The best of the best tomatoes

[Lazy Gardener]

@Marianne , that dried tomato powder must be LOADED with lycopene!

 

[Beekissed]

A gal in our area takes the pulp, seeds and skins from her tomato processing and puts them in her dehydrator. She showed me these small 'chips'. From those chips, she buzzes them to make tomato powder that's used in soups, spaghetti sauce, where ever.
And here I thought I didn't throw anything away.

I made tomato powder like that one year but it yielded so little powder for soooo much dehydrating that I questioned the efficiency of it. I think I'd rather sun dry all of that stuff instead so as to save on electricity and still get a good yield. May do that this year if I can get my act together.

 

[sumi]

@Beekissed I'm drooling over those pics of yours now! They look and sound soooo good. Yes, I love tomatoes lol

I have no clue what variety(ies) we get here, but it's not much... My plants took forever to get going last year and then sat on their fruit for so long, it ended up going off instead of ripening I'm thinking now I need to start some pumpkin and tomato seeds indoors and see how they do. Our weather is still erratic, so I'm weary of direct sewing. And I haven't done a thing to prep the beds yet.

If you have surplus cherry tomatoes sun dry them. In hot, dry weather they dry out in 1-2 days. I used to chop them up and add them with some herbs to the dough when I baked bread. Makes an amazing loaf, full of goodness. Roll the bread dough out to about an inch thick, sprinkle over a generous amount of sun-dried tomatoes and chopped herbs, then roll up the dough before placing it in a pan for baking.

 

[Beekissed]

Sumi, in these parts we always have to start our tomatoes and peppers inside, weeks in advance of planting. Maybe down south they can direct sow them but here we always start inside. If you have a shortened grow season, it would definitely be best to do so.

Those pics have me drooling also....can't WAIT to slice into a big ol' Brandywine, salt it lightly, pepper it and eat it as a meal. Warm from the garden, full of energy from the soil and sun.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Sumi, I'd not even consider direct sowing tomatoes or peppers, even if I lived in the deep south... Too many hungry bugs. Though, giving that black and white statement a second thought... I will confess that SOMETIMES, self sowed tomatoes perform fairly well. You might do a bit of a google search on Winter Sowing. This would be perfect for you.

 

[sumi]

Sumi, I'd not even consider direct sowing tomatoes or peppers, even if I lived in the deep south... Too many hungry bugs. Though, giving that black and white statement a second thought... I will confess that SOMETIMES, self sowed tomatoes perform fairly well. You might do a bit of a google search on Winter Sowing. This would be perfect for you.

Thanks!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I live pretty far south and about a gunnery years or so ago- I always direct sowed everything. Lots of tomatoes and peppers too. Then someone told me you aren’t supposed to do it that way. I wonder why I listened to them, lol. I had great gardens back then.

 

[BarredBuff]

Watching this thread intently

I will say this in regards to transplanting or direct sowing:

I am in Appalachia, and have volunteer tomato plants that do well and germinate when the weather warms up. No problem with them. The whole point of starting seeds is to extend the growing season. Indeterminate tomatoes will usually produce until the weather turns cold and a hard frost comes. This is provided you don't have any late blights or fungal problems.

My favorite varieties to grow are many. I currently have 24(?) sown in the greenhouse. I particularly love Cherokee Purple to eat, and Amish Paste to can tomato sauce, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and salsa with. For a yellow tomato, I love Pineapple tomatoes. One of my favorites to eat! In years past, I have harvested many large ones out of these varieties.

 

[Beekissed]

I've had many volunteer tomatoes come up and some I've left to see how they do...the only ones that really seemed to produce were a really pretty grape style tomato, quite large for a grape tomato, and I have no idea from whence THAT seed came, as I've never planted anything like that.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Last season, I had a couple incredible small paste tomatoes sprout where I'd dumped some pulp from processing the year before. I did not stake or cage them, just let them sprawl, and they produced an incredible crop.