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A Tomato in February

February 14th, 2012

Eating a tomato in February would be like opening your Christmas presents on Thanksgiving. It would spoil the fun and kill the anticipation.

Jessica Prentice – Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection

I harvested this tomato from my garden a few years ago and though it would be the perfect Valentine.

Even though I won’t be eating any fresh tomatoes this February, I can dream of the tomatoes I’ll be eating five months from now!

Do you remember when you had your last fresh tomato of the season?

16 Comments to “A Tomato in February”
  1. Nebraska Dave on February 14, 2012 at 10:39 am

    Susy, very cool tomato picture. Let’s see the last time I ate a fresh tomato was probably last October. The tomatoes shut down early last year. They started late and limped along all through the extreme heat of the summer. It just wasn’t the best year for tomatoes. They were still way better than the store bought tomatoes. Of course, in my humble opinion, the worst home grown tomato is still better than the best store bought.

    I’m patiently waiting for March 1st so I can start growing some seeds on the new seed starting station. The tomatoes really aren’t going to be started for a month later. It’s so hard waiting when the weather is nice outside but the last frost date is May 15th here so that means the tomatoes can’t be planted until April 1st. I always want to plant earlier but have to restrain myself. Hopefully this year will be a better year for gardening.

    Have a great tomato dreaming day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  2. Rhonda on February 14, 2012 at 10:40 am

    October. :-)

    Reply to Rhonda's comment

  3. Songbirdtiff on February 14, 2012 at 10:46 am

    I took the last harvest we had of cherry tomatoes and made them into a big batch of salsa, I think that was October. I miss fresh tomatoes so much! We will have fresh hot house toms in April. They aren’t as good as summer tomatoes but they are better than anything from the grocery store.

    Reply to Songbirdtiff's comment

  4. Amy on February 14, 2012 at 11:25 am

    An inch of fresh snow finally landed here last night, which made this photo even more perfect for my morning. I had a few green tomatoes on the counter that didn’t ripen until late October. None as gorgeous as this one. Do you know what variety it is?

    Reply to Amy's comment

    • Susy on February 14, 2012 at 11:30 am

      It’s a Zapotec Pleated tomato.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. itchbay on February 14, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    Last fresh tomato? No, sadly. But I know that I had a large-ish haul of slightly over-ripe tomatoes from our CSA, and I made the most delicious soup. In fact, it’s that soup I’ve been dreaming of ever since, and inspiring me to plant many more tomato plants this summer so I can (weather permitting) have enough to can it to keep me going through the winter next year.

    Reply to itchbay's comment

  6. Ghislaine on February 14, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Still eating them… short-season tomatoes right here in my San Diego garden. Don’t hate me -they’re not that great. Beats the supermarket kind though.

    Reply to Ghislaine's comment

  7. tj on February 14, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    …Now THAT is an awesome tomato! :o)

    …October for me. I’m salivating at the thought of a homegrown tomato.

    …Happy Valentine’s Day you two! <3

    …Blessings

    Reply to tj's comment

  8. Marcia on February 14, 2012 at 1:18 pm

    In early November and delicious it was,slathered with home-made mayo on toast. I stewed some tomatoes and this reminds me I should have some soon, with a nice big pat of butter.

    Reply to Marcia's comment

  9. KimH on February 14, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    Awesome picture! :) I think the last fresh tomato I had was in Oct or Nov.. our season extended out pretty far..
    Looking forward to another, someday soon..

    Happy Valentines Day! ♥

    Reply to KimH's comment

  10. Maybelline on February 14, 2012 at 4:27 pm

    Christmastime.
    Getting tha dirt ready for new plants today.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  11. Kathi Cook on February 14, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    I have one gallon bag of frozen yellow tomatoes left from the summer. I just can’t decide how I want to use them.That tomato is awesome!

    Reply to Kathi Cook's comment

  12. Jane on February 14, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    That is an incredible tomato! Funny how they can grow like that! :)

    Reply to Jane's comment

  13. Liz J on February 14, 2012 at 7:38 pm

    That tomato is BEAUTIFUL! Can you imagine if they “all” looked like that :) It has been since September since I’ve had a tomato from the garden. A couple more weeks and the cycle will start up again…it makes me happy!

    Reply to Liz J's comment

  14. Brittany P. on February 15, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    We actually had our last tomato in November. We were thrilled to see what we thought were the last in October when the plants got some frost and looked like they were done with. Then in November my youngest son ran inside and said he had found two “miracle” tomatoes, he called them, that were ripe on the plants and he said they were miracle tomatoes because the stem they were growing on had actually broke off the plant (ummm, farm kittens in action) and they grew on it anyway. Needless to say, they were amazing and I let him eat them both. They were growing on a cherry tomato plant that we had grown from seed.

    Reply to Brittany P.'s comment

  15. Phil (Smiling Gardener) on February 16, 2012 at 10:08 am

    We were eating multiple tomatoes each day through October (I’m in Canada). Probably too many. Haven’t had one since – it’s nice to eat with the seasons.

    Did that tomato grow right beside the wire of a cage or was it just good luck?

    Reply to Phil (Smiling Gardener)'s comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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