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Farm Kitchen:  Hanging herbs, saving tomatoes  |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 10:01:59 AM
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Hey Girls!
We are getting closer and closer to having a kitchen but aren't there yet. I have tomatoes ripening and don't know the best way to store them until I do have a kitchen and can make sauce and start canning. Is it okay to freeze them? Should I dice them first, or can I freeze them whole? So far it's just the Roma tomatoes that are turning. The better boy's are getting HUGE but are still green. It could be a few weeks before the kitchen is functional yet.
I'm also drying herbs - I'm doing it the old-fashioned way, just turning bundles upside down and putting them in paper bags with holes punched in them. Once they're dry the leaves will be put in containers for the winter. I've heard of other drying methods and wondered what is best? Someone on another forum mentioned washing and putting the leaves between two sheets of paper towels to dry for a while, but I'd think hanging would get the most flavor into the leaf?
Tkx. :) |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 12:07:21 PM
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You can freeze them whole. I put them on a cookie sheet, freeze them individually, then put them in gallon freezer bags.
I'm in the process of putting up tomatoes today. I think I'll have to freeze some. I waited weeks to have enough to bother with now there's so many all at once that I can't keep up.
I put most of my herbs in the dehydrator. It keeps them from getting dusty and dries them quickly.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com |
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quiltedess
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Nancy
Priest River
ID
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 12:25:54 PM
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I don't use a paper bag around my herbs when I dry them. Is it to keep off dust?
Also, you could consider drying your tomatos.
Nancy |
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n/a
deleted
60 Posts
Tammy
Port Orford
Oregon
60 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 2:42:01 PM
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In the past, I have slice my tomatoes in half and then laid them out on a cookie sheet. I put the sheet in the freezer; once they are good and frozen (2 days) I place them in a zip lock bag. I was amazed at the taste when I pulled them out during the winter to put in my soups and sauces. They were wonderful.
I have lived in the country and in the city; it doesn’t matter. The earth and the love of growing things have always been in my heart. I am one of those farmgirls who can feel spring coming and if I don’t plant I’ll go crazy! |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 5:10:48 PM
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Ahhh, fresh tomatoes. One year I got stupid and grew over 100 different tomato plants. I'd go out in the morning with the kid's Radio Flyer red wooden wagon and fill 'er up. I came up with several unique ways to deal with the onslaught.
One was to freeze tomatoes whole but cored. Later, when you want them for soups or stews, you can run them under hot water, and the peel slides right off. Then you can plunk them whole into your stock.
We also made lots of tomato sauce, paste, and juice. The juice was canned straight from the KitchenAid strainer. For sauce and paste, I dumped masses of the strained tomatoes into an old muslin pillow case, and hung it from a kitchen cupboard over a bowl. That way I could strain out all the extra acidic liquid without having to cook it forever, and I could control the exact consistency by hanging it longer for paste, and less for sauce, adding back some of the liquid caught in a bowl to alter the consistency.
I made paste, juice, sauce, salsa, chili, spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce, anything that took a tomato.
And we ate some of them fried up green, dusted first in cornmeal. Oh my, they were good!
The following year we moved in the middle of the summer, and so we couldn't have a garden at either place very well. But my big stash of canned goods lasted so long, it didn't matter! |
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quiltedess
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Nancy
Priest River
ID
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 7:20:58 PM
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Just recently I heard about how nutritious tomatoes are. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who co-wrote "YOU: The Owner's Manual" suggests, among other good foods, to eat lots of tomatoes. Tomatoes contain lycopene which helps protect against cancer. That makes me very happy. I LOVE tomatoes!
Nancy |
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Julia
True Blue Farmgirl
1949 Posts
Julia
Shelton
WA
USA
1949 Posts |
Posted - Sep 04 2005 : 7:43:29 PM
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Hey Mary Anne, I love the pillowcase trick. My tomato plants are loaded this year, so canning sauce in the plans. You can bet I'll have pillowcases hanging in my kitchen!
"The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take joy!" Fr.Giovanni |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Sep 05 2005 : 06:57:24 AM
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Wow, great tips!
Yep, the paper bags are to keep off dust. We're remodeling so... drywall dust-flavored herbs doesn't sound so appealing! Next year I won't need the bags. :)
Great ideas! :) |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Nov 19 2005 : 10:41:43 AM
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| Well girls, I tried some of my frozen tomatoes last night in one of my pasta dishes. They had a funny taste - so I wound up not bothering with keeping them. I saved the seeds since they were wonderful fresh, and the plants all grew big and strong so... next year I will be able to can them. Just not this year. Oh well. |
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Farm Kitchen: Hanging herbs, saving tomatoes |
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Hanging herbs, saving tomatoes
