So far… 785 tomatoes!
My sister was here for the weekend and we had fun, fun, fun. We hung out, shopped, watched the hummingbirds, did jigsaw puzzles, went to my favorite restaurants (mostly small family places), and picked tomatoes. We had to… my plant is out of control! Three weeks ago it was 14 feet long. Now it’s over 25 feet and taller than I am! And I didn’t even plant it. It just showed up. It’s so heavy it just lays on top of itself and I prop it up with fencing and tie it up where I can without breaking it. It’s like a mass of giant spaghetti. So far, we’ve picked 785 tomatoes and it’s not even making a dent. That’s 40 to 50 huge cherry tomatoes a day!! It will easily produce 2,000 tomatoes or more. Sis says I should inform the horticultural society about this freakish plant.
We pick every other day, wash & drain them and so far, I’ve given tomatoes to our housekeeper, our assistant, the gardener, the pool guy, the critter guy, Denis’s niece & nephew, two friends, we keep a bowl for snacking all day long and I’ve made two pots of awesome tomato sauce, not to mention salads. These tomatoes are super sweet but the best part is… the mangy, rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, tomato-eating squirrel is gone. Gee, I hope he didn’t choke on one of my peaches… because I’m only trained in CPR (Catapulting Pesky Rodents).
Can you share the recipe for your tomato sauce?
Sure. It’s based on the recipe in my cookbook so I’ll give you the version I made with cherry tomatoes. Brown a large clove of garlic in olive oil. Process about 100 cherry tomatoes in a food processor. Add the tomatoes along with 1 Tbsp. parsley, 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning, 2 tsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt, pepper to taste. Cook down, uncovered, until it’s thick – at least an hour, maybe more. Just before serving, stir in 2 Tbsp. sliced fresh basil. It’s awesome!!!
I will have to try that and give that to my Italian mom. mmmmmmm you can just taste how good that is JJ!! I made your strawberry cake tonite for her birthday Saturday. Her request! Going to bed.
Sue
Actually, the plant’s not all that tall, Jenny’s just getting shorter, that’s all. Everything looks big!!
Ouch!
Ha!Ha! 🙂
Wow JJ I am so happy for you! every time I hear stories about you and your sister I am overwhelmed. I still remember the show when you brought up how you and your sister had angry words and hadn’t spoke in years. You were crying, and after the commercial break you repeated how much your sister meant to you . I always wondered if you let your differences go and just be best friends like you were meant to be. I miss Sister Dearest funny comments!:) She is silly just like you JJ!
God Bless your family and always stay close!!!!
Sue
Jenny, those tomatoes do look delicious and those are huge to be cherry tomatoes, but I always loved the larger ones like you have there, so while you are preparing to ship Becky some tomatoes go ahead and make an order for me as well…lol…j/k 😀
Your plant has pretty much doubled in size. I see you’re not in the middle of all the brush and I’m glad, plus we probably couldn’t see you anyway, but I’m sure you had to be inside there to be able to pick’em and the best one’s are most likely in the middle of the bunch…
Glad you spent time with your sister and it seems you had lots of fun and enjoyed time with one another. Sisters are great to have :}
I agree, Marty!!! YUM! 🙂
Hey, Jen….can’t you ship those out to us???? :D:D
Those look sooooo good!! Love that you are spending time with your ister. My sister just left after a weeks visit. Sisters make the best friends ever!!
Nothing can beat a good jersey tomato with fresh mozzarella cheese on top.