Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[Western]

I might be blonde, but I'm not dumb! I can figure some things out! :laughing:

Isn't it past your bedtime?? convent has a curfew you know!:rotfl:

 

[NativeSon]

Finally getting some tomatoes out of the garden. The vines are in good shape and fairly loaded with fruit. The hot weather has accelerate the ripening. Much better outlook this year than last, which was a total bust. We will be having fresh tomatoes at every meal for a while.

MIL comes next weekend and she will be making fresh Pesto almost every day. It's great when tossed with hot Spaghetti or just drizzled over freshly sliced tomatoes and mozzerella, or just smeared on a slice of hot Italian bread. A trip to DFW to get the MIL always means a stop at "Jimmie's" on Haskell and Bryan for lots of Italian cheeses and cold cuts. Not much is better than a salami sandwich with Pesto spread on the bread and maybe a glass of vino. Buon Appetito! If you ever get over to that part of East Dallas, a stop at Jimmie's is worth the trip. The finest selection of Italian Salamis, cheeses and Vino in North Texas. And the best Sub Sandwiches ever. Just get one to start, as it's enough for 2 and really inexpensive.

Charlie

 

[blueriver]

I might be blonde, but I'm not dumb! I can figure some things out! :laughing:

FG19 called 911 to report a fire ... The operator asks ... How do we get there? FG19 says...dah big red fire truck.

 

[jinman]

Finally getting some tomatoes out of the garden. The vines are in good shape and fairly loaded with fruit. The hot weather has accelerate the ripening. Much better outlook this year than last, which was a total bust. We will be having fresh tomatoes at every meal for a while.

That's great news, Charlie. I have so many huge green tomatoes that I can't count them. My window sill in the kitchen is double-decked with ripening tomatoes. I told my wife not to let the cabinet doors slam or we'd have a tomato avalanche. I've found that if I let the tomatoes ripen fully on the vines, they may attract critters. If I get them just a little green and ripen on the window sill, the critters never discover them. I never dispose of any rotten or damaged fruit in the garden. I get it out of there so critters aren't drawn in needlessly.

BTW: Isn't Pesto kinda like guacamole or salsa? It's good over anything.:licking: You're really tempting me with the talk of Jimmie's. There's nothing I like better than those little Italian cheese/vino/sandwich shops. Just the smells inside of one of those places does something to my brain. When I'm in there, I can't even spell 'diet.' :laughing:

 

[pacerron]

Kyle, I'd bet I've tossed over 50 tomatoes with BER. Luckily, that's a drop in the bucket of what is on the vines. The vines with the most BER are the super fantastic followed by the Bush Big Boy and better boys. I've had just a couple of BER fruits on my early girls and none on my determinate BHN 602 hybrids. I just picked 10 huge tomatoes this morning that were all over 10 oz. The biggest two were Bush big boys at 12.4 and 12.8 oz. I also picked 5 lb of super sweet and sweet 100 cherry tomatoes and a pound of yellow pear cherries. Between the rain and my soaker tapes, I'm keeping them happy. I just added 40% shade cloth above them and the jury is still out on whether that's going to be good or bad. Our recent rains have been a godsend and I feel very lucky. However, all I have to do is stand still and breath to sweat down my clothes after 10:30 AM. I don't have to do a lick of work to be soaked in sweat.

Jim,
Do you have a little PH test meter?
We rarely have BER with Super Fantastics.
We fertilize around them one time, at the bloom stage, with just a little 12-12-12 and that's it. Too much complete fertilizer will often cause BER.
We like them vine ripened, for the great sweet taste. Loose a few to bird pecking, but that's about it.

Did you see the super juice recipe I posted a while back?
For canning she does pick them a day ahead and let them finish ripen on a card table inside.
Ron

 

[Lou66]

I started picking tomatoes a few days ago,, Put up the fabric shade yesterday,, I guess tomorrow I will make about three gallons of hot sauce,, canned and stored,, nothing better than home grown tomatoes.. Lou

View attachment 324083View attachment 324084View attachment 324085

 

[jinman]

Nice Lou! Do you grow your own jalapenos too? I have 6 pepper plants loaded with jalapenos. I'll never be able to use all my peppers.

Ron, in an earlier post I mentioned using a pH meter that read at a perfect level. The only side dressing fertilizer I have used is a tomato fertilizer that is 9-12-12. I spread it around on top of my mulch and let the rain wash it in. I really believe my BER is due to watering and heat stress. It does seem to be going away. As more fruit ripens, I may let them get a bit riper on the vine, but I think the taste is identical whether I pick them a couple of days early or not. It's one of those things that if you believe they taste better when vine ripened, by all means let them go. I just can't make out any difference. Right now I'm getting several large tomatoes that are skin cracked around the stem because of all the big rain showers we had at one time. They still taste exceptionally good.

 

[NativeSon]

.

BTW: Isn't Pesto kinda like guacamole or salsa? It's good over anything.:licking: You're really tempting me with the talk of Jimmie's. There's nothing I like better than those little Italian cheese/vino/sandwich shops. Just the smells inside of one of those places does something to my brain. When I'm in there, I can't even spell 'diet.' :laughing:

Jim- Here is a basic recipe for Pesto.

Ingredients
• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided a
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Directions
Combine the basil, garlic, in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil a little at a time and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

This recipe calls for a food processor, but my wife and MIL (who was born in Genoa, home of pesto) chop it by hand. They use a knife called a Mezza Luna (half-moon) to chop the basil and the garlic. Italian restaurants in America add pine nuts so they can charge more. It should be a little stiff and not too runny.

If you give this a try let me know how you like it.


Charlie

 

[NativeSon]

That's great news, Charlie. I have so many huge green tomatoes that I can't count them. My window sill in the kitchen is double-decked with ripening tomatoes. I told my wife not to let the cabinet doors slam or we'd have a tomato avalanche. I've found that if I let the tomatoes ripen fully on the vines, they may attract critters. If I get them just a little green and ripen on the window sill, the critters never discover them. I never dispose of any rotten or damaged fruit in the garden. I get it out of there so critters aren't drawn in needlessly.

I pick mine as soon as they start to ripen. I get either tomato or strawberry boxes (free) from the grocery store to let them ripen in. The boxes work great because you can stack them and not squash the tomatoes and kind of keep them in some sort of order.

Charlie

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Kyle, I'd bet I've tossed over 50 tomatoes with BER. Luckily, that's a drop in the bucket of what is on the vines. The vines with the most BER are the super fantastic followed by the Bush Big Boy and better boys. I've had just a couple of BER fruits on my early girls and none on my determinate BHN 602 hybrids. I just picked 10 huge tomatoes this morning that were all over 10 oz. The biggest two were Bush big boys at 12.4 and 12.8 oz. I also picked 5 lb of super sweet and sweet 100 cherry tomatoes and a pound of yellow pear cherries. Between the rain and my soaker tapes, I'm keeping them happy. I just added 40% shade cloth above them and the jury is still out on whether that's going to be good or bad. Our recent rains have been a godsend and I feel very lucky. However, all I have to do is stand still and breath to sweat down my clothes after 10:30 AM. I don't have to do a lick of work to be soaked in sweat.

I'm going to bet that the shade cloth will do wonders thru August. Will probably reduce your watering too. Another benefit is it may keep the darn mockingbirds from pecking holes in all the best looking tomatoes. Not Funny how they pick the best one's to peck...

I was thinking of building a PVC frame with some of the 3 way 90 degree connectors and doing the same thing. I was going to make mine at least 8' high so I could walk under it. Keep us posted how you think your shade cloth works out.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I was told that BER is a lack of calcium in the soil. I amended mine this year with the small pebbles of lime but I'm told I should've put the fine dust ag lime down.

 

[jinman]

I amended mine this year with the small pebbles of lime but I'm told I should've put the fine dust ag lime down.

Are your small pebbles "chelated lime?" I have a bag of chelated lime that I add to the soil. The chelated lime is taken up by plants without having to mess with the pH of your soil.

 

[Lou66]

Nice Lou! Do you grow your own jalapenos too? I have 6 pepper plants loaded with jalapenos. I'll never be able to use all my peppers.

Yes sir,, grow all of my peppers here at the house plus tomatoes,, at the land (about ten miles away) I grow every thing under the sun... including cows, horses, sheep, goats and mosquitoes,, this has been one of the worst year for mosquitoes,, to dry I guess.:confused3:. but the rest have been doing well.:thumbsup:. Lou

 

[farmgirl19]

FG19 called 911 to report a fire ... The operator asks ... How do we get there? FG19 says...dah big red fire truck.

Well, how else are they going to get here? :laughing:

 

[jinman]

Jim- Here is a basic recipe for Pesto.

Ingredients
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided a
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Directions
Combine the basil, garlic, in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil a little at a time and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

This recipe calls for a food processor, but my wife and MIL (who was born in Genoa, home of pesto) chop it by hand. They use a knife called a Mezza Luna (half-moon) to chop the basil and the garlic. Italian restaurants in America add pine nuts so they can charge more. It should be a little stiff and not too runny.

Thanks for the recipe, Charlie. I've seen pine nuts in most recipes, but didn't know what they added to the taste. I have a huge bed of Basil in my garden and my wife picks and drys it. For Father's Day, my daughter got me a Krups coffee/spice grinder to use to finely cut up dried basil and other herbs. I see your recipe for pesto uses basil that is fresh and chopped rather than dried. Do you ever use any thyme? Thyme and basil are my two favorite Italian herbs. We started thyme in pots this year and croaked when transplanted. Next year, I'll just throw out some seed like I did the basil and see if I have the same good luck.

 

[farmgirl19]

Basil is one of those things that grows well, and reseeds itself too! I prefer it fresh, and will just chop some fresh leaves and sprinkle over fresh tomato slices, with a drizzle of olive oil, and have that as a meal. I prefer it fresh, with most things. I use the dried in the winter, when fresh isn't in growing in my herb garden, and use the dried in sauces, such as spaghetti, etc.

I think pesto would be best with fresh basil.

 

[jinman]

. . . this has been one of the worst year for mosquitoes,, to dry I guess.:confused3:. but the rest have been doing well.:thumbsup:. Lou

Lou, I think you sent them up this way. With our recent rains, there is an abundance of mosquitoes around here.

 

[jinman]

I think pesto would be best with fresh basil.

I sure prefer fresh basil and cilantro too. However, dried basil leaves become very compact and you can get a whole crop of basil in a small jar after drying. It's a convenient and compact way of storing basil for off-season use when fresh is not available in your garden. With cilantro, you just pick the seeds and put them in a bottle as coriander. Drying the basil is the toughest (slowest) part.

 

[sseelhoff]

Thanks for the recipe, Charlie. I've seen pine nuts in most recipes, but didn't know what they added to the taste. I have a huge bed of Basil in my garden and my wife picks and drys it. For Father's Day, my daughter got me a Krups coffee/spice grinder to use to finely cut up dried basil and other herbs. I see your recipe for pesto uses basil that is fresh and chopped rather than dried. Do you ever use any thyme? Thyme and basil are my two favorite Italian herbs. We started thyme in pots this year and croaked when transplanted. Next year, I'll just throw out some seed like I did the basil and see if I have the same good luck.

I use pine nuts in my pesto. It gives it a nice earthy/nutty flavor. If I'm out of pine nuts, I will substitute walnuts.

 

[farmgirl19]

I sure prefer fresh basil and cilantro too. However, dried basil leaves become very compact and you can get a whole crop of basil in a small jar after drying. It's a convenient and compact way of storing basil for off-season use when fresh is not available in your garden. With cilantro, you just pick the seeds and put them in a bottle as coriander. Drying the basil is the toughest (slowest) part.

I keep the coriander off of my cilantro too! Are you using a dehydrator on your basil leaves? What model, and how long does it take to get them dry enough to store. Are you shredding them first, or judst crumbling them after dry? I have a dehydrator, and use it for many things, but haven't used it on the basil leaves yet.