Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Opa]

The most tedious task when making tomato sauce is removing the water. With that in mind I decided that rather than boiling them in water to soften I would heat them in the oven. Worked great. The food mill removed the skln and seeds. Placing the juice and pulp in a large roasting pan and then using the oven means you are not standing at the stove boiling it down with the inherent risk of scorching it. I set the oven at 250, prop the oven door open slightly with a pot holder to let the moisture escape, and then stir it about once a hour.

The type tomato you are using will dictate how long it takes to cook down. Romas being a meatier tomato take substantially less time than a juicy beefsteak. Twelve hours is not unusual for cooking time but you don't have to watch it like you would cooking them on the stove top.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Congrats on getting the goats, Silly!

I have a neighbor who what to sell one of her very friendly Saanen doe, I am thinking.... If I have permission to have a goat, will she fine living with the cows and stay in the cow fencing type?

I was just sitting in the house relaxing when I received a phone call.  It was Hope.  She was in the garden and wanted me to bring buckets down to put the tomatoes in.  I had intended to wait until the garden dried up before picking but she had gone to the garden to check and when she saw so many beautiful romas lying on the ground she couldn't leave them. 

My tomato plants grew so large that the rows inter-meshed and grew to the top of a 5' cow panel fence and back down to the ground.  As a result the only effective method to harvest was for me to hold the plants up while Hope crawled underneath.  Needless to say, when we were done she was quite dirty. 

We wound up with 2 milk crates full of romas, 1 crate of beefsteak, and a 3 gallon pail of cherry tomatoes.  So I now know what I will be doing tomorrow.  Canning tomatoes.  The plants are still absolutely loaded so I guess I am going to be a canning fool.

My family left me alone this Labor day weekend to spend some time up north. I could not go for I was working late that day, and no time to get all the animals ready for the neighbor to care for all of them. And I saw that there was LOTS of tomatoes ripe in the garden, so I picked 4 milk crates full of them, and started canning them at 5:40 pm, and got 49 quarts done at 1:00 am! Only 4 jars did not seal, so it was a good work. Also made tomato paste for the first time! Got 9 pints of them! It took at about 5 hours to make it pasty from romas.

 

[Farmerboy16]

The most tedious task when making tomato sauce is removing the water.  With that in mind I decided that rather than boiling them in water to soften I would heat them in the oven.  Worked great.  The food mill removed the skln and seeds.  Placing the juice and pulp in a large roasting pan and then using the oven means you are not standing at the stove boiling it down with the inherent risk of scorching it.  I set the oven at 250, prop the oven door open slightly with a pot holder to let the moisture escape, and then stir it about once a hour. 

The type tomato you are using will dictate how long it takes to cook down.  Romas being a meatier tomato take substantially less time than a juicy beefsteak.  Twelve hours is not unusual for cooking time but you don't have to watch it like you would cooking them on the stove top.

 

Let me share on how we have always canned our tomatoes-

Fill the sink of tomatoes and water and wash them

Cut the stem part out and any bad spots

Cut big ones in halves, toss the whole thing in the blender

Puree them until there are no chunks

Pour them in a pot

keep pouring in pot 'til full

When the tomatoes are hot enough, pour in clean jars that have lemon juice and salt

Then put the lid and rings on them, then put them in the pressure canner

Pressurize for 15 minutes

For the sauce, same thing only I had to boil them for 5 hours before canning them.

 

[Farmerboy16]

RaZ!!!!!!!

Please pm me about the trial. Hope that it went well for you.

 

[Stacykins]

Congrats on getting the goats, Silly!
I have a neighbor who what to sell one of her very friendly Saanen doe, I am thinking.... If I have permission to have a goat, will she fine living with the cows and stay in the cow fencing type?

The saying is, if a fence can't hold water, it can't hold a goat. A bit of an exaggeration, but it makes a good point. The fencing you have for the cows might have gaps that are too wide to adequately contain a goat. Fine for cattle, but easy for a goat to squirm through.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Congrats on getting the goats, Silly!

I have a neighbor who what to sell one of her very friendly Saanen doe, I am thinking.... If I have permission to have a goat, will she fine living with the cows and stay in the cow fencing type?

 

The saying is, if a fence can't hold water, it can't hold a goat. A bit of an exaggeration, but it makes a good point. The fencing you have for the cows might have gaps that are too wide to adequately contain a goat. Fine for cattle, but easy for a goat to squirm through.

We have a lot of bush that I would to get rid of in the cow pasture that I know that goats like to eat. I can add more strands of wire if that will help to keep her in? How many strands is best for to keep a goat in?
Thanks!

 

[snowflake]

The most tedious tag time but you don't have to watch it like you would cooking them on the stove top.

Thank you!!! I will try that this week....never did sauce before but wanted to try it this yr

Let me share on how we have always canned our tomatoes-
Fill the sink of tomatoes and water and wash them

when you fill the jars with cold tomatoes(or what ever you are canning... and do them in the pressure cooker, the contents tend to float to the top.....do you find that to be the case??
do you puree the tomatoes skin and all??

 

[uchytil]

Congrats on getting the goats, Silly!
I have a neighbor who what to sell one of her very friendly Saanen doe, I am thinking.... If I have permission to have a goat, will she fine living with the cows and stay in the cow fencing type?
My family left me alone this Labor day weekend to spend some time up north. I could not go for I was working late that day, and no time to get all the animals ready for the neighbor to care for all of them. And I saw that there was LOTS of tomatoes ripe in the garden, so I picked 4 milk crates full of them, and started canning them at 5:40 pm, and got 49 quarts done at 1:00 am!

Only 4 jars did not seal, so it was a good work. Also made tomato paste for the first time! Got 9 pints of them! It took at about 5 hours to make it pasty from romas.

Silly has goats? Cool. So, I just forested out about 50 standing pines but did a select cut leaving hardwoods all for goats! I'm installing (probably) 4 foot cow panels on 8 foot dedar posts with a 6-8" board at the top to create about a 6' high enclosure. The toggenburg I've got can jump over a four foot fence. Oh ans yes, goats havwe a claming effect on the other animals they are penned with. Just make sure she is chaecked out by the vet and cleared to live with a cow. There is a disease that goats can transmit to cows. Mine was tested and I get the results this friday.

Been boiling tomatoes all day and peeling them so wifey can can them tonight. Our garden has provided enough for us to live on thru next season. Of course we still buy more than we need - who can't live without milk and no I don't have a dairy cow yet. Pretty soon there'll be a mess of deer burger and salmon fillets in the freezer. My every two week visits preclude me from reading more than the last page so I hope everyone is doing ok and see you in another two weeks or so.

 

[Amy PT]

VJ, that's beautiful!

Raz, you could set yourself up a private blog and approve those who want to read your posts. That might be a little less work than all of the PMs. Or, it might be way more work; I'm not sure.

All of your tomatoes have me envious. Ours aren't ready yet, and they're sparse on the vines.

 

[BobBry]

Those goats are adorable, I want some so badly, but we need fencing first

How long is a hen usually broody? I have asked this question and bunch on BYC and no one answers for me, do I stink?

I don't think there is a usual time.

does any one freeze broccoli or cauliflower? I went on line and they said to boil for 3 min. I did that but it is now eating soft and I am sure if I freeze it will be mushy when thawed and warmed. isn't 3 min. a bit long. said to boil water add cauliflower bring to boil and boil 3 min???

Mary,
I would just try less time for the same amount of vegie.

Here are some updated pics of our coop "renovation". We just need to install the long windows, siding and the little run for them to get to the tiny chicken door. I'm in love!

This new section will be all just open floor space for them.

Looks good. Well laid out. I would use flat, rather than round roosts. Not as much effort for the birds to stay on them. Not jmo

I have successfully hatched eggs that were laid 2 weeks after mating however, 10 days is normally considered to be the maximum.

The first and part of tomato canning is complete. The tomatoes were washed, put into several large roasting pans, and the heat until soft. Next I ran them through a Vittorio food mill removing the skin and seeds. Finally about four gallons of juice and pulp was ready to cook down. Some went into an 18 quart roaster and the rest into a large deep roaster in the oven. Now all that remains is to wait for it to cook down.

I'm sure by Friday there will be just as many tomatoes ready and the process starts all over again.

Sam,
I'm thinking of not removing the skins. Think that would spoil the result?

Let me share on how we have always canned our tomatoes-
Fill the sink of tomatoes and water and wash them
Cut the stem part out and any bad spots
Cut big ones in halves, toss the whole thing in the blender
Puree them until there are no chunks
Pour them in a pot
keep pouring in pot 'til full
When the tomatoes are hot enough, pour in clean jars that have lemon juice and salt
Then put the lid and rings on them, then put them in the pressure canner
Pressurize for 15 minutes
For the sauce, same thing only I had to boil them for 5 hours before canning them.

Daron,

Thanks for this post. You just made my day.