You Say Tomato…
Tomatoes are easily one of the most favourite crops of home gardeners because they can be grown in a garden, in a large pot, or in a greenhouse if you have one. Now, hopefully you’ve started growing and tending to your tomatoes seeing as we have a shorter growing season here in Alberta.
Here are a few tips to keep them healthy and growing strong.
Prune your tomatoes. In order to divert the plants energy in the right direction (the growth of the fruit) then you must prune back branches that are brown or wilted and ensure that the plant doesn’t have too many extra leaves. You also will need to remove the ‘suckers.’ Suckers are tiny new branches that sprout in the spot where the branch meets the stem.
Well drained soil with high organic content is best to keep your tomatoes growing. They’ll need water at a steady rate, but not too much. About 16 oz per plant per day is recommended.
Once you pick ’em, storing your tomatoes really depends on how ripe they are. Here are a few rules to follow:
-Keep green, unripened tomatoes stem side down in either a paper bag or in a cardboard box making sure you don’t stack them.
-If your tomatoes are ripe and ready to go, then keep them at room temperature on the counter and avoid direct sunlight.
Why not in the fridge? Tomatoes kept in the refrigerator can quickly lose their flavour and can often develop that grainy texture that you might be familiar with. That said, if a tomato is at risk of over-ripening on your counter before you’ll have a chance to eat it, then popping it in the fridge can slow the ripening.
Here’s an easy recipe for Oven-Dried Roma Tomatoes
Ingredients:
Roma Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Dried Oregano
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Take as many roma tomatoes as you like and trim off the top and bottom. Cut the remaining tomato into 4 equal round slices if it’s a large tomato and 3 if it’s a medium tomato.
3. Place your tomatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet.
4. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano.
The length of roasting will be 3-4 hours, depending on the level of moisture in your tomatoes. Check them every so often and move them around gently. Some may cook faster if they are nearer to the outside edges of the pan so you’ll find that you will be taking some out while others need more time.
Put these delicious dried tomatoes on a cheese board, in pasta, on a salad or just eat them as is!
If there are any leftover, store them in an airtight container in the fridge. These will still have some moisture content, depending on how long you let them go in the oven, so they’ll last you a few days in the fridge.
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