From the Garden

by julie on August 5, 2008

I finally had some tomatoes on my tomato plant, and I had plenty of basil, so last Wednesday night, I made a simple meal for Terry and myself: caprese! It’s pretty simple– fresh mozzarella layered with fresh tomatoes and basil, drizzled with balsamic reduction. Salt and pepper to taste and, I swear, it tastes like summer. I need more tomato plants next year– this year only yielded about four tomatoes, but the plants are young. Just have to figure out what to do with them during the winter…

fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozz from my garden. Well, not the mozz.
copyright 2008, winemedineme/Julie Niesen. All rights reserved.
  • WestEnder

    My dad and I planted five tomato plants. They started off great and then went south. The total yield was 3 tomatoes, 2 of which were eaten by a chipmunk.

  • Julie

    I don’t think any of mine got chipmunked. I need to get some organic fertilizer (i.e. manure, ew) next year.

    This year, I’m now on a quest for a bushel of tomatoes so I can can. Extras, anyone?

  • WestEnder

    Update: Recent assessment of the tomato plants reveals that although the plants still look sickly, there are many newly blooming tomatoes.

  • lauren0308

    Looks delicious!

  • vudutu

    Odd tomato year, cool weather early produced lot’s of foliage but slow to ripen, ours started in earnest last week. Julie I don’t have bushels but if you are welcome to some, if you want to can I suggest you hit some of the farmers markets and negotiate!

  • ShannanB aka Mommy Bits

    Marty makes this a lot in the summer and I can’t get enough of it. Through in some fresh italian bread and I’m in heaven.

  • Maggie

    The thick mozzarella slices look delicious! I just picked my first full sized tomato this week.

  • Deborah

    You can take your tomato harvest into the fall and perhaps winter by cutting off a branch and sticking it in water. It will start to sprout roots and continue blooming for about a month in water. If you use a cotton swab to pollinate the flowers, you can get tomatoes. Yes, it really is that easy — touch a cotton swab to one flower, then touch another one, then another, and voila, the flowers turn into tomatoes.

    The tomato plant will die after about a month in water. If you want to continue to get tomatoes, just put it in a pot with soil. I’ve wondered if it would continue to grow in water if I just added fertilizer. I might try that this fall.

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