09-29-2014, 12:37 AM
[quote kentofnsl]Wow, Ralph, you must just use your tomatoes for salsa. I have been known to cover my garden with tarps, on nights when a freeze is forecast, to enjoy fresh tomatoes as long as possible.[/quote]
Yea Kent, any more it's pretty much just a salsa garden. However, every other year we can spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes. But salsa and pickled jalapenos is its prime function.
And as for keeping fresh tomatoes as long as possible, I use to do that too. But I discovered that after all that work (tarps, steaks, mud, freezing, weather watching, etc.) I would typically only get a half dozen decent tomatoes for all my effort. For me it just wasn't worth the work. I find more pleasure out of knowing that my garden is tilled under for the season before the wet weather gets here. Ever since I started the practice of putting the garden under before cold wet weather gets her, I have felt a sense of early accomplishment. Plus, it is SO much easier to work when the dirt is dry and workable. And like Dobob, I too can get plenty of tomatoes from my neighbors.
[signature]
Yea Kent, any more it's pretty much just a salsa garden. However, every other year we can spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes. But salsa and pickled jalapenos is its prime function.
And as for keeping fresh tomatoes as long as possible, I use to do that too. But I discovered that after all that work (tarps, steaks, mud, freezing, weather watching, etc.) I would typically only get a half dozen decent tomatoes for all my effort. For me it just wasn't worth the work. I find more pleasure out of knowing that my garden is tilled under for the season before the wet weather gets here. Ever since I started the practice of putting the garden under before cold wet weather gets her, I have felt a sense of early accomplishment. Plus, it is SO much easier to work when the dirt is dry and workable. And like Dobob, I too can get plenty of tomatoes from my neighbors.
[signature]