Saving Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Having grown five varieties of Heirloom tomatoes this summer, I decided to try my hand at saving seeds from each.  Heirloom seeds have a shorter shelf life, but you can acquire new seeds each growing season, so I really don't see that as a problem.  The characteristics of a plant grown from heirloom seeds are true to that of the mother plant, unlike seeds saved from a hybridized plant where there is no assurance of what you'll get.  In the 1940's F1 hybrids were started in order to offer different varieties.  The hybrids had a tougher skin which gave them a longer shelf life, thereby improving the quality of shipped tomatoes.

To collect my seeds, I held one tomato of each variety over a glass container and squeezed the seeds out.  Clockwise from the top left corner: Black Krim, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter and Cherokee Purple.

Mostly Heirloom Tomato Soup

Just as cooler temperatures are settling in, I came across a basic cream of tomato soup recipe in the Soup & Bread Cookbook by Beatrice Ojakangas and was inspired to create.  As chance would have it, all my semi-ripe and green tomatoes on the vines had to be brought inside to finish ripening due to frost warnings.  But rather than looking at it as 'Darn, my dining room table is covered in unripe tomatoes',  I'm thinking this is a good thing.  I can keep tabs on their ripening progress and plan accordingly.  

The heirlooms I used are Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Cherokee Purple, and Mortgage Lifter, along with Green Zebra and Black Krim which are not pictured.

The Squirrel Who Loves Tomatoes

The squirrel that shares in our garden harvest was filling himself, much the same as a bear about to go into hibernation, with cherry tomatoes.  Truly, as I watched him watch me, he handpicked nearly a dozen and enjoyed quite the feast.  However, I much prefer him eating those rather than taking a few bites out of a luscious ripe tomato, leaving 7/8ths of it to rot away.

Snowfall in the mountains doesn't come as a surprise when the calendar changes from September to October.  Even down in the foothills we are ready for the light dusting.

Fresh Tomato Focaccia

This has got to be one of the most fun and delicious things I have been making this summer...well, at least since my tomatoes started ripening.  Every one who tastes it, loves this bread.  I have tried a few recipes and my favorite version is inspired by Jeff Mauro.  It is created on a sheet pan, while I divide it into thirds as I stripe the dough with different tomatoes.  Be forewarned, it is really delicious and very addicting.

The left third is covered in oven roasted cherry tomatoes.  Down the center are green zebra slices.  The right side is covered in cherry and sun gold tomato halves which are placed cut side down in the dough.

A Day in the Kitchen

In years past I would spend one week canning, pickling and dehydrating.  But as the garden continues to expand, each year I plant more, which in turn produces several waves of ripe produce.  I'm finding that I'd rather spend one day every couple of weeks processing in a variety of ways, whatever found it's way from the garden to the kitchen.  I actually look forward to that day and I'm not as exhausted as when working at it for a week.  With a sink full of tomatoes, you can guess what happened next.

Having Bobs help, 45 ears of corn were shucked, cleaned and cut from the

Tomato Time Is Near

The number one vegetable planted by back yard gardeners is the tomato.  Some of us see more than the garden in front of us, we have a bigger picture in our mind.  We envision the pantry shelf filled with dozens of quart jars, waiting to be called on during the winter as a base for soup, stew, chili and marinara sauce.  Every year I tell myself I'm not going to plant as many as last year, but for the past several years it seems I haven't been listening.

 

I will say this in my defense, five of the eighteen tomato plants are strictly for canning purposes.  The San Marzano has very few seeds and makes a delicious sauce.