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["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

Bev; it's nice to find someone who likes tomatoes as much as I do! I could 
live on them! My large ones STILL aren't ripening, and it's frustrating me 
no end. I have hundreds of huge green tomatoes on the plants, but only the 
smaller one are ripening.

My favorite tomato is a big pink one called Rose. Most years it does well 
here, some years not so well. I don't know about this year yet...Rose and 
Mortgage Lifter (my two main crop tomatoes) aren't ripening. I had some 
Stupice and Coldset earlier. The Big Beef aren't very big, but are 
ripeining, as are Abe Lincoln and the little Sweet Millions. I planted an 
heirloom called Persimmon, and that hasn't even set fruit. and Delicious 
(which I keep trying every couple of years) is way behind, too. The plants 
look good, no blight (I'm one of the few people in this area with no 
blight), but they just aren't ripening. I've only got 5 or 6 weeks until 
frost. Grrr.

I love tomato sandwiches, and my mother suggested canning whole peeled 
tomatoes that can be sliced for sandwiches. Has anyone ever done this? Do 
they taste OK or do they have that 'canned tomato' taste?

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga Co. PA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 3:19 AM
Subject: Re: [Homestead] tomatoes


> Yes, I can sun dry them, but I have to pick my time carefully and I may
> have to finish them off in the house.  I have multiple window screens
> that I can use.  Birds, squirrels, and ants can be a real problem
> though.  I will have to constantly be moving them around.  Since this
> week has a 30% chance of rain or better every day, I may wait a week or
> just do it in the truck.  I like dried tomatoes so much that I like them
> both ways, but you are right, the sun maybe caramelizes the sugars or
> something and they are definitely sweeter if they are sun dried.  I
> usually, half them, save as much seed as possible, make a slit so that
> it will lie down flat and toss the tom in a bowl of lemon juice.  When I
> get enough, I load up the screen or dehydrator, sprinkle the toms with a
> dash of salt, and wait for what seems like an eternity.<g>  I'm not
> sure, but I think my Amish Paste and Romas have crossed.  I grow them
> together, and they are looking more and more similar as the years go on.
>  Shape wise they are very close now, but the Amish paste retains the
> little point on the blossom end, a very handy little point to grab and
> pull when you are skinning tomatoes.  I don't think I've ever dried the
> sausage toms, but they are so meaty that I am going to try it this year.
>  I think I will cut them into strips, specifically quarters.  I get
> hungry just thinking about it.
>
> I started the fermenting process for saving tomato seed.  I have
> multiple jars on the table, each with a different variety of tomato.
> I've been able to save a good bit of seed so far this year.  The
> combination of varieties (Abe Lincoln, Mr. Stripey, Brandywine, Roma,
> Amish Paste, Red German Strawberry, Caspian Pink and Sausage) make a
> nice sauce, not too acid, and I'm real pleased with the taste of just
> the plain sauce.
> I'm not putting some of the toms in the sauce.  Cherokee Purple, some of
> the larger, prettier Brandywines, and the cherry toms are just for eating.
>
> Lynda wrote:
> > Well, on the garlic cause it comes out of the ground.
> >
> > Salt *alone* will inhibit botulism because it removes the growth
> > medium. However, we are talking about salt curing, not just a pinch.
> > A pinch of salt does nothing in that respect.
> >
> > When you put it in oil, you are putting it back in a growth medium.
> > The salt won't have any effect once the oil is introduced.
> >
> > BTW, dehydrated tomatoes, for whatever reason, aren't as tasty as
> > those you actually dry in the sun.  Don't know if you guys out there
> > can do that because of the humidity??  Yes? No?
> >
> > Lynda
>
> --
> Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the ocean's depths, MY son is
> protecting your freedom on the USS Key West, currently deployed
> somewhere in the Pacific and/or Indian Ocean.  Go Navy!
> EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA
>
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