Shule's 2024 grow log

[Shule]

I harvested 18.5 pounds of a mixture of Brandywine Pink and the medium-large red-fruited volunteer (probably ~86% of that is Brandywine Pink), and 5.5 pounds of Caya. The weights include the containers (the pasta pot for the Brandywine Pink and red tomato, and the deep strainer-type thing that goes in the pasta pot for Caya.

One of the Caya plants is one I accidentally stepped on once or twice when it was small. I'm very impressed at how it bounced back pretty early on considering how a rock (maybe 8 ounces to 1.5 pounds) fell over on another tomato variety a couple times, another year, and it didn't do much after that.

[Shule]

We haven't canned the other Brandywine Pinks, yet. We've been eating them. They're showing signs of needing to be used immediately, though.

Those are ones we didn't wash. So, they kept about 6 days. Now, I need to stew them before they go bad.

EDIT: It turns out only a few of them were starting to go bad, but I didn't want to let them go any further (nor the other ones to start).

[Shule]

The tomatoes are all stewing (plus the cherry tomatoes that were on the windowsill that weren't ripe before; they're ripe now). It looks like it's about as full as it was last time.

I plan to harvest Galapagos Island tomatoes on Tuesday or so.

[Shule]

Ugh.

Well, I think I've decided it's probably unsafe to dehydrate things at such a low temperature, at least with tomatoes. I hope the wonderberries are all right (they were last time). At first the tomatoes were really sweet and good, but today I decided to eat one of the the least dehydrated ones, and it was super bitter (not sweet, nor sour/acidic/tart); it tasted like there was something very wrong with it. So, I spat it out and rinsed my mouth out (fortunately, I didn't swallow any).

The wonderberries all seem to be dehydrated already. So, hopefully they hit that point before whatever struck that tomato came into the picture.

I guess next time I'll just go for a safer temperature of 135 to 167 (probably 145).

It's possible it wasn't unsafe and it just tasted really bad, but still. It didn't taste safe. I kind of think it was just dehydrating way too long, but I know those cherry tomatoes can be fine at higher temperatures.

[karstopography]

@Shule was it 117° for dehydrating the tomatoes? These were slices of Brandywine? Any salt or anything else added?

I haven’t tried dehydrating slices of larger tomatoes mainly because I would think those might stick to the metal mesh trays and make a big mess.

I do my lightly salted (non-iodized sea salt) halved cut side up cherry tomatoes at between 130° and 139° and will sometimes drop the temperature down to 115-125° near the end of the process. Takes 15-20 hours to dehydrate cherry tomatoes that temperature.

[karstopography]

One thing to think about is air temperature as far as the weather service goes is recorded in the shade. So 117° is a shade temperature, not reflective of the higher temperature out in the sun.

Actual Sun dried tomatoes over and on a surface out in the sun might be way over 117°. My copper surface in the sun gets to 160° on a day where the air temperature is 95°. The copper is regularly at 145° on any reasonably sunny summer day.

[Shule]

@Shule was it 117° for dehydrating the tomatoes? These were slices of Brandywine? Any salt or anything else added?

I haven’t tried dehydrating slices of larger tomatoes mainly because I would think those might stick to the metal mesh trays and make a big mess.

I do my lightly salted (non-iodized sea salt) halved cut side up cherry tomatoes at between 130° and 139° and will sometimes drop the temperature down to 115-125° near the end of the process. Takes 15-20 hours to dehydrate cherry tomatoes that temperature.

Cool.

No, I didn't dehydrate any Brandywine Pink tomatoes. Those are all being canned as we speak.

I only put the whole cherry tomatoes (Galapagos Island) in the dehydrator on that one tray where the bitter tomato was, and fortunately, I only did one tray of the tomatoes. I didn't add any ingredients.

In our dehydrator, beefsteak slices dehydrate pretty quickly by comparison, since the flesh is exposed to the air (the slices with skin on one side take a little longer if you don't puncture them, though).

I've dehydrated lots of big beefsteaks in the past with no issues, but for those, I would dehydrate them usually around 140 to 167, but I've dehydrated tomatoes at lower temperatures before (either 130 or 120; I forgot which), with no problems. I dehydrated whole Galapagos Island cherry tomatoes in the past with no issues, too, at higher temperatures (although it's possible I punctured them all first to make them dry faster); they take a lot longer than sliced tomatoes of any size, however. Anyway, at the higher temperatures, cherries take maybe three days in our dehydrator. If I remember right, tomato slices of any size (when exposed on both sides) take about a day (give or take a few hours). The bottom tray of the dehydrator tends to take longer than the other ones, especially if the slices are thick there.

They also historically have taken longer to dehydrate if I packed the trays more full (which I did in this case).

[Shule]

Okay, speaking of Brandywine Pink tomatoes, all the tomatoes I harvested the other day, of Brandywine Pink, the red tomato, Caya, and the few indoor-ripened cherry tomatoes (and all the leftover Brandywine Pink tomatoes from before) have been stewed. We got 15 quarts. They're still canning.

We didn't have time to can them last night; so, we slow-cooked them to stew them.

[JayneR13]

I listen to my senses, which I suspect you do as well. If it doesn't taste right, toss it! Food poisoning is no fun.

It sounds like you're getting a great harvest! I've never dehydrated tomatoes. I usually sauce and can them. I may try that this year, harvest permitting.

[Shule]

I harvested about 5lbs of Galapagos Island tomatoes on Thursday.

[JayneR13]

I'm out to harvest soon to make another batch of sauce. That's what the garden is giving right now so that's what I do. I can only hope all of those green tomatoes on the vine ripen somewhat before frost! One month to go to the average frost date here.

[Shule]

@JayneR13

Sauce is awesome. If they don't ripen, don't forget that they'll still ripen indoors after you pick them. They won't grow any more, though (but the seeds can mature), and they probably won't all ripen indoors at the same time. Some might start to ripen right away while others might wait until around Christmas. They ripen faster indoors when they're warmer, though. We tend to put them in a cool non-refrigerated indoor location to prolong the ripening so we have tomatoes for a longer time.

A lot of our canned tomatoes sometimes come from green tomatoes at the end of the season that ripened indoors.

[bower]

What an awesome harvest you got @Shule ! Also appreciating your many methods of keeping them for winter use.
I've tried dehydrating once, and it wasn't good for me. Not a great machine, it took so many hours and then, it turned out they weren't dry enough and should've been frozen afterwards - they quickly spoiled.
Most years the majority of my excess tomatoes just go into bags in the freezer as is for soups, curries and stews. The problem with that is that skins are really inedible after freezing, and skinning them is work, no doubt about that, also seems to waste a lot of color and nutrients, I reckon. So this year I'm trying to do more with them and freeze fewer as is.
I have made a bunch of batches of sauce. Basically grouped by color, add oil garlic salt pepper dry basil and/or oregano, roast, cool, run through the blender. Had to freeze that as well because I don't have a canner, but if it turns out to be a best way to use them for winter convenience, I might get a canner next year for that.
I found a recipe using roasted tomatoes in a Sicilian pesto (Trepanete), and for that I should roast without salt and seasonings, as they're added later. I noticed you are doing 'stewed tomatoes' for some and that is different from sauce as well. My Mom was thinking to crush the tomatoes and freeze them raw like that (skins reduced to tiny bits) instead of the winter skinning scene. I was tempted to do some for her but still thinking it may be better to cook them first, even without seasonings, so she can season at will when using them. My reasoning is that they have to keep better with a preliminary cooking, than they would if just blended up raw. IDK, what do you think? techically freezing should keep them anyway, but I just feel like the grinding multiplies surfaces and opportunities for any baddies in the microbiome to go nuts while thawing or whatever time they get. They are going to be cooked anyway, but my old Mom sometimes has delays in the middle of cooking, ranging from a nap to a couple of days with too much fatigue. Yeah, the more I talk about it, the more I want to cook em, un 'sauced' ie less/no seasoning, before processing.
I'm thinking your 'stewed tomatoes' is similar to that approach, cw the sauces which are dolled up with other things?

[JayneR13]

@Shule absolutely! I've ripened many tomatoes indoors. I have to harvest them a few days early to avoid the squirrels eating them, and often let them finish indoors. Thanks for the tip though!

[Shule]

What an awesome harvest you got @Shule ! Also appreciating your many methods of keeping them for winter use.
I've tried dehydrating once, and it wasn't good for me. Not a great machine, it took so many hours and then, it turned out they weren't dry enough and should've been frozen afterwards - they quickly spoiled.
Most years the majority of my excess tomatoes just go into bags in the freezer as is for soups, curries and stews. The problem with that is that skins are really inedible after freezing, and skinning them is work, no doubt about that, also seems to waste a lot of color and nutrients, I reckon. So this year I'm trying to do more with them and freeze fewer as is.
I have made a bunch of batches of sauce. Basically grouped by color, add oil garlic salt pepper dry basil and/or oregano, roast, cool, run through the blender. Had to freeze that as well because I don't have a canner, but if it turns out to be a best way to use them for winter convenience, I might get a canner next year for that.
I found a recipe using roasted tomatoes in a Sicilian pesto (Trepanete), and for that I should roast without salt and seasonings, as they're added later. I noticed you are doing 'stewed tomatoes' for some and that is different from sauce as well. My Mom was thinking to crush the tomatoes and freeze them raw like that (skins reduced to tiny bits) instead of the winter skinning scene. I was tempted to do some for her but still thinking it may be better to cook them first, even without seasonings, so she can season at will when using them. My reasoning is that they have to keep better with a preliminary cooking, than they would if just blended up raw. IDK, what do you think? techically freezing should keep them anyway, but I just feel like the grinding multiplies surfaces and opportunities for any baddies in the microbiome to go nuts while thawing or whatever time they get. They are going to be cooked anyway, but my old Mom sometimes has delays in the middle of cooking, ranging from a nap to a couple of days with too much fatigue. Yeah, the more I talk about it, the more I want to cook em, un 'sauced' ie less/no seasoning, before processing.
I'm thinking your 'stewed tomatoes' is similar to that approach, cw the sauces which are dolled up with other things?

Thanks! The harvest isn't done, yet. Historically, we should have about a month left (possibly longer).

I'm not really a big fan of freezing tomatoes as-is, because you have to thaw them out, they get all watery, and they can be difficult to separate or portion to the amount needed (not to mention freezer real estate being in high demand; also, freezer burn), but my guess is that they would taste better and have better texture if you cooked them first before freezing. They would probably keep longer, too, but I don't know for sure.

A lot of people don't notice a difference, but I notice a big flavor difference when raw tomatoes are frozen. However, frozen things with cooked tomato sauce on/in them taste just fine to me. So, I think it's a good idea to turn them into something before you freeze them.

We stew our canned tomatoes because it's easy. What I actually prefer to do is blend up the tomatoes; then cook them; then can them. That way I don't have to blend them up afterward and dirty the blender zillions of times throughout the year. However, the family member who does most of the canning doesn't like to can blended up tomatoes for some reason; so, we just stew them and I blend them up when I open the jars for use. However, stewed tomatoes can make a decent substitute for pasta sauce as-is if you season and cook them the same way (as if they were sauce); I usually blend them up before use, though, unless it's super late and someone is sleeping.

It sounds like you're either doing something different with dehydration, or you have a lot more humidity than we do (or both). I've never had dehydrated tomatoes mold before. We do dehydrate them to a crisp (getting all the moisture out) on a fairly high dehydrating temperature, though (the low-temperature experiments I talked about here are an exception). I like to do red tomatoes hotter because the lycopene is more usable by the body that way. Plus, it's faster hotter, and I kind of like the taste that way, anyway. So, I usually do tomatoes at at least 140-something (but normally, probably 167° F.)

The problem I have with dehydrated tomatoes is that they can expose the teeth to a lot of acid due to all the chewing you have to do. So, low-acid tomatoes are pretty nice for dehydration.

[bower]

@Shule I know the taste you're talking about, and I think freezer temperature is the key. My chest freezer keeps raw tomatoes really perfectly, with no ice crystals forming etc and no off taste at least for a year. But the upright freezer above my fridge doesn't nearly do the same job. I can only keep certain foods there for short term. OTOH the freezer real estate issue is always a factor, including the chest.
Yesterday I tried roasting with a little oil and no seasonings, then puree when cooled, and froze a couple of containers for my Mom to try out. I think I prefer more seasoning myself, at the cooking time.
The dehydrator I have is not a good one. No temperature control. I might try again, if I had a good appliance.

[Shule]

Yesterday, someone came by and offered a relative a whole bunch of tomatoes, locally grown. My relative took 5 gallons. I don't know what kind they were, but they were medium to medium-large, round/oblate, red, mild, and very juicy. I don't really have a good guess as to the variety, but probably an F1 hybrid.

We ate some of them including with baked fish (I suppose Tilapia), baked potatoes, salt, pepper, and butter. Fresh tomatoes are actually quite good with fish.

Today, I picked the ripe Brandywine Pink tomatoes and we're stewing them with the aforementioned red tomatoes. There was maybe close to 5 gallons of Brandywine Pink tomatoes. I added a single Galapagos Island cherry tomato, too.

Anyway, they're in our biggest stockpot, with it most of the way full. I think it's a 30 quart stockpot, but I'm not sure (we don't have it filled to maximum capacity). If it's 30 quarts I imagine we might get 24 to 27 quarts.

I need to pick the other tomatoes next week.

[Shule]

Well, this is a surprise. We got 29 quarts of stewed tomatoes (plus about 10 ounces on top of that).

I'm inclined to think our stockpot is more than 30 quarts.

[Shule]

Well, here's a long-awaited late-planted Celebrity F2 (one of them, anyhow). I noticed it was ripe, today. This is from one of the plants where I had two plants growing in the same spot. It didn't have full sun (it was by an eastern fence).

The flavor was mild much as the F1, but a little improved from the F1 (not extremely different, however)—partially in that it had a little bit of a subtle tart edge. The differences could be due to growing conditions, however. I watered the F1 a lot more and it had more sun.

The fruit was a lot firmer than the F1. The calyx is huge. The F1 had bigger fruit, but I do have two plants in the same spot for this F2. The F1 didn't have any zippering, nor the grooves by the calyx.

Well, now I can save seeds and try the F3s (I had direct-seeded all my F2 seeds).

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[Shule]

Did I mention the Caya tomatoes on at least one of the plants became super sweet when the weather cooled down? It was kind of sweet in the heat, but not super sweet. Another Caya plant that was already very sweet in the heat became at least a little bit sweeter, too. They're extremely sweet tomatoes. Their parent last year was pretty consistently a certain high level of sweetness (but these at their peak are sweeter, I think).