Tomato Update
I’ve been picking tomatoes like crazy here at Chiot’s Run. My Lemon Boy’s are in full swing, which is great because we’ve been enjoying eating them with every meal.
So how many tomatoes have I harvested so far this year? 38 lbs of Roma’s for canning, and 25 lbs of Lemon Boys for eating. I’ve given a bunch of the Lemon Boys away to friends and family. I think I’m going to save them up and make a batch of chutney.
I’m really sad that tomato season is almost over aren’t you?
Share this:
When Life Gives You a Wind Storm (part 2)
As many of you know, on the 14th a huge windstorm (remnants of Ike) came through Ohio and left many of us sans electric for a few days. Since Mr Chiots and I both work from home and we didn’t have electric we had a few days of unplanned vacation. I was planning on doing some canning so I had bought a bushel of tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market the Saturday before. I wanted to grill them so I could can a batch of fire-roasted tomatoes (I’m a huge fan of Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes, they were the inspiration to can my own). Since we had an excess of sticks in the yard and time on our hands, we decided to build another fire last Monday evening and roast up our tomatoes.
Roasting tomatoes is super easy. You just cut the tomato in half and put skin side down on the grill or fire (you can coat with olive oil if you aren’t canning them). When the skins get blackened pull them off the grill. The skins will easily slip from the tomato then all you have to do is process them in your favorite way. I like to crush mine or cut them up and add them to sauce.
I was able to can 7 quarts of fire roasted tomatoes on Monday. Add that to the 7 quarts I did a couple weeks ago and we’ve got the makings for a good many batches of chili or sauce in the pantry.
I had a bit of sauce left over that wouldn’t fit in the jars and I made some pizza sauce, it was so delicious. I think next time I get a bunch of tomatoes a batch of pizza sauce will be in the canner. So what’s your favorite way to use tomatoes?
Share this:
Happy Harvest
This weekend I headed to the Farmer’s Market to pick up some tomatoes to can for the winter because I was worried my plants weren’t going to produce enough. It’s been rather cool here this August (70’s during the day, 50’s at night), so the tomatoes don’t really seem to be ripening as quickly as they usually do. This weekend we finally got some warm weather, in the 80’s. It’s still getting cold in the evenings, but it seems like this warm spell was all the tomatoes needed to ripen up. I harvested tomatoes yesterday afternoon and got my biggest harvest yet.
I picked 10lbs of tomatoes yesterday! This brings my total 2008 tomato harvest up to 26lbs (21 romas, 5 beefsteak). I also discovered 4 hornworms on one plant. So, they were stoned (yep smashed with a big rock, another use for all those rocks I dig up out of my flowerbeds).
It’s funny the different sizes of tomatoes that can come from one plant.
I’ve heard rumblings from a few people it’s been a bad year for tomatoes. My plants are healthy and productive. How are your tomatoes doing this year?
Share this:
Here Comes the Harvest
Every day I have more and more tomatoes coming ripe. This year I’m growing only 2 kinds of tomatoes: Viva Italia and Lemon Boy. I have picked 4 lbs of Viva Italia so far and only 1 Lemon Boy.
So what am I doing with all these tomatoes? I’m planning on canning them later on, but right now we’re eating them as fast as I can pick them. We love them grilled and tossed with pasta or on top of a pizza.
What are you doing with all your ripe tomatoes?
Share this:
My First Ripe Tomato
I picked my first ripe tomato on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season. I plan on canning a bunch for sauces & soups this winter. (it is a Viva Italia Tomato)
So what did I do with the first one? It graced the top of our grilled pizza in thin slices. Perfect!
