Goodness in a Jar

There has been a whole lot of tomato processing going on here lately.  In my old garden I uesd to plant around 90 tomato plants to get the amount I wanted for the year and it wasn't unusual for me to end up going to a U-pick to get some extras.  This year I only have around 50 tomato plants but the soil is SO amazing that I'm getting loads of tomatoes off each plant.  Yesterday morning was spent making more passata and canning another batch of plain tomatoes.  If I could only can one thing each year it would have to be tomatoes (ooh,  plus peach butter...oh, and salsa, we can't go without salsa, oh but what about jam??).  Having homegrown, canned tomatoes to use makes everything I make - from soups, to sauces, to casseroles- taste so much better.  The difference is amazing.  I like to tell people that I'm not really a good cook, it's just that I use good canned tomatoes in everything. ;-) 

I've always just followed the instuctions in my well-used Ball canning guide.  I've had this for at least 20 years and I think it is a great resource for anyone just learning to preserve.

I like to put a leaf of basil in when I have it fresh and I use lemon juice rather than citric acid.

I used to like to have about 80 jars on hand but now that I do so many stewed tomatoes for the freezer I don't do as many jars of regular canned.  Although, it would be tragic to run out...

I hope you're enjoying getting some summertime goodness tucked away for winter too.