Redundant...44º

Today I will write about tomatoes for the last time this year...Starting with the 20 pounds of tomatoes that have been "ripening," in our living room for over a week now, they are in the freezer!..Herb "chased water," (my mothers term) most of the day, changing settings every 90 minutes, for one last fall watering, as we hope for rain this weekend...He then dismantled the siphon hose, from the irrigation ditch and drained the pumps, before moving them to the garage, for the winter...Now there is no way that I can say, "But Honey, I think there is a spot you missed in the far Northwest corner of the yard." 😇

While he was doing that, I stayed in the kitchen scalding, peeling tomatoes, before placing them on cookie sheets, covered with garlic, basil, salt and olive oil, then into the oven...I did the extra step of peeling to see if it is worth the effort to not have pesky tomato skins in sauces and soup...These little tomato morsels are hard to resist, when they come out of the oven...A cracker, a roasted tomato and a thin slice of smoky Gouda cheese, make a wonderful snack...By 3pm, Herb was done watering, I was done with tomatoes and we were happy to sit down to a bowl of ham and bean soup and sliced fresh veggies for our dinner...It was easy and filling and we were tired.

Roasted, with a few missing.

Delicious!

One more tomato that I will mention are the 2 bushes of "Indigo Rose," the name suckered me in to buying them...They produced an abundant crop of beautiful, eggplant colored, salad tomatoes, but alas our season is not long enough for them to ripen properly or to develop the flavor to go with their vibrant color...After admiring them for one last time, I pulled the bushes, cleaned up the tomatoes, from the ground, ate one of the riper looking ones and chalked it up to fun experiment...Join me here again tomorrow for another fun filled, exciting day on Barton Heights...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Indigo Rose