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.
Why you so mean to squirrels!