Here is my first bowlful of tomatoes.

Aren’t they purdy? Just enough for a few salads and a slicing mater or two for the dinner table. Perfect amount of tomatoes for a day or three. Don’t you think?

Ah, but who knows the evil that lurks in 40 feet of raised beds when a goofy gardener woman foolishly plants 41 tomato plants in her rich compost heavy raised beds on the hot side of the Moby…. AGHGHGHGH!!!!

This is what we’ve been getting now, every two or three days. Yes. by the washtub load. And more.

I have been giving them away… friends, neighbors, the mail man. Little children passing on the street. Even dogs are trying to help out.

“Grandma, I’m not sure dogs are supposed to eat these things but if you insist, I’ll give it a try…”

We’ve made sauce, we’ve made dried, we’ve made salsa, we’ve made more sauce, we made chunky gaspacho like salsa… we’re making ketchup this week and we’re making stewed tomatoes…. I’ve run out of jars. I’m pouching some in freezer bags.

And yet… THEY STILL KEEP COMING!!! MORE MORE MORE!!!!!

OH MY GOOD LORD…. will it ever stop????

“Hey everyone! Party at the Moby! Sherri’s making salsa in a washtub!!! Bring chips!!!!!”

Well, kidding aside, we are enjoying them… even the girls admit that the sauce is very tasty… we’ve made two batches of homemade spaghetti-os now and they actually like it. I think I’m going to get some REAL parmesan cheese and some ravioli and see if I can entice them to give it a try… they are not tomato fans…. WHAT WAS I THINKING????? I’m the only one that likes this stuff in the Moby! THE ONLY ONE!!!!

Here’s another days harvest. Yes, we have been weighing them as they come in… we’re almost to 100 pounds of maters. 87 pounds so far. Add that to our other veggie poundage and we’re up over last years for sure!!! We’re just under 125 pounds… 124 to be exact. I expect we’ll see at least another 50 to 75 pounds of potatoes. And we’ve got carrots, peppers and ah, more tomatoes coming in. Oh, yes and apples! (But that’s another tale….)

I am sure we’ll hit the 150 pound mark this year, probably more.

Okay.  I’ve numbered the tomatoes that are ripe so far because I know you’re interested in what we’ve got going and how they turned out from the seed posts of spring time.

1. Mortgage Lifter…. yes, that famous story about the guy paying off his mortgage with these beefy maters… they are good sliced with a little salt…

2. Amish Paste – I have to tell you, this is my favorite to just slice and eat!  They are SO good… and so like the totally flavorful garden tomato taste.   They make AWESOME sauce…

3.  Our own cross polinated mater….  we have dubbed…  Moby Teardrops –  We have had a few plants throw these weird little teardrop Gajo De Melon Tomato. We think they got a little too close to the striped romans…  unauthorized tomato sex was going on.  Bad, bad veggies.  Of course, it didn’t help that we planted everything all crammed in together…

4. Royal Hillbilly – cute medium sized gems.   I’m not sure if they should be bigger…  our water situation was not good…  but they are good eating and great for salsa.

5.  Striped Roman – We LOVE the look of these fellows.  As a paste/Roman tomato, I have to say, the Amish Paste are a bit better tasting.  But you can’t beat these for effort and appearance!  They’re wonderful!  We are definitely growing these next year, just for the color if nothing else.

6. Black Krim – Award winning and beautiful in color… a dark rich purply black on the tops.  Good slicing tomato.

7. Gajo De Melon Tomato – Imagine melons, imagine sugar, mix in some tomato, and you describe the delicious taste of this lovely cherry tomato. They are pink and yellow, blended and marbled together, in lovely melon tones. Plants produce these gourmet fruit well.

8. Yellow Mountain – I really like these.  The color is fun and they make a really cool sauce.  They are excellent sliced and I think they are definitely going to be planted next year.  They won a spot in the Moby 2011 plans.

Well…  I don’t know how much longer we can hold out.  They’re coming in the Moby now almost every day.  Sitting on the counter, taunting me, making me get my knives out and start processing them!   They’re relentless!

I even had a taste test to show them I was serious and they would all be eaten… and still they come.  More and more and more…

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