Ideas for an Abundance of Tomatoes

By Judi in Orlando (Guest Post)

People don't realize that you can use tomatoes to make jams, jellies and chutneys. There are lots of recipes on the internet. I know because I have several in various cookbooks, so the net will have them for you. I also tried something a elderly lady told me that was really bizarre, but worked. She said to peel and seed the tomatoes if you want, but you don't have to, and then add a flavored Jello gelatin powder. Bring to a boil so the jello disolves completely, then process to seal, and use as you would jelly. It really turned out good. You can use whatever flavor you want. I used sugar-free cherry & it turned out great. You have to kind of guess about how much Jello depending on how much tomatoe pulp you're using. I looked on the Jello box to get the liquid/jello ratios & went from there.

By susan_a362 (Guest Post)

This is only related to abundance of tomatoes. I found that some American Indians would dry tomatoes and them crush them into powder. This year I'm trying another one of their planting procedures. Put a tomato plant in a small trench, leaving a few leaves out. The plant will root all along the stem. THEN, put a corn cob near the end of the plant - when the roots hit the corn, the tomato plant will go wild producing. (I can only container garden and have one tomato plant - did this as an experiment. This geographic area is not producing a lot of tomatoes this year, so this is a spectacle that I'm proud of).

By Tawnda (Guest Post)

OH MY! How I would LOVE to be in your shoes! Or in your tomatoes I should say. ha ha

You can buy spaghetti sauce mixes and salsa mixes in the canning supplies at Walmart or other similar stores or grocery store but you don't even have to use those. Make your own and can them. If I am not mistaken, tomato-based products can be done in the water canner due to the high acidity.

You can also make your own barbecue sauce, ketchup, stewed tomatoes, tomatoe soup, etc.