Self-Reliance Tip of the Week - Do Your Tomatoes Say "Cheese"?

Aren't They Cute?

Don't you love it when you go to take a picture of your beautiful tomato plants and they smile with their beautiful teeth? It makes you just want to pinch their cheeks! It is because of all the calcium you've been feeding them. What? You don't give your tomatoes calcium?

Ok, my tomatoes don't have teeth either. But, they still need calcium just like we do.  Well why? It prevents blossom end rot (not that people get end rot on our blossoms...anyway). It makes the plant overall stronger so it can produce healthier tomatoes for you. After all, if you loose your blossoms, no tomatoes can come from them.

Here is an easy way to do it with egg shells that you would normally discard.  Here is a link (look for the third question and answer):

http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=867

Lets focus for just a minute on the calcium we need. Some may say that "I don't need any more calcium. It is FORTIFIED in EVERYTHING." That can actually be a problem. How is it that we live in country that fortifies EVERYTHING with calcium and have so much osteoporosis?

In order for the body to assimilate (break down/ use) calcium it must be consumed with magnesium and phosphorous also.  They are like the Three Amigos. If you mess with one bean, you must mess with the whole burrito. If you don't, your body sits there with this calcium and says, "I don't know what to do with this...I'll stick it in the shoulder in the form of a bone spur."

Not many foods contain all three, so a variety of foods beans, dark greens etc are necessary to absorb calcium. We are told over and over that milk is an excellent source of calcium....now don't get mad....but....once commercial cows milk has been pasteurized, it renders the calcium useless. It is still there, but it acts like a teenager in front of a video game when you're talking to it. Nobody's home.

If you can get a hold of raw milk, that calcium is untouched and works like it is supposed to. But where do the cows get the calcium? Green food.

So my whole purpose for bringing  this up is that our bodies need these minerals. Does your food storage contain the foods that have useable forms of the Three Amigos?

If your storage can provide the calcium you and your plants need, you'll both be smiling...big cheesy grins.