By Michelle Fabio

If you’re in the northern hemisphere, I hope the winter is easing a bit and allowing you to start thinking about planting your tomatoes.

But if you’re experiencing weather like we’re having in southern Italy, though, it’s still time for canned tomatoes and hearty dishes like this one — one of my absolute recipes from my Italian grandmother:

Pork, Italian Green Beans, and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound of pork ribs (or other cut on the bone)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large can and 1 small can of Read the rest of this entry »
  
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By Vanessa Richins

Last October Kira Hamman wrote about some tomato-related crafts you could work on this fall and winter as you wait for tomato growing season to start again. It’s that time of year again, so I thought I would scour the net for some more nifty tomato craft projects.

The Psychotic Tomato

If you missed this the first time, be sure to check Goodness. I’m not even quite sure what to say about this project. It’s basically a tomato with one large eyeball. Who doesn’t want that in their house, right? (I do want one, actually!)

Vintage Tomato Potholder

I think it is always good to have a lot of potholders on hand. With this pattern you can crochet your own set of vintage tomato potholders.

Edible Tomato Hat

A few years back I discovered Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

I would wager that among tomato lovers, it surprises precisely no one to know that tomatoes are not only healthy for our bodies but also for our skin.

In particular, with their high Vitamin A and C contents, tomatoes have been shown to combat oily skin without drying it out–no easy feat for a scientist in a laboratory, perhaps, but for our tomato, it’s just natural.

Here are 5 ways you can incorporate tomatoes into your daily beauty routine for younger-looking and healthier skin:

1. To hydrate your skin, crush a tomato and apply the pulp to your skin. Wash off after a few minutes.

2. To combat oily skin, mix Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

We’ve mentioned the East Nashville Tomato Art Fest here before.

The celebration, held each August in East Nashville, Tennessee, touts the power of the tomato to bridge differences, a power organizers say it owes to its own blurry fruit/vegetable identity.

See the festivities for yourself: Read the rest of this entry »

By Reggie Solomon

• Steve Martin submits an essay to WeHoNews.com describing his tomato obsession and his experience at Tomatomania, the world’s largest tomato seedling sale.

• Tracy at Rah Cha Chow rejects a tomato a peanut butter combination slight made on TV’s Top Shelf and creates a tomato and peanut soup for her family that leaves her guests licking the bowl.

• Thanks to my fellow Connecticut gardener at Compostings, for helping us find this great article by wife and husband team at A Sonoma Garden who share how they use PVC pipe buried in the earth to water their tomato roots.

• You know Tomato Casual hearts urban gardens. Urban gardener Nathaniel Martin at The Self Sufficient Urbanite grows his tomatoes up chain-link fence in the city.

By Reggie Solomon

• It’s spring, and Tomato Casual is growing. We’ve added some new features that you may have noticed. Next week, we’ll tell you how “Everything Tomato for People Who Love Tomatoes” is going to provide you with even more ways to connect with others who love tomatoes as much as you do!

• Gayla Trail at You Grow Girl encourages lightly brushing your hands against tomato leaves to stimulate a growth hormone in the plant encouraging radial growth.

• Horticulturist Leslie Finical Halleck at Grow Lively has luck germinating her tomato seeds outside after a torrential flood, hail storm and freeze.

• Kate at The Root has success germinating Black Krim seeds after feeding the soil dried milk.

• Hanna at This Garden Is Illegal has the right idea when she sets up summer tomato tastings.

• TC Flashback: How to Flirt Your Way to Choosing Better Tomato Plants