Saturday, October 10, 2009, 18:58
What's That White Stuff?
I could hardly believe my eyes when I got up Saturday morning. There was white stuff on the porch and some on the lawn.
"Is that SNOW?" I said.
"Yes," Randy replied. "It was snowing sideways only a little while ago."
"Sideways?"
"Yes, sideways."
Snow. On October 10.
The wind was blowing, too, a strong wind out of the north. I decided I ought to bring my flowers in off the porch -- my miniature rose, the geranium, a Christmas cactus. I had covered them with a blanket for overnight. With any luck at all they would be okay and not frozen already.
I feel like a missed a couple of months. Maybe it's really December 10. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, October 08, 2009, 20:32
Yellow Boys
I planted a new kind of tomato this year that I had never planted before. They were called Yellow Boys. I found the plants at the local Farmers' Union at the end of May and bought four of them.
I put two plants in a big tub in the back yard and two in the bed by the basement. One of those by the basement, at least I am thinking it was a Yellow Boy, didn't make it past babyhood. The other one made up for it. I don't know what those Yellow Boy tomatoes are crossed with, but they grew large vines many feet long.
The vines themselves were as big around as my thumb and ran maybe six feet or so. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Yellow Boy vines extending well into the Roma tomato plants. At least the one by the basement door did very well. The other two in the tub did not grow nearly so well. Apparently they want more room to stretch out than was available in the tub.
The tomatoes are a yellow-orange color and look very different from other tomatoes. They have a big fruit on them, too. Large, soft, yellow tomatoes with few seeds, little pulp and lots of water.
Sunday night, I decided to make a batch of tomato preserves with the Yellow Boys. I ended up with seven pints and two quarts of the stuff. And that was after I had to throw out many of the Yellow Boys because they were getting soft and rotten.
Randy asked if I was going to plant them again next year, and I said I probably would not have to because there were a certain number that were buried amongst the vines in the tomato bed that I did not see until they were too ripe to pick. I have a feeling that they may reseed themselves as volunteers.
I must say, the tomato preserves, made with Yellow Boy tomatoes, is very pretty in jars, a lovely golden color with few seeds.
Randy does not particularly care for tomato preserves on biscuits or toast or waffles, so I'm going to be eating quite a lot of tomato preserves. I am also going to mix some of it with the spaghetti sauce made from the Romas. I could use some of it in chili, too.
The winter always seems so long and dark and cold. The cold does not bother me so much as the short days and lack of daylight. Yellow Boy tomato preserves are going to be one more weapon in my arsenal this winter to remind me of the warm, long days of summer.
In case anyone is interested, here is my recipe for tomato preserves. It's in the Rural Route 2 Cookbook, too.
Tomato Preserves
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you like tomatoes, here's a different way to serve them. Tomatoes are good for you, too. They're high in vitamin C (especially with the lemon juice added to the recipe). Tomatoes are also high in antioxidants. I like to eat tomato preserves on toast, biscuits, pancakes and waffles.
3 cups tomatoes (chopped or processed in the blender)
2 cups sugar
1 3-ounce package of Lemon Jello
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Put tomatoes and sugar into a kettle and boil for 12 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add Jello and lemon juice. Stir until the Jello is dissolved.
Seal in hot, sterilized jars.
Note: When you are ready to eat a jar of tomato preserves, put the jar in the refrigerator for four hours first. The preserves will firm up in the refrigerator. Keep the jar refrigerated after opening it.
LeAnn R. Ralph