TannieSpace » tomato

So many tomatoes!

tanja

Yesterday I harvested 241 grams of cherry-tomatoes. This brings the total for this one plant to roughly 450 grams. And this is just one plant. Very pleased with how much it produces. I left a few orange ones on yesterday, but from the looks of it, I could probably harvest those today too.

These cherry-tomatoes taste so much better than the kind I buy in the store.

The plants, they grow.

tanja

I got a pretty good harvest today, thanks to the sweet pepper-plant I bought. I harvested two of those small peppers, one small cucumber and three little tomatoes (I grow mostly small varieties because the plants usually also stay smaller). What started out as a way to keep the sun out in the summer has turned into this contest with myself, seeing how much of my own food I can grow on my own balcony. No need to blame the recession here, I enjoy doing this ;) I have watched tons of movies on Youtube and read websites about growing your own food and the more I watch the more I realise I could still grow more!

I have this feeling people start to look at me oddly, as if I’ve gone crazy… I haven’t, really ;)

Balcony finished (basically)

tanja

Today I installed the last bits of my balcony. I got some more small green pots and planted rosemary, a bay tree (more like a bush), two new types of oregano (makes three in total) and I planted the beans and peas. Also planted the courgettes, and put the rest in pots to give away.
My left lower box hasn’t got anything in it yet, and I plan to sow some lettuce, spring onion and beetroot in it. The lower right one has lamb’s lettuce and scallions.
I have some basil seeds left (and mint, coriander, parsley and then some) which I plan to sow by the tomatoes, I hear that works out well.
This morning I harvested my first mini-cucumber and ate it on a cheese-sandwich, tasted excellent. Looking forward to more of that :D

Hurray for home-grown veggies.

tanja

I got the confirmation from the tax-company that I’ll get a (preliminary) tax-return which should mean the money arrives in my account tomorrow or so.

To ‘celebrate’ we went out and got some stuff for my balcony: pots / containers / soil), and seeds and plants.

I got four long wooden containers (they look great!) and the following plants:

4 tiny celery plants
4 tiny parsleys
4 tiny corn salads
1 big cucumber plant (with baby cucumbers)
1 small sweet pepper plant
1 bonsai basil (very nice!)
1 small lovage

and seeds for:
* spring onions
* rosemary
* garlic chives
* corn salad
* courgette (or zucchini or summersquash depending on where you live)

Through a friend I got three tomato-plants, seeds for beetroot, basil, parsley, peas and several types of beans.
I’m still looking for pinto-bean seeds, but they seem somewhat unavailable in the NL. I also still have rocket-seed, Tropaeolum and tons of seeds for sprouts (alfalfa, garden cress, etc).

I think I have enough…. (though boyfriend promised me oregano and thyme plants / seeds)

I want a bunch of smaller pots to put herbs in. It’ll look nice and helps to sow in phases.

I’m looking forward to seeding and growing, especially the sprouts. I seem to be able to eat bread again, so that would mean nice summer sandwiches with veggies and cheese and herbs and such :D

I have a balcony on the south, and even though most Dutch people think we do not get any sun, I can assure you we do. It gets pretty hot on my balcony, which I hope will help with the somewhat exotic plants (cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, courgette).

Now I only need a garden-hose, cause I’m not dragging water over every day :P

We haven’t set it up yet, but will take pictures when we do.

Improvement!

tanja

I’ve missed eating pizza since surgery. I did, a few times, but it only went well if I ate take-away pizza from one of those pizza places, not the kind I can buy in the supermarket. I could only eat 2 or 3 slices, and it seems a bit expensive to order in and only eat 1/4 of the pizza. It has to do with the dough, although I don’t know the details of why it doesn’t go well. Can’t eat bread either, same problem. I get really ill.

Today I made a most excellent discovery. Gordita’s (small, thicker tortilla wraps) work really well as a pizza-bottom. I tossed on some tomato sauce, chopped up veggies and mushrooms, added shredded cheese and popped the whole thing in the oven for 15 minutes.

Best pizza I ever had.

So I made another one just now. Two pizza’s in one day. I like to spoil myself.

Improvised pizza.

tanja

Gordita (small thick tortilla wrap), tomato sauce, veggies and cheese. 15 minutes in the oven. Tasty!

Tomato-lentil stew

tanja

I wanted a simple stew to put in my lunchbox for a busy day tomorrow, so I basically took some stuff I had in my cupboard. It approximated this:

Ingredients:

1 cup water
½ cup lentils, red
½ cup lentils, brown
14 oz tomatoes, chopped, with herbs
2 tsp maggi sauce
1 tsp marmite
1 tsp pepper, grounded
⅓ cup parrano, grated (50 gr)
⅓ cup parmesan, grated (50 gr)

Directions:
Cook the lentils and mix together. Simmer with tomatoes and spices for about 45 minutes.
If needed drain excess liquid, and serve with grated cheese on top.

(Serves 4)

Note: I used a can of Bonduelle (brown) Lentils, dried red lentils and Heinz Tomatoes chopped, with herbs, in juice.