Can you believe how mild our spring and summer has been so far? I don’t think I remember tomatoes arriving at the market with anything other than searing heat and blinding sunshine, but we’ve had plenty of grey and cool (in the evenings) this year and I am not complaining one bit. I think going so far as calling it soup weather may be a stretch, but we can at least pretend a bit. Scoot […]
I’ve preserved 50 pounds of tomatoes so far this year and have learned something about myself – I can take on 10 lbs of produce on a weekday without freaking out. Much more than that and I get a little panicky, but 10 lbs = one large batch of crushed tomatoes or a flat of oven roasted + small batch of ketchup. This has been totally manageable for me and I’ve been able to put […]
5/24/13 UPDATE: I’ve been getting a few questions about tomatoes and yields and thought it would be great to revive last year’s #tomatolandia post. My first order of tomatoes is scheduled for June 1. I am happy report almost a full year later that I did not buy any canned tomatoes or ketchup for a full year. ——————– I spent the greater part of last week preparing myself for #tomatolandia. I read about approximate yields, […]
Remember when I processed all those tomatoes back in June? Well… I have 4 pints of crushed tomatoes and an open, half-pint of ketchup left. That is it. I have a long time to go before I can process in large quantities so umm… doing my best not to freak out. Thankfully, there are some tomatoes to be found almost year-round at the markets. Clearly need to reassess come June.
Tomato season is in full swing in Austin and my kitchen was busy roasting, pureeing and cooking with the large bounty that I brought home from the farmers’ market on Saturday. Even without a bulk order of tomatoes this week I ended up with over 10 lbs – my CSA stash, gifted tomatoes from a friend’s garden, and my own. My turn at the 20-40 lb stashes (and the preserving required) will come in a […]
This is the largest harvest we’ve had to date and I quickly turned it into a batch of my salsa casera to celebrate. Looking forward to more for salads, sandwiches and different flavored salsas. Also thinking ahead to next year. We’ll need to up the tomato plant count and possibly add in some cherry tomato varieties.
I’ve dreamed of having my own garden since that magical trip to Portland (12 years ago!) where a dear, dear friend of mine and I made dinner together. I’m sure that some of what I remember is now embellishment, but there were salad greens from the backyard garden and yummy vegan eats with some Prince playing in the background.
