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In my experience, it is almost impossible to boil down pureed tomatoes to a consistency that can accurately be referred to as “paste”, and yet, that is what the published canning experts tell us to do. Here is a much better alternative: Peel tomatoes and puree them until smooth. For every 4 cups of …
With all of the tomatoes ripening on the counter, it was no surprise to find a few fruit flies flitting around. I detest them. So, in a mild panic, I decided to get every scrap of food off the counter and into the fridge, and I put the kitchen compost outside on the …
I have 6 jars of green tomato salsa in the canner. I’ve never preserved green tomatoes before. Usually, at the end of the season, I cut down all the remaining clusters of tomatoes, leaving as much vine attached as possible, and spread them in a single layer between newspapers in the cold cellar. …
It was a strange day of intermittent sunshowers. Capricious weather. Mercurial. Jeckyll-and-Hyde. The clouds would part, the sun would burst through, then the rain would come. It’s a lovely time to be outside, actually. The sunlight flashes off the dripping plants and leaves you too dazzled to do any …
The dehydrator was going all day today. More zucchini and tomatoes. I also decided to try beets this time. They didn’t really sweeten up the same way other fruits and veggies do when the moisture content is reduced. I had simply sliced them and spread them out on the dehydrator trays. …
I canned five pints of salsa today. The tomatoes were a mix of Amish Paste, Roma and Hungarian Heart. With night temps back up into the “teens” all this week, the rest of the fruit will have a reasonable chance to mature. I may be in full canning production by Saturday.
It’s the same story every year: I’m happily going about my daily harvest – bringing in the beets, the potatoes, the tomatoes, the peppers – and enjoying the warm days and cool nights that September brings, when suddenly Environment Canada issues a Frost Warning. I’m usually wrapping up my evening with a soothing cup of [...]
I don’t think I’ve ever watered tomatoes, or any part of my garden, in the month of September. At least, not until this year. I would normally be putting away the hoses and fittings at this time of year, but we haven’t had rain in weeks. I watered about ten days ago, …
The first decent harvest of Stupice tomatoes are in the dehydrator. When they’ve shrunk about 50% I’ll freeze them for use in soups, stews and sauces. Must remember: If I’m not sure if my zucchini is ready, then it’s definitely ready. I always leave it an extra day and then I end up …
The tomatoes received the last pruning of the season this morning. I finally snipped off all the tops, removing any blossoms that won’t have time to set fruit before the cold weather hits. I picked one or two Hungarian Hearts, several (my favourite) Black Krims, and many Stupice and Sweeties. Still no …
I picked the last of my green and yellow beans for supper tonight. A few carrots left. Normally by this time of year, I’ve finished the bulk of my canning, but at present, the tomatoes are still mostly green. The plants themselves are brown and spotted with blight, but they’re dripping with …
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