Tuesday, February 7, 2012

garden produce...




we have had an abundance of tomatoes this summer. after the many months it took for my winter crop to ripen i have come to understand the important role of sun in speeding up this process. i have also come to learn that many days of continuous rain will result in split and rotting tomatoes. however, we have managed to collect weekly basketfuls to turn into tomato passata. just another little baby step towards simple and sustainable living.

p.a - am currently looking for a good reference book for future canning and preserving - any reccommendations?

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8 comments:

  1. Beautiful looking passata!

    I love Eden Waycott's Preserving the Taste. She uses the lowest added sugars and cooks everything for the shortest period of time while still being safe.
    The Blue Chair Jam book is stunning too!

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  2. passata is such a great idea. i use this a lot at home. out tomatoes are doing the same as yours...it is just keeping the chickens away from them now. we like to let our chickens free range the yard but the vege patch is suffering. think it is time to build a fence. love your photos. xo.

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  3. Lovely looking produce. I can highly recommend "into the bottle" by Sally wise. It had heaps of good advuce and recipes for all sorts of jams, preserves, chutneys etc etc She has also written " out of the bottle" which has recipes for canned goods and preserves.

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  4. It depends on if you want to go old school or modern. I use the Ball Book of Preserving which is an American book when I am worried about botulism, or just use old recipes when I'm not, like CWA or old Australian Women's Weekly recipes.

    To be perfectly honest, I have a whole preserving kit, which is how you are meant to do it now to avoid poisoning yourself, and I find it can overcook the jam and spoil the flavour. I've mostly just been doing it the old way.

    Redback Trading Company sell great preserving jars and seals, but the are pricey.

    I love your tomatoes, the passata looks gorgeous. I can't grow tomatoes to save myself.

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  5. Mmm, lucky you. Our crop has been pretty much ruined by rain, fruit fly and a boxer dog with a taste for green tomatoes!
    I really like Ashley English's Canning and Preserving which is really detailed and great for beginners. I also just got AWW Classic Preserves, haven't tried any recipes yet but looks yum.

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  6. Wow. What a great harvest. I'm still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen, can't wait to make a salad or cook them up!

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  7. www.ozfarmer.com is the cheapest for the Ball preserving jars. They have the new daisy lids as well.

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