Canning Tomatoes!

 It is the summer season and we are canning our produce from the garden. Recently we have been canning tomatoes. I'm going to share with you how we can our tomatoes straight from the garden. Here it goes!!! :)

1. First you want to get a good big pot heating on the stove. This will be for your tomatoes to bathe in so that there skins will come off easily. 

 2. Then you want to have your jars ready. A canner usually takes about eight jars total so you need eight jars, eight lids, and eight rings. Make certain to keep everything hot so that the tomatoes will can well. You should wash out your jars and fill them with hot water and let them sit while you get everything else ready.

 3. Next you will need to put a little pot on your back burner with eight lids, making sure that you have enough Wide Mouth lids and Regular lids. Don't let your water come to a boil, just let in be on low.

 4. Then of course you will have your eight rings. These do not have to be hot or in water. Just make sure that when you screw them on you don't put them on to tight. This could prevent the jar from sealing properly. Make it so that it is a little loose.

 5. Now you put your tomatoes in the hot water, nearly boiling but no quite, and you leave them in there for about fifteen seconds, not very long.

 6. You will then take them out and put them into a strainer and run cold water over them in the sink.

 7. Now it is time to start chopping! You want to get all the skins of and cut the core out. After this, you cut your tomatoes in halves or quarters and plop them in a jar. P.S. Dump the water out before you put your tomatoes in.




8. When you get about half way up your jar you put a teaspoon of salt in and continue to fill with juicy tomatoes.

9. When you reach the first ring in your jar you stop and squash the tomatoes down deeper and let the juice come out. You should take a wooden spoon, or something long, and keep on squashing the tomatoes down. This will help air bubbles to come to the surface.



10. After that you wipe the lid with a clean wet cloth and place your heated lid on and a ring to go with it. Place the completed jar into your canner.


11. When you get all your jars filled and ready to go you can can your tomatoes. I'm not going to tell you how to do that so you will have to find someone else who will. :P


Enjoy!

Some New Arrivals!!!

This is Merry Adok and Peregrine Took!!!! As you will probably remember, Merry and Pippin are from the Lord of the Rings. But in fact, these ducks are from a farm which is owned by a family we know from church. We did have three ducks but one got lost the first day. Anyhow here are the
two we have now and they are adorable!!!  

Peregrine Took

Merry Adok

The Fellowship of the Ring