Okay - but here's my problem: I picked some this morning that were really orange and popped a few in my mouth - yes they were sweet and delicious - but... I have found that the ones I picked that still had a bit of green veining I put in a brown paper bag and that was weeks ago and still they have the green veins (although they are large) and are horrible tasting. As Trudi mentioned, they are bitter if there are greenish veins, but why aren't they turning orange in the bag? I've had 15 of them in the bag for over a month. For now, though, I am seeing plenty on the vine turning a great orange so I know now to wait until there is no green veins at all and they are very tasty when ripe. carrie

Hi frdnicholas, There is probably a reason they were given to you. If you do a search for topsy-turvy or upside down tomatoes, you will find a lot of threads on those containers. People usually find they do not work out real well (definately not as well as the commercials tell you they will.) However, just as with anything else, there are people who are pretty happy with them. A common problem with any container planting is that when the weather gets hot, they are difficult to keep watered. You'll have to water often and when the potting medium drys out, it is difficult to get the water to soak in, it tends to run off the top of the soil, down the sides and out the bottom. Like any container plant, you will need to feed them more often since watering washes out nutrients. But since you got them for free, why not experiment? Have fun with it. Bets

I ended up with a cherry fort - not a maze. The signif other decided to downsize the whole deal... so I ended up with a 10 X 10 area. We were starting with lawn... So I planted a tomato every 6-8 inches. I know inches... I put in: Gajo De Melon Suncherry red star sungold green doctors zebra cherry black cherry snow white Riesentraube OSU Blue Oh heavens, I'll have to go home and check again... there were others... I got a lot of people who wanted to donate seed, so I took them up on them and added them to the 'fort'. I have to take recent pictures, but this is what it looked like early on. I haven't been gung-ho on documenting this because I didn't want to document a complete failure if it happened... :) Then I went back to the original farm (without my camera) this weekend and they have extended their tomato maze - lots more varieties and much bigger this year... I will bring the camera next time I go. Again they told the kids "come back with your basket and belly full." SO cute and SO gets them excited about gardening. I want that!!! I'll take pictures tonight and post them tonight or tomorrow.

I made orange ice cream on Wednesday, but didn't use the 3-ingredient recipe. Finally took a picture of it so I could post on this thread. I don't have the Ben & Jerry's book, but found this (recipe below) on-line and it referenced the Ben & Jerry's book. It's very easy to make, but a bit different from the recipe Linda posted. I added the mint for a little bit of color. The three volunteer guinea pigs who tasted it said it reminded them of the Creamsicles/Dreamsicles of their youth. Apparently, the Creamsicle & Dreamsicle both have a sherbet shell but the Creamsicle has ice cream in the center, and the Dreamsicle has ice milk in the center. Orange Cream Dream Ice Cream from Ben & JerryÂs Ingredients: ⨠1/3 cup Orange juice concentrate; thawed ⨠2 teaspoons Vanilla ⨠2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream ⨠3/4 cup Sugar ⨠2/3 cup Half and half (I added 2 T vodka to keep it from getting icy) Directions: Pour the cream into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour the half and half and whisk to blend. Add the juice concentrate and vanilla and blend. I added the vodka at this step. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions. Makes about 1 qt.