Tomato update: From seed to BLT

I've been so busy this summer, I haven't taken the time to give an update on my first-ever successful attempt at growing tomatoes from seed.  As you can see, it's been a pretty good year for tomatoes, even though we've only had 1.5 inch of rain since mid-June.  I run the soaker hose once a week to give the tomatoes a good 1 inch of water or so, and I think that's helped.  I posted the photo above on my Facebook page to show my mom, and one of my friends commented: "Those tomatoes aren't ripe yet!"  After a bad fruit fly infestation last year, I learned it's best to pick my tomatoes when they're just turning color, and then let them ripened on my kitchen counter.

Back in April, I started roma and orange blossom tomato seeds using a growlight and coconut fiber biodegradable trays, which I bought at Earl May.  If I remember right, the photo below was taken just three weeks after the seeds were planted. So far, everything was looking good.  I kept the trays watered, but let them dry out a little bit between waterings to let the roots get stronger.  I also fertilized them about every 2 weeks with a fertilizer specifically for seedlings.

Can you spot my garden gnome behind the tomatoes?

In mid-May, I finally got the courage to take these babies out of their indoor environment and started "hardening" them off by placing the tray under my back porch awning.  Everything was looking good until I accidentally left them outside overnight, and we got a 2.5 inch pounding rain.  When I woke up, the tomato seedlings were squashed and soaking from the heavy rain. So I dumped the excess water off and placed the seedlings in my enclosed back porch to let them dry out, but still get used to cooler temps.

A week later, I planted the the seedlings. They were pretty spindly, but the roots were so strong, they were poking through the coconut fiber "pots."  I planted the seedlings directly in the ground, without removing the pots.

Fast forward about a month later, and it's hard to believe this little seedling grew up to be a 4-foot-tall tomato plant.  This year, I'm trying to keep up the tomato plants from getting too big, rather than setting fruit, so I'm clipping the vines back every couple weeks or so.  I haven't been as careful about it as I should, but so far, the tomatoes are doing a good job setting fruit.  You might notice in the photo below that I mulch my veggie garden with grass clippings.  I also lay down a layer of newspaper underneath to help weeds from poking up.

This photo was taken in mid-June. The tomato plants are much larger now.

So that pretty much sums up my tomato growing season.  The tomatoes are actually starting to wind down because of the cooler weather this August. Oh, and the lack of rain. Can you tell I'm annoyed because we missed the rains again today?!

So how's your garden growing right now?  Do you have any tomato growing advice?  I've still got a lot to learn.

Homemade ketchup

One of the reasons why I grew so many tomatoes this year was because I wanted to make ketchup from scratch.  My husband still raves about the ketchup that his grandma made when he was a kid. I've never had anything but the bottled stuff, but I was more than willing to give it a try.

I found an easy, small-batch recipe in the Canning special interest publication that Better Homes and Gardens published last year. (If BH&Gs publishes it again next summer, be sure to pick up a copy. It's got a ton of terrific canning recipes.)

I tried out the recipe last year and loved it.  So as soon as I had ripe tomatoes this summer, I tried out the recipe again.  Unfortunately, I wasn't paying close enough attention when the tomatoes were simmering down, and I ended up burning my first batch of the year!

I didn't have enough time (or tomatoes) to make another batch right away.  But now that all the green tomatoes I picked from last month's freeze are ripe, I gave the ketchup recipe another whirl.  I was very, very careful not to burn it this time.  It took forever, but I ended up with a beautiful batch of ketchup!

Now if you're making ketchup at home, keep in mind that it won't be as thick as the ketchup you get from the bottle.  My husband said he remembers that his grandma's ketchup was a a little runny. He would dip hot dogs in the ketchup. In fact, that's still the way he eats hot dogs -- instead of squeezing ketchup on top, he dips it like a French fry.

Here's the recipe I got from Better Homes and Gardens.  Just remember, don't rush the "simmering" stage, even if it takes longer than the 2 hours called for in the recipe.

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Homemade ketchup

• 8 pounds tomatoes
• 1/2 C. chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 C. sugar
• 1 C. white vinegar
• 1-1/2 inches stick cinnamon, broken
• 1-1/2 tsp. whole cloves
• 1 tsp. celery seeds
• 1 Tbl. salt

Wash tomatoes. Remove stem ends and cores. Cut tomatoes into quarters. In a stainless steel pot, combine tomatoes, onion and cayenne pepper. Bring to boiling, stirring often; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 mintues, stirring often.

Press tomato mixture through a food mill. Discard seeds and skins. Return tomato mixture to same pot. Add sugar. Use a ruler to measure the depth of the mixture; make a note of the depth. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until mixture is reduced by half, stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, cinnamon, cloves and celery seeds. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat. Strain vinegar through a fine-mesh sieve into tomato mixture; discard spices. Add salt. Simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes more or until ketchup is desired consistency; stirring often.

Ladle hot ketchup into hot, sterilized half-pint containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.

Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 15 mintues (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wired racks.

You say tomato

Driving through my neighborhood, I see dozens of tomato plants with ripe, red tomatoes on the vine. Yet my garden hasn't yielded one ripe tomato, until last week. Here's my first red tomato. It's not so pretty, but it's mine!

Since I can't do much with one tomato, I bought 10 pounds of tomatoes this week from Black's Heritage Farms in Ames so I could can tomatoes. Once again, canning tomatoes was suprisingly easy, except for the time involved. I decided to break out the pressure canner for the first time. However, it took well over an hour to pressure-can the tomatoes. Next time, I'll probably just process them in a boiling-water bath.

I found blueberries on sale at Fareway, so I also baked blueberry muffins while I was waiting for the tomatoes to process. These muffins have quickly become our favorite. I always make several batches in the summer, put them in the freezer and then heat one up in the microwave for breakfast.