want to keep all that juicy goodness that comes into the bottom of your pan though so check to make sure it is not cooking off. I have made it and covered the pan with foil but the roast just isnt the same. I have also used rimmed baking sheets to make this recipe. Do not use parchment as it sucks up all the good juice!
You can also cut this recipe if you have tomatoes that you need to use up and don't have this much! I have also used my frozen tomatoes for this recipe and it works just as well - with a little less cook time!
We have used this on multiple pasta recipes, including pasta salad and as a crostini topping for Caprese's instead of a sliced tomato, put the pasta sauce on and top with a slice of cucumber, slice of mozarella and balsamic. Yum!
Store in glass jars in the fridge. Use within 3 weeks or can in a water bath.
No comments:
Post a Comment