Gardening to Excess Anyone?

[rhodielady_47]

I suppose I should be embarrassed to say this but I planted SIX packets of chive seeds this week. I really do love using chives in my cooking and planting to excess seems to be the only way I know to make sure that I grow enough of them.
Does anyone else plant excessive amounts of certain plants?

Comments

[mcsassypants]

Last year, i was standing on our patio surrounded by 20 tomato plants and my husband turns to me and says "Sweetie, I'm really not all that fond of tomatoes..."

[virginiadear]

How many different varieties? And what do you do with your tomatoes beside eating them fresh? And do your neighbors still love you? (Maybe, if you're handing off fresh tomatoes instead of zucchini.)

[mcsassypants]

Well, let's see...
There was an amish paste, a pineapple, a couple of zebra, a cherry tomato, a berkey tie dye, and....oh man, that's all I remember. I know there were a few black varieties in there and some unknown varieties. OH! And probably about 5 black krims. My stepdad grew tomatoes specifically to give to me, and I grew about 5 of my own, and then my coworker ended up with about 20 extra that she needed to give away and I couldn't let them go homeless could I?

I made a ton of crockpot tomato sauce, oven roasted some and have been putting them on pasta all winter. And made up a bunch of ratatouile for the freezer. And my neighbors are still talking to me. Hooray!

[virginiadear]

Enough varieties, certainly!
Actually, this entry of Rhodie's and all the comments motivated me to get an accurate "head count" of packets of tomato seeds in my cache, and I came up with 17 (seventeen.) Considering I grow tomatoes only for others, either directly or indirectly, that's...excessive or worse, probably unnecessary. Almost inexplicably, I'm looking for my favorite varieties!

"and then my coworker ended up with about 20 extra that she needed to give away and I couldn't let them go homeless could I?"

No, indeed! Orphan plants can not be allowed to go homeless!

Now, if all those tomatoes you grew on and donated had been zucchini, your neighbors would be hiding from you instead of still talking to you.

[mcsassypants]

I actually had a neighbor begging the neighborhood for as much zucchini as we were willing to give away last year. Sadly, my summer squash wasn't really doing well last year by the time she needed it. :)

[virginiadear]

Wow! First time I've heard of this, I think (begging for zucchini) but it sounds a win-win for everyone involved. I'm sorry to hear you had a rough season for summer squash. (:^(

[rhodielady_47]

MEN!
His sense of timing is a bit lacking, isn't it?

I'd have eaten everything from tomato salad, tomato sandwiches, tomato casseroles and then bottled all the excess.
:)

[mcsassypants]

I KNOW RIGHT??!!! GEEZ! We've been married 7 years and he JUST gets around to mentioning this now??!!

I did a lot of slow roasting in the oven and kept them in the freezer for eating over the winter

[rhodielady_47]

Had he been my hubby, he'd have been told: Well, that just leaves more for me!
;^D

[dickgloucester]

I had a lot of tomatoes last year, and ended up cooking them down slowly in the oven with some fresh herbs until I got a dense mush, then blending, and then freezing in ice cube trays. I'm still using the cubes to give intensity and depth to tomato sauces.

I'm not all that fond of tomatoes, either, or at least not raw. The only ones I've had which I think taste fantastic raw are Cherokee Purples, and you can't get the seed for those in the UK.

[mcsassypants]

Cherokee Purples are on my list to grow this year. I've been really enjoying black krims for the past few years.