Tomato Jungle

My late-summer garden is a tangle of tomato plants. I've been picking the cherry varieties for several weeks, but the big slicers, especially the heirloom varieties, are just ripening now. Below are some of the red grape variety, which are not as wonderful-tasting as the hybrid Sun Golds (some are visible at the back), but which have proved much more resistant to splitting after the heavy rains we've had lately. I've had to put dozens of the delicious Sun Golds into the compost pile, but I have also resolved to save some of their seeds since I have so many otherwise going to "waste" (not that contributing to compost can be considered a total waste). When I can tell that they have very recently split and still look fresh I still sometimes try to use them, but if the split has dried or the fruit looks as if it is starting to rot, I consign them to the pile.

I've never dried tomatoes before, but the sweet Sun Golds are so prolific and proved so wonderful on pizza recently that I think I will dry a freezer-bagful. To do this, you wash them and cut them in half, spread them cut-side up (some sources say cut-side down) on a baking sheet, and place in a very slow oven (200 F.) for several hours, until leathery but still pliable. Some recipes call for salting the tomatoes and/or seasoning with Italian herbs before drying them. When properly dried they can be kept in the cupboard in a glass jar, but since this is a judgment call probably best made after some trial and error, I will keep mine in the freezer to avoid any risk of mold that could grow if they are not sufficiently dry. I'd hate to lose any.

Above is a mammoth Striped German heirloom tomato. I picked a similar one already, wrestling it out from between the supports; it more than filled my entire hand and probably weighed more than a pound. Unfortunately, it was so tightly wedged against the tomato behind it and the metal cage wires that it emerged sadly bruised. These have a old-fashioned appearance and are rather ribbed from the outside; they are marvelous to look at when sliced, as their flesh is a lovely yellow with red streaks. I have grown these before, and I think their flavor and texture make them a decent rival for the classic "best-tasting" Brandywines.

Above are Tasty Evergreens, a new variety for me this year, which are also getting quite large. The tag says to pick these when green with a yellow tinge, so after taking this photo I picked the closer one, but I haven't sliced it yet.

And here is the Green Zebra variety, another kind I've not grown before. I couldn't find the planting tag and was wondering how to tell when to pick these, but Johnny's Selected Seeds says they are ripe just as the green fruit develops a yellow blush, as the closer fruit above is starting to do. The photo on Seed Savers Exchange (first link above) seems to show that the main portion of the skin will turn considerably yellower than this, with distinctive green stripes remaining. Either way, these are very attractive. Johnny's notes that these are "not technically an heirloom" but lists them with its other heirlooms.

I bought all my tomato plants at Just Food Co-op's Mother's Day plant sale this year; most of the large, vigorous seedlings were raised by the nice folks at Big Woods Farm.

I've done no fertilizing this year other than digging some purchased compost into the soil before planting. I put down straw mulch, and except where it wasn't thick enough, I've needed to do very little weeding. (Whether I've actually weeded where I needed to is a story better left untold.)

Happy tomato season, everyone.

Most Satisfying Seed Catalogs

I've lived and gardened in Northfield for almost 19 years, and many seed purveyors had me on their mailing lists. Then, due to shall we say "fluctuations" in marital status, I moved three times in three years. I'm now, at least for the present, back at the house where I lived from 2001 to early 2006, but the poor seed merchants have yet to catch up with me. Since Christmas I think I've received only a Gurney's, a Gardens Alive! (which sells environmentally responsible gardening products), and most recently a Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog.

The Baker Creek catalog, which I requested after reading my blog friend Deb at Sand Creek Almanac describe it as "vegetable porn for a Minnesota gardener in midwinter," has to be in the running for the most beautiful seed catalog ever. The website is no comparison. Being in the communications business myself, I know this large glossy color catalog has got to be one expensive publication to produce and mail. The photography and presentation are simply gorgeous; occasionally a whole page is devoted to a single photograph that's so lovely you might want to carefully remove it from the catalog and frame it.

But beauty alone isn't my standard for an excellent seed catalog. What makes Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds particularly beautiful in my eyes is its mission of preserving and bringing back to popularity many time-tested, non-GMO, non-hybrid, untreated, unpatented varieties of fruits and vegetables in an age where much of the market pressure has been in the opposite direction. (It shares this mission with the Seed Savers Exchange, whose Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa, I have visited, and numerous catalogs also feature at least some heirloom varieties these days.) The Baker Creek folks also offer Heirloom Gardener magazine, now in its seventh year, which I'll have to look into.

My longtime favorite catalog is from Johnny's Selected Seeds. Heavy on untreated, organic and heirloom varieties, Johnny's is also a premier source of practical planting information, and since Johnny's is based in Maine it is a reliable source of advice for northern gardeners. Their mission is "to provide superior product, research, technical information, and service to critical home gardeners and specialty and small commercial growers," and they do an excellent job. They have a nice virtual catalog on their site, which allows you to browse their catalog pages as you would with a printed copy. I'll confess to still liking to have a printed version to pore over, so I've requested one to make sure I get back on their mailing list at my current location.

Renee's Garden Seeds, which offers "the finest seeds of heirloom and cottage garden flowers, aromatic herbs, and gourmet vegetables from around the world," has been another favorite of mine, and it's the only catalog I got around to ordering from last winter.

Chime in with your own favorites! Please! I'd love to hear which catalogs rate highly with fellow gardeners.

Cornucopia of Local Goodies

This morning I stopped by one of the final farmers markets of the year. A few last hardy souls were there with their trucks, selling squashes (a wonderful variety), broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, salad greens, pies, jellies, eggs, flowers, and ornamental corn.

The morning's takings made a still-life worthy of capturing. Note the beautiful French heirloom squash at the right, looking like a pale pumpkin. The grower said her pumpkins had rotted from all the rain, but these had flourished, and would last well. Note also the deep purple cauliflower just behind the cabbage. The eggs were apparently from assorted breeds of hen; the white ones are actually a very pale blue. Also included here are Native Harvest maple syrup and bread I picked up at Just Food. The syrup (a must to go with baked squash, in my mind) is from the White Earth Indian Reservation's land recovery project, and the bread is a new variety from Brick Oven, baked especially for Just Food -- and called Just Bread.

It's a multi-grain bread made with all organic grains and local honey. I made a peanut butter sandwich with it after shopping, and ate it with a local Honey Crisp apple. Yum.