Grape Tomato Excess
Our little grape tomato plants were planted at the beginning of July. They were starts Rick and I got at a farmer’s market and we only bought four. Our raised beds were ready with wire on the bottom for vole prevention. Our compost had broken down after a year and was layered in with clean topsoil. My only hope was to keep all the new plants alive. We had no idea the grape tomato excess that was going to arrive in about four weeks!
Grape Tomato Delay
As the plants began to take off, I noticed the stalks and leaves were spreading rapidly. There were blossoms but the greenery was overwhelming. Between Google and my gardening books, I soon learned that this was a sign of too much nitrogen. I also learned that trimming excess suckers of the grape tomatos helped focus the growth into the existing limbs. When there finally was teeny tomatos, you can imagine how excited I was!
Within two weeks, many more small tomatoes started appearing on the four plants. My raised bed went from looking bare to overflowing with green. Between the cucumbers sprawling all over the bottom and the tomatoes branching out above, there was barely room for my pepper plants.
Using Up Extra Tomatoes
It wasn’t long before there were plenty of extra little tomatoes in the house. Tomatos were baked in quiches and fritatas, served on salads and turned into salads. With such a grape tomato excess, I began looking for a way to preserve them. Because I am new to canning, I found a tested recipe for Pickled Grape Tomatoes in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Canning to try. I have just finished processing them and they are cooling before I put them away. I will be sure to add some notes when we open them up. For now, we are going to let them bath in the brine and garlic.
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