First BLT of the growing season!

[smokerjim]

Looks tasty , I'm pretty jealous right now.

 

[tx smoker]

WOW!! I am with you. Love a BLT like none other. I'll take three....please

Robert

 

[indaswamp]

Looks tasty , I'm pretty jealous right now.

Thanks Jim! Another one for lunch today....and probably for supper again too!!! LOL!!! Did I say I love BLT's???

WOW!! I am with you. Love a BLT like none other. I'll take three....please

Robert

Thanks Robert. Nothing like a home grown tomato. BLT's and salsa are why I have a garden and put so much work into building my soil. Nothing makes a tomato taste outstanding than minerals from the sea; and I get that from the fish carcasses I bury....

 

[Gonna Smoke]

HECK YEAH, Keith!! We love BLTs with fresh, home grown tomatoes and of course, it's Duke's mayo around here...

 

[indaswamp]

HECK YEAH, Keith!! We love BLTs with fresh, home grown tomatoes and of course, it's Duke's mayo around here...

Thanks GonnaSmoke! Dukes is comparable to what we have locally....Blue Plate Mayo.

 

[gmc2003]

Now you got me jones'in for a blt Inda. That looks great,

Point for sure
Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

Awesome BLT!
Having one for lunch in a few.
Beef bacon & home grown mater’s.
We have a small garden, but get quite a bit of veggies from it.
Al

 

[indaswamp]

Now you got me jones'in for a blt Inda. That looks great,

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks gmc!

Awesome BLT!
Having one for lunch in a few.
Beef bacon & home grown mater’s.
We have a small garden, but get quite a bit of veggies from it.
Al

Thanks Al! BLT on the menu tonight for supper.

 

[fltsfshr]

Great looking BLT. This may help you out. Here's trick.You can ripen tomatoes on the stalk by hanging them upside down in the dark in a cool place. We had a root cellar out West and we had ripe tomatoes all Winter long.

 

[JLeonard]

Did I misread that wrong..You only made 1 sammich the first go around? And then had to go back and make a second?!?!?
If the second was like the first, I'd had to make a 3rd!!

Jim

 

[indaswamp]

Great looking BLT. This may help you out. Here's trick.You can ripen tomatoes on the stalk by hanging them upside down in the dark in a cool place. We had a root cellar out West and we had ripe tomatoes all Winter long.

I put them in a plastic bag with a banana. Tomatoes ripen from ethylene vapor, a natural process. The banana gives off a lot of ethylene and speed tomato ripening.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Will slice my first tomato today. A Cherokee Purple that was suppose to be a Big Beef. Evidently, I got them mixed up when I potted up.

It has a very small bit of cracking from all the rains we had, but at this point, who cares.

 

[indaswamp]

Yum! Wish I could grow cherokee purple here but they just don't produce well and get rvaged by disease in the hot humid deep south. Cracking here is normal with all the rain we get, though oddly enough it has been a relatively dry spring here this season. That brought on different problems....worst army worm infestation I have ever had and birds pecking my tomatoes for water.....always something!

 

[Smokin Okie]

Yum! Wish I could grow cherokee purple here but they just don't produce well and get rvaged by disease in the hot humid deep south. Cracking here is normal with all the rain we get, though oddly enough it has been a relatively dry spring here this season. That brought on different problems....worst army worm infestation I have ever had and birds pecking my tomatoes for water.....always something!

There's a way to beat the birds.

Birds are attracted to the red color. Pick the tomato when its " blushing " . That's when it first starts to turn color, turns a little pink. Bring them inside to finish ripening. It will have no impact on flavor. Flavor is already set and they don't have to ripen on the vine.

I had mockingbirds living in my neighbor's redbud tree that feasted on my tomatoes until I got this trick from a lady in a gardening forum. She knew more about tomatoes and gardening than anyone I've ever met. Sadly, she passed three years ago and she's greatly missed on that forum.

 

[indaswamp]

I am picking when they are blushing... The birds are pecking them before that.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Ya got some savvy birds. I've never had that problem.

 

[indaswamp]

I have heard that hanging solid plastic red balls in/ on the plants will help deter the birds pecking tomatoes... They start pecking the fake fruit, get no water, and give up. Trains the birds to leave your tomatoes alone. Might give that a try next season.....

 

[jcam222]

Man I love a good BLT with fresh garden tomato!! Jealous as I am at least a month from them in my garden.

 

[indaswamp]

Man I love a good BLT with fresh garden tomato!! Jealous as I am at least a month from them in my garden.

Thanks jcam! I have been O.D.ing on BLT's since my first tomato turned ripe! Bet I've gone through 4# of bacon already! LOL! Matter of fact, I'm eating one right now! LOL!!!!

(Did I say I really love a good BLT with home grown tomatoes???)

 

[Smokin Okie]

Thanks jcam! I have been O.D.ing on BLT's since my first tomato turned ripe! Bet I've gone through 4# of bacon already! LOL! Matter of fact, I'm eating one right now! LOL!!!!

(Did I say I really love a good BLT with home grown tomatoes???)

The best bite is at the end, when the bread has soaked up juice from the tomato.