ANYONE HAVE A RIPE TOMATO BY THE 4th?

[tjm]

farmers market  tomatoes here are usually a month earlier than home grown, because they come from the south, someplace in Ar., the river valley maybe. Sold out of an old pickup, by a guy in bibs, they look authentic.

[BilletHead]

42 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

Farmer's market tomatoes are as good as anything I can grow.  And now they're coming on big time.  We buy the ugly ones grown in dirt and ripened by the sun that taste good.  Hot house anything is for somebody more hungry than me.

             Yes, sir and the uglier the better they will be. All this talk about homegrown has me out this afternoon grazing on cherry tomatoes. Right off the plants wiped on shirt and as warm as the day. Love it! 

[bfishn]

From a historical perspective, 4th of July maters were a sure thing in Mom's 2 acre north Mo garden in the mid '60s. I remember one particular 4th we took a single layer of flats across Dad's '64 Ford p/u bed to the grocery store and I bought my $1 worth of Black Cats, bottle rockets, and Roman candles on the way home. Probably 1/3 of my summer diet was maters there for a few years, and I loved it (another 1/3 was sweet corn, 2 more acres of that, 6-12 dozen a day). Those ugly, lumpy globes of goodness were so flavorful, so full of acid... haven't had anything close in 40 years, and not for the lack of trying.

Bucket list item - eat a mater as good as I remember.

[bfishn]

There's two things that money can't buy...

True love and homegrown tomatoes.

 

[fishinwrench]

15 hours ago, BilletHead said:

            We enjoy it, Glen. There are things I am sure some of the rest of us don't understand too. Why some smoke tobacco? Because they enjoy it or is it addiction? I bet if some of our do it ourselves on here did want to partake we would grow our own and process it without all the chemical additives. I might add gardening can be a vice or addiction. 

Oh I get it, I just suck at it. So talking about how stupid it is.....is comforting to me. 😁

There are people up the road from us that sell DELICIOUS fresh veggies.  So  I can escape my shortcomings by claiming to care deeply about supporting them. 👍 🙂 

Just don't start growing tobacco, because Phillip Morris needs my money worse than you do......They have lawyers to pay for!!!!!

[tjm]

I used to grow my own tobacco, it's no harder than growing tomatoes and them same giant worms have to be picked off the plants.. curing it can be a problem if it's a wet fall.

[fishinwrench]

Speaking of gardening...... Something was eating Sugarbritches roses and Hosta's.  She wanted me to get the air rifle out and declare war on the offending critter UNTIL she met them.     

Suddenly she LOVES them, and has decided that they can eat all the flowers they want to 🙄 

I said "Yeah, a diet of roses, hibiscus, and hostas might make those loins taste great !,"  😋

[tjm]

Our holy hocks are leafless but still blooming and She says "don't shoot the deer"

[T.J. Clarke]

Handful of cherry ones, but the mild banana peppers went crazy!!  

[Quillback]

18 hours ago, bfishn said:

From a historical perspective, 4th of July maters were a sure thing in Mom's 2 acre north Mo garden in the mid '60s. I remember one particular 4th we took a single layer of flats across Dad's '64 Ford p/u bed to the grocery store and I bought my $1 worth of Black Cats, bottle rockets, and Roman candles on the way home. Probably 1/3 of my summer diet was maters there for a few years, and I loved it (another 1/3 was sweet corn, 2 more acres of that, 6-12 dozen a day). Those ugly, lumpy globes of goodness were so flavorful, so full of acid... haven't had anything close in 40 years, and not for the lack of trying.

Bucket list item - eat a mater as good as I remember.

My 60's memories of maters were the summers I would spend with my Bootheel MO grandparents.  Grandad was a farmer, cotton and soybeans, but he would always grow an acre of tomatoes.  He'd pick them by the bushel.  Grandma canned them and made a really good sweet relish, that I  liked over Crowder Peas - something else they grew and canned.

Sad thing was that I wasn't a big mater fan as a kid.

They had a lot of connections with other farmers, either family or friends.  They all had something different, sweet corn, peaches, watermelon, green beans, blackberries and grandma would go visit and pick all she wanted.  She'd can her own cream corn, green beans, make her own desserts with the fruit, that woman could cook!

Best peaches I have ever had, all the watermelon I could eat.