There's a rhyme that goes a little something like this:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the King's horses and all the King's men, didn't really care because this guy was always falling off of things.
They were more concerned about how to get rid of their overabundance of tomatoes being the end of Medieval tomato season and all.
Not much has changed since Medieval times. We still don't really care when humanized eggs get drunk and fall off of walls and we're still looking for ways to get rid of tomatoes at the end of the season.
Even with making tomato salad every night, eating toasted tomato sandwiches and perpetually shoving more of them into the oven for a batch of roasted tomato sauce for the winter, I still have an obscene amount of tomatoes.
I think it's because I'm one person yet I planted 839 tomato plants.
If this sounds like you,
IT IS NOW TIME TO GIVE BACK.
Have a nice neighbour? Give them this. Have a favourite barista? Give them this. Come across a random stranger on the street? Give them this.
It's the perfect summer hostess gift.
Fresh tomatoes handed over in an egg carton with some garlic and herbs.
Just throw a bunch of tomatoes in an egg carton, include a head of garlic if you have one, and tie it all up with string. Top the carton with an herbal Tussie Mussie and you're done.
This is where I confess to writing this post, perhaps even starting this blog 8 years ago, just so I could use the term Tussie Mussie. I don't want to live in a world that has given up on phrases like Tussie Mussie. Ditto for Heavens to Betsy!
It's tomato sauce in a box. The recipient has tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil; all the essentials for a great tomato sauce. Granted, because only smaller tomatoes fit in egg cartons, it's a small serving of tomato sauce, but still. They're getting fresh tomatoes and you're getting rid of fresh tomatoes. Win, win.
All the King's Horses and all the King's Men agreed next year they'll still plant 839 tomato plants again.
I didn't have a great tomato year here. But typically I do, and at the end of summer, I make spicy tomato jam and can it. Sooo good on a cheese plate and our favorite way is on little mini meatloves in the winter. Lots of recipes, but the best ones use some super aged balsamic vinegar in there. Yum. I don't even bother coring, peeling, nothing. Just dice and cook down.
That sounds good. And now makes me want to have something with chili sauce (cause that's the closest thing I have to tomato jam at the moment) on it for dinner. `~ karen!
Your packaging is delightful! Your tomatoes look so tasty. How I wish I was a neighbor - even before our current President! Wonder where the word tussie mussie comes from - sounds like an interesting story. Packaging always makes a gift more special and you are a packaging princess. (Queen just doesn't sound fun enough.)
My tomato crop is at least 3 weeks behind this year with all the rain and cold nights we've had. I'm guarding my ripe tomatoes like a mad woman. That being said, I'm almost tempted to try this gift using the plastic egg cartons folks return to us.
Love the tussie mussie.
Very cute. Just so you know, I have been making your roasted tomatoes every single day , I do mean every day! My freezer will be filled with them. They are so easy and so versatile and probably won't last long. Thanks so much for the inspiration and ideas.
You're welcome Pamela! (I've been making quite a bit of that sauce myself) ~ karen!
Adorable!
That is so sweet. And I'm with ya on the tussie mussie.
Just a thought, since I think I remember you storing your eggs on the counter.
http://www.myfrugalhome.com/is-it-safe-to-reuse-egg-cartons/
Thanks Monica! She might be a little more committed to food safety than I am. She washes her eggs with vinegar before using them. ~ karen!
I was complaining to the librarian yesterday about a plethora of tomatoes and she said, "freeze them!" Well, duh! I didn't know you could freeze tomatoes whole. She said to wash them, put them in a freezer bag and forget them until you need tomato sauce for something. Just run them under hot water and the skin will peel right off. I put 6 fresh tomatoes under the broiler for 10 minutes the other , the skin lifted right off and I made chili. Never has chili been so good. I just wish my zucchinis had kept up with my eating, my mother used to freeze them and use them instead of water to make minestrone soup. Of course, her garden was like yours, Karen, but mine is just pots , fish tubs and a millions of potatoes (not!) box I built.
Freezing tomatoes whole is great. I still have an entire Tupperware container in my freezer from last year's frozen tomatoes. I really need to start planting less tomatoes, lol. ~ karen!
I've never lived anywhere where people overshare their garden bounties. Must be that New England standoffishness. Sigh.
I can't think of a nicer gift - even if I have an abundance of tomatoes myself!
I would love to receive that cute gift!! Animals like to party in my garden so a fence will be going up for next year. Where should I meet you at Christie for my gift??
This reminds me of a cute story I read about church parking lots. The church goers in a small farming area begin putting up their windows and locking their cars when it is garden harvest time. If they don't, they will find zucchinis and tomatoes in their cars from generous (and maybe desperate) gardeners when church is over! Your idea of using the egg carton is a very good one though!
I'm with Kennedy- never enough tomatoes! I've been dehydrating those we can't eat fresh.
So I haven't been giving away tomatoes but I also have a Leaning Tower of Pisa of egg boxes which drives my husband mad but I can't say no because then people might stop giving me stuff! So I've used mine to package homemade fire starters (the pretty ones made with a fir cone); homemade chocolate truffles; my Rainbow unit to all package the chocolate truffles they made for Father's Day... I think they look great :-) But I still have a mountain of egg boxes!
I planted 46 tomato plants this year and we have a bumper crop all around.
I still don't have enough tomatoes.
If I planted 132 tomato plants I would say the same thing - not enough tomatoes.
Love this idea. Do they make egg cartons for ostrich eggs? Because I have a zucchini glut going here. Also, I used the term tussie mussie once and immediately grew another head, in the eyes of the person I was talking to.
You beat me to it - now we just need a clever disguise for 5 pounds of zucchini
Package it up like an alternative Mr. Potato Head?
zucchini relish! I had one zucchini that grew to be 5lbs when I went away on holiday. Found a recipe that required 5 lbs of zucchini. a perfect match!
Seriuosly Karen, How many do you plant? I am retiring soon and starting my dream retirement garden - for just 2 of us tomato lovers and yes, I'd love to feed the hungry but it is also a lot of work! I'm retiring - not starting another career. A few years ago (when we had kids to feed) I planted 98 tomato plants. I had visions of tomato heaven - but frost hit before they ripened. I was sooo disappointed. I picked them green and stored them in a cold basement. We were still eating fresh tomatoes the following January, but they were a little woody in the centre from picking them so green. If you could give me a hint about how many you plant for 1 tomato lovin' crazy person then I should be able to gauge how many to plant for 2. Thanks a bunch.
Oh no that wouldn't give you a good gauge at all, lol. I plant too many tomatoes. I plant 15-18 paste tomatoes for making sauce and canning each fall. And I also plant 15-20 other varieties (mostly heirlooms) just for fun. So no. I am definitely NOT a good gauge, lol. If you want your tomatoes all at once and resistant to disease plant a newer, hybrid variety. If you want less tomatoes and them stretched out over a longer period of time (they won't stop producing until the frost hits them) them go for heirloom varieties. They are less resistant to disease and can grow to 9' tall. If you only want a couple of tomatoes to pick every once in a while 2 people only truly need 2 tomato plants but .. that's not the route I would go. ;) ~ karen!
Thanks Karen! and everyone one else with suggestions.....2 plants definitely is not enough. If they matured all at once we would be done devouring them in a week. Soooo....If you grow 30 to 40 plants and have enough for 1 crazy tomato lovin' person then I think I can plan for a max of 30 for the 2 of us. That should get me started. House hunting starts in a couple of weeks! I wonder what the realtor is going to think when I want to see the back garden first!
I'll take some... oh wait! I live too far away. Damn.
Looks lovely, Karen.
Yup, this year I am the recipient of way tooo many 🍅 's...I just moved and haven't even found all of my pots yet...so, please...no more 🍅 's‼️
Gee, I wish I was your neighbor!!! I live in the same town but not right next to you, unfortunately. That's such a cute way to package extra tomatoes!
This brings back memories of my over abundance of tomatoes and my neighbors stopped answering their doorbell. Thank God for plastic grocery bags because when they didn't answer I would hang that bag right on their door knob! I swear every year that I am only going to plant two tomato plants but we know how that goes!!!