I
try to grow my own every year; this is the first year I've had any success for a number of years. We installed planter boxes and drip irrigation and that has made all the difference. This year I am growing Lemon Boys, Abraham Lincolns (which I think is a type of beefsteak), and Donas. The Abraham Lincolns have done the best. The Lemon Boy was a late addition, so I haven't got anything off it yet. But here in CA we can still get tomatoes into November
so I have high hopes for them. The tomatoes have done so well this year, I think I might plant more next year.
I must confess to being a tomato snob! I refuse to eat grocery-store tomatoes--they are always so mealy and flavorless. I use canned tomatoes before I will use storebought fresh tomatoes. But I do buy lots of tomatoes at the farmers market in addition to those I grow myself. My all-time favorite food is fresh tomato pie. And everyday I pick a tomato for my sandwich. I've also been buying cherry tomatoes from the farmers market this year and eating them with my lunch and dinner salad every day.
My mom canned tomatoes every year. In suburban IL, where I grew up, you-pick-'em tomato farms were not hard to find (I never see them in CA). The whole family would spend a day picking bushels (that's plural) of tomatoes, then my mom would spend the next day canning them all. I remember eating the last jar two years after she died; the memory still brings tears to my eyes--what I wouldn't give for another one of those jars. One day I hope to can my own but for now I'll have to settle for making guava jelly (our guava tree produces more than our tomatoes, I'm afraid). I did make green tomato chutney last year and this year I'm thinking of trying green tomato pickles. I love green tomatoes as much as red tomatoes.
- Barbara
