Homesteader Depot

Tag: tomatoes

  • How to Use Up Extra Tomatoes

    How to Use Up Extra Tomatoes

    Too many tomatoes is a great problem to have! Whether you’ve found a killer deal at the grocery store or farmer’s market, or your garden is overflowing with juicy, ripe, tomatoes just begging to be used up, having too many tomatoes on your hand is awesome, but also poses a big challenge. How on earth can you use up all those delicious tomatoes?

    Well, we’ve got you covered. All it takes is a little creativity! Here are some great suggestions for how to make the most of a big bounty of tomatoes.

    Canning 

    This is the classic way to preserve extra tomatoes, and definitely on the top of the list for a reason. You can can them whole, diced, pureed, or in delicious tomato sauces or even salsas! Then, all winter long, you can add your tomatoes to pastas, casseroles, chili, etc.

    Ferments

    You can of course can up all your tomatoes or tomato sauces, but did you know you can lacto-ferment them too? We’re big fans of lacto-fermentation around here, which not only naturally preserves tomatoes, it will enhance the nutritional content as well! Lacto-fermented salsa (recipe coming soon!) is a great way to make the most of a lot of tomatoes, and preserve them long-term.

    Trade

    Do you live in a big farming and/or gardening area? Try talking to your friends and neighbors and see if their gardens are overflowing with something you don’t have! Trade some tomatoes for delicious cucumbers or zucchini, or even dairy, eggs, manure, whatever they’ve got to spare!

    Freeze

    If canning or lacto-fermenting aren’t your thing, you can of course always just chop them up and freeze them! Frozen tomato can be used much in the same way that canned tomato can be. This is a great option if you don’t have too much time to invest in complex preservation projects but would still like to have a nice supply of tomatoes on hand to use through the winter.

     

    Tomatoes are delicious, nutritious, and a cornerstone of many great dishes. If you end up with a lot of them, make sure you use them and preserve them well!

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  • 3 Tips for Healthier Tomatoes  

    3 Tips for Healthier Tomatoes  

     

    Tomatoes are one of the most commonly grown crops in back yard gardens.  But it isn’t always easy to grow healthy, productive tomatoes.  And it isn’t really worth it to grow tomatoes if they aren’t healthy and producing to their full potential.  If you have had problems with tomatoes in the past, here are 3 tips you might want to try.

     

    Epson Salt

    Epson salt is made of Magnesium and Sulphur.  Both of which are vital nutrients for growing healthy tomatoes.  If you have had issues with tomatoes in the past try watering them with ½ tablespoon of Epsom salt per gallon to start, and 1 tablespoon per gallon once they are established.  This can also be helpful for peppers and eggplant.

    Aspirin

    A fungal infection in a plant’s leaves will leave the plant unable to feed, and grow, and therefore unable to produce even if it stays alive.  If your tomatoes have suffered from fungal infections they could benefit from some aspirin.  Crush an aspirin pill, a regular 325 mg pill is enough to add to a gallon or so of water, make sure it dissolves prior to watering.  You can pour the water over the plant’s leaves.

    Egg Shells

    Eggs shells are a great source of calcium.  If you have noticed blossom end rot in your tomatoes, peppers, or eggplants, they it is likely that your soil is lacking in calcium.  Grinding or blending your egg shells into powder will decrease the time needed for them to break down and make the calcium plant available, but even this will not be enough to help plants that are already suffering from blossom end rot.  This needs to be done at least 6 weeks prior to planting.

     

    Don’t get down if your tomatoes have been leaving something to be desired, with these 3 tips, most problems with tomatoes can be a thing of the past.

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  • Tips for Better Tomatoes

    Tips for Better Tomatoes

    Homegrown tomatoes taste a far cry better than anything you will find at the grocery store. You know exactly what’s in your soil and what you are putting on the plant, so you don’t have to worry about pesticides getting you or your family sick. Here are some quick and simple tips you can use to improve the tomatoes in your garden.

    Plant Deep

    First, you always want to make sure you are planting your tomatoes as deeply as possible, without having any of the leaves touch the ground. This way, the plant will produce a stronger root system, which can increase the moisture content, since the plants are taking in more water. Another reason to plant deep is so the roots can better hold the plant in place in the event of a bad storm or wind.

    Remove the Lower Leaves

    Once your plants have started to grow and reach about two feet high, it’s a good idea to remove the lower leaves. This allows the nutrients to promote growth higher up in the plant. The leaves at the bottom, which wouldn’t be getting much sunshine anyway, are essentially useless, so there is no harm in removing them.

    Use Mulch

    Using mulch with your tomatoes will help you to conserve water. In addition, it will keep the soil warm and help to foster a strong root system. Another one of the benefits of using mulch is that it can help to prevent diseases in the plant.

    Tomato Cages

    Using tomato cages can help ensure your plants don’t topple over. Once a plant starts to grow and develop fruit, it can get top heavy. Using the cage ensures it stays upright and continues to grow. Another one of the benefits is that the stalks are under less stress, which means bigger tomatoes.

    These are some simple tips you can start using the next time you plant your tomatoes. Happy harvesting!

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  • Demonstration of Proper Tomato Pruning

    Demonstration of Proper Tomato Pruning

    Pruning is a great way to control the growth of your plants.  It can help you increase yield and reduce disease by focusing your plant’s growth.  One crop that pruning is a must for, but often gets neglected is tomatoes.  Tomatoes can be difficult to prune because it is not always visually obvious which portions should be targeted for pruning and which should be left alone.  This video does a great job of show, and explaining just what to remove and why, complete with close ups.

     

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  • Prolonging Your Tomato Harvest Through the Winter

    Prolonging Your Tomato Harvest Through the Winter

    Surely by now you have noticed that your tomatoes are not producing like they were in July, and what they are producing is not ripening as fast.  No matter what you do, shorter days and cooler temperatures are going to stop your tomato production almost everywhere but the tropics.  But you can still prolong your access to ripe homegrown tomatoes pretty easily by taking advantage of an easy technique that allows you to eat more of the tomatoes you have already grown, which might otherwise never ripen.

    Step One: Uproot Plants

    Pull your tomato plants up and shake as much dirt off the roots as you can.  Spray the roots with a hose to get off all the excess dirt on at least a few of your plants.  The rest of them can stay dirty.

    Step Two: Hang the Plants

    Hang the clean tomatoes indoors, upside down.  The warmer the room you place them in the quicker they will ripen.  So unless you want all of them to ripen at once, it would be wise to place some of them in a cooler room so they can ripen a little slower.

    Hang the dirty tomato plants in the garage or other unheated outbuilding, upside down, just like the clean ones.  These tomatoes will ripen slower than those that are hanging inside in the warmth. If you run out of ripe tomatoes from both your “warm” and “not so warm” indoor supplies, you can bring in some of your outdoor plants.

    Step Three: Harvest

    Check the plants daily, the ripe tomatoes will fall faster when hanging upside down than they would have when growing upright.

    While this might not give you a surplus of tomatoes all the way through the winter and into the next spring, it will allow you to eat more of what you have already grown, and will extend how long you do have access to homegrown tomatoes.  It will all depend on how many plants you have and how cold it is where you live.

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