Our Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes sliced and ready to eat.

We are fond of Cherokee Purple tomatoes at our house, so this year for the first time I planted four of these in our raised bed that we built last fall.  Cherokee purple is an heirloom cultivar that has a purplish red color while greenish near the stem when it is ready for eating.  Apparently this tomato is a century-old heirloom that originated with the Cherokee people.

Plants are taller than I am.

These plants grew so that they are taller than I am (I'm 5'7").  Supposedly they could grow up to 9 feet tall.  During the first of the summer some animal was eating all the tomatoes while they were still green, but during the last few weeks the green ones have remained on the vine untouched.  However, they are very slow to mature.

Tall tomato plants.

Green tomatoes on the vine.

Picked green tomatoes.  The small one had ripened on the vine.

Placed green tomatoes in bag with a ripe banana.

In order to speed up their ripening, I picked some of the larger green ones and placed them in a brown paper bag with a ripening banana. A ripe banana produces large amounts of ethylene gas. This ethylene gas causes the green tomatoes to ripen. 

This is the way producers get tomatoes to the stores.  Farmers pick the tomatoes while they are still green. Then these tomatoes are exposed to ethylene gas in the distribution facilities closer to the supermarkets! This is why vine ripened tomatoes taste much better! 
 

The banana produced ethylene that caused the tomatoes to ripen.

Several are ready for eating.  (I put some small tomatoes of another variety in the bag as well and they ripened.)

After about a week some of the green tomatoes have ripened, and eventually the others will too.  I will leave some of the green tomatoes on the vine to see if they will ripen on the vine before our first frost.   

I think we will have tomato (or where I come from 'mater) sandwiches for lunch.  Always with Duke's mayonaisse.

Alice Visits Maggie's Garden

Maggie in her garden.

Soon after we arrived at Marble Mountain, Maggie, a close neighbor, brought us a large bag of Swiss chard that she grew, and invited us to go over and see her garden.  Alice who is an avid gardener was eager to go and on Tuesday we visited.  Maggie*, with help from her husband Kit, has numerous raised beds in which she grows all kinds of vegetables.  It is an amazing garden.

Maggie and Alice in the garden.

Alice looking at the "Jack in the Beanstalk" beans.  A whole wall of beans.Those are some tall beans.

A fine bed of leeks.

Sweet potatoes.

Maggie says the whirligig helps to chase away the voles.

A lush bed of Swiss chard.

Alice, ever the gardener, could not resist pulling a few weeds out of the broccoli patch.

Turnips like the ones we grow in North Carolina.

Maggie also raises chicken and their eggs are so fresh and delicious.  And I love to hear the rooster crowing, but so far this summer I don't believe he has crowed.

She has two flocks of chickens.  This is a black variety she has.  The fresh eggs when we can get them are delicious.

Alice and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Maggie's wonderful garden. Fantastic job Maggie!

*Maggie and Kit moved here from Maryland.  They are here pretty much year round.