[myakkagldwngr]

After hitting the berry patch for the last time my brother and I picked me so tomatoes for putting up in jars.
This has been a very bad season for tomatoes,, low prices and not much help to pick them.
We ended up picking about 60 pounds of big tomatoes and 30 pounds of plum tomatoes in less than 45 minutes.
There was enough red tomatoes there to pick a truck load in no time, but they just never open for u-pick.

[arcticsid]

My neighbor grows lots of tomatoes.

They will blanch and freeze well. I proved it to him

Google, "freezing tomatoes"

Otherwise Julie and Allie have the answer to canning them.

Salsa will freeze well.

[Minnesotamaker]

I do make up some sauce and preserve it in jars. I cook mine down just like grandma did. I can't even eat store bought spaghetti sauce anymore. The store bought stuff tastes so flavorless now. I also can a lot of soups which makes for some great hearty winter meals prepared in a hurry. I usually make soups you don't find on the shelf often. Carrot soup, pototo soup, bean & ham, etc. It's a great way to use up the bounty coming out to the garden.

Our favorite way to do tomatoes is to sun dry them. Very little effort, they take up much less space, and they pack a powerful taste. They can be added to just about anything you're making: soups, casseroles, salads, pastas, stir-frys, etc. We dry them, bag them, and store them in the freezer.

[Racer]

Lon can you give us a step by step on how you sun dry your tomatoes? I was hoping to try to do that with some of my tomatoes this year.

To get back on topic for the original poster yes my wife and I can peppers and she also cans tomato juice and sauces. I just help her clean and prep the tomatoes. The peppers I help from beginning to end.

[IQwine]

Looking for salsa and spaghetti sauce recipes... lots of tomatoes this year

[Julie]

I can and freeze veggies, green beans are so much better home grown and pressure canned than what you buy in the store. I usually just can tomato sauce then use it whatever way I want. I also grow a lot of my own herbs.

IQwine, here is the link to my salsa, it is very good

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f20/salsa-6337/

[twistedvine]

Lon is dead on.

My wife and I make our own sauces as well. We even sneak in some spinach, pureed cauliflower, pureed brocolli and pureed beets. I know it sounds bad but when you add the garlic and italian seasonings, you can't tell that those extra items are there.

There are companies that are making millions by pureeing vegetables for people to sneak into food. It is a great way to get all of your daily servings of fruits and veggies.

After the sauce is made, we place it into a vacuum seal bag and seal them, then let them sit flat in the freezer. When its time to cook, just place the bag with sauce in it into boiling water and cook. Not so messy this way.

Happy canning

[myakkagldwngr]

I try to "put up" some tomatoes every year. If I'm lucky I put up enough to make it every third tomato season. We have two growing seasons here in Florida.
I've done my own spaghetti sauce and salsa too. This year I didn't do a garden worth anything and didn't have any green beans to put up.
My "canning" goes back all the way to my grandmother.
Little granny as we called her was in her 60's when I was born.
I remember in the late 50's and early 60's putting up tomatoes in actual "cans". I clearly remember all the sisters getting together with a truck load of tomatoes and doing enough to spread around. I can still see them using a device like an opposite can opener that you hand cranked to put the lid on the cans.
They put up everything. When the chickens quite laying, they went into the cans!
Canning is much safer here in Fl. being I don't have a generator yet. During hurricane Charlie we were without power for 15 days and lost everything in the freezer.

[arcticsid]

Excellent thread.

Glad to see valuable info like this shared.

Looking forward to learning more.

[St Allie]

My salsa is zucchini based mostly.. with about a third tomatoes.. cans well, keeps a couple of years ... beans, I blanch and freeze.. yellow beans get turned into a dilly bean, canned in a dill vinegar. Tomatoes, I generally turn into pasta sauces for the winter.. your basic spaghetti bolognese style.. with garlic, basil, cracked pepper, couple of bay leaves, oregano, italian parsley etc.. make as for fresh, then can into warmed sterilised jars and waterbath for about 15 minutes, allow to cool, check seals and store in a dark cupboard.

PS.. I have moved this conversation into the preserves and canning, sub forum.. the recipes mentioned above are available in that forum


Allie