On Thu, 12 May 2011 12:48:57 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

Sue wrote:
On Thu, 12 May 2011 01:29:59 +0000 (UTC), Nad R
wrote:

zxcvbob wrote:
Sue wrote:
On Wed, 11 May 2011 16:21:55 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:
On May 11, 7:11 pm, Sue wrote:
I am really late getting my garden in this year and finally have the
ground prepared. Whatever tomatoes I planted last year just didn't do
well for canning purposes. I'm not starting from seeds and get my
plants at Lowe's or Home Depot. Any suggestion on a good variety to
can (that I would find at either of those two stores)? My garden is
*very* small so I can't put in too many plants.
Sue in the San Joaquin Valley of Calif.
If your canning for sauce Roma's are the best and the grow in a fairly
compact plant.
Sorry. I should have been more specific. No, I grow for stewed
tomatoes - tomatoes with onion, celery and bell peppers.
Sue

Any tomato will work then. Maybe plant a couple Better Boy and one
something-else (Roma?) Better Boy is a hybrid all-purpose tomato. It
has good flavor and usually yields very high.

Bob
Find a local green house nursery instead of the big box warehouse places.
Nurseries will have healthier and a greater selection of plants.

Chuckle. We have no local green house. The closest possible would be
35 miles from here. Since I have no pressing need to go out of town
in the next few days (my only reason is for doctor's appts) the cost
would be pretty awful considering the price of gas right now.

Tomatoes for canning are divided into two categories, "Plum" and "Globe".
Plums tomatoes are great for sauces they have a higher pulp to juice ratio.
Plums also have Plum shape to them, tends to be long and tapered at the
ends. Globes are more rounded and good for general canning and for soups.
Romas "plum" tomatoes are good for sauces and Big Boys "globe" tomatoes are
good for Juices and Soups.

One problem I had last year was that I didn't have enough tomatoes at
any given time to can. I'm thinking maybe my error was in getting two
different varieties (2 plants each). I don't know. They just weren't
successful.
Sue



If I get enough peppers and tomatoes at once, I can a batch or two of
salsa, but mostly my tomatoes are for eating fresh and giving a few
away. Commercial canned tomatoes are so good and so cheap, it hardly
pays to can your own -- except occasionally as practice so you know
*how* to can your own if you need to someday. In a pinch I can use
canned whole tomatoes (the big #10 cans from Sam's Club) and fresh
chiles and onions to make salsa.

Tomatillos actually grow better here (Minnesota) than tomatoes, so I
like growing a few of them for green salsa. They usually reseed
themselves and I just transplant a few, but I didn't get any volunteer
seedlings last year so I bought some fresh tomatillos and planted
seeds saved from the biggest one. They are coming along nicely.

Here's my favorite salsa recipe:

Chile Salsa
(from USDA bulletin 539) yield: 6 to 8 pints

5 pounds tomatoes
2 pounds chile peppers
1 pound onions, chopped
1 cup vinegar (5%)
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Roast and peel peppers if they have tough skins (not necessary with
jalapeños or serranos) remove seeds and stems, chop. Scald and peel
tomatoes; chop. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to
a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into pint jars, leave 1/2 inch
headspace. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Notes: If the tomatoes are too juicy, add an 8 ounce can of tomato
sauce or a tablespoon of tomato paste. I like using half bottled
lemon juice and half white vinegar instead of straight vinegar. I
don't know why but it tastes better than using all vinegar or all
lemon juice.

-Bob

Thanks. Oh, I don't see that my canned stewed tomatoes are any better
than what I could buy at the store. It's just the satisfaction of
doing it. I was raised by a career woman who made strawberry jam
*once*. That was the total of her canning.
Thanks for the recipe!
Sue