(no subject)
I got the first tomatoes from my garden today. *smiles beatifically* Yummmmmm....
Sir Now Appearing has pointed out that we already have trouble eating the entire CSA box every week even without the garden producing. Having never successfully grown anything before, I honestly didn't expect to get anything much. And, well, the asparagus never did come up (though we would have had to wait a few years for it to establish anyways), and the lettuce and nasturtiums couldn't take the heat, and bugs got the eggplant, and the black raspberries are dead sticks in the ground, and yet STILL I am contemplating the coming harvest with mounting horror.
Example: I planted one squash plant. ONE. I wish to inquire of the management why there are THREE squash plants currently growing over the rest of back garden. I don't even like squash all that much.
(Unlike![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thefourthvine, however, I did not plant a pumpkin - thank goodness. Pumpkins should come in cans like God intended.)
And while home-grown tomatoes are, admittedly, better than 99.9996% of any food in this world, perhaps it was not the best idea I ever had to put in 11 plants. I honestly thought most of them would die! They always did before! Perhaps there's something to this composting thing after all...
So, if you are local and you find bags of squash and tomatoes left on your doorstep in the middle of the night... Wasn't me. :)
Sir Now Appearing has pointed out that we already have trouble eating the entire CSA box every week even without the garden producing. Having never successfully grown anything before, I honestly didn't expect to get anything much. And, well, the asparagus never did come up (though we would have had to wait a few years for it to establish anyways), and the lettuce and nasturtiums couldn't take the heat, and bugs got the eggplant, and the black raspberries are dead sticks in the ground, and yet STILL I am contemplating the coming harvest with mounting horror.
Example: I planted one squash plant. ONE. I wish to inquire of the management why there are THREE squash plants currently growing over the rest of back garden. I don't even like squash all that much.
(Unlike
thefourthvine, however, I did not plant a pumpkin - thank goodness. Pumpkins should come in cans like God intended.)And while home-grown tomatoes are, admittedly, better than 99.9996% of any food in this world, perhaps it was not the best idea I ever had to put in 11 plants. I honestly thought most of them would die! They always did before! Perhaps there's something to this composting thing after all...
So, if you are local and you find bags of squash and tomatoes left on your doorstep in the middle of the night... Wasn't me. :)
no subject
Do you have any tomato sauce tips you'd be willing to share with strangers? I've never quite gotten the hang of it :-/
no subject
Tomato sauce tips: puree the tomatoes, get rid of the skins, fibers and seeds early on, because they contain chemicals that add a bitter flavor. Tomatoes should be exactly ripe, not overripe or green. You can use ones that have been bug-bitten as long as you cut those parts off, but anything with fungus or rot (however small an area) shouldn't be used unless it's blossom end rot, which can be cut off. Put it in a large pot on the back of the stove, turn the temperature to low, and let it simmer until the liquid is cooked off, down to the thickness you want. You can add green or sweet red bell pepper (start it off in the puree process), lots of basil, some oregano or marjoram or whatever other herbs you use with tomato sauce. It's preferable not to add cheese to the sauce until you're about to use it; it doesn't keep well that way.
I may have a puree machine in the basement; I can check if you want, and you can borrow it if it's there.
no subject
Thanks for the tips, though. It's usually my parents that end up making sauce, since they're the ones that grow tomatoes, and it usually comes out tasting pretty ok but just a touch too watery. I think it's an issue of patience. Maybe I'll see if I can see if I can steal some tomatoes and give it another shot myself.
no subject
Homemade tomato sauce is *always* too watery. The remedy is to mix in a can of tomato paste, which thickens it just enough to make it stick to the pasta. Also, if it's not sweet enough add a pinch of baking soda, not sugar. Sugar can mess with the other flavors in sauce; baking soda will remove the bitterness without doing that.