Most people with home gardens have so much produce that they can’t even give it away lol. I grew tomatoes last year and it was all I could do to keep up with three plants in the late summer.
That’s true, but it’s also nowhere near enough to live on.
They get a huge batch of something all at once, and then it’s a scramble to eat it, give it away, pickle it, can it, etc. But, the total number of calories produced throughout the season isn’t enough to even keep one person alive.
I grow tomatoes because they taste infinitely better than what you can buy.
Yes, I end up with more tomatoes than I can consume. For about one month. For about 8 months of the year if I want fresh tomatoes I have to buy them still.
I’m just confused about how you can have more tomatoes than you could possibly eat during grow season, but still have to buy tomatoes for 3/4 of the year
I wonder, could you freeze a tomato salad? I make mine with a ton of oil and vinegar (plus they are sliced, so a ton of tomato juice) to the point where it’s almost like a soup. I’ve never tried but I wonder if that would freeze ok.
It would not. If you want to stick it in a freezer, you’d have to displace all the water with anti-freeze first, otherwise mush. Bonus, antifreeze is delicious. A tasty last meal!
If it were possible and safe to freeze raw tomatoes for salads, you would have seen packages of them in your grocer’s freezer. If you’re willing to use them for soup/stew, here’s how to do it without making anyone sick:
I was thinking I could freeze the salad after making it. Maybe I make my tomato salads different than others here. I use so much vinegar and oil it’s practically a soup. And soup freezes, so I’m thinking this would work. (I am not thinking of freezing whole fresh tomatoes, if that’s what people are wondering.)
I live in a town house but I don’t actually have a grassy backyard, just a small shared deck. I’ve filled it with as many planter boxes as I can but last year I was only able to get two tomatoes to grow and both were stolen by squirrels 🥹
How large is your garden mate? Or alternatively how bad are you at giving produce away? My grandparents have quite a large garden and have never had issues with too much stuff
Definitely! For example, a zucchini plant might give you a fruit per day for about 3 weeks, which is more than my family can eat. The options for us then are a) canning such as zucchini relish (highly recommend!) or b) grate it and freeze it for future baking (zucchini bread, egg bites, etc.)
It’s really quite a blessing to have people with such a wealth of knowledge about gardening in the family. It takes a lot of seasons to learn how to be so good at it.
My dad has all sorts of fruit trees and vegetables, I’m over here now trying to keep a rosemary alive, its supposed to me super resilient but it keeps drying up so I water it but maybe the clay dirt is too much for it.
Poor thing has been planted and removed like 5 times due to different house projects. Its like as soon as I plant it all of a sudden they want to use that space
I feel so seen. I ended up making pizza sauce with all of my tomatoes. I would have homemade pizza about once or twice a month, and that is after using as many tomatoes as I could for sandwiches. In my experience, I would say 3 plants is just before the threshold of “too many”.
Most people with home gardens have so much produce that they can’t even give it away lol. I grew tomatoes last year and it was all I could do to keep up with three plants in the late summer.
That’s true, but it’s also nowhere near enough to live on.
They get a huge batch of something all at once, and then it’s a scramble to eat it, give it away, pickle it, can it, etc. But, the total number of calories produced throughout the season isn’t enough to even keep one person alive.
I can’t get anything to grow because the dumb animals keepnwating everything, despite my efforts.
I grow tomatoes because they taste infinitely better than what you can buy.
Yes, I end up with more tomatoes than I can consume. For about one month. For about 8 months of the year if I want fresh tomatoes I have to buy them still.
Why don’t you can and freeze your extra tomatoes?
Why do you think I don’t?
I’m just confused about how you can have more tomatoes than you could possibly eat during grow season, but still have to buy tomatoes for 3/4 of the year
I said fresh tomatoes. You can’t make a salad with frozen tomatoes.
What, everyone loves crunchy salad
They said they have to buy them if they want fresh tomatoes, not just in general. ie frozen isn’t fresh
Because you said you buy them from the store off-season.
I said fresh tomatoes.
You don’t make a tomato salad with frozen tomatoes.
The information was never withheld. It was never asked for.
…still, tho. That whole back and forth for one gag?
Not with that attitude.
But no, really, you made the right call here.
Fight fight fight!
We can have a UFC match at the white house. It’ll be awesome. Wait…
I wonder, could you freeze a tomato salad? I make mine with a ton of oil and vinegar (plus they are sliced, so a ton of tomato juice) to the point where it’s almost like a soup. I’ve never tried but I wonder if that would freeze ok.
It would not. If you want to stick it in a freezer, you’d have to displace all the water with anti-freeze first, otherwise mush. Bonus, antifreeze is delicious. A tasty last meal!
If it were possible and safe to freeze raw tomatoes for salads, you would have seen packages of them in your grocer’s freezer. If you’re willing to use them for soup/stew, here’s how to do it without making anyone sick:
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/vegetable/freezing-tomatoes/
There’s links on the page for a lot of other garden vegetables as well.
I was thinking I could freeze the salad after making it. Maybe I make my tomato salads different than others here. I use so much vinegar and oil it’s practically a soup. And soup freezes, so I’m thinking this would work. (I am not thinking of freezing whole fresh tomatoes, if that’s what people are wondering.)
If you decide you want to save on canned tomatoes for pasta and use the cash to buy winter salad tomatoes, here’s the safe way to freeze some of your extras: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/vegetable/freezing-tomatoes/
I live in a town house but I don’t actually have a grassy backyard, just a small shared deck. I’ve filled it with as many planter boxes as I can but last year I was only able to get two tomatoes to grow and both were stolen by squirrels 🥹
Timing is hard. They product like mad in a very short window.
Canning is a layer of hell.
Freeze dryers are slow, expensive and consume a lot of electricity.
If I had the time/space, I’d stagger my planting, start it indoors, start another batch on time and another late.
How large is your garden mate? Or alternatively how bad are you at giving produce away? My grandparents have quite a large garden and have never had issues with too much stuff
I wonder, do they can stuff as well? Thats the only way to fully utilize a large gardens produce I think. And yes, I did eat all those tomatoes.
Definitely! For example, a zucchini plant might give you a fruit per day for about 3 weeks, which is more than my family can eat. The options for us then are a) canning such as zucchini relish (highly recommend!) or b) grate it and freeze it for future baking (zucchini bread, egg bites, etc.)
They sure do. Freeze a lot of it as well. Leeks, raspberries, drying spices, making cherry/apricot kompot, making marmelade…
The only thing they complained about this year has been too many cherries. I’d know I had to pick like ⅓ of them.
It’s really quite a blessing to have people with such a wealth of knowledge about gardening in the family. It takes a lot of seasons to learn how to be so good at it.
My dad has all sorts of fruit trees and vegetables, I’m over here now trying to keep a rosemary alive, its supposed to me super resilient but it keeps drying up so I water it but maybe the clay dirt is too much for it.
Poor thing has been planted and removed like 5 times due to different house projects. Its like as soon as I plant it all of a sudden they want to use that space
I’ve seen rosemary grow in the desert without needing much other than an automated lawn (drip) sprinkler, on a timer like 3(?) times a week?
One tomato plant can be too many for a family of 4. You don’t need a large garden to have too many tomatoes (or zucchini)
What kind of monster tomato plants are you growing? We are a family of 5 and we have 10+tomato plants which often don’t feel enough.
And we all know families survive off of just tomatoes.
Amazing how many of you believe growing enough for for 5kcals a day is some hobbiest task.
I feel so seen. I ended up making pizza sauce with all of my tomatoes. I would have homemade pizza about once or twice a month, and that is after using as many tomatoes as I could for sandwiches. In my experience, I would say 3 plants is just before the threshold of “too many”.
It’s a weird split. I’ve tried to have a garden and would get like five fruits.
Because they buy the actual substance food at the store. Ignoring the macros, you’re eating 80 tomatoes a day person to just keep up.
I was about to say. Everyone I’ve ever known who grew tomatoes always had significantly more than they could personally use.
My mom fills an upright freezer with salsa and tomato sauce from like 5 plants each year.
Lol yeah, I have dozens of tomatoes sitting out there on the vine right now because we can’t eat them fast enough.
You probably could if it was all you had