tomatoes coming in nicely

[songbird]

15 tomatoes turned into 5 quarts canned last night. there are a few out there that are bigger than my two hands.

as for flavor, when we were done canning we had a quarter of a cup left that would not fit in the jars so we split it and sipped. heaven!

we've been enjoying them fresh too. one slice of tomato for the whole sandwich.

the previous post where i mentioned the tomatoes getting some fungal damage (the plants are too close together there) from the several wet rainy days in a row. i left it alone and as soon as the sun came out the fungus didn't progress and the infected leaves have mostly fallen off. no spraying needed. i consider it natures way of dealing with the problem. it did by dropping the fungus prone leaves. there is plenty of new green growth up top so i consider them to be doing just fine. sure they would have done better spaced further apart, but when we planted i tried to get more spacing but was overruled by the management. :) next year the management may listen...

i'm not sure what we'll be like for final production, but the size of the current tomatoes are indicating a bumper. if we get 40+qts put up along with what we eat and give away we'll be quite happy.

the cherry tomatoes are doing well too. plenty of sunshine with some rain here or there makes for good tomato weather. temperatures are finally moderate enough. looks to be the mid 80sF this week and some rain in the forecast here or there.

songbird

[<address_is]

My tomatoes also look nice but still green. I like mine to come in around first half of September in the belief the cooler weather helps them taste better. I have mostly beefsteaks and Romas. I am getting lots of cherry tomatoes. I did get a handful of tomatoes two weeks ago with some bottom rot after several days of heavy rain. But that seemed to go way now that rain has settled down. I do not believe it was due to calcium deficiency but due to uneven watering.

My pickling cucumbers also came in nicely. I made 12 pints of Bread and Butter slices and 12 pints of dill spears. The cucumber vines are spent and ready for the compost pile. I think I will try broccoli in that spot and see what happens this fall.

In two week I should be freezing some green beans. I did not plant many garden peas to freeze, so they are for fresh eating. I do can some whole tomatoes but tend to turn the beefsteaks into tomato juice and the Romas into sauce and salsa. Since it is just me, I go for the pints and I tend to pressure can all tomato products instead of the Boiling Water Bath.

[songbird]

wrote: ...

we had one BER to start with and i found another one buried in deep today when i was looking for a worm. we grow beefsteaks too and they have always done well and taste great. i'd like to try some romas sometime.

:) starting broccoli from seed?

they are so good i usually raid them along with the strawberries.

what kind of peas and beans have you planted?

our peas are Little Marvel and Alaska Early.

the wax beans are Top Notch Golden Wax Bush.

the green beans are Tendergreen Improved Bush (i'm not a big fan of these, but don't have a replacement picked out yet).

for pods next year i have Dwarf Gray Sugar and Oregon Sugar Pod II, with maturity dates at

66-68 days that's two weeks later than the above peas labeled at 55-60days. i'm not sure if they are saying i won't have pods until that long, but that doesn't seem right. i'm assuming they mean until the peas are dry in the pod again. they could add more to the label saying about how many days are for pods, fresh peas and dry peas. that would help. also funny, the days to germination on the packages are 7-14 days but that must be for cold spring soil as when i've planted them they've sprouted in 3-5 days.

does it cut down on time without messing up the flavor or are you more concerned about the risk of spoiling?

in the years of canning we've done tomatoes we've not had any spoil lately (we don't grow low acid types for canning). Ma has canned off and on for 50 years. she's only had a little trouble from using damaged jars that didn't seal well. i bought her new jars a few years ago and she's a happy canner. i like the quart wide mouth jars because i can get my hand in them to scrub them if they need it.

when she cooks for the families she can use

4-6 quarts at a time. for us we use 2 at a time (most often for macaroni and tomatoes, in the middle of winter it is our favorite).

songbird

[<address_is]

Romas are great for salsas and sauces. They have more pulp and less juice. I use a Roma strainer that removes the skin and seeds so that it gives the sauce a sweeter taste. Most store bought sauces blend the whole tomato that seems to me gives the sauce a bitter taste.

I have not done this yet, not positive, I think Broccoli is a cool weather plant. If it fails, oh well, better than letting the soil go bare. I might change my mind and plant more leaf lettuce... From seed :)

Alaskan also for the peas.

Kentucky Wonder Pole beans growing up on a trellis. I have always had very good luck with these beans. The Japanese Beetle trap thirty feet away seems to keep them away from the beans. A few years ago those beetles have stripped the beans in the past. The traps seems to work well and keeps them off the beans.

I have done it both ways for canning tomatoes. I cannot taste the difference and I have rarely had any failures of the Water Bath or Pressure canning. I like the pressure canner because I do not need gallons and gallons of water on my small stove and a pain to fill it up. My All-American pressure canner heats up much faster than the BWB but takes longer to cool down. Time is a little longer than the BWB by a few minutes. Since tomatoes are a border line fruit on the PH scale it probably helps on the food safety issue also.

Quarts are way too much for me since I do not cook for a family. One or two pints are the perfect size for me for soups or chili. I prefer the standard jars instead of the wide mouth because they are easier to remove with the jar lifter. I use a bottle brush for cleaning. My hand would have a hard time in a wide mouth jar also :)

[songbird]

when we juice we core them, then heat them up to soften and then run them through a hand cranked food mill to remove the seeds and skins. when we do chunks we soak the tomatoes in hot water and then peel off the skins and core them. then to can them we make sure they are good and hot and fill the jars, wipe the rims, put the lids and rings on and then process as usual.

we don't do sauces or salsas, but we give a lot of tomatoes away to my SIL who does make salsa from them.

:)

we have a few Japanese Beetles here. i try to get them by hand when i see them. there's not a lot of grass/sod around for them to start from.

if they get bad i'll try the traps, but as of yet no reason to bother. not for a little chewing here or there.

no worries here on the acid levels. using Beefsteaks and they are fine.

normal processing here is oven canning so we are not boiling large amount of water to seal the jars. just preheating the oven. i do not recommend oven canning to anyone else, but Ma has been doing it this way for as long as i've been alive and it's not that tough. just need a reliable oven or oven thermometer and a timer and all high acid items come out fine for us.

low acid canning i would go with a pressure cooking method for sure.

we'll eat all week off it and sometime freeze portions for later if she's making something more complicated like lasagne or manicotti. cold lasagne is the food of the gods for breakfast or quick lunch on a hot day. :) i like to keep things simple...

songbird

[songbird]

what types do you usually grow?

i could eat them every day and this time of year i do. :) i also like them sliced on burgers with onion, miracle whip and ketchup. cheese optional. also we'll just eat them alone on toasted bread.

i know there are people out there who don't like them or are allergic to tomatoes, but wow am i so glad i'm not one of them. the easiest thing we grow and by far the most versatile source of many vitamins that are important to have in the middle of winter when other fresh fruits are dear to come by. not hard to put up and store (doesn't need sugar, vinegar or other preservatives).

a good pesto is yummy.

give the extra away.

songbird

[Billy]

Give away?!!!!

Are you mad, or are you trying for sainthood, bird?

Pesto sauce (a garlic delivery device) can be frozen. Pesto, warmed in a miro-wave, gives off a rich perfume which will make you the envy of your work place. Lets people know that you're NOT a Wonderbread, French's mustard, and bologny kind of guy.

For snacks, there is no-thing better than bruchetta, and a glass of white wine.

Bruchetta

baguette sliced length-wise horizontally fresh ripe tomatoes basil leaves, fresh, chopped

1 large clove garlic, cut in half Extra virgin olive oil

Broil the sliced side of baguette until light to golden brown. Rub the toasted side with cut garlic clove, while the bread is still warm and cut into 2" lengths. Drizzle lightly with olive oil over the garlic rub, and sprinkle with chopped basil.

Slice very ripe plum tomatoes and place slices the length of the baguette.

Top tomatoes with grated parmesan.

Return bread to broiler until parmesan starts to brown.

Good warm or cold.

Hmmm, I think I hear brunch calling. Now where did I leave the corkscrew?

à ta santé,