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.
"Heavens to Betsy" - my goodNess. This is so much better than the usual that I can often lazily revert to saying. I do try - to keep the old, fairly clean sayings relevant. But sons and people and time and blahblah, well, EveryoneElse seems to think, or Insist? that we all swear and curse like sailors. And Yet - what does that even Mean? Has anyone Heard a sailor curse, um, lately? Or is that from like, 1784? - 'curse like a sailor'. I mean really?
But whatever you think about the above? Do still try to keep alive the olden sayings....the things our parents/grandparents said, often in lieu of cursing....but often too just because they were Better Things to say? 'Heavens to Betsy' is a very good one. There Are a Ton more - but try as I might I cannot come up with them tonight. Brain freeze. Maybe another day? Should we come upon the topic again.
I think we should. Favourite old fashioned sayings deserve their own post I think. ~ karen!
This truly is a thoughtful gift and so "Martha Stewart " of you! And I mean that as a good thing...
I see what you did! ~ karen
This is my new favorite blog post. Thanks!
Thank *you*! ~ karen
Perhaps a salad or a single serving of sauce either way love the idea
Such a good idea - I love sharing what I grow and having it collected for you to make a great sauce - perfect summer hi neighbor gift.
I sure wish I were your neighbour too! I live in Halifax and even local tomatoes seem to be grown in greenhouses! They just aren’t the same as field tomatoes!
What a thoughtful gift, I wish I was your neighbor!
Adorably delicious!
Cute idea! I am not as fancy but my neighbours still like the tomatoes they get. It is nice to see someone else growing brown and yellow cherry tomatoes. I got some many years ago from a contractor doing some work for my place of employment and I have been using the seeds ever since. They are so delicious! I don’t see them elsewhere though.
Our extra tomatoes get chopped up , roasted, and frozen. By roasting them, they take up half the space in the freezer. And this way, they can be used for anything and are already chopped up - the skins aren't an issue doing this so no need to remove them. One less step in the process.
Yes! Roasting is a great way to use them up. ~ karen!
I have gifted figs and persimmons in egg cartons. But I only use the plastic reusable egg cartons you can buy here locally from Tractor Supply. So the gifts only go to people I know will return the cartons!!!
Many of my reusable egg cartons are now over 5 years old. Only one has broken and become unusable and that one suffered a major injury when I dropped the heavy insert to my large crock pot on top of it in the sink...
That'd do it. I'm impressed it was only a major injury to the carton and not fatal. ~ karen!
I love this idea! I am late to the dance this year as my eggplant has beat the tomatoes to the finish line. Usually it’s the opposite. I have harvested and eaten 6 or 8 eggplant but my tomatoes are just starting to turn. I have found many on the ground either due to their weight or pecked by critters that may or may not ripen in the pantry. We’ve had a great summer but I think the cooler nights have delayed their ripening.
OH, how I wish I had a neighbor who had extra tomatoes!
Perfect present. I'd be stoked to receive it. Unfortunately, the only thing I can currently focus is on the shared commiseration with Karen from a few posts ago about my full time job of removing dead flowers around the house and replacing them. Today I actually started looking forward to fall. What is wrong with me?!?
It's common, most people run out of flower power by this time of year. ~ karen!
Cute idea, I would do this if I didn’t have a brown thumb when it comes to vegetables. But my weeds look great! No where does it say Humpty Dumpty is an egg….
Oh how I wish I were your neighbor! I planted 2 tomato plants: 1 cherry, 1 Roma, ($8.00) so far have harvested 6 cherry tomatoes and 2 Romas…and have watered every other day since I planted because we have had no rain since May. So sad. And on the lighter side, one of my friends posted on FB, that she was in the back of church, and saw a man furtively drop off a brown paper bag. She was a little alarmed (like TSA kind of situation) forced herself to go see—a big bag of huge zucchini!! Haha!!
HAHAHAHAHA! ~ karen!
And to quote the IMHO comic genius Ricky Gervais - Why would you send horses to provide trauma care to a damaged egg? They only have hooves, the perfect implement to smash and destroy an egg.
LOLOL! Oh yes, Ricky. I do wish he'd hurry up with another series. ~ karen!
I didn't grow any this year...I plan to do a couple of plants next year because I have really missed them...Your little egg carton gifts are so sweet!
I ran into the same problem with zucchini one year. I planted several plants in my garden and it turns out one plant would have given me more than I could use. I took a box of them with me when I went to Toronto to visit a vegetarian friend of mine, thinking he'd be overjoyed. He looked at me like I was insane and said that's more than he'd use in a lifetime. So he took what he wanted and we walked the streets of Toronto, leaving zucchini in any car we saw with an open window.
You're welcome.
Hahahahah! Such a fun thing to do. Now, why doesn't anyone do that with potato chips? ~ karen!
Zucchini chips?!!
Love this! Another reason why I wish I was growing tomato plants!