If you haven't noticed, it's tomato season.

I don't know about you guys, but the time of the season has finally rolled around to where I am EYEBALL DEEP in tomatoes.  ALL tomatoes!  Slicers, romas, cherries, plums, pears!  Rainbows of tomatoes.  Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes.  And let's be honest here--there's only so much you can do with them, right?  WRONG-O!  Here's a list of my favourite ways to preserve tomatoes!

1.  Sauce - Basil, chunky, smooth, all-purpose--the variations go on and on!  I've included my favourite all-purpose sauce after the list.
2.  Dehydrated - Think sun-dried--stick them in some olive oil a day or two before you're using them, and they turn into this AMAZING tomato crack candy!  Plus, you get delicious, flavored olive oil too!  You can't can this though, so freeze them or put them in a sealed container for future use.
3.  Paste - It's really not that hard--just skin them, puree them, and cook it down in a crockpot until it's the consistency you like.  It smells heavenly, tastes amazing, and is awesome to have on hand.
4.  Roasted - Cut your romas in half, place them cut side up on a parchment lined tray, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and roast them at 200-250* for several hours until thin, crackly and delicious!  Freeze those babies for all-winter use!
5.  Tomato Jam - Sounds gross, but it is seriously delicious.  Seriously.  Delicious.
6.  Ketchup - I was put off by ketchup-making because I thought it would be hard, but it is SO EASY.  Like, throw-it-in-a-crockpot-or-stock-pot-and-walk-away easy.  It tastes more "grown-up" than a bottle of Heinz, but it is an amazing difference (amazing--must be a trend!).
7.  Stewed - Sometimes, you just need a jar of plain old stewed tomatoes.  This one kind of sucks though, because if you want to can it, you need a pressure canner (which freaks my freak still).  They're easy-peasy to freeze, although consistency can be iffy.
8.  Salsa - Where would this favorite appetizer be without tomatoes?  Check out recipes that include end of the season produce such as zucchinis and red peppers!

I bet I left some ways off.  But you get the gist!  Sooo many ways to preserve tomatoes--and there are a billion different flavours you can incorporate into each!

Since sauce is such a crowd pleaser, here's my favorite recipe for all-purpose seasoned tomato sauce.  It's for a small batch, but doubles--even triples--nicely.  Make sure you only prepare enough that you can can at one time, otherwise you jeopardize the quality of the sauce by overcooking.

Seasoned Tomato Sauce

6 lbs ripe tomatoes, skinned and pureed--romas work great for a nice, thick sauce
1c chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano OR 1 tsp dried
1 tsp sugar
1.2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar OR lemon juice
1/2 tsp pickling salt

Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, sugar, pepper and bay leaves in a large, heavy stainless steel or enamel stockpot (it's ultra important to not use aluminum when canning--it reacts to the acid in food).  Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/4 hours or until very thick.  Add vinegar and salt.

For canning:  Remove hot jars from canner and ladle hot sauce into jars with 1/2" headspace.  Process for 35 minutes for half pints and pint jars.

This recipe makes about seven-ish cups, depending on how thick you boil it down to.


This sauce is awesome on pizzas, in stews, on pastas, in soups and in casseroles.  Throw in some other herbs, and you can alter it to the dish you're making!

Hope you all have a blast canning tomatoes and other produce this season!  Leave a comment with your favorite way to preserve tomatoes!

the end of july; the continuation of a drought

Hi all.  Sorry about the lack of posts again.  You see, we've hardly had time for the dear internet with the extreme lack of water.  Basically, our day is: get up, get coffee, head out.  Move chickens, feed and water chickens, open coop.  Water pigs, check polyhouse.  Turn on water.  Begin weeding.  Weed all day.  Lunch.  Refill chicken waterers.  Continue weeding.  Continue watering.  Weed and water until dark.  Close chickens, check hogs.  Dinner.  Shower.  Bed.  Repeat.

See?  Busy, busy, busy.

I have been working on a new project here and there (when I have a moment).  What's the project, you say?  A database of everything we grow, complete with pictures, information and recipes.  I know!  It's taking a LOT of work--and I missed a lot of spring crops, so I'll have to get them in the fall.  Hopefully, I'll have time to get it up and running through the fall and into the winter--post-season.  Post-season, I have time for projects.  Usually.  Except for last year!

Like I said, we've been watering, watering, watering.  Our second planting of squash, cukes, tomatoes and peppers are sitting in the polyhouse, along with winter squash, because what's the point of planting them?  They aren't going to do anything without water.  We ought to have our fall crop started also, but again, no water.  Last year was a terrible season, but we didn't know it was coming.  This year is looking to close on a sour note.

Today, we made the executive decision to take a few weeks off from the farmer's market (in Alton, which has been doing grand).  We just don't have enough produce to justify the drive down anymore.  A big thanks to all our customers down there--we'll be back in the fall!

Meanwhile, back on the farm--

Squash, cucumbers and melons are fried.  The cucumber beetles have really taken a toll on everything.  Bacterial wilt is starting to spread in the squash, and what plants aren't eaten up by the beetles have been fried by the sun.  Our second planting is close to going in the ground, and hopefully they will resist bug pressure and be able to cope with the heat long enough to get established and produce well for us.  Fall crops should probably be sown this week (but I can't promise anything with this bazillion degree weather).

Alrighty, folks.  I have a house to clean and chickens to round up.  Ta-ta!