Wow! We have five of these this year. Can't wait. Did you put the stake in between the tomatoes and run the string or did each tomato have it's own stake?

My DH puts a row of stakes and uses the twine from stake to stake with the plants in between held by the twine NOT tied to the individual stake. As the tomatoes grow taller he adds another row of twine.

One more question, please! The rows are so neat - does he prune the leaves or something to keep them from crowding out in the row?
Thanks so much.

Wow! That's just beautiful. I hate to think of canning all those tomatoes though! I can maybe 40 pints of spaghetti sauce a year. I think that's a lot!

Judiegal,

Thanks for posting those pics. They really are incredible. Those baskets of tomatoes are so beautiful--. I am a 'new' canner and found even a few jars are ALOT of work--especially cranking that darn strainer.

Do you have helpers--I wouldn't know where to begin with so many tomatoes.

He has a plastic laying tool on the back of a small tractor that makes nice straight rows. He also believes in picking off the suckers that puts the growth into the tomatoes instead of the extra foliage.

I don't know if you noticed those big pots but we can fit 60 jars in at a time for the canning process. We also have an electric machine that skins and seeds the blanched tomatoes. It still is a lot of work but my DH loves doing it and has all the equipment to make it easier.

Sorry for a stupid question. But for you canners, they say to use like a pressure cooker in order to get it hot enough and kill all the bacterias. But those are expensive and I don't have that big of a crop.

What kind of pots do you all use ? That pot seems to be just a big regular pot.

Thanks for your time.

You don't need a pressure cooker. Just a big pot that you can submerse your jars in. I'd be afraid using a pressure cooker that it might crack the glass... o_O

judiegal - gorgeous garden and set-up!!! And what a good looking young fellow in his red boots you have there. ;)

johnny_tomato_seed - plain tomatoes don't have to be pressure canned, neither does tomato sauce or juice although you do need to add just a bit of acid (lemon juice or citric acid) to the jars. It is only when you add other low-acid ingredients such as onions, celery, peppers, etc. (ie. stewed tomatoes, salsa, etc.) that pressure canning is required.

You'll find all kinds of info about canning rules and approved recipes plus instructions on BWB and pressure canning over on the Harvest Forum here at GW (linked on the front of this forum's page). It's where all the home canners hang out. ;)

The link below is to the National Center for Home Food Preservation website (the USDA canning info source) that you might want to explore a bit.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP

Thanks Dave for the info.

I was starting to read the harvest stuff but thought I give my eyes a rest since I have to read all about growing them before canning them ;-).

Yes it is just a BIG pot. Like Dave said with tomatoes you don't need a pressure canner.

I'd be afraid using a pressure cooker that it might crack the glass... o_O

No, city_tomato, pressure canning does NOT crack the glass. Thousands of gardeners pressure can all sorts of garden produce each summer. Everything from green beans to soups, salsas, corn, peppers, etc. with no problems. Even meats can be pressure canned. One just needs to learn the basics and have the proper equipment. ;)

Dave

Judie Girl

My eyes are popping out. WOW what a harvest. I am impressed. So beautiful. I should come over and see your setup. I can not remember ever seeing such nice red ripe tomatoes.

When I die, I want to be buried in your garden. Right by the little tomato picker. He seems just the right height to pick those red ripe tomatoes.

If I pick one 5 gallon bucket, I think I am doing well. Your harvest is incredible.

Thanks Dangould -
That was last summer. We used 10 of those jars just yesterday for a sauce for my baked ziti. We had a graduation party for my DD, so I had to cook for 70 people! You know how those Italians are!!lol.

Thanks for the pics. Its so enjoyable to see success like yours on that scale! Truly impressive.

What a delight to see these pictures. Do you have a regular stove or something commercial?

The closest I can get to your experience is when my friend's husband, a farmer, promised her he would plant some sweet corn for her and her girl friends to freeze. The three rows he planted were one mile long!!! Four of us gals picked, husked, de-cobbed with electric knives, blanched and packaged for freezing what must have been a ton of sweet corn -- all in one day. You should have seen my blisters! But even today, it is one of my favorite memories.

Thanks again for your wonderful pictures!