Friday, May 14, 2010

Tomatoes for Mosaic Monday



Better known as a tomato!
That little brown cap is the shell of the seed.
It will fall off in a day or two & the green part will
split into two leaves.


Two summers ago, a golfing buddy of my husband's gave him
some heirloom tomato seeds to plant.
You can read about heirloom tomatoes here.
We've always loved having a garden & homegrown
Ohio tomatoes are simply wonderful!




Last year's crop was SO successful that he decided to do it again!

We carefully saved a few seeds from one of the tomatoes.
We rinsed them really well & let them dry on a paper towel.
We gently pried them off & stored them in an envelope over the winter &
planted them in little peat pots in early March.

My sunroom is like a greenhouse for 2 months of the year,
while hubby becomes a farmer!

All the pots, except for the two cherry tomato plants on the left &
the two eggplants on the right (red band) are heirloom
tomato plants, started from last year's seeds.








You can see the teeny-tiny sprouts in the peat pots in
the background.
Even the tiny fuzzy hairs on the leaves stand out.
Have I told you how much I my new camera?!








Last year, one of his plants grew almost as tall as he is!

This year we will transplant them outside before they get to that size.



We've got blossoms on some of the tomato plants already.



We've even got a teeny-tiny little tomato, too!

I love stepping out onto the deck in the morning &
picking a fresh tomato to go with breakfast.
We put some in pots on the deck
& the rest go in the ground.

Did you know a tomato is
technically a botanical FRUIT
& not a vegetable?
They are seed-bearing structures that develop from flowers.

Its a member of the nightshade family &
people were afraid to eat them at one time.
Many plants of the nightshade family contain
toxic
alkaloids including nicotine, atropine, (slows rate)
&
scopolamine (dries secretions & is used prior to surgery)









Ripe tomatoes are particularly rich in the lycopene.
In addition to imparting the bright red color to tomatoes,
lycopene ingested daily may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis
(clogged arteries) and disease.

Lycopene may also reduce the risk of certain cancers,
including cancers of the prostate, lung, bladder,
cervix, skin and digestive tract.


Amazing to go from this tiny little sprout to

THIS in just a few short months!


I can't wait!!!


Thank you Mary, for hosting Mosaic Monday on your beautiful blog
A Dear Little Red House.


I wish I could send you ALL some Ohio tomatoes
as a way to say "thank you" for visiting the Gazebo House!




Photobucket

30 comments:

  1. There is nothing better then a sun warmed tomatoe to sink your teeth into. Yummy! Have a great week:)

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  2. Wow those tomatoes look fantastic! I need to get busy on my own garden. ::Jill

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  3. Lucky! Look at all those tomatoes you'll have! There is nothing like a homegrown tomato! Fabulous!

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  4. Hi Rett,

    Looks like another bumper crop for you this year - hurray! Sweet and juicy and so very good for you right off the vine - yum!

    Amanda

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  5. There is nothing like a warm fresh tomatoe ripe from the vine sliced up on a sandwich for lunch. Yummy. Valerie

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  6. Oh, my mouth is watering! The father of one of my childhood friends grew the best heirloom tomatoes from seeds he brought from Italy. I can still remember eating them warm from the garden! Thanks for sharing at MM> :)

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  7. How industrious you are - starting your own plants from seeds! Mine has to start from Home Depot!

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  8. Living and growing our tomato's in New Jersey, we are very partial to the homegrown heirloom variety...can't wait! Your header with the giant peonies is spectacular.

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  9. Oh my that tomato looks amazing. I'm sure that tomatoes fresh from your garden are the best! I'd never let him stop... :0)

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  10. I can't wait either! Our little lants are sprouting up in the peat pots as well! NOTHING beats a fresh tomato from the garden!!

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  11. I planted all my own seeds one year. I had grow lights in the basement and faithfully looked after them. It was a daily job but very rewarding!

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  12. I wish you could send me some Ohio tomatoes too! They look luscious!

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  13. HI!!!!
    OH I LOVE LOVE LOVE fresh tomato's from the garden, the store bought ones do not even come close tot here magnificent taste!!!!I love to eat them plain, sliced with some salt sprinkled on them!!!Cut like a star and add some chicken salad and that is my favorite lunch of all times!!!!
    I want a salsa garden so bad, tomato's, onions, peppers, cinantro and I could whip up fresh salsa!!!
    Those are beauties you got!!!!
    love the green house!!!
    hugs,
    jamie

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  14. I dare not let my husband see this--he will be insanely jealous :) This is just full of information and I am impressed with your "crop"! I LOVE your new camera too! I can send my address for the tomatoes :)

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  15. So many great pictures. I LOVE seeing the dried hull perched on the top of the new sprout. I've planted three tomato plants this year and I'm hopeful for one of them to like the light and bring forth fruit. It's our first time in this yard and I wasn't sure where they would be happy. It's so fun to watch them grow.

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  16. Just amazing! Do you send out seeds? (just kidding -- i think!) Those tomatoes would make a great lunch --with basil leaves and drizzled in olive oil. Yummy!

    Have a beautiful day!

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  17. Oh, Rhett! How I do love heirloom tomatoes! I believe that we have bio-engineered all the taste out of tomatoes and all the fragrance out of my favorite flowers...petunias! Don't get me started! lol Yours look amazing!
    Thaks for the link to the cute stencils...love that rooster! To answer your question, I darkened the back of the paper to make it like carbon paper so that I could trace over the design and transfer it to the poster paper. Does that make sense? Maybe I need to reword my explanation. I was ready to go shopping for ready-made stencils myself before it was over! Happy week!...hugs...Debbie

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  18. Rett, I really want one of those delicious tomatoes! They are gorgeous!!!

    I'm so impressed. I couldn't grow a tomato like that if my life depended on it. I fear that my thumb is perpetually brown! LOL!

    XO,

    Sheila :)

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  19. Rett, I would love to come to Ohio and help you just as soon as you have a big bushel of those beautiful tomatoes. Oh, how I love tomatoes in the summer. We don't grow any ourselves. Too many deer on our property. We usually get some given to us by some of my husbands employees.

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  20. I love homegrown tomatoes..nothing tastes as good! Wow you have a giant one! Thank you for your gracious visit and your sweet comments..I appreciate it.


    Miss Bloomers

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  21. Thank you for coming by girl...I also just added you to my follow list...Girl I love vine tomatoes nothing like the cardboard ones you get in the store now a days...Len grows each year for me also...I can eat them like an apple ha ha!! My mama use to make me tomatoe and butter sandwiches when I was a kid...Thanks for all the information...Hope and pray all is well in your world today...Oh I have pnuemonia and COPD that's my under the weather condition ha ha!! Thanks again my friend for coming by it does mean the world to me...Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

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  22. Rett, That tomato is as big as a head! I love garden tomatoes- Yum! I hope you will post pictures of your veggie garden. We just boxed our garden in raised beds. An adventure for us this summer.
    Wonderful and informative post!
    Yvonne

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  23. I love that picture of Ernie standing by that humongous tomato plant!! We just transplanted ours outside last night. I hope they do as well as yours. It is fun starting them indoors when you're so anxious for spring to come.
    Laura

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  24. Rett, this was a fabulous post. Your tomatoes are much further along than ours. Now all you have to do is plan on how you are going to use your summer bounty. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  25. I can't wait for those tomatoes either. Around here, it will be mid to late June. Oh the anticipation!

    I like your new camera too. What did you get? I'm still searching and getting recommendations.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  26. Rett,
    Thanks for your comment on my blog. I can tell you how to fuzz the photo edges if you use Photoshop Elements. Just email me.
    I love the tomatoes..

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  27. Retta: Thanks for stopping by. That's just the camera that is getting my most serious attention. I'm torn between getting it cheaper online or purchasing it from a local camera shop that offers great support. Any feelings along those lines?

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  28. Rett, I missed you on Tablescape Thursday. Just dropping back by to let you know.

    Hugs,

    Sheila :-)

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  29. Oh, there's nothing like homegrown veggies and tomatoes are my favorite. Sorry to hear your hubby's not feeling well. Sending wishes that he'll feel better soon.
    Thank you so much for your visit and sweet comments today.
    I always appreciate your visits.
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  30. Rett, I love tomatoes and your photos show so wunderful all the deatils of a tomato life. I grow every year tomatoes of the seeds from last year. So I have the same types several years. Every year it's like a miracle, when this teeny-tiny seeds burst and the babyplants stat to grow. And in the autumm they are huge shrubs. I enjoyed your post very much and now I will go and have a look at my tomatoes :-).
    Greeetings, Johanna

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment. I read them all & each one is so very special to me & I try really hard to return the visit!

fondly,
~Rett~