On 3/14/2021 12:33 AM, Michael Trew wrote:
> On 3/14/2021 12:10 AM, Snag wrote:
>> On 3/13/2021 10:45 PM, Michael Trew wrote:
>>> Does anyone still can food in ball jars?Â* I'm thinking about planting
>>> a lot of tomatoes this year and canning some.Â* I never have before,
>>> but there's a first time for everything I reckon.
>>
>> We still have some tomatoes from last year down in the cellar - and I
>> have 24 tomato plants started for this year . Got jelly and jams and
>> pickles and peaches down there too ! Most from home grown or picked wild
>> on our land . Tomatoes freeze well too , just rinse off , freeze loose
>> on a cookie sheet then bag in gallon ziplocks . To use , just hold under
>> hot water for a few seconds and slip the skin off . I'll be using some
>> of our preserved tomatoes tomorrow for a big batch of spaghetti sauce .
>
> I made a tiny batch of homemade tomato sauce for Italian style
> Margharetta pizza the other day.Â* Do you normally blanch and peel
> tomatoes before canning them?
>
> I don't have a lot of land, and did a few container tomatoes last year.
> Â*I have a pick and a small rototiller, and I might make a row of tomato
> and bell pepper plants along the southern side of my house before the
> hill drops off.Â* I saved quite a few bell pepper and tomato seeds for
> the occasion!Â* I'm in eastern Ohio, but I probably should start them off
> pretty soon.
>
It's not too late to start from seed outdoors. By the time you actually
harvest the tomatoes, the direct seeded into the ground ones aren't far
behind the transplanted ones. The south side of a house before a
dropoff is the perfect place for a tomato bed.

--
--Bryan
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