Hillbilly hotdogs

Hillbilly Hot Dogs

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share good info, even if it's not tomato related? HaHa
I saw this on the Food Channel and maybe it's the Hillbilly in me, but I was fascinated by it.
It's better info if you watch the re-runs on the Food Network.
Friday, April 25th: 9 p.m.
Saturday, April 26th: Midnight
Monday, April 28th: 1 p.m.
Friday, May 9th: Noon

In a nutshell, these folks have a hot dog business in W. Virginia and it's as Hillbilly as you can get.
In a broken down school bus. LOL
Word is that they have some of the best hot dogs in America and the Hillbilly motif is an all in fun poke at themselves.

As soon as Jack gets here in May, I am making the trek to W.V. for some of the dogs. Nothing beats a road trip just for laughs.
Life's short, have fun!!!
Hillbillyhotdogs.com

Kumato/Rosso Bruno

The Mysterious Kumato

Known as the Kumato in Europe and called Rosso Bruno in Canada. (I have no idea why the company changed the name for Canadians).
As with all new varieties, questions abound and curiosity gets us tomato growers. Much mis-information is floating around the internet about this one.
The company that circulates it in North America, Dulcinea, says it is a hybrid (a cross of two known or unknown tomatoes, first generation)
The distributor states that it is not a GMO (Genetically modified Organism) which is a plus.
The seeds are not available for gardeners, only the fruit. Which means that if you save the seeds and plant them out, it would take approximately 7 generations to stabilize it for conisistancy.
The company that owns the rights to the Kumato, Syngenta Seeds Europe, has itself put out some mis-information on it's own product. They state that the tomato is from the Galapagos Islands. Hmmmmm, that might be only half true.

"Kumato Tomatoes are described as black, but they are actually more of a dark brown. It developed over six years by Damien Flores, a Spanish grower in Aguilas, southern Spain (100 km from Murcia) for by Syngenta Seeds Europe. The company was looking for a tomato that would grow in salty soil. According to marketers' press releases, the tomato was developed from a variety from the Galapagos Islands. However, there are actually no black tomatoes in the Galapagos Islands. Syngenta may have used some tomatoes from the Galapagos, which are "Lycopersicon cheesmanii", in the cross-breeding it did, but those tomatoes are not black -- the black actually comes from tomatoes that have been in Europe for hundreds of years, through selection. Kumato is seed not available on retail market to home gardeners, only to commercial producers, and Syngenta has said it will not be released to the public. "

I have even heard speculation from growers that are stabilizing it for home gardeners that they think it might not be a Hybrid at all.Possibly that Syngenta put out the hybrid bit as a ruse to keep gardeners from growing and saving the seed. Protecting their investment.
One of my gardening friends in Canada has grown it for 4 seasons and has reported that it is true to the F1 every year. No variations.
That would indicate that it is indeed an open pollinated variety and not a hybrid. You would expect some variations in fruit size and color every year from hybrid seed.
The Kumato is reportadly very sweet and edible at 3 different stages.
This year, my French peeps and myself have started "Operation Kumato". We are all growing plants from the seeds to compare results.
If we all obtain the same results, it would indicate it is an OP.It will be interesting. Stay tuned for results.

Terracycle

Terracycle

Wow, I haven't been this impressed with a product in awhile.
This is a company that was founded by two Princeton University students who left to create the most eco-friendly products without premium prices. They call it Eco-Capitalism.( I think Al Gore does a form of this by selling "Carbon Credits" ) They use recycled drink and food containers to package everything from fertilizer to bird feeders.
Here in the pic is the tomato food. You'll notice at the top it says "contains liquid worm poop". LOL. It goes on to say that they feed premium organic material to millions of worms. Then they collect the worm poop and liquefy it to create this fert. No mixing required, just feed with it as you would any liquid fertilizer. This is a 64 oz. recycled pop bottle. This would work fine for a small garden, but I don't think some of us that have 200+ tomatoes could afford it. LOL.
But I love the concept and the products. I will add their link to the sidebar if you want to check out their other products. In my area, Home Depot, Walmart and Target carry the line.

Monkey Ass

Monkey Ass Tomato

I am writing about this tomato because I find the passionate disagreement over it very amusing. Many tomato growers turn their nose up at this one as "silly" and a "gimmick". I will give you my take on it and you can make up your own mind.

There is a family by the name of Wagner. This tomato has been in their family for many generations beginning with their ancestors in Riardo, Italy in the Province of Ceserta. They are much like an extra large Oxheart tomato with meaty salmon flesh and not many seeds. Some of the very large ones develop a crack-not a split, but a closed crack which resembles a Baboon’s ass. Sounds like an heirloom to me. Right?

Well, here's the rub, the family that has been growing this tomato, decided to give it a name and thought it would be funny to call it Monkey Ass. They trademarked the name and sell the seeds on E-Bay. That is the part that annoys some tomato growers.

The family didn't use the normal channels of tomato growers, the forums, seed savers or giving seeds to a commercial seed supplier. I say; SO?

Some of the arguements I have heard are; "it could be a know variety and they re-named it". So? That happens every year all over the country. People buy a tomato at a market stand and like it but don't know what it is. So they give it a new name and call it there own.
I've heard " the name is silly". I personally find it funny. I don't think all tomato names have to be serious.

Some tomato growers don't like the fact that they sell the seeds on E-bay. So?
What this family has done is taken a family tomato and marketed it. And cleverly I might add. What they have done is no different than what many seed companies do with their tomatoes. Some growers find it irritating that they didn't use the "proper" channels.
This tomato meets all the criteria for an heirloom. It's been in a family for generations, beginning with their Grandmother that brought it from Italy. It's been passed down thru the family as most heirlooms are.

I grew this last year and it was good. I would give it a 7.5/10 It did indeed develop a crack like a Monkey Ass. My gardening friends and I had a blast with it. Caused alot of laughs at some of the tomato events I went to.

I don't see the harm done here. The family was smart enough to market the tomato and ensure it's longevity for many generations by selling the seed to everyone. As far as I'm concerned, the family did what many seed companies do. Come out with a tomato,trademark the name, and market and sell the tomato only from their company.

So, in closing my thoughts are, Good for you Wagner family. You are a clever group. Tomato growers should stop treating this tomato like a silly joke, and realize that it is a true heirloom from Italy. Just happens to be sold on E-bay.

Black Cherry

Black Cherry

I would say Black cherry is hands down one of the best tasting cherries you can grow.
Not only are they beautiful to look at, the taste is amazing.
Yep, this is one of my Blue Ribbon winners from the fair last year.
Black cherry was developed by Vince Sapp, husband of Linda Sapp, owner of Tomato Growers Supply Company.
Dark purple-red skins. I can't add much more here other than to say, if you haven't grown it, you should this year. It's one of my All-Stars.

Green Giant

Green Giant

This is one un-believably good tomato.
It's a 'green when ripe'. It never turns red.
How do I know when it is ready you might ask? You only know by feel. You have to gently squeeze it until you feel some give then wait 1 day.
I first met this tomato at a plant swap. A fellow mater head kept pushing this plant on me. I had no interest. I had already made up my mind that a green when ripe was not going to taste very good. Finally, to get this insane tomato person off of my back, I took the plant.

I went home and grumbling under my breath the whole time, gave him a home in the garden. I didn't pay much attention to him because I "just knew" it was going to be a bad one.
It was a hardy plant I noticed. Big potato leaves. Seemed very healthy.
Finally, the tomatoes were getting ready. I cut my first one off of the vine. Took it inside and cut it open. Just a light green color. Yuk!!!!!!!!!!!! But I don't like green tomatoes. I took one bite. I know my eyes had to get really big. It tasted great. I thought I had better take another bite to make sure. Yep! this was one of the best tomatoes I had ever tasted. If you had your eyes closed and were eating it, you would swear it was a red or orange mater.
Originally from a selection/stabilization made from another green when ripe variety by Reinhard Kraft, German tomato enthusiast. Large clear-skinned, lime green when ripe fruits on a potato leaf plant.

Goose Creek

I thought I might start posting individual posts about the tomatoes that are on my All-star list. These would be tomatoes that score a 9 or 10 out of 10 (according to my taste buds of course). Every year I plant new varieties and only the best make the all-star list and those get planted every season. To start out with we will go with Goose Creek. There is some controversy surrounding this one. Usually when there is some disagreement over a tomato it has to do with the history and some of the mater heads have informed me that they do not believe the history on this one is accurate. Here is a copy/paste from Laurel's page:

"This family treasure comes to us from edible landscape expert, Jimmy Williams, owner of Hayground Organic Gardening in California whose home garden we found to be an enchanting escape. Jimmy, born in 1942, and his Native Island Gullah-Geechee family aredescendants of slaves brought in bondage from The Caribbean to the coastal islands of the Southern United States to grow rice for plantation owners.

The Gullah are still keepers of a fascinating culture of food, language and beloved traditions--a most extraordinary and delightful people.

The seeds of this sublime fruit have been passed down through generations since the 1800's when Jimmy's great-great grandmother, a young Caribbean slave, smuggled them with her aboard ship. When the ship docked at Charleston near Goose Creek, South Carolina, she had the treasured seeds with her, hidden deep in her skirt pocket and planted them that first spring. Jimmy's grandmother, Elouise Watson, shared this precious heirloom with him more than 45 years ago, assuring Goose Creek 's place in his family's garden for generations to come. Among its extraordinary qualities: A very high fruit yield and very few seeds.

Along with being very heat tolerant, it shows remarkable cold-tolerance along the cooler coastal areas where the fruits continue to set and ripen through November and December. It is a wonderful choice for growing in containers."

Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes

Okay, I have no idea if it really came from slaves or not. But when a tomato is great, it's great no matter what the history is. Grew this one last season ( '07). The fruit wasn't big and I wasn't expecting much as far as taste. Wow! I couldn't have been more wrong. It is amazing. Out of 50 plants, this one stood out for taste alone.

I had a counter full of tomatoes last year and twice I had someone in the family say " what was the little red one you had in the back because it was great".

Jacques and Lydia personally requested this one by name for '08.

Real Mojito Mint

I will admit readily that I got this info from the Mother Earth News magazine, (great rag) So this is just a paraphrase of the info.

Mojito's are a Cuban drink consisting of Rum, Powdered sugar, lime juice, club soda and a mint unique to Cuba. Since the real Mojito mint is rare here in the U.S., Spearmint is usually substituted. Said to be the favorite drink of Ernest Hemingway.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I want the real deal. I want Mojito mint.
According to the mag. article, Mojito mint is; "clearly different from most other mints. It's scent and flavor are agreeably mild and warm, not pungent or over-sweet like some mints."

Well, thanks to Richters Herbs, we can all grow Mojito mint now. They were able to obtain seed from Cuba and now offer it to gardeners.
I only post this info because I like "authenticity". Plus I like to grow things that are rare or hard to obtain. I have no connection to Richters Herbs.
There is a link to them on the side bar if you too want the real Mojito this summer.

The mysterious Peppadew

The Peppadew

There is a lot of of mystery surrounding the Peppadew pepper. I am going to do my best to delve into the known facts about it.
The Peppadew is a trademarked name for a certain preparation of slightly sweet and slightly hot pickled bright red piquanté peppers from the Limpopo province of South Africa. Although the Peppadew-type pepper is sometimes described as a cross between a pepper and a tomato, this description is not botanically accurate, and refers only to the resemblance in color and size between the peppers and cherry tomatoes. A Peppadew pepper is a particular kind of capsicum, prepared in a particular way.

A copy and paste from their site:
Just a few short years back, businessman and farmer J.S. (he prefers to stay anonymous) was looking around the garden of his holiday home in the Eastern Cape in South Africa when he spotted an unusual-looking bush, standing head high, laden with small bright red fruit which looked like something between miniature red peppers and cherry tomatoes.

Fruit being picked

Gingerly, he bit into one. It had a unique, delicious taste – a mixture of peppery and sweet, but with a distinctive flavor. Rightly believing that he had hit upon something really new, he saved seeds from the ripened fruit of the mother plant , cultivated the seedlings, developed the secret recipe with which to process the fruit and gave the processed fruit the name PEPPADEW™ (they are obviously peppery but are as sweet and tantalizing as the dew).

Fruits going through cleaning process

Worldwide research, global registration of the trademarks, international sole rights to grow the plant commercially , the establishment of commercial farms in the bountiful farmlands of the Tzaneen area and the building of a special processing, bottling and packaging factory followed and now Peppadew™ Sweet & Spicy Fruits are being savored by discerning palates around the world - from South Africa, to Britain, Europe, Canada and as far away as Australia.

You will notice in their blurb, global trademark, international sole rights to grow the plant are mentioned. I know that the growers for the Peppadew are made to sign a contract that they could face prosecution for distributing seed outside of the company. The growing fields are
actually guarded. I don't know about the rest of you, but this all out war effort to control a variety or species of open pollinated fruit or veggie, makes me crazy. ( Not talking about hybrids that seed companies come out with). The fact that this company(Peppadew International) has gone to this effort to monopolize this pepper just makes me crazy and all the more determined to lay my hands on the seeds.
The fresh pepper is never sold anywhere. The peppers are distributed around the world with the seeds removed and in a brine. (No seeds, no pepper growing). Thus far, they (PI) has been very successful in keeping the seeds out of the hands of gardeners and farmers.
The bottom line: It is extremely thug like to try to prevent any person from growing a veggie that is naturally occurring in nature. To put it in perspective, image the outrage if a global company came out and said" we own all Sugar Maple trees and no one is allowed to grow them anymore) ???
Of course with my world-wide secret seed cartel, I managed to lay my hands on the seeds. I am growing 15 plants this year and it is my goal to put these seeds in the hands of every gardener I know. I have to say, of all seeds I have ever chased after, this was by far the hardest one to obtain. I knew Gardeners all over the world that couldn't get them. I am still getting emails from total strangers that are requesting the seeds. I did share what I had so there will be other growers though only a handful.
The chef at one of the restaurants I am supplying told me he would take ALL the Peppadews I could supply him at my price. That should give you an idea.
So, in closing I say "Peppadew International, take your monopoly and shove it up your ....."

Tomato Candles

Wow, my friend Cindy and her fiancee made these cool tomato candles. Red or green. I had her send me two of the green ones. Mmmm, they smell just like tomato plants. Good for the dead of winter when you are dying to smell the garden. They just started up their own candle business.
Cindy's Link:

http://www.northcoastcandlecompany.com/

Flowers I love in the Garden

I love to plant flowers amongst the veggies. It just adds so much.
My all time favorite has to be the Sunflowers. I like to plant them in groups of varying sizes and colors. There's just something about looking out in the morning and seeing them that puts you in a good mood right away. I think Sunflowers are happy flowers. This year I am adding the one in the pic, Teddy Bear. Love the name too.

One of my next favorites would be Hollyhocks.
They are so representative of old farmhouses to me. At one time they were grown to hide the outhouses. When guest's came to your house they didn't have to ask where the outhouse was, they just looked for the Hollyhocks.
Thomas Jefferson grew Black Hollyhocks. It's said it was his favorite flower after the Rose.
This year, along with my other Hollyhocks, I am growing a new one called a Zebrina Hollyhock.(Thanks for the seed Duane) Pictured here on the right. You can see the striking difference from the French Hollyhocks on the right. Just a nice old fashioned flower that reminds me of a time when things were simpler.

Then there's the Morning Glories. I love the way this flower opens to greet the sun. It' climbs on just about anything from a fence to a flag pole. This is not my pic by the way. It attracts Hummingbirds too which is a plus. This year I will be putting in a mix of different colors.

I have a bunch of new varieties I am trying out this year so I will keep you updated on the ones I liked the most.
I think flowers add so much to the garden it surprises me how many people never think to add them amongst there veggies.