This year all of our tomatoes came from Covert Farms. They were organic and we paid $0.60/lb if we picked them ourselves. This year we picked 200lbs of field tomatoes and 260lbs of Roma tomatoes. It was hard work and most of it I did on my own with the three little ones. I would strap Teddy to my back in a Beco Carrier and pick tomatoes while the other two would meander around squashing rotten tomatoes or getting lost in the tomato maze.
Beyond the basic pantry items of stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, I also preserved salsa and ketchup. The total tally for this years tomato canning marathon was 72 quarts stewed tomatoes, 44 quarts tomato sauce, 41 pints salsa and 8 pints ketchup. Most people would think I’m crazy for canning all that, and I probably am. However, my goal for 2012 was to preserve enough tomatoes to last us until next summer. The plan is to buy no tomatoes or tomato products from the store. We want to support local organic farmers as much as we “can” [haha! at least I thought it was funny].
3 comments
I think 72 quarts of stewed tomatoes would last me for 6 years. You obviously use a LOT more tomatoes than us, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have ever bought tomato sauce!!
p.s. I laughed at the 'probably fine'. Every time I hear that I think of your husband. 😛
Ah yes, everything is "probably just fine" when it comes to my husband 🙂
We go through at least a can of tomatoes a week. So that's a minimum of 52 cans of tomatoes a year. We do eat a lot of tomatoes 🙂
That is utterly amazing! I tried to grow tomatoes this year and with 45 plants only had a handful of actual edible tomatoes… My hopes of canning were squashed with the incessant cold weather.
Amazing, just amazing!