January tomatoes

This couldn't possibly be from my garden.


Or could it?


If, in fact, these are from my garden, that would mean they have been sitting around for longer than three months.

Someone (alright, I admit it was me) put this basket full of tomatoes in my basement last fall, and kind of forgot about it. Well, not really forgot about it, but procrastinated sorting through them... until New Year's Day.


These pictures are fresh, and so are the tomatoes. Very special tomatoes.

Because I didn't store them properly, about half had bad spots and were sent away to the coop. The chicken joy was complete! I love watching them wipe their beaks after they enjoy a juicy feast. Betweeen the dog and those birds, almost nothing goes to waste around here. They even rob my compost heap.

It is January, and I am smiling because I have four window ledges full of almost-ripe tomatoes that I started from seed nearly a year ago. How satisfying!

This is what they looked like last September, at harvest time.


No wonder it's called the Long Keeper Tomato.