Tomatoes for 2023

[flowerbug]

picked two more buckets, but i could have done another had i known the rain was going to hold off long enough. that's ok. two buckets is enough to keep me busy for a while canning tonight.

 

[digitS']

I finished mowing and trimming the front lawn before noon and the start of a rainy few days. DW had some beef soup for me but inspiration took hold with @Ladyreneer and @heirloomgal talking tomato soup.


Onions, garlic, shallots and sweet peppers were chopped and sauteed and along with the tomatoes went thru the blender. Nearly all is destined for the freezer with ingredients noted so that additions can be decided on for Winter meals. Soup or Sauce.

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

I plant my tomatoes end of March and they are pretty much done. Been roasting and freezing them to make my salsa in a couple weeks once it gets cooler.

Removed metal t stakes to the left and right of apricot tree. Tree is starting to grow and it was getting too tight there for the tomatoes. Already planning for next year.

Mary

 

[SPedigrees]

My primary method of preserving tomatoes is freezing them. The taste is so perfectly intact it's incredible, smells like they're fresh from the garden. I love it. No burnt fingers from scalding and peeling, no work 🤣🤣 just pop em in a ziploc and slide it closed.

Well heirloomgal, I'm going to utilize your method of freezing cherry (currant) tomatoes in a baggie. The harvest is exploding! I will never eat my way through these ripening fruits, so it's into the freezer with the excess, to be made into spaghetti sauce at a more convenient time later this fall.

I can't complain about production from my two little raised beds this summer. A bunch of yellow summer squash appeared this past week, so I can forgive the early thefts by deer, since there was plenty left for me. The bush beans in my tiny round bed provided a few handfuls of green beans, but the tomatoes outshone everything.

 

[flowerbug]

Well heirloomgal, I'm going to utilize your method of freezing cherry (currant) tomatoes in a baggie. The harvest is exploding! I will never eat my way through these ripening fruits, so it's into the freezer with the excess, to be made into spaghetti sauce at a more convenient time later this fall.

I can't complain about production from my two little raised beds this summer. A bunch of yellow summer squash appeared this past week, so I can forgive the early thefts by deer, since there was plenty left for me. The bush beans in my tiny round bed provided a few handfuls of green beans, but the tomatoes outshone everything.

by weight the tomatoes are usually our top crop too but we still like the melons, squash, beans, onions, garlic and peppers we grow. i think i have a few Baby Blue Hubbard squash out there that are going to come in about 10-20lbs each. so much for Baby...

as of yesterday we've gotten 92 quarts put up of tomatoes. i'm not sure how many more we're going to do, but i think we have five or six more cases of jars.

 

[SPedigrees]

i think i have a few Baby Blue Hubbard squash out there that are going to come in about 10-20lbs each. so much for Baby.

Those are some BIG babies!

 

[flowerbug]

Those are some BIG babies!

thank goodness no diapers!

 

[Zeedman]

Some of my tomatoes are finally ripening. Only oxhearts and paste tomatoes this year - and the grape tomato I grow every year. No slicers this year, but the bigger oxhearts work well for that.

Santa Maria, average weight over 8 ounces.

Sunray Farm Paste, average weight over 5 ounces. Very meaty.

Orange Beef Heart, average weight over 13 ounces.

Japanese, average weight 6 ounces.

So far, only minimal damage, and most of that was sunscald from the hot days. The upside of all the dry weather is almost no snails. The mouse damage has so far been minimal (only tomatoes touching the ground) but I pick just before fully ripe just in case. I need to get my traps out though to be proactive.

The problem is that the main reason for the paste tomatoes is for canned salsa, and my peppers are behind schedule... only a few starting to ripen. Hopefully the change to cooler weather will kick start the ripening process. Until then, I'll be giving a lot of tomatoes away.

 

[SPedigrees]

The upside of all the dry weather is almost no snails.

That's a big plus in my book. With the rainy weather here, my land is crawling with slugs and snails, but at least the raised beds seem to discourage them. Those are some fine-looking tomatoes.

 

[ninnymary]

Some of my tomatoes are finally ripening. Only oxhearts and paste tomatoes this year - and the grape tomato I grow every year. No slicers this year, but the bigger oxhearts work well for that.

View attachment 60321
Santa Maria, average weight over 8 ounces.

View attachment 60323
Sunray Farm Paste, average weight over 5 ounces. Very meaty.

View attachment 60324
Orange Beef Heart, average weight over 13 ounces.

View attachment 60325
Japanese, average weight 6 ounces.

So far, only minimal damage, and most of that was sunscald from the hot days. The upside of all the dry weather is almost no snails. The mouse damage has so far been minimal (only tomatoes touching the ground) but I pick just before fully ripe just in case. I need to get my traps out though to be proactive.

The problem is that the main reason for the paste tomatoes is for canned salsa, and my peppers are behind schedule... only a few starting to ripen. Hopefully the change to cooler weather will kick start the ripening process. Until then, I'll be giving a lot of tomatoes away.

I roast and freeze my tomatoes and peppers. Then when I have enough I can them into salsa. I don't have enough garlic so going to Costco today for some. Tomorrow will be canning day.

Mary