Ooooooh noice Spatz!! We need some names please! What are the big purples at 11 o'clock in the bottom pic?

PP

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO in awe!!!!!!!!
My tomatoes were terrible this year :-(

Gill (hoping for better luck next year)

Okay, here are the names.
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The tomato with "??" is supposed to be a Cherokee Purple. So the label said when I got it from PP. I suspect it's not a CP.

Methinks you suspect right.

Last piccie. Today's lunch.
Black Early on sourdough bread and cream cheese.
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That Paul Robeson looks smaller and rounder than others I have seen lately Spatz.
Fantastic haul, have you posted it up north yet?

This is the first Paul Robeson of the season. There is another on the plant that is a lot bigger. It should be ripe in a few days. Will post piccie once it's ripe.

Yes, I shared the haul with the folks in the North.

and we don't want to play with you any more...

Jennifer, pouting and envious of such a beautiful harvest

Spatz , nice basket of goodies there :)...Am soooo jealouse meself...just started planting my first lot of seedlings out coupla days ago..
Cheers

Hehe, your day will come Jennifer!

Spatz, the Cherokee Purple I grew was wrong this year too, so I've ditched the whole packet of seeds for those... they were from Sand Hill in 2003 and I've notified them that there's a lot of crossed seed in that lot.

PP

Hi Spatz...

The things that look like bananas, are they yellow zucchini? Do they taste the same - just prettier - or are they different on the inside too? :)

Also I think you've just provided the motivation to get the dehyrating thingy out of the box... Is that all you do, just cut up the tomatoes, lay them on the trays and turn it on? What then? Jars? Um, and one more *really* dumb question... what does one do with them? I've never had a dried tomato...

Amanda
Dept of Silly Questions

Dear Dept. of Silly Questions,

Answer to 1st question: Yes, these are Golden Zucchinis. The only function they have is to look pretty, the taste is the same as 'ordinary' Zucchinis. They give any dish a great summery feel/look. They are not yellow inside but the usual whitish colour.

Answer to 2nd question: Cut tomatoes in half, scoop out seeds if there are many. Lay them cut side up on tray, salt if desired (I do), and switch on dehydrator.

However, if it's a scorcher of a day, put the tray outside in full sun. Cover with this mesh thingie from the dehydrator (you usually use them to make these lather thingies). Bring tray inside in the evenings. Take out next morning. They only need about 2 scorching hot days to get all leathery. Just eat like a snack. Or add to a pasta dish, or to any old dish to pep it up, or fill sterilized jar with them and add olive oil to keep. Or put in ziploc bag to freeze. Mine haven't reached that stage yet. They are in my tummy. *pats happy tummy*

You can also add them to your bread dough. Or use as a pizza topping. While you do all this you pop another one into your mouth. And another one...

My preferred way of keeping sun-dried tomatoes is to freeze them. They are a great addition to most dishes, especially in winter.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further clarification.

Yours truly,
Dept. of Garden Gluttony

In cooking, especially in winter, add to salads, make tomato sauce from them, bake in bread ...

Great haul. You're time in the sun.
BTW: My Vacola instructions make a huge point of saying do not salt tomatoes for dehydrator coz voids warranty as it makes fan motor corrode. Just thort I'd tell ya in case you worry about these things. Noice work.

I would like to show you mine as you have shown me yours BUT
How do I attach pics please

Wattle , do you have a web site that you can upload pics to?

Patrina,
I can send you some fresh CP if you want!!!!

Thanks for the offer Rosco, very kind of you! I do have a few seeds from another source, so I can try those for next year, but I could also pick up some when I visit you and Glenn in a few weeks time... doesn't hurt to have some insurance, eh?

Patrina

Wattle, it's difficult to post the instructions on GardenWeb on putting a picture up because GardenWeb tries to do it! If someone hasn't already, I'd be happy to email them to you.

Fabulous haul, Spatz. I think you must have been holding out on us on the Rutherglen w/end... ;-)

BTW - don't blame you!

Well, just a small selection of today's harvest.
Earl's Faux on the left (360g), to the right is Marianna's Peace (250g) and the third one is Paul Robeson (150g). This is the first time I've grown such big tomatoes. Wow! I'm addicted. :) I haven't tasted these tomatoes yet, they have to be duly admired first.
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Dear Dept of Garden Gluttony,

While I was admiring the photograh, above, of your very large tomatoes I was also pondering my aching feet. Caused this day by standing in the kitchen for too many hours preparing tomatoes for drying.

Unfortunately my harvest this morning yielded a very large quantity of very small tomatoes. Cutting all the little tomatoes in half and removing the seeds, sufficient to fill all four trays of the dehydrator, as recommended on a sticker attached to the unit, took a *very* long time.

I must admit, at this point, that by the time I arrived at the last tray, I had tired of the correct procedure and merely squished them between thumb and forefinger. A minor shortcut which will unfortunately has caused a great many more hours work as I must now begin removing the tomato juice and seeds adhering to many surfaces of my kitchen, including but not limited to the floor, ceiling, benches, and light fittings. Squishing tomatoes is a most unpredictable exercise.

Upon completion and application of the lid, I returned to the instruction book for details of temperature and timing, noticing as one does a photo on the cover of what appear to be trays of WHOLE cherry tomatoes.

Now I may be mistaken and the image is in fact red grapes. In either case my question now is whether I needed to do all that stuff and might have better enjoyed my afternoon reading the forum!

Amanda
Dept of Silly Questions

I'm not from the department of gluttony Amanda, but thought I'd offer an opinion nevertheless I don't bother to de-seed, and it hasn't stopped my daughter eating the dried tomatoes like lollies! It's good roughage, and doesn't make the dried tomatoes bitter, so why not try a batch leaving them in?

All I do is wash the fruit, cut into halves (if they're cherry types) or thick slices, and set them on the trays, which is a fairly fast job. I've been drying them at 45 degrees, and they keep a good colour. But I do salt them a little if I'm planning to store them in oil (& a little vinegar) - I salt them on the racks BEFORE placing the racks on the base unit. Works fine.

PP

Them maters is mighty small when the dehyrator has finished with them! I had to go find my specs... :)

Amanda

Dear Dept. of Silly Questions,

Deseeded tomatoes dry quicker.

Yours minimalistically,
Dept. of Garden Gluttony

Just had a quick walk in the tomato patch. There are more to pick but time is pressing.
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There are some ripper tomatoes!
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It's a wonder you can walk at all after that lot!!. Amazing pictures. Just Photoshop them and post up over. We should be able to hear the tears flowing from here. !!!!

Here I was, worried that there wouldn't be any more tomatoes, after yesterday's wintery weather, and look at today's harvest!!!!
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Spatz I think I'm going to cry, my tommy patch is a wasteland, devastated by the twin curses of Fruit Fly & blight.
Still hope springs eternal & there's a lot of regrowth so I shall cut all the dead & rotting stuff off & try again!
It looks as though it was worth the long wait you've had.

You just gotta post that one up north Spatz :-)

Sarah, sorry to hear your tomato patch is not doing well at the moment. I hope it'll pick up and you'll have a great autumn crop.

Mantis, I'm a bit scared to go there anymore. I've posted so many pictures, they might lynch me. Poor Earl has already written his own epitaph - and my name gets mentioned.

If you don't, I will. Once a picture is posted its address is available to one and all!

Great harvest Spatz. Earl will love it!