I'm perusing my new Tomato and Pepper Seed Catalog and think I'll go wild

[BOSSHOG]

Has anyone ever tried COSTULO GENOVESE (Italian Heirloom tomato) or OAXACAN JEWEL (a bi-color golden yellow and ruby colored streaking?) Up to one pound fruity and acid tasting.

There are also several different ornamental peppers I think I'll brighten up the patio with. Chilly Chili Hybrid, Explosive Ember and NUMEX twilight.

I think I'm about to die of spring fever already.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

1. You have spring fever?

Today I was rationalizing that since it is the middle of January spring is really not that far away....and I live in Ohio. Sorry never grown those varieties but I do love heirloom veggies.

[BOSSHOG]

2. Our Winters

South Mississippi (60 miles northeast of New Orleans) are rather mild. Its 55 and mostly sunny right now, but mother nature always throws us a frost mid to late April. We will also have Creole tomatoes, a very tasty variety from South Louisiana. I could very easily be a vegetarian.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

3. nice weather, lucky you

it is 26 degrees here right now and snowing. Oh well, water table will benefit. My one daughter is a vegetarian. This year with the price of groceries we are all going to be eating more veggies at our house. I have a big garden and can a lot of it for winter.

[sazemisery]

4. Spring fever here for sure, Bosshog

I have been looking at all the seed catalogs every night since New Years Day. If I plant all the seeds I have earmarked, we will need more raised beds built! I haven't grown either of those tomatoes but the Costulo Genovese sounds great and I've always wanted to try a bi-color. We always grow standard romas along with sunburst cherry tomatoes and then I always try some new varieties of slicing tomatoes.

[BOSSHOG]

5. My Dad

had 40 acres up in Washington County Arkansas very near the Oklahoma line back in the 60's and early 70's and he had the most godawful incredibly wonderful garden every year. He didn't have green thumbs he had green hands. His tomatoes were monsters and he gave damn near everything (okra, potatoes, greens, beans, corn, artichokes and tons of tomatoes) away except what my Mom put up for them. His favorite was Pink Girls. Oh the good old days.

[sazemisery]

8. We live in Muskogee County, in the gooseneck of the Arkansas River

The river bends around our little area here (it used to be the river bed before the dam redirected the flow). A young farmer and his wife (he is a lifelong friend of my youngest son, 3rd generation farmer) have 1500 acres on which they continue their farming history. Though his grandfather and father were conventional farmers who went with the trends of the time, he has decided it is time to return the earth to it's former self. No more pesticides, no GM seeds, crop diversification, etc. I am really proud of their efforts as I have seen this man grow from a young child, to a gangley teenager, to a proud Marine, and full circle to his beginnings.

But what brought on that soliloquy was the fact that yes, this area has great soil (a little on the clayey side) that grows wonderful vegetables. Right across the river from us is the premier corn growing farm. Before I grew my own, I along with many others would assemble to help harvest and reap the benefits of a bushel to take home. Tomatoes too, grow like wild vines around my property where birds have dropped last years seeds.

Many people view Oklahoma through the lenses of the Dust Bowl era and don't know about the eastern region of our state that has rolling hills and is humid as a sauna in the dog days of summer.

[Kolesar]

9. I liked your account

So I looked it up.

This is kind of freaky, but doesn't the woman look like "you know who" in drag?

[sazemisery]

11. That postcard is from long ago, we no longer have the arch

If you take a left at the arch and go 1 block you are at my office. Muskogee was to be the capital but that didn't work out.

[KatyaR]

6. I mostly grow grape tomatoes because of space issues, but those sound goooood!

I just ordered my seeds on Sunday. I'm trying to stay away from flowers and grow more veggies (I have only a long walkway--I live in a second-floor apartment). I spent waaay too much money and will once again have waaay too many tomato plants. I also found a dwarf okra plant that I'm going to try, see how it goes, along with eggplant, peas, lettuce, and peppers.

This time of year makes me miss my Mom--she would have loved these seed catalogs with all these tomato plants--nothing like good tomato porn to get you through to Spring.

Honestly, though, can you really have too many tomatoes?

[BOSSHOG]

7. Bless your Heart

I told my wife we were going to cut down on tomato plants last fall when the last ones died away. She agreed. After we got that catalog, we forgot about cutting back. Full speed ahead. Growing tomato plants has got to be the number one therapy of all time. Tomato porn indeed. Okras make beautiful flowers, members of the hibiscus family (or are hibiscus part of the Okra family.) I hope you have a record crop this year. I'm looking forward to that last frost.

[KatyaR]

12. I finally pulled my plants in October--

they were still growing and putting out tomatoes. I couldn't believe it--especially with the rainy, cloudy spring we had. I'm hoping they do as well this year. We shall see.

My mother was a tomato queen. We had to go all over three counties to find enough of the "right kind" of tomato plants for her. I remember one year we had 40 plants--just for her! (And me, of course--I would NEVER turn down homegrown tomatoes.) I think she's get a kick out of me trying to garden on a cement walkway. It's definitely a challenge.

And seriously, how can you not just drool over those glamour-shot tomato photos? I mean, really, if you don't, you must be dead. Store-bought tomatoes are so horrible, and the plant descriptions make my mouth water! Of course, I have trouble not drooling over everything in those catalogs. I think I got over 20 catalogs last year, and I'm well on my way to that this year. It's a good thing I don't have a "real" garden--it would take up the entire yard!

I hope you have a great garden this year and lots of tomatoes.

[NMDemDist2]

10. i had planned to get outside today to start getting beds ready

but the wind is blowing 20MPH and it's 45 degrees :scared:

think I'll clean house today and work on the garden next week :hide:

[Gormy Cuss]

13. Costoluto Genovese is a fine tomato.

I had uneven production. One year it barely fruited, the next it went gangbusters. The flavor is intense when consumed raw and it's a very good sauce tomato.

[BOSSHOG]

14. Thanks for the info

I had uneven production last year as well. It was a rather strange growing season. I usually do fairly well but it was spotty at best amongst tomatoes, peppers and okra. Think I will try the Costoluto seeds this year.

[NJCher]

15. roasted tomatoes

Today I made a pizza with roasted tomatoes from our freezer. The aroma was heavenly! And was the pizza ever delicious. You were right to go back to growing more tomato plants. As long as you can freeze them (or process them another way) after roasting them with garlic and basil, it's worth your time and effort!

Now me--I'm not even looking at those catalogs because I have about 40 packets of heirlooms that my husband brought back from the tomato festival in Carmel.

I grew lots of heirlooms this last summer. Most I started myself but a few I got from our nursery. It was one of my best tomato summers ever!



Cher

[bearfan454]

16. I did Cherokee Purple last year.

They were really tasty, but I didn't get as many as usual.

[sazemisery]

17. Ordered Costulo Genovese today.

I just have to try this one. Looks luscious.

[BOSSHOG]

18. They do look very tasty

I wonder if they have a shortened nickname.

[plantwomyn]

19. Calm down dude

I made that mistake and planted 120 heirloom tomatoes 3 years ago. Crates full, pick up trucks full. Decide to make sauce and paste and my kitchen ended up looking like there had been a chainsaw massacre.

[NMDemDist2]

20. how do you make paste?? kthxbai

:hi:

[plantwomyn]

21. You take a huge pot

and cut up tomatoes to fill it up, leave room to stir. cook on low and add more tomatoes as they cook down. After all your tomatoes have been added cook for about an hour on low. I use a food mill and mill the sauce into another pot. At this point you can set some to the side for marinara. Put that in a pot an add herbs, garlic, wine, whatever you like. Cook on low another hour stirring until it is the thickness you like. I use freezer bags and lay them flat in the freezer. You can also can if your really nuts.
For the paste cook until the paste comes off the bottom of the pot when you stir. THICK. Add herbs ect. if you like. You can freeze or can this too. I put some into ice cube trays freeze them and then put the cubes in a freezer bag to use when I only need small amounts.
The paste can be cooked in a crock pot too.
__________WARNING ___________
Like I said this is not a job for the timid. Your kitchen will be a mess for literally 2 days. Get the kids too help since they so rarely get to make a mess. Just go with the flow and make sure to make enough for family and friends because if you talk about how good it is to them they'll want so too.
I did this two times that 120 plant year and had enough for an army.
BTW you can make your own sun dried and dehydrated tomatoes too.
Sun dried are expensive at the market but cheap to make. Use good EVOO. I pack mine in basil EVOO before I dry them. YUM.
You can dehydrate your peppers too. I use dehydrated veggies in soup {you can mix them and make your own dried soup mix}, stew and to add to scrambled eggs.

[NMDemDist2]

22. since this garden in my 'job' this year I have a stout heart

but, alas, no children....

I do have a good food mill though and I'm thinking a crock pot is the ticket for me since I'll be using my BIG pots for water baths and blanching

I have a big freezer too and one of the new Reynolds Vac Sealers that is gonna come in handy I bet.

now I just need a bumper crop of tomatoes or maybe I'll plant a couple roma plants. so far I've been choosing plants that are 'indeterminate' so they don't all come on at once

thanks so much for taking the time to type that out for me and the freezing in ice cube trays sounds like a plan since I'll need to get a few for making basil presto too

:hi:

[plantwomyn]

23. 'indeterminate'

has to do with size {height} of plant not length of time till harvest.