MY FAVORITE WAYS TO PRESERVE: TOMATOES

You know the song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year?”

Imagine if it went like this:

It’s the MOST wonderful time of the year

There’ll be much weeding and hoeing

And hearts will be glowing

When fresh tomatoes are near!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

 

Much more fitting, wouldn’t you agree?

Okay, let’s talk tomatoes.

First, let me share a tip with you that I learned. See, we used to grow tomatoes in the soil down in the big greenhouse before they got kicked out because the cantaloupe took over. They were amazing – we got SO MANY tomatoes!

However, when we moved the tomatoes up to the house this year, I had to plant them in pots because the beds weren’t all the way done and it was time to get them planted. When we planted the tomatoes in pots, I didn’t realize that the best thing to fill the pots with is ProMix (Or Sunshine #4 which is the same only cheaper). We filled the pots with a mix of garden soil, regular soil, peet, and some compost. The tomatoes did awful! So sad!

TOMATO TIP #1: If you’re planting your tomatoes in pots, use straight ProMix or Sunshine #4 to plant them in.

I’m used to having an overabundance of tomatoes so this was new to me. However, MidValley greenhouse has canning tomatoes for just $3.50/lb and they are abundant so I am still able to process all the tomatoes I need. It all turned out!

Next, it was time to get to work! The first thing I did with my tomatoes was to core and freeze about half of them. These will later be canned up but for now, they are just sitting in the freezer waiting for me to have time.

FREEZE TOMATOES BEFORE CANNING 

Listen up because this is brilliant! Core and freeze your tomatoes in gallon ziploc bags until you’re ready to can them. When you’re ready to can them up, put them in your sink to thaw (they will make a real mess if you don’t).

TOMATO TIP #2: BE CAREFUL opening the bags because you don’t want to waste one single drop of anything. The tomatoes will be mushy but that’s okay! The skins will come right off – it’s slick as can be! You can use the tomatoes, the skin, and the juice!

Take the skins and put them right into your dehydrator. Pop the tomatoes into jars and process them as usual.

But wait … there’s more!

Take the juice from the bags and either can it up or freeze it. (I like to put it in sandwich bags which I put into a gallon freezer bag and freeze so I can take out portion sizes when I need it). You can use the juice for soups or stews for extra flavoring but I LOVE to use it to cook pasta for tomato dishes or to cook rice in it. It uplevels the flavor of both so much! 

Now, remember those tomato skins you were dehydrating? Once they are done, grind them to a powder and add a pinch or three to anything that could use some extra tomato flavor – think: sloppy joes, stew, and chili for example. 

MAKING SALSA: 

Friends, I want to give you a quick warning – if you love to can salsa, please be sure to either use an approved recipe or make sure your substitutions will create a safe product. This is super important! The last thing you want is to have your healthy food make your family sick. 

Here are a few canned salsa recipes that we love: 

https://canningdiva.com/recipes/dianes-salsa-canning-recipe/
https://homesteadingfamily.com/sweet-pepper-creamy-salsa/

However, the salsa we eat is entirely our own creation and I just freeze it because there’s not even a recipe. I just toss in tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and oodles of salt until it tastes just right. I do use the blender for part of it but I cut up the rest so there are some chunks, too. 

This recipe is also a favorite which is the perfect segue into my next tomato preservation topic: FERMENTATION!

Fermented salsa: https://theelliotthomestead.com/2021/07/fermented-salsa/

Now, let’s talk about plain old fermented tomatoes – did you know that you could do this? I sure didn’t until just this year! After hearing about it from a friend and reading this article, I jumped right on the fermented tomatoes bandwagon – I have three gallons going! 

Once your tomatoes have fermented, they can hang out in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. You can make just about anything from them – salsa, tomato sauce, pizza sauce – the sky is the limit on this one! If a recipe calls for tomatoes, you can use these!

How do you like to preserve your tomatoes? Comment below – I’d love to hear!

PS – my favorite pico de gallo recipe is here: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/09/pico-de-gallo-recipe.html

Holy moly, make sure you have a full bag of chips ready because you’ll not be able to stop eating this! I always add an extra splash (or two) of lime and extra salt – just for good measure.