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•T he I FP • H al to n H ill s •T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 1 2, 2 01 3 8 Don't you deserve to be a member at a Private Golf Club? Private Club members will tell you that private golf means more time gol�ng and less time waiting. That means more time with your family & friends. Join on a 2014 Trial Membership and play the rest of the 2013 Season at no additional charge. Contact Melanie Frazer to learn more about this great Trial Membership Opportunity. 905-877-5236 or mfrazer@nhgcc.ca EXCEPTIONAL GOLF FOR AN EXCEPTIONAL PRICE 905-877-5236 363 Maple Avenue West,Georgetown,ON www.northhaltongolf.com THE CLUB AT NORTH HALTON MOISTURE WICKING PAJAMAS & SHEETS www.wildbleu.ca HOW WILDBLEU™ WORKS: Our products use a patented yarn that wicks moisture away from the skin and then forces the moisture to the surface of the fabric where it evaporates quickly. Our Heat Release Technology™ uses a combination of natural and synthetic fibers …and it combines the best of both. I really enjoy tomatoes. I like them the year 'round, but this time of year, I really 'love' tomatoes, es- pecially if they are home-grown, right off the stem. And The Sidekick and I have a whack of tomatoes. The Sidekick is the first to say she's no gardener. She likes fresh veggies from the garden, and like me, she 'loves' tomatoes, but she's reluctant to call herself a gardener. I built two raised 4x8 ft. box plant- ers for her in the fall of 2011, to plant a few things for the table. Last fall I 'enlarged' the two gardens and took the sides off them, to make it easier to cut the lawn. The garden became about 5x20 feet. I also decided it was time to fertilize so I applied a load of sheep manure be- fore winter. Last spring, The Sidekick planted beans, peas, spin- ach and I planted sunflow- ers and tomatoes-- about a six-foot row of sunflowers and six tomato plants. Now I know how prolific tomatoes can be, especially when they are plant- ed in a high con- centration of sheep manure. Some gar- deners claim the rea- son plants grow so tall in sheep manure is because they are trying to get as far away from the stuff as possible. I know that's wrong, but it makes for a great story when talking to gullible wannabe gardeners. With a wet summer, the tomato plants grew like the wildfire-- I was pleased knowing the six plants would produce more than our share of toma- toes. But soon after, I noticed some- thing else growing. It seems we had another crop grow- ing at the far end of the garden. A number of other plants were trying to 'escape' from the sheep manure-- more tomatoes. Turns out we had a huge growth of volunteer tomatoes that seeded them- selves from last year. And they have grown like crazy. We have more tomatoes than we have ever grown before-- cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes (my personal favorite) and a few huge beefsteak tomatoes, all grow- ing at the other end of the garden. The Sidekick is in a state of shock, trying to keep up to the flood of red rip- ening tomatoes on the ground. We've been eating tomatoes at virtu- ally every meal, and have taken toma- toes to church, as well as both of our places of employment, trying to get rid of them. And as much as I love toma- toes, unfortunately, after a while, they don't like me. Seems they have a little too much acid for my stomach, forc- ing me to up my acid reflux medication. I've even tried frying the green ones-- not too bad, if the batter is right-- and I've thought of making tomato sauce. The final coup de grâce occurred this past weekend, when I considered making chili sauce. My grandmother could produce an old-time chili sauce that was second to none. And my oldest sister is the keeper of her guarded family recipe. One day in passing, I asked if she had the recipe, 'cuz we had so many tomatoes around. Mentioning a recipe like that to her is like pushing a starter button on a dynamo. Within an hour, she arrived at my house, not only with a print-out of the recipe, but also the necessary spic- es and paraphernalia needed to create the masterpiece, and a sample of what it is supposed to taste like. The sample was the cruel part-- now I KNOW I have to make this damned chili sauce-- it's that good. And The Sidekick, as fond as she is of tomatoes and salsa, doesn't share my attraction to the chili sauce. "It's too sweet," she says. Over the next few days, I expect to be found hand picking the required 11 quarts of Roma tomatoes needed for a batch of chili sauce, and will give it my best shot as I bottle up the wonderful chunks of tomato and sauce. Now all I've gotta do is find a couple dozen empty quart sealer bottles... A Ted Bit Time to make some old-time chili sauce TED BROWN --Ted Brown can be reached at tbrown@theifp.ca 'We've taken tomatoes to both our offices, trying to get rid of them'