Let's talk tomatoes, shall we?
Having said this, I'll admit that I did NOT grow tomatoes my first two years of vegetable gardening. My parents grew them, and I could get about 6 a week from them, which was what we needed. Then we moved out to the countryside, my parents moved with us, and I grew tomatoes for the first time last year. I bought four plants at the garden shop, planted them in a raised bed with trellis, and they grew well. We grew all the tomatoes we could eat in August and September, and then made a lovely green tomato preserves with what was left on the vine when the frost hit.
Due to a shortage of jars (as previously mentioned) I froze my marinara sauce. This allowed me to add herbs and oil without worrying about the acidity, also. Six quarts in the freezer. Oh, and by the way, all the herbs and onions were home-grown, too!
I vaccum packed the first batch, but added oil and salt to the second batch, so they were frozen. Should have enough for the whole winter.
I believe every backyard gardener grows tomatoes. I have no scientific research to back this up, but I am quite sure of it none-the-less. Tomatoes are tasty, nutritional, incredibly versatile, and easy to grow. Why wouldn't a gardener grow tomatoes?
Having said this, I'll admit that I did NOT grow tomatoes my first two years of vegetable gardening. My parents grew them, and I could get about 6 a week from them, which was what we needed. Then we moved out to the countryside, my parents moved with us, and I grew tomatoes for the first time last year. I bought four plants at the garden shop, planted them in a raised bed with trellis, and they grew well. We grew all the tomatoes we could eat in August and September, and then made a lovely green tomato preserves with what was left on the vine when the frost hit.
But this year we added a green house to the equation, and things got serious. I grew the plants from seed, transfered them to the greenhouse in early May, and was able to start harvesting tomatoes in early July. We've been picking tomatoes for two and a half months, and so far our harvest is over 30 kilos. 30 KILOS!!! Let me tell you, that is a LOT more than we can eat. And we are a family of 8!
So what to do with all these tomatoes? Well, of course we eat them. We eat tons. In everything. And I've given many away. In fact, I don't think I've been to a dinner party in the last two months without bringing the hostess some tomatoes. But I have also been experimenting with preserving methods, and that is what I want to share with you today.
Canning tomatoes, obviously
I have 8 pints stored away in the root cellar. It could have been more, but these jars were unbelievably expensive, and I've decided to buy only one box every year. As this was my first year of canning, I only had the eight jars.Marinara sauce. Mmmmmm.
Due to a shortage of jars (as previously mentioned) I froze my marinara sauce. This allowed me to add herbs and oil without worrying about the acidity, also. Six quarts in the freezer. Oh, and by the way, all the herbs and onions were home-grown, too!
Dried tomatoes
As these were dried in the oven, I can't call them sun-dried, but the results were much the same.
We still have tons of tomatoes on the vine, and although the production is less intense as the weather cools, I imagine I will harvest another 5-10 kilos before the vines give up the ghost. I'm hoping I'll be picking tomatoes throughout October, but this will just be enough for daily eating. I am finished preserving for the year, until of course, it's time for more green tomato preserves. Yum!
How do you preserve your tomatoes?
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