Tomatoes have been collecting in bins and covers for the past week and half, knowing I had a whole day free today that I could devote to a Mass-Tomato-Harvest day.
The bins pictured didn't last very long, and I was back out to pick another 20 pounds.
There really wasn't much whining going on around the household today. I think it's because we really haven't had LOTS of garden harvesting days!
The corn sadly was too ripe by the time we figured it would finally be ready :( Kinda bummed there, BUT even so.... the cobs were smaller than normal, and it would have been lots of work for little preservation. And y'all know the BEAN story --- ONE batch. That was it this year since we still have OOOODLES left over from last year. Dude, Amy! WHY did you plant so many beans this year?!?!?
But TODAY.... it was tomatoes.
7AM was the start of the washing....
and it's all still well underway at 5PM.
I haven't taken an "after" picture yet, because there simply isn't much to show yet.
We finished 10 quarts of Vegetable juice (tomatoes, carrots, peppers, celery, onions). We LOVE using this juice for our chili.
11 halfpints and 1 pint of Pizza sauce are finishing their hot-water bath.
The Spaghetti sauce has been reducing away since 11AM.
And 7-10 pints worth of Stewed tomatoes have been prepped and await their turn on the stove for cooking, followed by processing.
After 10 hours of cutting, cooking, stirring, and processing..... I do kinda cock my head to the side and say..."REALLY? That's ALL that was preserved today?" LOL. I know other preservers have to feel the same way at times.
My lil' rest of putting up my feet is nearing an end, but the end is nearing closer and closer.
Now, we'll see if I pick another 45 pounds of tomatoes next weekend for one more batch of spaghetti sauce. We wouldn't want to run out throughout the year! We only have 3 quarts left over from last year, and I predict we'll only get one canner full (7 quarts) from the batch that's reducing (at least, that's what the recipe is predicting).
2 comments:
You need more than one stove at a time, and water baths too.
Cool contraption that your little one is using. Is that just an attachment on a meat grinder, or is it a special kind of food mill?
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