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Let the Harvest Begin

August 23rd, 2014

I’ve been harvesting a few small cherry tomatoes here and there, but have been waiting for my main crop of canning tomatoes to ripen.  That happened this week.  Since I’ve been feeling under the weather, I let them sit on the vine.  Thankfully, they kept very well, but were in need of harvesting.  Along with the tomatoes I picked basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and parsley for my batches of passata. My harvest ended up being about twenty pounds yesterday, that should make four batches of passata.
Tomato Harvest (1)
I’ll also add onions and garlic to the mix along with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.  Everything will be slow roasted in a low oven until the tomato sugar slightly caramelized and everything gets jammy.  Then I’ll put it through the food mill and can it in pints.  This type of sauce works for everything from pizza sauce to a savory tomato soup. If I have time I’ll write up the recipe next week, it’s definitely one of the few I make now.

What are you preserving from your garden this weekend?

8 Comments to “Let the Harvest Begin”
  1. Megan on August 23, 2014 at 7:48 am

    I need to can some more pasta sauce and salsa this weekend. The sweet corn is getting a little old so I hope to have time to freeze some. I also found a new recipe for corn salsa that I would like to try. Can’t wait for your recipe for passata. I love trying new things.

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  2. Natalie on August 23, 2014 at 8:13 am

    That sounds delicious! I haven’t been able to grow enough to preserve. I buy from the local farmers’ market. I also don’t know how/am kind of afraid to can, so I freeze tomatoes. My mom just told me she still had my grandmother’s (waterbath) canner! My grandmother died in 1966, many years before I was born. I think that is pretty neat. I would think it is still usable, too.

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  3. Songbirdtiff on August 23, 2014 at 8:31 am

    For the past few weekends I have been freezing and pickling. This weekend I will be shredding and freezing squash, freezing tomatoes with onion and garlic, and hopefully canning a few more pints of okra if I have enough. I also have previously done dill pickles and canned hot peppers.

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  4. Jill on August 23, 2014 at 8:57 am

    I’ve been freezing green beans and raspberries, have pickled beets and about 4 different types of cucumber pickles. Yesterday I made a really nice green cucumber relish. My tomatoes are just ripening now so I made a very small batch of winter chili sauce and when we get home tomorrow the tomato canning and salsa making begins. Although I hate to see the long summer days behind us, it is my favorite time of year. I hope you are feeling well enough to enjoy your harvest, and that Mr. Chiots is around to help!

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  5. Nebraska Dave on August 23, 2014 at 9:00 am

    Susy, no preserving here this year. There just barely enough to keep fresh on the table this year. That’s ok though there’s still Susy’s tomato soup canned in the food storage from last year that will tide me over until next year. There is some canned tomatoes from last year as well in case I decide to make something other than soup. I read an article once that strongly advised preserving for two years just in case a year like this one came along and harvest was sparse. I will definitely run out this Winter but it will last for awhile longer and next year will be a bigger harvest. I sure of it.

    Have a great tomato harvesting day. I’m glad your feeling better.

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  6. DebbieB on August 23, 2014 at 9:40 am

    Your tomatoes look great! My tomatoes shuffled off this mortal coil about a month ago. I got 6 big batches of tomato sauce from them, though, I have them preserved in the freezer. I had cherry toms and Romas, but the heat finally ended the plants. Right now my garden is still producing peppers and a handful of green beans, but the real star is my two okra plants, which are taller than me now. They give us at least 10 spears a week, EACH. I slice the smaller ones in half and batter/fry them, and the larger ones get chopped and frozen for winter soups. Okra makes a great addition to any vegetable soup, gumbo, or chicken stew. It thickens and adds great texture. Plus the plants are beautiful. This is my first year growing it, I’ll definitely have okra every year from now on.

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  7. Misti on August 23, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    If my garden can survive the next few weeks of me practically abandoning it, then I’ll be happy. I keep missing the okra at the right size so it gets giant before I can get it.

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  8. Amy on August 24, 2014 at 7:38 am

    I spent one day this week picking, blanching and storing all the green beans that I could use and have space for. That allowed me time Saturday to tour a local historic home and garden that I have never been to before. When I got home from the tour there was a bag of green beans on my porch! It sorta depressed me at first but then I realized that there is a local food bank where I can drop them off and they will be a happy site for another family.

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About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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