#mortgage lifter

[obsessedwithrainbows]

I'm proud of this #noreasontobeproudof pic

[ainawgsd]

This is starting to get ridiculous

[natureisthegreatestartist]

Eager to grow tomatoes? Me, too. This kind is called "Mortgage Lifter," supposedly because the grower sold enough of them to pay off his $6,000 mortgage back in the 1940s. Nowadays, the payoff is the size and flavor of the tomatoes.

[green-guild]

"MORTGAGE LIFTER" HEIRLOOM TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

This is a great small business success story. First the tomato. No ordinary tomato mind you, the Mortgage Lifter heirloom tomato. It's amazing what a few seeds and some perseverance can create. Charlie Byles paid off the mortgage to his home and bred one hell of a tomato. Self-sufficient and creative a great example of the American spirit.

Eighty years later the Beekman Boys have created a pasta sauce that uses Mortgage Lifter tomatoes grown on their farm to create a pasta sauce with a mission. (Oh, yeah, and they won a little show called The Amazing Race. Have you heard of it? Well, of course you have!) Not only have the boys invested part of their winnings into their Beekman 1802 line, but they have also purchased a building in their Main Street community where they will feature their Beekman 1802 line of products... and if you can stand it 25% of the profits from the sauce will go to help struggling family farms and hopefully pay off some mortgages in the process and there are plans to expand the line... yes, I'm swooning. 

A great win for small business and family farms. I can't wait to try the sauce! Order your's here and there is a break for ordering a case, so share!

P.S. Now this isn't something you hear coming from Monsanto's corporate office. Just sayin'...

[gardeningkris]

The tomatoes have really been struggling this year, despite having nine plants in. An abundance of caterpillars, rats and two different diseases have combined to take a hefty toll. Plus two of my stakes have snapped in strong winds.

So these represent the first actual harvest. The four at the back are the appropriately named 'mortgage lifter' variety, and the two little ones at the front are 'tigerella'. The big one on the left is 575g!

The cucumber... is a bit overdone. I told my housemate it needed harvesting a full week ago, but she forgot. It's probably quite bitter now. Not my problem though: I don't eat cucumber anyway!