What do I do with all these tomatoes?

Now that it's warmed up, your tomatoes are probably ripening faster than you can eat them. I thought I'd share a recipe with you that I use. If anyone has any other great ways to use tomatoes, I'd love to hear it and I'll post it on our blog. Hot and Chunky Summer Salsa 8 c. peeled, chopped tomatoes 3 finely chopped banana peppers 6 jalepeno peppers (average size) 2 c. chopped onion 1 c. coarsely chopped green pepper 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 can of black beans, drained (opt.) 1-2 cups of corn kernels, frozen or canned (opt.) 2 T. basil, chopped (or more if you love basil) 2 T salt 3 T sugar (opt.) 3/4 t. pepper 1 T. chopped cilantro leaves 1-2 jars of tomato paste (depends how thick your mix is) Add this after mixture cooks. 3/4 c. white vinegar Mix together and cook approx. 1/2 hr. Place in hot jars and seal or place in canner of boiling water for 15- 20 min. Makes approx. 5 pint jars full. (Can double or triple the batch, just make sure your pot is big enough.) Ok, a few hints that I've learned along the way. In case you don't know the easy way to peel tomatoes, here it is. Boil a pot of water, wash your tomatoes and put them in your sink. Pour the boiling water on the tomatoes until you see the skin start to loosen which takes less than a minute. Quickly drain the water and add cold water to your sink to cool down the tomatoes. Drain again and begin peeling. The skins should come off easily. Chop and put in a large strainer. I set the strainer in the other sink or a large bowl to let some of the watery juice drain off so the salsa isn't as runny. If you use Roma tomatoes, your sauce will be less runny. Larger tomatoes are juicier. The tomatoe paste at the end is to thicken your sauce. I have used cornstarch and water in a pinch and it worked fine. When chopping the jalepenos, it's best to wear gloves. I just use disposable gloves so I don't reuse them with the hot oils on them. Don't rub your eyes, you'll definitely regret that! If I want a hot salsa, I cut off the tops of my peppers and throw them in my little food processor, seeds and all. This makes a great hot batch of salsa. If you want a mild salsa, take the seeds out and chop. I also cut my onions in quarters and throw them into my blender to chop. You'll do a lot less crying! :) The banana peppers can be sweet or the mildly hot ones. Again, it really depends on how hot you want it. Sometimes if the mixture is runny, I skim off the watery juice that sits on top of salsa as it cooks. You can even keep this and use it in soup or something. Funny story...I canned some of the juice that was leftover to use in soup or chili later. A couple of the jars where from my hot batch but I forgot to label them. I made soup for a fundraiser at church but poured the juice in before testing it. Well, guess what? Yep, I used the hot juice! It was good soup but it sure brought a sweat on and peeled the skin off my tongue! My husband loved it because he enjoys hot stuff. Have I totally confused and overwelmed you? Don't worry, it's not that hard. After a few times and some trial and error, you'll get it perfectly the way you want it! I'll post another recipe that I use for spaghetti sauce next time.

We have Mums and more!

Our fall Mums are finally bursting into colour! They're about a week behind due to the cooler weather this summer but with last weeks arrival of "summer", they have coloured up quickly.

We also have a variety of other fall plants such as Flowering Cabbage and Kale, Ornamental Peppers, grasses, etc. if you'd like to make up your own planter. Or bring your empty pot in and we can plant it for you. We also have ready-made planters with a mixture of fall plants, most of which are hardy perennials which should overwinter is planted later fall.

Need something to do this weekend?

I'm going to endorse our little town's big event The Zurich Bean Festival! It begins tonight with an amazing car cruise. The streets of Zurich and roads beyond are lined with people waiting and watching for the cars to come driving by. Fireworks follow at dark in the park. I have to say for a small town like Zurich, it's a pretty good fireworks! Tomorrow (Saturday) a breakfast at the arena begins the day. Vendors line the streets with anything from sunglasses to homemade horseradish! Entertainment is constantly happening at the main stage and you can enjoy a yummy bean and pork chop dinner. There are a few rides for the kids and lots of candy floss! Check out the website www.zurichbeanfestival.com

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful summer weather! Our planters and window boxes will need extra water with the warmth, but will reward us with continued growth and beautiful flowers. Here are some more pictures from our time at the Ohio trade show. There are many more but these are a few new varieties of already popular plants. We have yet to decide what we'll be growing next year but it's always nice to have these pictures to refer to. A giant Alyssum! It's a new variety that's great for pots. A very small cherry tomato plant; great for patios,window boxes and balconies. This is really cool! A new variety of cherry tomatoes called 'Sweet Raisin Tomato". The company advertises them as a great dried tomato, about the size of a large raisin. We tried one and it was very yummy. Just dry in a 105*F oven for 3 hours. This is blue Salvia....a huge blue salvia! This is a hanging basket with a mixture of Million Bells. If you don't know what those are, the flowers look much like a mini petunia for full sun. They are beautiful and one of my favourite annuals. We planted just a few of these this past spring and they were beautiful so we plan to have many more next spring with different colour combos. That's all I have for today. If you ever want me to blog on a certain subject, I'd be glad to do that, just send me a note.

Perennial Sale

Beginning on Saturday, August 8, our perennials will be 1/3 off the regular price! We're also sending savings your way with mulches, soils, fertilizers and garden care products at 1/3 off.

Check out the wagon full of yard sale items at prices that will blow your mind! These items will be for Saturday only!

There will also be a couple tables of toys and assorted items.

We open at 9 AM. Hope you can make it!

Happy Holiday Weekend!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! The weather has been fabulous and if you're not outside, you should be! We are closed today on the holiday Monday.

If you are looking for colour to add to an empty spot in your garden, we've got bright yellow rudbeckia (black-eyed susans), foxgloves, and a variety of other perennials included garden mums! We also have large pots of marigolds, zinnia, vinca and other summer annuals to decorate around your home.

This week we're open Tues-Sat. 9-5.

Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.

Elizabeth Murray