Almost ready to go outside!

I found this little guy after bringing in a huge armload of rhubarb for dessert. He's cute now while he's small, and I put him back outside (I don't like killing anything) but I sure hope I don't find him on my tomatoes when they go outside. So far our biggest problem has been a mouse in the garage where the Lantzville Grow-Op is. As you can see from the pictures below, the mouse is back, and last night it nipped leaves off a lot of our pepper plants. I sent my cat Zoya out to deal with the problem, but she had become a bit of a gourmet snob since she's decided she's an outdoor cat - so long as the weather is nice - and apparently free range mice taste better. She sniffed around for a few minutes, then turned up her nose and demanded to be let back into the house.

The tomatoes have gotten so big so fast. They've been growing so quickly that the heat mats have been unplugged hoping to slow them down a little, but they're still growing like crazy. Mom and I spent half the day today mixing and fertilizing wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of potting soil for the tomato pots and the planter boxes. I'm still not sure where I'll find enough pots for them all. Or enough dirt to fill them all! Some of the cherry and currant types will go in hanging baskets, but there are only so many places to hang them. We're hoping to start transplanting them into their big pots soon, though it will mean keeping them all under the patio roof, and covering them at night for a while yet. And I'm reluctantly starting to look for new homes for some of my babies. I did a rough count - I have between 140 and 150 little tomato plants out there. Ideally, I'd like to keep 40 or 50 plants, but I'm really not sure I'll have the room.

Tonight we did pizza on the barbeque for dinner. I'd never tried this before, and though the crust was a little over cooked, they were really good, and I'd definitely do them again. I love dried tomatoes in pretty much anything. I have lots, because we had so many tomatoes last year I ended up drying pounds and pounds of them. Here is the basic recipe for the sauce I used for the pizza. It turned out really good.

Improv Pizza Sauce by BJ

1 small can of tomato sauce

1 generous handful (maybe around 1/2 a cup) dried tomatoes

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced

a couple of tablespoons of chopped, frozen basil (in the summer I'd use fresh)

a couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano

a bit of sugar

salt and pepper

I simmered it all over low heat for an hour or so. I did have to add a bit of water, as it was getting rather thick, but it turned out rich and tomatoey, and very very good.

Ok, I admit, I've been getting neglectful. This is at least in part because the tomatoes aren't really doing much these days. Just sitting on their heat mats, growing, waiting for the weather to be warm enough to go live outside. I've been doing some yard work, making room for the tomatoes, and wondering where on earth I'm going to find enough pots and enough dirt for them all. Luckily, I've had lots of offers of homes for any extras.

Last weekend I planted peas out in one of the garden beds, Improved Laxton's Progress shelling peas, and Cascade snap peas, and found the first sprout yesterday. That was kind of exciting, since I love peas. I've found a recipe I'd like to try when the peas and potatoes are ready:

New Potatoes and Peas

4 big new potatoes, quartered, or lots of baby ones

a cup or 2 fresh peas

bit of basil, chopped

pepper

salt

2 tbsp butter

2 heaped tbsp sour cream

fresh parsley, chopped

Boil potatoes til almost cooked, add peas and basil. Cook til peas are done. Drain. Add remaining ingredients and heat slightly. Top with parsley.

I've been looking at recipes for tomato wine online, but the reviews I've found don't exactly inspire me to want to try it. I might if I end up with way too many tomatoes, but I think I'd be more likely to dry them. Anyhow, I'm off now to go check on the tomatoes. I will keep you updated on their progress.