Fried Green Tomatoes

I'm very excited because last night was the first time that I ate some of my tomatoes. Yes, they are green. I've been very open with the fact that the only reason I chose beefsteak tomatoes is because I think they make the best fried green tomatoes. They get nice and big before they turn red and they have a great tart flavor that goes great with the seasonings in the batter.

My tomatoes turned out great! They were so tasty and perfect. I think that next time I will wait for the tomatoes to get a little bigger before i fry them up, but just because then I will have more tomato to eat! Yum!

The napkin says fresh fit, and while these were as fresh as it gets, they are definitely not fit!

Makeshift Tomato Support

I knew that my tomatoes needed support and I knew I didn't have much time. As prepared as it sounds like I was, I wasn't. Today I found a beefsteak tomato dangling perilously close to the ground. I knew if I waited one more day it would be too late.

I never did get around to breaking down and buying those tomato cages. I was ill prepared and I had to act fast. I took some twine and tied them as best as I could around a post for my porch.







It's not pretty, but neither is the rest of my first-time garden. I've been I'll prepared from the get-go, so this fits right in. Whatever, it works.




This is the tomato that I saved from the ground. And guess what that thing poking out of the ground is. It's a WEED. Again?! Yes! Don't worry though, I promptly ended its life before it grew to be 3 feet tall.

I also checked in on Yummy, my first tomato. He is doing well. He's getting big and is probably ready to to turn red any day now.




Oh! TOMATO QUESTION!!!
How big do beefsteak tomatoes get before they turn red? I want to be sure I pick mine nice and green so I can fry them up, but I also want to let them get as big as possible! The bigger the tomater, the more fried green tomaters for me!

Tomato Cages

My beefsteak tomatoes are getting bigger and taller everyday. It won't be much longer until they are going to need extra support. I'm not quite sure what I am going to do about that...

I know the obvious solution is a tomato cage. Here is the main obstacle in that plan; I don't want to spend the money on it. I bought a cage for my patio tomato for 0.99 at Wilco in Battle Ground. The cages for the larger tomato varieties were a few dollars more.

Being too cheap to spend a few dollars, I am looking for an alternative. I planted my tomatoes near a post on the corner of my porch. I was hoping that I would be able to use some twine to tie the plants to the post. Now that it's come time to take action, I'm not too sure it's going to work out.

My mom suggested that I use some trimmed branches from a tree in my yard to create a teepee type support. Sounds like a great idea, but I don't think that I have limbs the correct size. My instincts tell me that there has to be another way!

Tomatoes!

I see that several of you have been feasting on your tomatoes for a while. Some other avid gardeners in my particular area are feeling the pains of a late growing season and are just now seeing the beginnings of tomatoes. I think I am just a little bit behind everyone as usual. Here is a picture of a little green patio tomato. I am quite excited about this little guy and have decided to name him Yummy.


I first noticed Yummy about two days ago. He still had crumpled yellow petals stuck to his rear end. He was very small, but he is growing steadily and I plan to put him in my tummy before too long. I have to decide on something special for Yummy, since he is the first tomato to show his face around here.



This is a beefsteak! Hr fist appeared today. I'm very excited about the beefsteaks because I am going to wait until they get big and huge and then I am going to fry them green!! This was my first motivator to get my garden started! I wanted fried green tomatoes, but if you want green tomatoes in the PNW then you have to grow them yourself. I can taste the bacon and fried green tomato sandwiches now... Mmmm!

Excellent news about my banana pepper. This plant was damaged in the 2010 Pitbull Garden Massacre. My dog, Chopper, had eaten off all of the blossoms, leaving only one misshapen banana pepper. I didn't think that anything was going to come of it, but I kept watering it and....



It's difficult to see because I took the picture with my cell phone, but there are little buds on there! Very exciting stuff going on in the garden these days, folks! Very exciting indeed!