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Tons of Tomatoes

New tomatoesWow – have a look at my harvest of tomatoes! And there are still lots more on the vine. Hannes and I had some fun this afternoon just taking these photo’s. He is such a great creative director! Just makes a boring tomato photo shoot a total fun event!

I hope you enjoyed the tomatoes, Chris. I also gave some to Kristen, and she was so amazed and said, “Wow, and this is how a real tomato should taste!” It makes the growing and nurturing a real joy when this is the resulting feedback!! I love my GARDEN!!!

[one_half]Tomatoes[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tomatoes[/one_half_last]

A quick and simple tomato sauce recipe: Great for pasta and meatballs or just as a condiment instead of chutney.

2 -4 large roma tomatoes (cut up in slices or blocks) – depends how many people you are having for dinnner – just add more tomatoes (and freeze the rest)
chopped parsley
chopped fresh coriander
chopped fresh origanum
chopped fresh margoram
chopped fresh sweet basil
chopped fresh spring onions
chopped fresh thyme

And this can all come from your own herb garden.

Simmer all these ingredients in a small sauce pan with a blob of butter. Just don’t add any water. This will spoil it, as the beautiful juices from the tomato will be suficient. Add salt & ground black pepper and a tsp of sugar. And Voila! A simple and super quick sauce! You don’t have to boil, just give it 10 minutes or so and you are done. You have just enough time to make a bowl of pasta! Keep a sprig or two of sweet basil for garnish. It always completes the dish!

Enjoy!

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Did gardening in this heat!

Hi my friend, I am finished! I spent the weekend cleaning my veggie patch – a host of weeds to clear out! Oh my word! It was hot out here and my veggie patch is not a small one – 2m x 10m. I had to bring some order to what was growing in it. I had a butternut squash plant growing like a monster, but is was covered in powdery mildew and all the small squashes were stung by some kind of insect. It was so sad to pull it out. I need to read up on what to plant together with squash to prevent this from happening in the next planting season. Any way, I have to say that my tomotoes are growing fantastically – I have sweet basil, onions, lemon thyme around the one section of tomatoes and these are growing out of control. The other patch it still small and has nothing planted nearby, so I have to say that companion planting is the way to go. Thank you Margaret Roberts – I love the book on Companion Planting and it has become my new gardening bible! This has been such a valuable gift – thank you Chris!

I also have to admit that I can now go Nursery shopping with you – I have an excuse to fill all the extra space I have in the Veggie Patch!

Hope you had a Happy Gardening weekend!

[one_half]VEggie Patch Feb 2011[/one_half]

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Roma Tomatoes

Roma TomatoesMy tomato plants are looking fantastic! I took the last photograph a week ago and look how they have grown. I can’t wait for them to mature. I bought a few Italian tomatoes from the grocer today, but they are not as tasty as the ones you pick from your own garden. I water them almost every day and I use the Worm Tea from my worm farm as a pest repellant and it is also great for improving growth! How organic is that!!?!