Historical Photo:
Farming report:
My hopes of a big harvest and a truck farm have went up in smoke (or freeze). We drove up to check our mail and over to the 1/8th acre plantation to check the crops. Terrible news.
EVERY tomato plant is GONE ... .... .(all three of them).
The Cantaloupes are a thing of the past while All the banana trees are burned black/brown (both of them). (do banana trees recover?)
It took a long time but I harvested all the green tomatoes that were about the size of a quarter. My mouth said, “Do I taste fried green tomatoes?”
Shucks it looks like the entire crop of one Pineapple may make it. It is close to the ground and still has some green!
I have never fried green tomatoes, but friend Evelyn had given us some ‘Fried Green tomato Coating Mix’ awhile back and it came in handy. Back at our mobile-home Sherry said just add olive oil to the pan and go to it. So I did. I decided for our snack to throw in a few slices of onion.
Our whole crop only made a small snack. Sad end to such a big dream of FRESH tomato sandwiches, my favorite sandwich in the whole world. Will I try again? You betcha, just as soon as we settle down over there in a couple weeks.
I am not much on Farmer’s markets UNLESS I know the person or the sale is actually at a farm or garden. Sad to say I worked with a man a few years ago in an office. Later he opened a Vegetable stand. I knew him Well enough for him to confide to me about the tomatoes he had at his stand. ‘They are from Mexico, organic is cool now, so I make them Organic. The label said ‘organically grown locally.’ For affect, he put them on the ground and uses a garden hose to splash some dirt on the clean tomatoes, half cleaned them for display.
He had an old corncob pipe in the breast pocket of his Red Camel ‘overhauls’. He looked the part, but didn’t have a farm. I guess the rule, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ or the one, ‘buyer beware’ fits.
Imma tell you, I KNOW a good tomato when I bite into it!
Nite Shipslog
PS: Friend Buddy sent me some good advice and a little sarcasm……
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
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What a crashing disappointment! (Both your crop and hearing about fraudulent 'farmers.') Sorry - I know next to NOTHING about growing fruits and vegetables. Hopefully, all that will change when I graduate to Bama.
ReplyDeleteThe fried green tomatoes and onion rings look yummy, indeed. So I've finally 'met' Duke's mayo, but haven't ever had a tomato sandwich or fried green tomatoes (what happens to the seeds?) They're going on the list!
You should file for crop disaster treatment :)
ReplyDeleteHad you had a little greenhouse with a heater you would probably have been OK.
R
So sorry about your garden, but knowing you I know you will try again and be a success. Now I'm hungry for a big juicy tomato with some fried Spam (they have low sodium now) and onion. Oh and Miracle Whip.
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about your crop loss. but glad to hear you're going to try again.
ReplyDeleteGardens to require some TLC and since you've been gone a lot it's not surprising your's failed but when you get home you can try again. Nice thing about Florida, you have much longer growing season than us for sure. We usually start around Memorial day and finish up mid October. We do have access to local farmers markets where they grow what is sold and you can really tell the difference in taste. Nothing like a fresh tomato sandwich for sure !
ReplyDeleteWe are sorry to hear about your crop damage...always a disappointment. I know nothing about tropical fruit growing but would not think the banana tree would recover. Sorry. Try again with the tomatoes tho...maybe start with strong seedling rather than from seed. However,did you know you can plant seeds from any tomato? even store bought. Glad you were able to have Fried Green Tomatoes tho. Loveum!
ReplyDeletelove n' hugs from up north. Schools are closed, just windy out so far but a snowstorm coming in from the west. I wonder if we'll get a foot like they say?
New project: Build a little greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteHow did you like the fried green tomatos? I like them as long as I have some ranch dressing to dip them in.
And yes, the banana trees will come back. Hard to kill those things. I had one and would use a sharpie to mark how much it growed. It would grow 1/2 inch each day no kidding! It ended up as tall as the house by the end of summer. It had little sprouts growing around it as well.
Good luck on your next crop.
Lisa
So sorry to hear about your garden, I feel your pain. Only thing edible that I lost was a chile pepper plant, but my desert rose that along with everything else was covered looks puny. Lisa has a great idea with the greenhouse!!!
ReplyDelete