Fried Green Tomatoes

Image by Ikayama via Flickr

Much success in growing tomatoes can be attributed to use of a few proven techniques. Choosing a variety that has proven to be a true performer in your local area should be top of your list. You can't go wrong asking a local vegetable gardener or someone with a stall at a local farmer's market.

Now is the time to start tomatoe plants indoors ready to be planted out after the last frost. Start saving your eggshells as well, if you don't know why read on!

Use the best soil available to grow the tomato crop. Clay and sandy soils can be improved by working in 2 to 3 inches of compost, peatmoss, or other forms of organic matter in the top 6 to 9 inches of soil. Lime and fertilizer should be added according to instructions. Lime will help reduce nutrient imbalances, particularly with calcium and help control the blossom end rot problem that occurs so frequently on tomatoes. I always saved the shells from eggs believe it or not, and they prevented any deficiency.

Tomato plants should be spaced 1 1/2 to 2 ft apart in the row and 3 to 4 ft between rows. The planting hole should be deep enough to allow the top of a peat pot to be covered with one inch of soil. If peat pot is exposed to the air, it will act like a wick and rapidly dry out the root ball, causing stunting or death of the plant. 

If the transplant is tall and leggy at time of planting, the trench planting method should be used. To trench plant a tomato plant, dig a horizontal trench rather than a hole for each plant. Next, remove all of the leaves from the plant except the top leaf cluster (4 to 5 leaves). Then lay the plant on its side in the trench and cover the root system and bare stem up to the top leaf cluster with 2 to 3 inches of soil. Firm the soil over the plant. Be sure not to press the soil too firmly around the stem where it comes out of the soil, as the stem may break. 

Tomato plants should be staked or caged shortly after planting. Generally, staking produces larger tomatoes but less quantity than caging. A common 6-ft tomato stake may be purchased from many garden centers. The stake should be driven in the soil about one ft deep, 3 to 5 inches from the plant. Be sure to avoid driving the stake on the root side of plants that have been trench planted. Trench planted tomatoes should be staked immediately after planting while the location of the buried stem is fresh in mind. Use a strip of cloth, nylon stocking, or heavy string to tie the plant to the stake.

Tomato cages may be made by using a 5 1/2 foot length of concrete reinforcing wire. The wire will form a circle 18 to 20 inches in diameter. The bottom horizontal ring of the wire cage should be cut off so that the ends can be pushed into the ground. After setting the cage in place over the tomato plant, drive 2 or 3 stakes around the outside edge of the cage to give it extra support.

Side dress tomato plants with 2 to 3 Tbsp. per plant of a complete fertilizer such as 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 after the plants have started to set fruit and 4 to 6 weeks thereafter throughout the growing season. Keep the side dressing material 4 to 6 inches from the plant's stem to avoid fertilizer burn. Make sure you don't use any other fertilizer such as 20-20-20 as you will get lot's of leaves and few fruit.

It is important to make sure the tomatoes receive sufficient water during the season. The soil should be soaked 6 to 8 inches deep at 7-day intervals. Mulches such as wheat straw or composted leaves around the tomato plants will prove to be a real asset in conserving soil moisture during the fiery Alberta heat of July and August.


Ingredients

* 4 large green tomatoes

* 2 eggs

* 1/2 cup milk

* 1 cup all-purpose flour

* 1/2 cup cornmeal

* 1/2 cup bread crumbs

* 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

* 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

   

Directions

1  
Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.

2  
Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.

3  
In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

Makes 4 servings


---------------------------------------

Ingredients

* 1/3 cup bread crumbs

* 1/2 teaspoon white sugar

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

* 1/4 cup vegetable oil

* 1 pound green tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

   
Directions

1  
Stir together bread crumbs, sugar, salt and pepper.
2  
Coat tomatoes in the crumb mixture.
3  
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry tomatoes for 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.
Makes 4 servings

Fried' Green Tomatoes


1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 large green tomatoes cut horizontally into 1/2" thick slices

1 egg white -- beaten w/ 2 T. water

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a shallow dish, combine cornmeal, bread crumbs, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne, if desired; set aside.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray; set aside. Dip each tomato slice in egg white mixture, then dredge in cornmeal-bread crumb mixture to coat. Place slices in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Spray tops of slices with vegetable cooking spray.

Bake 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese during last 5 minutes of baking if desired. Serve immediately. 

Makes 6 servings.

Summer Gardening

Our southern gardens are once again in transition. The first transition was when danger of frost passed and we began to plant warm-season veggies and flowers. Now the weather is moving from warm to hot. That means the cool-season plantings such as broccoli are almost all done and wimpier warm-season flowers such as Dianthus and petunias will soon look like they were blasted with a welding torch.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, beans, and other mild-weather veggies are in their prime right now. They're ripening fast and keeping us picking every day to stay ahead of their feverish pace. But, when the summer temperatures rise a bit further, tomatoes will stop setting fruit (except perhaps for the cherry types), and even squash, cucumbers, and beans will do little in the way of producing. It'll be time to pull them out. By fall, they will be the stars again. In the mean time, I can't bear looking at a bear patch of dirt all summer, so I'm planting some summer-tough veggies and flowers in my garden.

Some of my favorite heat-loving vegetables include okra, sweet potato, vegetable amaranth, Malabar greens, water spinach, winter squash (including pumpkin), and southern peas. All these can be planted now if you haven t done so already.

Cool-season flower beds are replaced with heat-tolerant scaevola, Zinnia angustifolia, Blackfoot daisy, Lantana, Pentas, Esperanza, hyacinth bean, cigar plant, Gomphrena, Mexican petunia, and selected salvias. These plants laugh at the sultry summer sauna as long as we provide them a little water to keep them going.

This is also the season to keep that mulch replenished and make sure the plants as well as ourselves get a good drink of water to keep us perked up and healthy. With a little work now, you can reap beautiful dividends all summer long.

Flower Clock

Make a Clock with Flowers Who needs a watch when you can tell time with flowers? No, you don't need to wear a corsage on your wrist. If you plant a flower clock in your yard, you can look out the window and know the hour at almost any time of day.

The flower clock was developed by Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist. Linnaeus was a professor at the University of Uppsala, and in his studies he noticed that the flowers of different plants open and close at certain times each day. In 1748 he decided to plant a flower clock, and those who visited could look at it and tell what hour it was.

You could plant such a clock, too. First you'll need to select some flowers that open and close at different times. Try to find plants that grow well in your area, ones that flower at the same time of year. Below is a list of popular plants whose blossoms open and close at specific hours.

What to Do: Make a small circle (about a foot to eighteen inches in diameter) in some outdoor soil. Plant the flowers in order around the outside of the circle so you can read them like a clock's face. When they bloom, you'll have your own flower clock. But get moving-your botanical clock is ticking!

*morning glories and wild roses open: 5:00-6:00 a.m.

*dandelions open: 7:00-8:00 a.m.

*African daisies open: 8:00-9:00 a.m.

*gentians open: 9:00-10:00 a.m.

*California poppies open: 10:00-11:00 a.m.

*morning glories close, goatsbeard opens: noon

*four o'clocks open: 4:00 p.m.

*California poppies close : 4:00-5:00 p.m.

*evening primroses and moonflowers open: 6:00 p.m.

*daylilies and dandelions close: 8:00-9:00 p.m.

*flowering tobacco opens: 9:00-10:00 p.m.

*night-blooming cereus opens: 10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.

If it's too late in the summer to plant in your region, please keep this idea for next spring.

May Gardening to do List

1 Repot crowed house plants, move to a spot on your patio or under a large shade tree for the summer. Guard against burning the foliage-dont' move them directly into full sun.

2. St. Augustine lawns will likely begin to show chinch bug damage during late May.

3. Fertilize: Vegetables monthly, flowering annuals monthly; trees and shrubs twice a year; lawns every 10-12 weeks.

4. Early spring annuals such as pansies and calendulas will soon fade with summer's heat. Clean out the beds and plant summer flowering annuals.

5. This is an excellent time to propagate your favorite chrysanthemums from cuttings. As soon as the cutting are rooted, dig up the parent plant and discard.

6. Work rain-compacted soil around plants and flower beds to provide aeration. Use shallow cultivation to prevent root damage. The use of a good mulch will prevent soil compacting, eliminate the need for cultivation, greatly reduce weed growth, and cut down on watering.

7. Continue to watch for aphids, thrips, red spider mite, caterpillars, white fly, leaf rollers, and scale.

8 Complete pruning of climbing roses to insure a good supply of new wood for next year's flower formation.

9. Continue to spray roses for black spot and mildew control.

10. Pinch back leggy bedding plants to encourage side shoots. Pinching stops the terminal growth, thus resulting in bushier plants and more flower buds.

11. Caladium bulbs can be planted anytime this month.

12 Check your lawn mower blade. Dull blades can cause a brownish discoloration of the stems and leaves shortly after cutting.

13. Weeds will soon invade a lawn that is suffering from lack of moisture. A thorough, deep soaking of the lawn every week is better than frequent light watering.

So Many Bloomin' Things To Do

These warm spring days are really great for gardening. Our plants are in high gear during this transition from winter to summer in the south. Cool-season plants love it because it is not too hot, but it's warm enough for warm-season plants to really take off. This makes for our busiest season.

Before planting it's important to remember a plant's preferred exposure to the sun. When the blasting heat of summer arrives in the south, shade lovers (and heat haters) will melt if not given a break from the sun. Likewise sun lovers refuse to bloom up a storm when tucked away from their place in the limelight!

We've been planting flowers for cutting all week in our garden. Another succession planting of gladiolus and a sowing of tall zinnias went in to keep their flowers coming this summer. I really enjoy growing cut flowers in our garden. With a broad mix of species, there is always something to bring in and put on the table. When we go over to friends for dinner, a take-along bouquet is a welcome surprise.

Each season I love to experiment with lots of new varieties. That's just part of the fun of gardening. However, I also always hedge my bet with some "old faithfuls", those proven plants that I know won't let me down. That way, if some things don't make it I still have a good-looking garden.

That's why in our new garden beds we included old favorites such as Firebush (Hamelia patens), Esperanza (Tecoma stans), a few perennial hibiscus, and some Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha). These are but a few of those tough performers that will carry us through no matter how hot the summer gets here.

Hope you are enjoying this great spring season in your garden.

Bugs

A few species, such as the fascinating Hickory Horned Devil, really catch the attention of southern gardeners each fall. Other common late-season insects are fall webworms and bark lice, with their silky strands like "angel hair" covering the bark of trees. The other day I was thinking about the different reactions to insects when one of my daughters and a friend showed up holding some insects they had captured in their bare hands. Totally unsqueamish, they were displaying their prizes for all to see. To them bugs are fascinating mini-robots. They are aware of the few "don't touch" creepy-crawlies but know the rest are not to be feared.

There are a number of misconceptions when it comes to controlling insects around the home and landscape. For some gardeners, the only good bug is a dead bug! Actually less than 3 percent of all insects are considered pests. The rest are either beneficial or harmless. Insects are part of a complex and interrelated ecosystem. A spray applied to destroy a pest may well be destroying beneficials as well. Remember that when you kill a beneficial insect you inherit its job. While I'll grant you southern gardeners that an insect doing the backstroke in your mint julep is alarming, I assure you the bug is in more distress than you! We live in an environment full of bugs and it is unrealistic to think it can be made "bug free" without serious consequences.

Another misconception is that the presence of a bug on my plant warrants a spray application. Even the presence of a true pest is not enough to warrant taking action to control it. There exists a "threshold level" for various plants and pests at which control is deemed necessary. Minor damage usually does not affect production (fruits and vegetables) or ornamental value. Plants were living with these pests long before we decided to make a garden out of the place and showed up with our spray solutions.

Before resorting to control measures, we need to get help in identifying the suspect. Then determine if and when a spray is needed. In my next column, I'll continue these thoughts on misconceptions about insects and discuss some tips for managing the ones that really warrant control. See you later!

I was visiting with a gardener who was frustrated because he wasn't having any luck controlling an insect problem. It turns out he was using a product not registered for use on that particular insect. Some gardeners use whatever product they happen to have around to control whatever pest happens to be plaguing them.

Using the correct product is important. Pesticides are divided into groups including fungicides (for disease control), insecticides (for insect control), and herbicides (for weed control). Each product has a select group of pests against which it is effective. Additionally, some products prevent insect or disease problems, while others alleviate problems that have already begun. Some products remain effective for weeks after they are applied, while others last only a few hours or less. Certain products are labeled for use on edible plants while others are restricted to ornamentals. Products also differ in terms of toxicity to people, beneficial insects, and various pests. For best results -- and to protect yourself -- select a product that's appropriate for the pest and the plant being attacked. Your County Extension office and local nursery professional are two sources of help for making a good decision. By making an informed decision you can get the most benefit with the least risk.

Another misconception is that "if a teaspoon of pesticide is good, a tablespoon will be better." Failure to apply pesticides in accordance with the label is both illegal and unwise. Using less of the product than recommended can waste time and money, may result in poor control, and can contribute to development of resistance in the pests. Overdosing can burn plants, increase health risk to people and pets, and potentially damage the environment.

A third point of confusion concerns organic (or natural) products. Many gardeners fail to use proper precautions when mixing and applying these products because they assume that "organic" means "safe." Organic products (like their synthetic counterparts) vary greatly in their toxicity to people, pests, and beneficial insects. Nicotine sulfate (an organic product now seldom used) is among the most acutely toxic products available over the counter; rotenone is very toxic to fish; Bacillus thuringiensis or B.t. can unintentionally kill butterfly larvae (caterpillars); and insecticidal soap (not truly organic, but one of the lowest toxicity pest control options) can destroy ladybug and lacewing larvae as well as other soft-bodied beneficials.

Organic controls offer many benefits, such as a tendency to break down quickly in the environment, and they often are the safest option. But, like all products, they must be used with caution and only when necessary.

Remember that your garden is also a zoo. Identifying your pest and using the least toxic strategies to manage pests can help you get the most out of your landscape and garden while reducing the risks to you and your environment.

Yearly Planning

Take advantage of these winter days to read up on some new varieties to try next spring -- perhaps a great new tomato! I absolutely love the winter season in the south. It brings a welcome break from the heat of summer and just sort of gives you a new start in the garden. When freezes shut down last year's garden, you can get ready to go at it again in a couple of months to create the best garden ever. Winter wipes the slate clean and says, "All right now, lets see what you can really do!"

We gardeners are eternal optimists, always looking for the perfect tomato and that new rose that is the best ever. The very cycle of the seasons feeds the hope of a new year. I often liken our landscaping and gardening to painting with nature. If I don't like the way a garden turns out, or even if I just decide I'd like to try out something new, I can always replant, redesign, and start fresh. A new canvas or a new garden planting, they offer the creative side of us a chance to exercise. Sort of like that Etch-a-sketch we played with as kids. You just wipe the slate clean and start scribbling again!

Tempting New Varieties
Thankfully there are always new plants that we've never grown before and new varieties of ones we have grown for years. I can't imagine a new gardening year with nothing new to try. There must be a million tomato varieties out there, but each year more show up with tempting new features -- color, shape, size, flavor, disease resistance, and the list goes on. I never grow tired of trying out new ones! Even if I did, there are all those wonderful heirlooms that I have yet to discover. Oh my. So many tomatoes, so little time!

Wintertime Soil Preparation
Winter days are great for planning a new garden. This is a good time to prepare the soil for next spring’s garden too. By working in compost now, the soil will be ready for spring planting. I may even work in some leaves, as there are plenty of them this time of year. By next spring they'll be mostly decomposed and ready to do their part in building a great garden soil.
Well better go for now. I've got some searching to do for some inspirational gardening ideas. I may just go curl up with some great garden books, or perhaps a keyboard and mouse!