Green Thumb Tips #1 Tomatoes

Here is the beginning of a long list of Green Thumb gardening tips we will be exploring.  Every Thursday a new post will appear with a new tip for you. These gardening tips will also be available at our booth.
This week's tip deals with growing great tomatoes.  We will explore different methods of helping your plants to grow healthy and produce a lot of fruit.

After you have transplanted your tomatoes into your garden you can follow these tips to help you through the season.

Pinch & Prune for More Tomatoes

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc.

Pinch and remove suckers that develop in the crotch joint of two branches. They won’t bear fruit and will take energy away from the rest of the plant. But go easy on pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin leaves to allow the sun to reach the ripening fruit, but it’s the leaves that are photosynthesizing and creating the sugars that give flavor to your tomatoes.

 

Water the Tomato Plants Regularly.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2009) licensed to About.com, Inc.

Water deeply and regularly while the plants are developing. Irregular watering, (missing a week and trying to make up for it), leads to blossom end rot and cracking. Once the fruit begins to ripen, lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt and become stressed or they will drop their blossoms and possibly their fruit.

http://gardening.about.com/od/growingtips/tp/Tomato_Tips.htm

 

 

Blossom end rot, which appears in the picture above is common in many tomato varieties. From my experience, however, Romas seem more suseptible to the fungus than others.  Other methods I have found in addition to regular watering is to put a tsp. of  Miracle Grow Tomato plant food in with a pitcher of water and pour at the base of every plant at least once a week. This should reduce the amount of tomatoes that will develop the fungus.

Look for more tips each week at the Fruitful Nut.

 

Thanks and we'll see you at the market!

 

New items available this week:

Radishes

Fingerling potatoes

Red potatoes

 

Radish Time!

After a beautiful weekend we opened up our hoop tunnel greenhouse this morning to find that all of our plants have shot straight up.  Our radishes are ready to be harvested and our tomato plants have many large green tomatoes forming that will be ready to be picked in another two to three weeks.

Last week we began a promotion where if you buy two or more packages of product you will receive a coupon for 10% off your next visit to our booth.  This promotion is continuing on this week!  So be sure to mark the day and the time and come see us at one of our two locations in Rexburg or Snake River landing in Idaho Falls.

Watch for the next post on Thursday for our weekly Summer Gardening Tip.

Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you at our markets!

Market Day!

This weekend promises to be a wonderful one with sunshine and great products that need a home.
At the Fruitful Nut, we are bringing in a new variety to add to our Potato Jazz line. They are fingerling potatoes.

These little potatoes are great to spice up any meal or to eat alone. Packed with good carbs, they are healthy as well as delicious.

For this week's market we are also adding fresh baby red potatoes.  These will come at about $2.75 each.  These are great in recipes such as Cream Peas and Potatoes or to make creamy mashed potatoes.  If you prefer a more simple method, boiled red potatoes are great by themselves.   For recipes see below.  Also don't forget about our discount promotion going on.  If you buy two or more items you will receive a coupon for 10% off your next visit.






To give you a heads up next week we launch our weekly gardening tip to help you in your Green Endevors. We will cover such topics as box gardens, pest management, high yield tips and planting methods.  We will also feature news articles related to our topic of the week.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you at the market!

Creamed Peas and Potatoes

• 6 Servings
• Prep: 10 min. Cook: 25 min.

102535

Ingredients

• 1 pound small red potatoes
• 2-1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 2 cups milk

Directions

• Scrub and quarter potatoes; place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add peas; cook 5 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, in another large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion; saute until tender. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended; gradually add the milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Drain potatoes and peas; toss with sauce. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 3/4 cup equals 236 calories, 11 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 28 mg cholesterol, 355 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 8 g protein.

Creamed Potatoes & Peas published in Taste of Home April/May 2009, p65

Discount Week!

With beautiful weather on the way we expect to have an exciting and fun filled market.  This weekend at both the Rexburg Market and the Pier View Market in Idaho Falls we are offering a discount to customers who buy two or more items at a time.  They will receive a coupon for 10% off their next visit to our booth.  Merchandise, including nuts, dried fruits, and the Potato Jazz products are included in this offer. (This offer is not valid with the sole purchase of tomatoes.) 

If you have any questions, leave a post and we will get an answer back to you promptly.

Have a great Wednesday and keep checking for more great deals and updates!

A view of our hydroponics Tomato greenhouse

Potato Jazz Medley

Fresh Leeks

Midweek News

We have nearly completed the planting of our hoop tunnel. Yesterday we finished planting our Cauliflower, Cucumber, and Zucchini with a few more tomato plants.  Everything is looking green and healthy and growing well.  We expect to have a wonderful amount of produce when everything finishes growing.

Some future events we will have at our booth will be information on our produce, how best to grow certain plants in Idaho,  and other gardening tips to help you in your growing endeavors.  

We look forward to seeing you all at the market!

Market Time!

The weather outside might be frightful, but The Fruitful Nut will still be delightful.


It's market time again and we are gearing up for a great evening in Rexburg and a fantastic Saturday at the Pier View Market at Snake River Landing in Idaho Falls.

We have added a few new products to our display this week. These will include Chocolate Peanuts, Chocolate Raisins, our Hiker's Trail Mix, and a few other sweet treats.

We will still have our famous Hydroponic Tomatoes grown year round in BYU-Idaho's hydroponic greenhouse located in the Ezra Taft Benson Building.  These tomatoes grow in a water-based solution and are a great addition to any sandwich, salad, or to eat alone.

Our tomatoes are priced at $0. 50 for the large ones and $0. 25 for our small ones.

This week we also have Leeks available. These are $1.00 for a bundle.  Leeks are used in a variety of recipes and give a great burst of flavor to any dish. For a 4.5 star warm bowl of Potato Leek soup click here for the recipe.









A new product that we introduced last week in both markets was Wilcox Fresh's Potato Jazz.

These little potatoes come in a steam tray and are full of good carbs.          They include a tasty spice packet to Jazz up the taste.  All you have to do is vent a corner, put them in the microwave for 5 minutes, pour a small amount of olive oil or butter (whichever you prefer) and top with the spices. These make a great side dish or a nice meal for two.


We look forward to seeing you at the BYU-Idaho's The Fruitful Nut!

A Fruitful Day of Fruitful Events

Today marks the beginning of the third week of the Fruitful Nut's involvement with this year's Farmer's Market in Rexburg and the second in Idaho Falls. With the beautiful sunshine outside and the bounteous booth we will have tonight and tomorrow afternoon it is shaping up to be a great day.  We have our first few tomatoes finally in the ground and will be ready somewhere close to mid-July to the first of August. We will have several varieties available for sale at that time such as:

       
• Beef Steak
• Roma
• Early Girl
• Grape Tomatoes
• Tomatilla (a green, husked, tomato)

We have also planted many other items such as Broccoli, Peas, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Cabbage and Spinach. Future plants that will include: Watermelons, Cantaloupe, Honey Dew, Cucumbers, Sweet Corn and Squash.

By the end of the season we really will be the "Fruitful" Nut.  

About this weekend's markets we will have our usual supply of gourmet nuts and dried fruit including Yogurt-Covered Almonds, Chocolate Malt Balls, Dried Cranberries and many other great tasting, guilty pleasure fulfilling products.  Tonight we will also be bringing leeks fresh from our garden and hand picked this very afternoon.

We will also have our normal supply of Hydroponic Tomatoes grown right at the BYU-Idaho's Hydroponics Greenhouse. These are large tomatoes with a great taste. To learn more about these delectable edibles, check out their website. 

Hydroponic Tomatoes

We are also piloting a new product developed at Rexburg's own Wilcox Fresh Potatoes. Potato Jazz are steam trays full of fingerling and baby potatoes with microwave instructions and a spice packet to boot. These special spuds make a great meal for 3-4 people and cook up in about 5 minutes!  

To see more about these healthy bites click here.

Thanks and we look forward to see you at the Market!!