A Parade of Tomatoes

I decided to plant a beefy steak heiloom tomatoe in the garden this year...Wow Baby!! They are so nice and huge they have totally brought my plants to the ground...even with cages. You all know what tomatoe on the ground mean, right? Rotten tomatoes! I only lost a few....so I decided to pick all of them that were close to the ground and bring them up onto the deck to ripen.

As you can see the ones here on the end aren't to far off from being totally ready. I did harvest a bushel basket full of tomatoes yestereday on top of picking all of these, with many more waiting to ripen in the garden. I only got 4 quarts with the bunch I juiced yesterday. Small amount yes, but I was glad to break in my new strainer! After picking and washing the tomatoes you just quarter them and then run them through the strainer....the "junk" (skin & seeds) come out one end and the juice and meat come out another stainer...LOVE IT. My mom has always had one that we use when canning...this year I got one for myself.

While I wait for the rest of my yummy heirlooms to ripen...I am so giddy that I was able to fully can up the juice on my own for the first time (without my mama helping). Yep, I think it's safe to say I feel like such a "big girl" now. I will still can with my mom though, such a fun time we always have working together in the kitchen. It will be nice to accomplish small projects on my own in the mean time.

WOW! Is it Wednesday already.....ohhhh doggy...this week is flying by! Hope your week is going well, be sure to stop back again soon. Happy Garden Harvesting!