I did something potentially stupid, I think. Well, maybe not stupid but certainly overly ambitious.
I’ve been on this quest for tomatoes for a couple of months now. I wanted tomatoes- a lot- to can. I checked with the lady that I got my seedlings from. I checked with the people who run my CSA. I checked with everyone I could think of. Here was the answer from everyone: It’s been a bad year for tomatoes, I don’t have many extra.
And then! Hark! My seedling lady gave my name to a friend of hers who had tomatoes! Buckets of tomatoes! Loads of tomatoes! And he said he would sell them to me for a dollar a pound (the oozy, broken ones, that is) or two dollars for the pretty ones.
And I told him I wanted 50 pounds. 40 of the oozies, 10 of the pretties (to can whole tomatoes).
What the hell was I thinking? That is A LOT of tomatoes, and I don’t know how I’m going to handle them. We’re going to pick them up today after work and I am afraid.
Don’t be afraid. My friend just bought tomatoes in bulk like you did and he canned them all in a few days.
Don’t be afraid! That sounds like fun! I am so jealous. Have fun and if you have too many canned tomatoes afterwards then I will gladly accept any excess. *wink*
Do the oozie toms first. They’ll mold and spoil quickly. I don’t peel my tomatoes before cooking and canning. I can afford a minute to remove the peel in January much easier than I can do bushels of them in August and September.