Preserving Tomatoes for the Winter

Growing tomatoes is a great way of getting started with vegetable growing, and preserving tomatoes from the summer to get through the winter is a wonderful introduction to preserving and canning garden produce in general.

Learning how to grow tomatoes to perfection could be classified as a science, but it is possible to put tomato seeds in a large pot, and as long as you water them enough, and tie it to some kind of stick when it starts to get tall, your tomato plants ought to survive. Watching the tiny green tomatoes emerge from the yellow flowers, and the tomatoes grow larger and turn red makes growing tomatoes one of the most satisfying of all gardening endeavors.

So How Do I Preserve my Tomatoes?

There are many ways you can preserve tomatoes. All ways involve peeling them so learning the best technique for peeling is something that can save you a lot of time. Usually you place the tomato in hot water for 30 seconds until the skin cracks and then you just remove it. Once they’re peeled you can decide what you’re going to do with them, can the tomatoes whole, halved or crushed, or a selection of all three?

How about some homemade tomato soup? Make a batch and freeze it whilst the tomatoes are fresh. Likewise with a tomato and basil pasta/pizza sauce. Make some tomato juice for drinking – freeze it in ice cubes if you don’t want to drink it now. When frozen, shake out of the tray and put into a labeled bag.

Because of the versatility of tomatoes, growing them is all the more addictive because you can see the fruit of your labors in many meals in the months that follow the harvesting and preserving sessions.

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