What am I going to do with all these green cherry tomatoes?

Summer has been here for a while now in South Texas. Our heat index has been above 100F all week and the vegetable garden is sure showing signs of stress. Heck, I am showing signs of stress and I wilt at the mire thought of stepping outside.

The heat and humidity that we have been experiencing has really set me back with my recovery and my over all breathing. I am still doing well. Going to physical therapy 2-3 times a week. But three weeks ago when our temps started staying in the high 90’s I could barely get through a physical therapy session. We took out all the weights and resistant bands and I just went through the motions and even that was a struggle, so I can understand how those tomato plants must be feeling out there.

The cherry tomatoes plants that my mom planted when she was here in early March have seen better days. They certainly aren’t going to win a beauty contest. Little by little their leaves are drying out and dieing. In the end of July we have our second planting for tomatoes, so on Friday I took some cuttings from the plants and potted them up to get them ready for planting in about month of so.

These cherry tomato plants are still FULL of green cherry tomatoes. Full! Most of them would probably not survive long enough to even start to blush. Besides the heat, I have the birds out there to compete with. They have been out there peeking away. First they started with the ones that started to blush, now they just seem to be peeking anything.

What to do with all those green cherry tomatoes? Well, I filed away an idea that I saw over Nancy post about over at Homesteading in Maine. Dilled Green Cherry Tomatoes! Luckily my brain was working a few days ago and I started picking all the green cherry tomatoes because I was on a mission.

I ended up with 2 quarts, 4 pints and 2 1/2 pints all heading to the refrigerator to sit for four weeks to develop their flavor.  I can’t wait to try them. To me, this is a great way to make use of something that probably wouldn’t make it to maturity and harvest. Instead of ending up in the compost tumbler, it ended up in the refrigerator. my other option was to make green tomato chutney, but I just didn’t have the energy. If some of the tomato plants start looking terrible, I will conjure up the energy and give the green tomato chutney a try. I know I would love it.

What would you do with an abundance of green tomatoes?

Sincerely, Emily

You can see what else I am up to over at Sincerely, Emily. The topics are varied, as I jump around from gardening to sewing to making bread or lotion and many things in between.

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Garlic Tea cure for the Common Cold?

As the cold and flu season is upon us I have done some research into ‘cures’ for the common cold.

I have many herbal teas that we use when we’re sick…but I wanted something I could take at the very first symptoms of sickness to knock it out  before it became a full blown, week long, snot fest!

Twice in the last month my darling children have passed their colds onto me.

Twice I have at the first sign of sickness made and drank garlic tea.

Twice my cold failed to be anything more than a 24 hour slight dribble and headache.

Garlic has been used throughout history for its antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. Recent scientific studies have indicated that a diet high in garlic (more than 2 large cloves a day per person) can reduce the incidence of certain cancers especially those of the intestinal tract and breast cancer.

Here is a good page to look at from the National Cancer Institute on more specifics of garlic and cancer.

When using raw garlic it is important to crush or mince and then let your garlic sit for 15 minutes…this allows the chemical compounds in the cloves to be released.

My garlic tea is simply one clove of peeled, crushed garlic allowed to sit for 15 minutes after crushing.  Then I place it in the bottom of a coffee cup and pour boiling water over it.  I let it steep for another 15 minutes.  Then I remove the garlic and add honey and lemon.  I slowly drink the tea while chewing on the clove of garlic.

I will admit that I smell like garlic for at least an hour after this…so I would not do it when headed out to an important appointment!

Now I am not going to say that this is indeed the cure for the common cold but so for the evidence has been compelling.  As the colds have lasted from 5 days to a week for my husband kids it has lasted less than 24 hours for me and has had considerably milder symptoms.

Now if I could just convince the rest of my family that the stinking rose really does make a beneficial…if not stinky tea!

So do you have a ‘cure’ for the common cold that you would like to share?

 

Kim can also be found at the inadvertent farmer where she raises organic fruits, veggies, critters, kids, and…a camel!

 

 

 

 

 

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Potato Patties with Garlic & Onions recipe

I don’t know about you but I have a lot of potatoes that are just at the brink of not being good for eating anymore.  So we have been scrambling about here to try to use them up asap!

A lot have gone into Baked Potato Soup since out weather is still cool and wet.  The morning after we are likely to use some of the leftover baked potatoes for potato patties…one of our all time favorite things!

The trick to these is to use a potato that has not been over cooked since you are going to grate them.  You can use baked, boiled or steamed.  Just make sure they are fairly firm and have been refrigerated…it is much harder to grate a warm potato!

Ingredients…

6 to 8 medium russet type potatoes, cooked, cooled, peeled (if you want) and grated

1/2 sweet onion grated

2 to 3 cloves finely minced garlic

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional herbs alone or in combination to taste…

Thyme

Celery Seed

Oregano

Cayenne

Chili Powder

Another option is adding freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Mix all the ingredients together. Using about 1/2 cup of the mixture for each, form into patties.  Place in frying pan and press with spatula to form.  Fry in hot oil or butter until nicely browned, flipping once.  Keep patties in warm oven until they are all fried and ready to serve.

So if you have left over cooked potatoes this is an simple way to please your whole family…these are seriously good!

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Getting Saucy…Raw Tomato Sauce

All I can say is my oh my do I have tomatoes…planted 40 plants

WHAT was I thinking???

They looked so little when in their tiny starter cells.

So what to do with all these?

How about raw tomato sauce

Raw? Why raw you are wondering…

Well here is the deal, I have recently become vegan…but this has nothing at all to do with that!

So no I am not a raw food vegan…

I am a lazy vegan….as opposed to a lazy vegetarian which I perfected over decades of hardly working!!!

I just don’t want to stand around a big pot all day cookin’ up sauce so…

I decided that lazy was the word for the day I would make the sauce raw…

Why not I said to myself…there is no law stopping me.

So that is precisely what I did!

First I washed…

Then I cored…

Then I threw…I threw them into my Vita-Mix that is!

Then I added…

Part of a pretty pepper from my plot…say that 3 times fast!

To which I also added…

Fresh basil, part of a sweet onion…

Parsley from my window sill…

Salt, pepper…

Roasted garlic…I LOVE roasted garlic!

If you put something roasted in your raw sauce does that not make it raw anymore?

And a touch of organic extra virgin olive oil.

Whirred it all around and voila’

Fresh, raw, yummy tomato sauce…

Which I forgot to take a picture of…sorry!

 

We have used this on pasta

Over roasted eggplant

As chilled soup

As tomato juice with a dash of Tabasco!

And of course with as many tomatoes as I have…we froze A LOT!

I must say it is scrumptious…is it exactly like cooked tomato sauce…no

But it beats standing around a big ol’ pot in the middle of August!

Go… enjoy…

Eat!

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