Photo Credit: Pinterest Cheese Christmas tree by Blake Facey used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

This year, I have decided to do my holiday decorating a little different.

In the past, I have filled my evergreen tree with treasure ornaments made by my children along with family collectables.

This includes homemade candy canes made from beads, little wooden backpacks, and my grandmother’s blown glass birds.

But this year, I am adding a unique decoration to my kitchen bar and that is a tomato tree.

This tree is not what one would expect. It is edible and ever changing. To start off, this tree’s form is one that can be found in many drugstores as the gumball tree. This tree is designed by pushing gumballs onto the ends of the plastic branches. This is the basic form of my tree but instead of gumballs I am going to use cherry tomatoes.

While I realize this seems a little unorthodox, Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Red Zebra tomato in bloom by tacobel_canon used under CC BY 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Just the other day, I was asked why I raise so many tomatoes.

This past year, I simply raised 70 plants and to me that just was not enough to satisfy my hunger for the tomato (Love Apple).

But as I thought beyond the culinary delights that I could make with tomatoes, I discovered other reason why everyone should grow tomatoes.

1. They are delicious and have a culinary flexibility unmatched. Tomatoes are delicious eaten directly off the vine, juiced, canned, dried, and frozen. They are low in calories and high in vitamin C. Tomatoes are also showcased in many ethnic dishes along with American staples such as BLTs.

2. Tomatoes provide different forms of carateniods depending on color. This is another reason why individuals should grow tomatoes and not just ruby-red ones. While the red ones do contain Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Tomatoes by Ruthie Hanson used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

To aid one in making and/or using their sun-dried tomatoes, I have come up with a simple recipe.

While this bread does take some time, it is well worth it.

Add your own twist to this basic recipe by adding different greens and cheeses along with herbs.

Greens, Cheese, and Sun-dried Tomato Rolls

Ingredients

1 cup of steamed greens (spinach, fennel, mustard)
1 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes
3 egg whites
3 cups lukewarm water Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: How to make dried tomatoes by Joana Petrova used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

In the past, I have given jars of canned tomatoes as gifts.

These wonderful jars full of summer’s delight consisted of tomato sauce, ketchup, salsa, and just good old fashioned diced tomatoes.

While these culinary delights have been appreciated and enjoyed, I decided to do something different this year.

One may wonder what else could be done with tomatoes as far as a gift. The answer is simple and consists of a preservation technique that is as old as the tomato.

The technique I refer to is drying.

Drying any fruit or vegetable can be done in two ways. One consists of using a commercial food Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Compost! by Lisa B. used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is a saying that directly applies to gardening.

When weeds creep up, it is better to just pull them up while they are small then to put it off and be faced with a “crop of weeds” in your tomato garden.

When the first tomato hornworm is spotted, it is better to inspect the plant then for damage and other tomato hornworms then to wait for your tomato plant to be eaten down to the ground.

But there is another approach that can be used to preserve ones soil, reduce plant diseases and fertilize it all at the same time. What is this magical elixir? Green manure.

Green manure by definition is Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Tomato Plants by Suzy Glass used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Late summer is the backside of a great tomato season.

While the plants are still blooming and producing, the amount of tomatoes that you can harvest begins to decline.

Many gardeners, during this time, begin to slack back on their tomato garden chores.

Below is a list of important tomato garden tasks that should be done to keep the tomato season going strong.

1. Continue to water. Tomato plants need at least one inch of water a week. To maximize your watering time, only water in the morning and only water the soil. Doing this will reduce possible plant disease and will get the water where it can be used.

2. Watch out for pests. Tomato hornworms are still active during the late summer. If you find them on your plants or fruit remove them but there is one exception to this rule. If the tomato hornworm has little white capsules on its back, allow the caterpillar to remain on the plant. The white Read the rest of this entry »