Seven Dozen Tomatoes

That's right. Seven dozen tomatoes. So far we've planted five dozen and I'm estimating there is at least two dozen left in the greenhouse.

Good God.

What does one do with seven dozen tomato plants, you ask?

A lot. A real lot.

We don't buy any tomatoes. At all. Not fresh. Not canned. The only tomatoes we consume (and we eat a lot of tomatoes!) come from our garden. At harvest time we can and freeze them. And by the end of the season I'll have a couple of plants growing in pots to bring in the house. That way we'll get fresh tomatoes through most of the winter months, too. I'm pretty sure the plants will be fine for most of the winter in the greenhouse, actually.

This year I plan to try and make ketchup. Has anyone tried that? How does it work? Any tips would be appreciated!

We usually grow about four dozen tomatoes. This year, with the new greenhouse egging me on, we've got oodles of plants. What else could we do but plant them?

So, you see, we've spent most of the weekend planting. Thankfully we both love being outdoors, playing in the dirt and planting so it's been fun. We'll be back out there again today, planting some more. By evening we'll be hot, tired and dirty...but happy. And hopefully we'll have most of the greenhouse stuff in the ground by tonight. Or maybe tomorrow. Or...

What else have we planted besides tomatoes? Let's see...peppers, basil, cabbage, lettuce, pumpkins, winter squash, summer squash, beans, peas, broccoli, walking stick kale, gourds, watermelons, cantaloupes, corn, cukes, fennel, onions, parsnips, artichokes, oregano, parsley, thyme, sage, turnips, asparagus and my personal favorite, eggplant. I have a feeling I may be leaving something out but you get the idea...

We're big on vegetables and much prefer growing our own and filling the pantry to buying produce that comes from who-knows-where and is fertilized with who-knows-what and handled by...well, by who knows?

So that's our weekend. What about you? Did you have a good one?