Cannas and Tomatoes
Can you can a canna?

Odd question I think.

But with a little research I have found the answer.

I won't be canning the flowers.

And I won't be canning the leaves.

But I found out that it is possible to eat the rhizomes or root shoots. The rhizomes are rich in starch and were once a food crop of Ecuador and Peru. You have to boil them for several hours to make them tender and then they supposedly taste like sweet potatoes. I don't know about that because I have such a hard time growing my flowers that I'm not about to eat my results. So, the answer to the question is "yes" you can can a canna.

Now, I will eat the tomatoes we have been growing. Here is an update. You remember when I started them. Here is a flashback to their humble beginnings.

They have grown.

Here is that one called Mortgage Lifter. It hasn't grown to the massive proportions as proclaimed on the package, although in fair advertising defense, you are supposed to trim out the bush and thin the fruit so that you send all the nutrients to one or two fruits on the plant. We chose not to do that step. ("Chose" as in there were a bunch of tomatoes already on the bush when we finally got around to reading the instructions so we just left them.)

Our favorite has been the Heirloom Black Pineapple. It is the tomato on the right. The other one is a Better Boy or Best Boy, or some kind of Boy! My marker sticks are a little blurry.

The taste of the Black Pineapple Tomato is really good. It doesn't taste as acidic as grocery store tomatoes. It has a creamy taste and texture. Hard to describe really.

The Black Pineapple is green, but fully ripe. Here is a slice held up to the light. And no, I don't usually hold my food up to the light before I eat it, but I thought it made an interesting picture.

Here is a different plant. We tried out several varieties.

It is called Lunch Box. The tomatoes are smaller.

So, I'll be canning some tomatoes this summer and not my cannas, that is, if there are any tomatoes left due to us excitedly eating them right from the garden every time one is ripe. What a treat!

Odd question I think.

But with a little research I have found the answer.

I won't be canning the flowers.

And I won't be canning the leaves.

But I found out that it is possible to eat the rhizomes or root shoots. The rhizomes are rich in starch and were once a food crop of Ecuador and Peru. You have to boil them for several hours to make them tender and then they supposedly taste like sweet potatoes. I don't know about that because I have such a hard time growing my flowers that I'm not about to eat my results. So, the answer to the question is "yes" you can can a canna.

Now, I will eat the tomatoes we have been growing. Here is an update. You remember when I started them. Here is a flashback to their humble beginnings.

They have grown.

Here is that one called Mortgage Lifter. It hasn't grown to the massive proportions as proclaimed on the package, although in fair advertising defense, you are supposed to trim out the bush and thin the fruit so that you send all the nutrients to one or two fruits on the plant. We chose not to do that step. ("Chose" as in there were a bunch of tomatoes already on the bush when we finally got around to reading the instructions so we just left them.)

Our favorite has been the Heirloom Black Pineapple. It is the tomato on the right. The other one is a Better Boy or Best Boy, or some kind of Boy! My marker sticks are a little blurry.

The taste of the Black Pineapple Tomato is really good. It doesn't taste as acidic as grocery store tomatoes. It has a creamy taste and texture. Hard to describe really.

The Black Pineapple is green, but fully ripe. Here is a slice held up to the light. And no, I don't usually hold my food up to the light before I eat it, but I thought it made an interesting picture.

Here is a different plant. We tried out several varieties.

It is called Lunch Box. The tomatoes are smaller.

So, I'll be canning some tomatoes this summer and not my cannas, that is, if there are any tomatoes left due to us excitedly eating them right from the garden every time one is ripe. What a treat!





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