More Tomato Sauce

This is our third batch of sauce.  Because of the crazy dry weather, there were not as many tomatoes as last year and they are ripening at different times, so we are picking them when they are ripe and making sauce in batches.  Last year we just picked all the tomatoes and made one big batch.

We are lucky that we planted 60 plants this year because the yield is nowhere near the yield from last year's 24 plants. We got 40 pounds of sauce from 24 plants last year.  My goal this year is 40 pounds from 60 plants!  Lack of rain and animals eating the tomatoes really has an effect on the yield.  I think initially we lost about 20-30 big tomatoes to the chipmunks & squirrels before I solved the issue.

The process is still the same. We wash them to remove the dirt in the sink and then cut them to fit in the juicer.  It doesn't matter if the stems stay on or not, they are removed in the juicer.

Champion Juicer, juice comes out the bottom; seeds, skins & stems come out the side.

 The process moves along quickly, the juicer is fast.  When the bowl fills with juice, I dump it in the pot.

Using the hand food mill with the juicer waste pulp

Pulp, seeds and skins (waste from juicer) is processed through the hand food mill to remove whatever the juicer didn't extract.

Pot of sauce boiling down

The sauce gets boiled down (reduced) until it is the right consistency, usually a little thinner than store bought puree.  After it cools, we put in zip lock bags, remove the air, then vacuum pack the zip lock bag in a vacuum bag for freezing.

The finished product ready for freezing

This batch was 12 1/2 pounds.  Total 32 1/2 pound this season.  Still shooting for 40 pound from the garden.

Evan's Buying A Condo!

They accepted Evan's offer on a condo in North Providence, RI.  It has everything he wanted: Garage, nice kitchen with granite counter tops and access to outdoors with a small deck.  So nice that he's buying his own home. 

 Going for inspection today.  Will post our own pictures later.

Making Tomato Sauce

After we solved our varmints eating our tomatoes, we finally started getting enough to start making tomato sauce.  Last we we made 40 pounds, I am hoping to duplicate that this year even tough we had more than 60 plants!  The critters do a number on the tomato yield this year.

We still use our 40 year old Champion Juicer to make the sauce. It's so quick!

Sauce reducing on the stove

The first batch about 10 1/2 pounds (1 1/2 gallons)

The second batch was about the same, so we now have over 20 pounds of sauce. Halfway to our goal!

Chipmunks Eating Our Tomatoes

At first we thought it was a groundhog that was eating our tomatoes, but we actually saw a chipmunk chowing down on one.  We have already have lost over 20 ripe tomatoes.  There are a lot of chipmunks.  I am going to try the Cayenne Pepper & Garlic spray to see if that works.  Good thing our plum tomatoes for sauce aren't ripe yet.  We really need those to have sauce for the entire year.

Today I also cleaned out the outdoor furnace to get it ready for the winter.  This is how we heat our house when we don't use oil.  Oil was so cheap last year, we didn't fire it up all winter.  But now I am getting it ready just in case we need it.  I also filled it with water and started to the pump to see if everything was operational.  It was!  Just have to buy the anti-corrosive agent & I will be all set to go.

Stove in operation back in Jan 2013

Tomatoes!

We are finally getting some red tomatoes on the vines.  All through this dry spell I have been hand watering the base of these plants.  Finally, the watering has paid off and we anr getting rip tomatoes.  I have 60 plats in this garden.  24 Plum tomatoes plants for sauce, 6 Cherokee Purple Heirloom, 6 Yellow Brandywine Beefsteak,  12 Celebrity (early) and 12 Jet Star (Early).

Our New Roof is being tested

The next day after the roof was finished, and for a few more days we got the much needed rain.  Good thing the roof was finished last week and not scheduled for this week!

Turkeys are Back

After all the springtime courting the turkey couples disappeared into the woods.  Just today two couples emerged with their babies in tow.