Saving Seeds

 There is nothing like a vine-ripened home-grown tomato! I'm still saving seeds. It is one of my compulsions and a part of my yearly obligations. Yes, that's how I feel about my Oxheart tomatoes. I no longer start nor grow these but my daughters do. The first batch has fermented and are drying. ALWAYS on newspaper! 

Even if this year's yield is smaller in size, let me tell you that the flavor is the same.

 This morning I sliced it and saved some of the seeds. They are fermenting in their own juice for several days before being washed and strained and dried. 

The remainder of the seeds will also be saved and   processed after I have consumed the rest of that beauty in a sandwich with only mayo and salt and pepper. Ummmm!   

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 It looks like I'll have three batches of seeds to wrap in plain paper and then store in containers in the freezer for the winter. I might even try starting a few myself - again!

Moving Forward

 What is a SEM murmur?

Midsystolic murmurs — also known as systolic ejection murmurs, or SEM — include the murmurs of aortic stenosis, pulmonic stenosis, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and atrial septal defects. 

What is a 2/6 murmur? Faint but easily audible.

Systolic Murmur Grades are based on the intensity of the murmur.

My physician noted in the checkbox for 'heart' that I have a 2/6 SEM.

Anyway, for now I've decided not to have the  removal of a cataract in my right eye, at least for a year. I'm doing OK and I'm not as angry now.

The last of the Oxhearts sits in my 12" pottery bowl and I really hate to think of cutting it!  I may save another  packet of fermented and dried seeds from this one, as it is the perfect example of the heritage variety. Isn't it beautiful? It measures 4" across and is heavy with meat, few seeds, and actually smells good. It is a feast for the eye!

My daughter is processing all the rest from her garden today and they will be made into tomato sauce. There were many, though smaller than years before, due to the drought.

There hasn't been a hummingbird at the feeder for two days so I took it down and sanitized it for storage. I miss them already.

The schools in this area have started. Now I know the summer is ending and I don't anticipate the coming of the next two seasons but will try to get through the best I can. I think the trick is to keep busy, mind and body. 

I did another photomanipulation because the shadows in my neighbor's image caught my eye.

They're Here........!!!!!

As you might remember, I save seeds every year, my local daughter sows and starts the plants. She keeps some, sends some to her sister in NJ and then we have the wonderful Oxheart tomatoes. We have been doing this for many years - so far so g00d!! Today she brought me three of these beauties! 

PA Tomatoes

Compared with the huge beautiful crop our daughter in NJ grew this year, our daughter in PA, who started them all from seeds didn't have such success, but it wasn't a total failure either. She has been making sauce all this week. Her tomatoes were small but still very sweet and tasty. Her neighbor grew the largest one (below) from her shared seedling but it grew against the fence and became the "mother" of our 2021 crop. (There are very few seeds to save from this meaty variety.)

This is the PA garden. Sad sight! BUT....she saved three for us.

Better late than never! These are a yearly treasure.

Tomato Time

As most of you already know, I save Oxheart heritage tomato seeds every year. My daughter who lives nearby starts the plants and takes some to her sister in NJ. She also plants some for herself and shares with others. I was talking to NJ and she was boasting about her tomatoes this year as she grows several varieties. She has to contain them in a cage because the squirrels there gobble at them and ruin them. She just sent me this photo of today's picking. There are four or five of the Oxhearts on the platter. The PA tomatoes aren't yet ready. Soon they will be and the process will continue next year. Both of these daughters know how to properly save and plant these. They are special.

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Playtime:

RED RED RED!

Sliced the larger one yesterday for lunch.

I did NOT enhance the color! This image was taken on the counter under the kitchen window without flash! See how meaty? These slices are left over after our tomato sandwiches. And it had the best taste of all this year. This is why I save seeds.

One down one to go...
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My Labor Day

Labor day is dedicated to social and economic achievements of American people. It also seems to represent to most of us the end of summer. This national holiday was created in 1882 to give American workers a day off. It has a lot of history and meaning.  

This is my labor of love for today! Canada Goose feathers collected for me by young great nephew and niece this summer now decorate JAMES.

Our daughter's labor of love is growing the Oxheart tomatoes from saved seeds every year. She delivered these three beauties to us yesterday.

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Ample and Satisfying

Yes, I made a peach cobbler this morning. It took three peaches to make the four cups of slices in my recipe. I have four smaller ones left to make a pie and then I'm finished for the season. We'll have the cobbler at lunch with whipped cream!

As you know, I save seeds every year for the wonderful tasty and meaty Oxheart tomatoes. Missy, our PA daughter, starts the seedlings. Hers did not survive this year but, thank goodness, she shared a few of her started  plants with a neighbor and this morning she brought us three. The neighbor said the woodchucks bit into most of them in his garden! I placed them on a dinner plate before use. Aren't they pretty?

She also brought a few started seedlings to our NJ daughter who grows them well in a "cage" to prevent squirrels' ravages. Hers have grown to over 7 feet this year. They are in a good place, perfectly protected and producing fine for her family!

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Oxhearts of 2016

 More, and the last of the precious heritage Oxheart tomatoes just arrived via daughter who faithfully grows them from saved seeds. Wunnerful Wunnerful!!!!!!

Seeds are fermenting in a jar now from a previous two, and will be dried and saved in a paper packet in the freezer. That's how we do it to carry on the joy of these special tomatoes. Remember this?

 And these? (6 years ago?)

Missy, Champion Tomato Grower

In 2004~~~~~~~~~A camping friend from Pittsburgh PA gave me a couple of these tomatoes. She said her dad (he was 86 then) starts them and gives her some. He was from old country, Lithuania or Czechoslovakia. She brings them to the beach in SC in September every year. I saved some seeds in 2006 and brought them back to PA. I forgot all about them until April 2007 when we were getting ready to head to SC, so I just threw my saved seeds into an outdoor container. Well when we returned in July, the container was full of tall spindly ugly tomato plants. Missy tore all out and threw them away except for four. They grew and grew in July and August and thrived. When we were preparing to head to SC in September I brought only 6 ripe ones those four plants produced. There were plenty of green ones left. Too bad. Guess the slow start hindered their growth and they matured too late. Be sure that I have saved seeds to start some more EVERY year since.