Produce in your region (including meat & fish)

[Morning Glory]

[Mod.Edit. This post and following few posts have been moved from another thread to form a new topic (MG)]

The other thing is, basil and fresh tomatoes go together really well, and I'm finding a few things I'd like to make that include fresh tomatoes...but they're not in season yet!

We get them all year round - farmed under glass, hydroponics etc. They are pretty good too if you go for the baby tomatoes on the vine. Thanet Earth is near me in Kent

Britain’s leading glasshouse complex sits proudly within the landscape of East Kent. These enormous glasshouses are estimated to produce around 400 million tomatoes, 30 million cucumbers and 24 million peppers each year.

They use bees to pollinate:

Our tomato plants need pollination so we introduce bumblebees to our glasshouses. Cucumbers and peppers are self-pollinating so don’t require our little buzzy friends to help them. Each hive is delivered containing a minimum of 80-180 bees. Over the next four weeks this little bee population grows to 250-350 bees. Whilst the amount of hives will vary during the season, we need hundreds of hives in each glasshouse to pollinate all the 450,000 tomato plants inside. We use a UK native variety of bumblebee.

No pesticides:

Pesticides can be costly both in financial terms and to the environment, so instead of using pesticides as a standard we prefer to grow using a system of ‘predator control’ to manage problems such as greenfly and we introduce ‘good’ insects into our glasshouses that are placed amongst the crops. These ‘good’ insects then eat the pest insects that can harm the crops. We monitor to ensure pest levels are under control and adjust the predators we use accordingly.

 

[TastyReuben]

We get them all year round - farmed under glass, hydroponics etc. They are pretty good too if you go for the baby tomatoes on the vine. Thanet Earth is near me in Kent



They use bees to pollinate:


No pesticides:


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We get similar ones as well, but they're just nowhere near as good as a farm-fresh mid-to-late summer tomato, picked and then used immediately.

One of the things I'd like to make, just because it looks good, calls for just a few ingredients, so the tomatoes need to be really, really good. There isn't enough else going on for a substandard tomato to hide behind.

 

[JAS_OH1]

You can buy some decent San Marzano, Kumato, and similar in the clamshell in the produce section at most grocery stores. They are pricey but worth it.

I have some small green ones on my plants that will probably be ready mid July, as hot as it is (having to water twice a day). Since we have until the 3rd week of July for this contest, there is still plenty of time. Is it possible we could extend the deadline by a few days so that people can get their tomato combo recipes in with fresh tomatoes? I wouldn't mind.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yes, above the Mason-Dixon line our tomatoes like to take their time. We have such a short growing season that one either has to start seeds inside (it's still snowing in mid-May sometimes) or put already established plants in the ground around Memorial Day.

 

[caseydog]

Yes, above the Mason-Dixon line our tomatoes like to take their time. We have such a short growing season that one either has to start seeds inside (it's still snowing in mid-May sometimes) or put already established plants in the ground around Memorial Day.

My sister has two full tomato growing seasons, one in Spring and one in late Summer and Fall. She doesn't always do the second planting, but she can. In Dallas, you may get away with it some years, but no guarantees.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

My sister has two full tomato growing seasons, one in Spring and one in late Summer and Fall. She doesn't always do the second planting, but she can. In Dallas, you may get away with it some years, but no guarantees.

CD

That's the way it was in NW Florida. However, the soil is so poor and sandy that the tomatoes don't do well, unless you grow them in pots or raised beds (or mix large quantities of fertile soil in the ground).

 

[caseydog]

That's the way it was in NW Florida. However, the soil is so poor and sandy that the tomatoes don't do well, unless you grow them in pots or raised beds (or mix large quantities of fertile soil in the ground).

Yeah, Florida tomatoes are not good. The weather is right, but the soil isn't. I'm sure you could grow some good ones in your yard, but you would have to do some serious soil amendments to get any flavor.

CD

 

[CraigC]

Yeah, Florida tomatoes are not good. The weather is right, but the soil isn't. I'm sure you could grow some good ones in your yard, but you would have to do some serious soil amendments to get any flavor.

CD

Have you ever had tomatoes from the Redland or Everglades tomatoes? If not, making a generalized statement isn't really a good idea. The soil in the Redland isn't sand, it is Everglades muck.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Have you ever had tomatoes from the Redland or Everglades tomatoes? If not, making a generalized statement isn't really a good idea. The soil in the Redland isn't sand, it is Everglades muck.

I didn't make a generalized statement. I specifically said NW Florida.

Edited to add that I now see you were responding to CD. Oops. Sorry.

 

[caseydog]

Have you ever had tomatoes from the Redland or Everglades tomatoes? If not, making a generalized statement isn't really a good idea. The soil in the Redland isn't sand, it is Everglades muck.

Nope. I just know what most of Florida is like, and the kind of tomatoes they export to mostly fast food restaurants in other states. I think, based on that, a generalized statement is understandable. Start exporting those Everglades tomatoes, and opinions will change.

Hey, I had some outstanding Texas sweet corn a few weeks ago. I was shocked, as Texas corn is mostly feed corn that is unfit for humans. I don't know where it came from, but it caught me by surprise. There are exceptions to the rule, but Texas is not known for good corn, and Florida isn't known for good tomatoes.

As a cash crop, actually, Texas is not known for its tomatoes, either. Yard gardeners have to modify the soil here, too, for tomatoes to be good.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

Nope. I just know what most of Florida is like, and the kind of tomatoes they export to mostly fast food restaurants in other states. I think, based on that, a generalized statement is understandable. Start exporting those Everglades tomatoes, and opinions will change.

Hey, I had some outstanding Texas sweet corn a few weeks ago. I was shocked, as Texas corn is mostly feed corn that is unfit for humans. I don't know where it came from, but it caught me by surprise. There are exceptions to the rule, but Texas is not known for good corn, and Florida isn't known for good tomatoes.

As a cash crop, actually, Texas is not known for its tomatoes, either. Yard gardeners have to modify the soil here, too, for tomatoes to be good.

CD

My grandmother in Port Arthur had good tomatoes, but I wouldn't eat anything that grows there now (as an adult), understanding the amount of pollution from the refineries and the poor air/water quality. I don't know how my cousins can stand living there. My deceased uncle's wife is in her 80s and she has the means to move, I don't know why she chose to stay after he passed away. She told me she went to visit her sister in Georgia for a few weeks and when she came home the water in her toilet bowl had turned an orangeish-pink color.

 

[CraigC]

Nope. I just know what most of Florida is like, and the kind of tomatoes they export to mostly fast food restaurants in other states. I think, based on that, a generalized statement is understandable. Start exporting those Everglades tomatoes, and opinions will change.

Hey, I had some outstanding Texas sweet corn a few weeks ago. I was shocked, as Texas corn is mostly feed corn that is unfit for humans. I don't know where it came from, but it caught me by surprise. There are exceptions to the rule, but Texas is not known for good corn, and Florida isn't known for good tomatoes.

As a cash crop, actually, Texas is not known for its tomatoes, either. Yard gardeners have to modify the soil here, too, for tomatoes to be good.

CD

Really, how many different ecological zones do we have? Everglades tomatoes are too small to be commercially viable.

 

[caseydog]

My grandmother in Port Arthur had good tomatoes, but I wouldn't eat anything that grows there now (as an adult), understanding the amount of pollution from the refineries and the poor air/water quality. I don't know how my cousins can stand living there. My deceased uncle's wife is in her 80s and she has the means to move, I don't know why she chose to stay after he passed away. She told me she went to visit her sister in Georgia for a few weeks and when she came home the water in her toilet bowl had turned an orangeish-pink color.

I'd be reluctant to go back. Port Arthur, Baumont and Orange Texas are know both as the Golden Triangle, and the Cancer Triangle. I've had cancer, and have lost some close high school friends to cancer.

But, the water is safe. If you get away from the refineries, the soil is safe. The air is way better than it used to be. When I lived their as a teen, the smell of oil and chemicals were just a normal thing. Not so much now.

This is way off topic, so we should probably let it go.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Really, how many different ecological zones do we have? Everglades tomatoes are too small to be commercially viable.

That was actually my point. I'm sure they are good, but only a lucky few get to eat them. Overall, commercial tomatoes from Florida do not taste good. Same with Texas tomatoes, and Texas corn. It is just not our thing.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

You notice they took it near dusk to make it as "pretty" as it possibly can look? LOL!

It's not all refineries there, they have chemical plants there, too. I was there for the chemical plant explosion near Thanksgiving last year, my eyes and throat stung for days.

They drink bottled water, but they make tea and coffee out of the tap water, boil pasta in it, brush their teeth with it, and shower in it.

Sorry for going off topic.