The tomatoes are finishing up. We planted a number of heirloom varieties. The only ones that are still making right now are the Chadwick Cherries. With the heat intensifying, the fruit doesn't set and the stink bug and leaf-footed bugs are damaging the tomatoes that remain. The birds, mockingbirds and blue jays, are pecking at the ones still on the vines. For weeks, though, we were picking big beautiful baskets of tomatoes like this every day.
I attribute the good crop this year to several factors. First, we had a cooler than normal spring and it stayed cooler well into May. That allowed the plants to stay healthy, without heat stress and bug pressure. On top of that, though, the tomatoes were bigger and healthier than they've ever been when we transplanted them. That gave them a big head start.
Here is a nice Pink Brandywine tomato. It is heavy and unscarred by bugs.
It has green shoulders.
And a nice profile!
Once we had around 18 pounds of tomatoes ready to go, we'd blanch them and core them and pull off the skins.
We boil them and allow them to reduce down. We made stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salsa. The times and recipes differed a bit depending on what we were making.
Once ready, we ladled into jars and then water-bath canned them.
When they were ready, we pulled them out and allowed them to cool on the kitchen counter. It is a pleasing sound to hear the "POP" of the lids sealing.
Finally, once they had cooled and sealed, we took the rings off and stored in the pantry. We made pints, quarts and half pints. When all was done, we counted them up. We have 97 quart equivalents canned in the pantry. That may hold us over until the next tomato crop! We'll see how the inventory holds up. We may not need to plant a fall crop.
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