Tomatoes

October 17, 2011

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Preserving Green Tomatoes

The tomato season is ending quickly. As of today, I don’t foresee many more ripe tomatoes coming off of the vine. I’ve had a good run: 110 lbs of ripe fruit in all! This was my first year weighing the harvest, so while I can’t make an accurate comparison to previous years, I think it is safe to say that it was my best year, ever.

It’s time now to focus on the unripe, green tomatoes. In an attempt to squeeze a few more ripe fruit from the harvest I’ve been nestling those that are nearly there inside paper bags. This sort of treatment isn’t exactly necessary, but with fruit flies still around, I find it easier to keep them off of the goods this way.

In my experience, not all green tomatoes will ripen by this method. The fruit that is really young and underdeveloped tends to go wrinkly and rot rather than ripening, so I reserve this process for the tomatoes that have a blush of colour and save the darker green fruit for eating fresh and preserving.

Eating & Preserving

My favourite way to eat green tomatoes straight off of the plant is batter fried. They are also delicious roasted in the oven. When it comes to preserving, my go-to is green tomato chutney. Everyone loves this condiment, and there is never a lack of friends available to take the surplus off of my hands. If you’re not interested in canning or only have a small batch to work with, you can cut the sugar (and some of the vinegar/acid) from my recipe and store it in the fridge short-term. My no-sugar added, short shelf-life, small-batch version is available in my first book, “You Grow Girl” (see page 154).
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September 21, 2011

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Tomato Skin Powder

The concept is so simple I wish I had thought of it: take the throw-away tomato skins that are left-over in the preserving process and make them into something useful. Something other than compost.

With over 80 lbs of tomatoes (and counting) harvested from my garden this year, it is safe to say that I have been knee deep in canning these last weeks. While I am experienced and adept at canning tomatoes in many forms, I had never heard of drying the skins into a powder until I came upon it a few weeks back in Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry by Liana Krissoff.

Drying the skins is easy. Simply lay the wet skins out onto a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet and slow dry in the oven at the lowest temperature setting until they are crisp. I recently ran out of parchment (and my Silpat is too big for our tiny oven. Long story) and used a paper bag cut open. That works in a pinch, too. You can do this in a dehydrator as well, but I put mine away recently and have been too lazy to lug it back out to test.

Once the skins are dry, grind them into a fine powder using a coffee grinder. I have one exactly like this that is reserved for grinding herbs and spices only. A food processor will work, but it will turn out something more like tomato flakes than powder.

The result is a colourful and tangy flavouring that you can sprinkle on top of your meals. So far I’ve used it on breakfast eggs and in ricotta cheese stuffed zucchini blossoms. I’m sure I’ll discover more applications in the coming weeks as the possibilities seem nearly endless.

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August 24, 2011

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Before the Storm

I know. It’s only been two days and I’m already back. There’s just so much happening in the garden (and kitchen) right now and lots to share. My neck isn’t hurting too much today. The trick seems to be more exercise, time spent outdoors, and a lot less time on the computer.

The forecast was calling for thunderstorms, so I spent the morning in the garden harvesting produce, particularly ripe tomatoes. Some varieties are prone to cracking when ripe, especially after a strong rainfall so I wanted to be sure to get them off of the vines before the storm hit.

I have also been neglectful about pruning and staking these past weeks and there were a few plants that had grown into multi-branched monsters. With their fruit growing heavier by the day, it was essential to stake the tangled mess to avoid breakage in case of strong rain and winds. While I was at it, I pruned out excess foliage to ensure good air flow all around the plants. I want to keep my plants happy and producing ripe fruit right through to the first frost.

To make things more informative, I have uploaded the photo (above) of tomatoes to my Flickr stream and have added notes indicating which varieties are which. There are a few more in this batch than there was in the August 13 photo. There are still a number of varieties that haven’t even put out their first ripe fruit — many of which I have never grown nor tasted before. The fun never stops. Fortunately, I have got my taste for tomatoes back.

Some more of today’s harvest is depicted here. ‘Spanish Padron’ peppers (harvest them small. They get hotter as they grow), pole beans (‘Annelino Giallo’ (my first year growing this variety) and ‘Trionfo Violetto’), purslane (I let this weed grow and harvest the leaves for salads), Swiss chard and assorted herbs for my lunch. What is not shown is the giant amaranth I harvested to make West Indian callaloo soup, and an armload of mint that came off of plants that needed a good end-of-summer haircut.

I have a lot of canning and preserving work ahead of me these next days. A first batch of slow dried tomatoes have just come out of the oven (I regret using the ‘Green Grape’ variety. They are delicious fresh, but unpleasant when dried. Fortunately, ‘Maglia Rosa’ and ‘Haley’s Purple Comet’ are nice.), another batch has gone in for sauce, and I’ve just finished washing the excess amaranth leaves in preparation for freezing.

What about you? Are your tomatoes producing yet? Are you drowning in the summer’s bounty?

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August 13, 2011

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All Your Tomatoes Belong to Us

tomatoes. Tomatoes. TOMATOES. I know I shouldn’t say this as I am practically cursing myself to a tomato-less future by making such a terrible verbal transgression against the Church of the Divine Solanum (of which I am a card carrying member), but it needs to be said:

I think I’m already sick of tomatoes.

I know. You are cutting me with mental daggers through your computer screen and spitting on the ground in disgust as you read this.

There are 16 different tomato varieties in this photo: ‘Tim’s Black Ruffles’, ‘Hahm’s Gelbe’, ‘Dwarf Medium Ruffled Pink Oblate’, ‘Mountain Princess Dwarf’, ‘Purple Calabash’, Japanese Black Trifle’, ‘Black Plum’, ‘White Currant’, ‘Broad Ripple Yellow Currant’, ‘Silver Fir Tree’, ‘Azoychka’, ‘Jaune Flame’, ‘Red Robin’, ‘Maglia Rosa’, ‘Ditmarsher’, ‘Green Grape’

I just came in from the garden where I harvested 5 1/2 pounds of tomatoes plus the miscellaneous edibles you can see here. I could have harvested so much more (Swiss chard, kales galore, basil, etc), but I try to avoid harvesting more than we can handle at a time. That and I still haven’t photographed the hot pepper plants — they will have to hold their ripened fruit a little while longer. We are having a wildly productive year, for which I am grateful. Thank you hot summer.

While we were out there — I was harvesting food and Davin was fixing the broken cord on a string of lights that a mischievous squirrel had chewed through — we tasted some of the first new varieties and compared them to old favourites. About four varieties in, it suddenly occurred to me that I wasn’t really tasting them anymore. My mouth was already sore from the acid.

What is going on? It’s only August 13! This is the month that I wait for all year long. To add insult to injury, we are probably having our best year ever… and I’m just not feeling it. I am a Judas. I’m letting down the team. Excuse me while I step away from the computer to wash my filthy mouth out with carbolic soap and flagellate myself with a stinging nettle brush.

Needless to say, I’ve got about 15 pounds of tomatoes to can and I’m sure I’ll appreciate these squirreled-away beauties come December. We still have another month or so of fresh tomato bounty ahead (plus lots more canning), and plenty more opportunities to enjoy all of my favourite summer treats. Perhaps I’ll get my taste for it back before the season is out. I hope (gulp).

Is there anything that you’re sick of this summer?

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August 10, 2011

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Hahms Gelbe Topftomate

First there is the name, which gives me a chuckle every time I say it as it sounds like the site of an epic Trolls versus Elves battle in The Lord of the Rings.

“And there was great despair in the land, for the blood of many fearless warriors was spilled in the great battle at Hahms Gelbe…”

It feels like “vanquished” should be used in there somewhere. Or perhaps Hahms Gelbe is a badlands where people are sent to exile. “He was doomed to live out his final days as a lost soul wandering wearily through the blackened and barren desert of Hahms Gelbe.”

Needless to say, I’d better not quit my day job as a garden writer. Doesn’t look like I’ll be making my millions ghost writing fantasy fiction for World of Warcraft fans.

Anyways…..

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