Feb 24, 2016

Talking about tomatoes - Kandy Shepherd


When I was editor of a gardening magazine I found everyone wanted to talk to me about their tomatoes.  In summer, they become almost a national obsession with gardeners.

There’s no doubt vine-ripened, freshly picked tomatoes taste fantastic. And in most places Down Under they’re easy to grow. In our part of the country there’s a local rule that decrees no planting out before Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday of November) because of the danger of late frost. But apart from that it’s just plant them, give them fertilizer (in our case courtesy of our hens and horses), water them and wait for tomatoes. Oh, and protect them from hungry birds.

I'd be happy to share with the local bird-life
but they'd scoff the lot if I didn't net my tomatoes!

But for the last three years our crops have been useless: too much rain, not enough rain, whatever the reason the result has been the same—no tomatoes.

That’s why we’re loving the bumper crops this year. The tomatoes have been so abundant we’ve had to look at ways not to waste them. I’ve recently made passata—fresh tomato sauce—and just yesterday tried making semi-dried tomatoes.

Best Romas I've every grown!

I picked the Roma tomatoes—egg shaped, not as juicy as other varieties. 

Roma's ready to go!

Then I cut them in half, sprinkled with salt, olive oil and thyme from the garden, and cooked them in a slow oven for about three hours until they were crisp around the edges but still soft in the middle. 

They don't look very pretty but the semi-dried tomatoes taste wonderful! 
Packed in oil and kept in the fridge they’ll keep for about a month—though I doubt they’ll last that long at our house!

These will be great in sandwiches, salads, pasta and pizza!

There’s a certain satisfaction in preserving crops from our garden. I’ve made pesto from the basil as well as plum jam this year  (for some reason none of our other fruit trees produced anything, unseasonal weather patterns I suspect.)

 
But I think of our forebears and am so thankful we don’t have to rely on my labour to keep us in fruit and vegetables throughout the year. Harvest time is the hottest time of the year and preserving in a sweltering kitchen isn’t something I’d want to do as anything other than an occasional hobby!

Of course my husband, while enjoying the fruits of my labour, reminds me that with a looming deadline, I should be working on my novel. And that all this tomato preserving is just another form of procrastination!

My next Harlequin Romance Crown Prince’s Chosen Bride is out on March 1. The heroine is a chef turned party planner—and she doesn’t make tomato sauce or plum jam in the story though she does make a wicked white chocolate mud cake…

Do you grow vegetables and/or make preserves or are you quite happy to buy them? Any successes or disasters to recount? I’d love to read your comments!


19 comments:

  1. Hi Kandy

    Oh those tomatoes look great I am not a gardener at all although I would love to give it a go I love home grown tomatoes they have such a great taste and although over the years I have made jams and choko pickles when we have been given a lot of them and it is lots of hard work but fun and I always feel good seeing the jars all done :)

    Congrats on the new book I am really looking forward to this one

    Have Fun
    Helen

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  2. Helen, it is a satisfying feeling to see all the jars lined up with home-grown, home-made goodies isn't it!
    I hope you enjoy CROWN PRINCE'S CHOSEN BRIDE!

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  3. I love tomatoes! If I lived with you Kandy there would be none left for you to do anything with! I'd be out in that garden nibbling at them all day :-)

    Not a gardener here at all although we did grown basil in a pot once which I quite enjoyed. When our Mulberry tree is laden we make mulberry jam but usually I just buy those kind of preserves.

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    1. How wonderful to have a mulberry tree, Amy. I adore them. We have a small one - it still has a long way to go - but the birds get every darn one. We have the most voracious (and beautiful) bird in our valley!
      If I was only going to grow one thing, I'd make it herbs in containers handy to the kitchen!

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  4. I wish I liked tomatoes, Kandy, but I just don't (though cooked is fine, so I'd probably love some of that passata of yours). I always think making chutney or jam would be fun. It's something I mean to try one day. That said, it'll be from store bought fruit and/or veggies as the one thing I'm not is a gardener. ;-)

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    1. You're not the only one of my friends who doesn't eat tomatoes, Michelle. Too acidic for one, gout-inducing for another, another simply doesn't like the taste. I believe cooked tomatoes are actually better for you health wise than fresh as the cooking releases lycopene which is supposed to be incredibly good for you!

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    2. Oh no, Michelle! Gasps in horror!
      This proves it, we are definitely not twins....

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    3. Amy, I envy people who like tomatoes -- they seem to relish a good tomato with a gusto I completely understand. Plus I love what tomatoes look like. But as soon as that juicy red goodness (in it's raw form) touches my tongue...ugh! I shudder just thinking about it.

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  5. Yes, Kandy, we have a huge vegetable garden and so many tomatoes. I've made many batches of my favourite tomato pasta sauce which gets put into lots of dishes, not only Italian.

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    1. Glad to hear you're having a good crop this year too Sue! How great to be able make so much pasta sauce. It's so nice to have the home-made one, isn't it!

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  6. Everything I grow tends to attract the wildlife. The currawongs eat all of the strawberries. The rainbow lorikeets get into the grapes. The possums into the olives. The cockatoos into the pecans. There is more, but I think you get my drift. I'm not feeding the family, but the local wildlife. They turn up in great flocks & families.

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    1. Mary, we have the same issue. I'm sure the birds have a communication system to let the others know the fruit is on in Kandy's garden - let's eat the lot! They are so beautiful, but I wish they'd learn to share!

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  7. Fantastic crop of tomatoes, Kandy! And roma tomatoes are my absolute favourite - especially the mini variety! Next summer I'm hoping to get some going in the new vegetable patch for a bit of a treat - if we can get to them before the possums and birds. Aren't we lucky that we don't have to rely on our efforts in the garden like our forebears with fickle rains and other challenges to produce vegies for the table.

    Your new cover is gorgeous!

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    1. Sharon, I so hope you'll be able to get the new vegetable garden going for next year after the fire. Yes, we are so lucky we don't have to rely on our efforts in the garden and with the good old Aussie Fowler's Vacola preserving system to put fruit and veg on the table!
      Thanks for your kind words about the cover - it's gorgeous isn't it - and true to the story.

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  8. Hallo Kandy , I'm not good with a vegetable garden or garden, so we thought my husband. We have a small vegetable garden where we grow tomatoes, green salad, red radicchio, herbs (rosemary, sage, mint, bay leaves). I do not do canning with tomatoes, but I prefer to eat them fresh in salads, or use them for dressing pasta.

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  9. Your vegetable garden sounds wonderful, Franca. I agree the best thing to do with a homegrown tomato is to eat them fresh - but this year we have more than the family can eat fresh! I have made pasta with small, cherry tomatoes in golden and red plus some basil stirred!through it and it has been delicious.

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  10. Kandy, thanks for this wonderful post--you've made me hungry for fresh garden tomatoes!!! My favorite Summer memories are of the times I spent with my grandparents working in our garden. My grandfather was a natural "master gardener". He grew the best tomatoes that I have ever tasted! One of a Southerner's favorite meals is a slice of juicy, ripe homegrown tomato on a fresh, hot butter biscuit! I used to love to help my grandfather plant the tomatoes. Dig a little hole, add some water, drop in the little plant, pat the dirt down, add a little water, repeat. On and on we went, row after row, until we were done. It was never work to me, it was just a special time shared with my Paw Paw.

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  11. I adore tomatoes, Kandy and we've had a bumper crop this year too! I've managed to harvest most of them and we've eaten them straight off the vine- YUM! If we have a glut we usually make tomato and chilli jam which is delicious, especially with cheese!

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  12. Those tomatoes look so tasty, Kandy!! Yum :D

    We live in an apartment, so no veggie patch here. I have grown herbs on a balcony before, but I find it tough because the winds can be really strong. But I may give it a go once winter has finished up - so nice to have fresh mint and parsley at your fingertips!

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