On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:21, Wally Day wrote:

>> So I see the way to grow this natural
> >quality food as a topic that
>> belongs on this site, certainly as
>> much as where to buy the stuff.
>
>Agreed. How you grow PALEOFOOD is definitely as important as how you shop
>for PALEOFOOD (see? I just used the name of the group twice in one sentence:)

<snip>

>How cold do your winters get?
>
As winter closes in, we have this month had our first frosts and I have the log fire going tonight
for the fourth time in 2005.  It gets down to -9 Celsius (that's 16 degrees Fahrenheit) at its
coldest.

As to the paleo tomato crop, it's coming to the end of its season now.  The early frosts are killing
the foliage, but the remaining fruit is still ripening in the sun.  My earlier posts about flavour were,
it seems, premature, distorted by my eagerness to report to you - an eagerness which led to me
to eat the fruit before it was fully ripe.

There were some days when I picked over 500 tomatoes, but don't get carried away: I ate 225 in a
single salad.  As the fruit ripened, the flavour became sweeter and tastier, losing the tartness I
reported on back in February.  Whereas ordinary tomatoes are sometimes tastier before they
become fully red, this does not apply to this original Andean variety.  They are at their best when
fully red and soft.

And here's something unexpected: when the tomatoes are over-ripe, they ferment rather than
rotting and are delicious even when squelchy!  Fresh fruit eaten straight from the plant when
warmed by the sun is one of the greatest taste pleasures there is!

If it's not too far into your season, I urge you nothern hemispherians to put some of these Andean
tomatoes in this weekend!

Keith