Tomatoes: Harvest | Cook & Preserve

One pair of pants later, much better. The one bathroom, our small temporary house, was clogged. Finish electric, painting, floors. Just 3 little trades left. All goes well, certainly by September 1st— certainly not end of August— we'll be back into our homestead dream house. Hey, Children, it's time to get out, process these tomatoes, get hay up to the Harriet's Posse, move them. Harvesting and putting up tomatoes, and then we got to get the cabin ready for our cousins.

Good morning! Oh, I think the camera is fogging up a little bit. It's like before 7 AM. But I have a very busy day today. It's insanely busy. Um, hey, Winnie! I've got my crate and I'm going to the high tunnel fast to pick tomatoes so that I can start canning tomatoes before Henry wakes up. So Henry is a very cuddly boy and he loves to cuddle, so it's been hard for me to get out in the morning times, because if I can get out here while it's cool— because man, it gets brutal in that high tunnel— then I can be roasting the tomatoes to get the skins off, and then cooking them down, getting ready to can, all those things. And then hopefully have a moment where I can cuddle with him, give him what he needs for his love tank today, and then can the tomato sauce. I'm picking up 2 bushels of peaches. We have family coming into town tomorrow. We're supposed to go on a picnic with friends tomorrow, but I don't know if the weather is going to work out on that, so we've got to get a lot of our work done today for when our family comes.

And then what else?

I might have to like buy some things for the cabin. So our family is gonna stay in the cabin. Oh dear, it looks like I might have a tomato hornworm. I see the evidence. I think I have more. I think I have quite a few tomato hornworms. See, I'm wondering— I need to look. I think that's a tomato hornworm. I just need to come through here and get all those guys off. I've been picking those off, eating the little tomato. Better get to work. Look at the bounty. Ah, look at the bounty. There's still a ton in here. So this is where we're at, and, um, I see that Sally was left down here last night, so I'm gonna go grab her. Here's the gross tomato. Hi, buddy. How do I put it in here for you, bud? Look, I gave you a treat. Look, look right there. There you go, the tomato. That we can't eat. Oh, you don't want it. Oh, you do want it. Okay, good. I'm gonna go home and get started to process these tomatoes. I'm, I'm very pleased with how well they have turned out. I'm very pleased with how well these seeds have done for me. So I've never grown this variety before. But they are absolutely delicious. I guess it rained a lot last night, which is so good. This, this season has been hilarious because like spring was super wet and then June was pretty dry. We did have some rain but not as much as we had in like the rest of the spring. Anyways, now it's raining again. The kids are kind of upset because they felt like it's putting a damper on their swimming. I am not upset because we need a lot of rain to recover from not having rain for a while.

I heard you talking. I said, who's she talking to? You're talking to your vlogging friends. Look at that harvest. Is that all of them?

Um, no, there's still some that are orange.

Okay. But you can only process so many at a time.

Yeah, like a crate I think is gonna be good enough. Fred, I fed Fred bed. The two big pigs a tomato each that were like rotten. It's breakfast time. They don't— they don't know.

They eat it?

Oh yeah, they don't watch the internet, so they're bored. I'm saying they don't have anything to do, so that tomato was great.

That's big excitement. A tomato was prime time TV for them, babe. All right, that was their 8 o'clock show. We're gonna have to give them about it. We're gonna have to give them an 8:30 show here in a minute. Beauty's gonna get started with processing tomatoes, but the lighting in there is terrible. Suddenly our light bulbs went really yellow. Depressing to work in and will be terrible lighting for the vlog. So we go across farm to the pantry. I will be happy when that's over. But all our stuff is in one place. That light, yeah, it's not that orange, but almost. Nothing. One of them's not yellow. Oh, so those are just straight up yellow?

Yeah, amber yellow.

Okay, so these were in the cleaning closet. So is there another space?

Yeah.

Oh yeah, that's a lot better. Okay, let's see if we can't find more. These are only yellow lights. Back to the cabin. I miss being in this cabin now. It's a little roomier. Honestly, we thought we were just gonna be 2 months, and so we didn't get it fixed up. We were just gonna camp out in a little farmhouse. There's no cabinets. For those that you don't know, we were over here in this roomier cabin till— no carpet on this floor either— till there was a grease fire They had to pull up all our carpets, take all our cabinets, and we weren't in a terrible hurry. This is where I thought she said— oh yeah, looky here, looky here. Oh yeah, I've hit the mother lode of light bulbs. So we weren't in a terrible hurry because we thought we were just gonna be 2 months. And besides, the insurance people, the, the restoration people boxed up all their stuff. It's like they packed us to move. Well, it's taken longer than we expected, and that's okay. We're getting work done every day. Every day we get closer to getting into our house. Rebecca's cousins are coming from Nebraska, so they want to— they want to stay on farm. So we want to get that house as decent as we can. They just want to visit a lot. That's awesome. Before, after. Better?

Yep, it's wonderful.

Less depressing for you?

Yes.

Better lighting for the vloggers?

I had these two tomatoes left over from last week. I guess Friday I harvested them, so they're gonna go into the bunch. I'm gonna start washing tomatoes, cutting them, and then put them on trays. You can roast them, so the reason I roast them is then I can just pull the skins off, then I put them into a strainer and they kind of strain some of the extra liquid out, and then I put them into a pot and cook them down. So that's kind of my process that I'm going to do. And then, um, so you can roast them at a lower level, and you probably could roast them until they were cooked down and all of that, but this is just what I found is easiest for me. You find your, um, happy place. And, um, and then I just water bath can. Okay, so that is such a nice looking tomato. Just put it face down.

This project, harvesting green beans before they go— I gotta review the vlog real quick. Those little love tank up means I'm taking over the tomatoes, getting our water. First thing I mixed her The skin come off easy. I mean, look at that. We're gonna let them cool down a little bit, but there you go. These quart jars without lids only do 7 jars at a time, so we're thinking and hoping one crate is about 7 jars, and then we'll know. And we'll know, hey, when we have a crate full— when we think we have a crate full of tomatoes, it's time to harvest. Ideally nothing less, and ideally nothing more. We cut out this handy knife. We cut out the core and then cut this in half. Kind of ran out of room for a tray, but it's not enough room for another tray, you know what I'm saying? Hopefully Beautiful want to let that slide. They're cooled off now. I'll skin them. Help me skin them, Birdo. After they're peeled, you squishing out some of the water?

Yeah, well, so look at all the water that's in in here.

Yeah, look at all that.

And then I'm just gonna let it sit and strain it a little bit.

The name of the game now is getting all the water out of the tomatoes, correct?

So this is the problem.

I was getting it out of your way, which is now more in your way. We were planning to be in our house like April.

It is what it is.

Can't let these tomatoes go to waste.

No way.

I don't know where we're gonna make breakfast, but Breakfast don't have to wait. Lily just asked us, is this worth it? Because I mean, it's a lot just to process this, let alone build the soil, plant the plants, string them up, trim them. Beautiful one and I were naming benefits galore. The soil wasn't compromised. We know where it's coming from. It's totally pure. These things have never been sprayed, organic or not, with anything. They were vine ripened. Which has—

which generally the tomato sauce is vitamin E.

Oh, it is? Okay.

But then also like, just how it's been processed.

It didn't travel.

It's local. It's local to us.

It's as local as it can get. What would convince you?

Maybe if I liked them.

Yeah. I don't really like tomato sauce. Well, you do like tomato sauce in your Mexican rice. That's what we're making. You also like it in your spaghetti. Ooh, pizza sauce. See, now you're thinking. She's wanting to do this for her taste buds, which I don't blame her. We're gonna have to find ways to enjoy this process because it's all about the process, isn't it?

Mm-hmm.

We're spending time with you, spending time with Mama.

Food prices are very expensive.

Yeah, right?

Every time I go to the grocery store, I'm shocked.

What would you have to pay for a jar of tomato sauce?

So the one that I normally get is like a strained, and it's like I want to say it's like $5. It used to not be $5.

Really?

You could probably— you could probably—

I mean, that seems cheap compared to all this work. You had me at the health points. Is this what you're talking about?

Yeah, so that's, that's what I'm comparing it to.

That's only $5?

Um, I don't know how much it is. I should look it up. I think it's $5. I mean, how many ounces is it? I'm trying to see.

Oh, it's probably half— what, a quarter?

It's 24 ounces and a A quart is $32.

Okay.

So.

So that's like $7 or something.

Well, hold on a second. The spaghetti sauce that I was purchasing.

Yeah.

It's like $12, $10 for a quart.

It's not even a quart. So we'll make $70 worth of tomatoes today.

But also it is more about like, just knowing.

Yeah!

I feel like it tastes better.

There you go.

There you go, Lily.

Mom says it tastes better. Sometimes you just have to find more reasons than saving money, because especially 3 people working 3 hours for $70—

this is not 3 people working 3 hours because I worked and I did a lot of this. You guys literally are just picking the skins off. That's the easiest part.

I thought you said it's coming tomorrow. Yesterday?

Well, I thought that was—

all right, Anna tied up her pot with the chicken broth.

We've got the jars sterilizing, being warm, waiting for us to be done. I got my burner back now that breakfast is done, and I am just going to— I started and then I remembered that I needed to show you guys, um, immersion blending. And then we're gonna cook this down and then get it in jars and get it canning. This is cooked down not a whole lot because I'd gotten so much— I mean, so most of the water. And actually, we already gave a bunch to the pigs, so I got quite a bit of the water or juice, whatever you want to call it, out, um, before I even like cooked it down. So I feel like it's at a good consistency and I am ready to start. I had heated this back up in the process of cooking this So I'm going to get out my lemon juice and get started.

Cutting it now?

Well, I might do crushed tomatoes with these.

This batch? Or just this portion of the batch?

This portion of it. I don't know. I have quite a bit.

What do you do with crushed tomatoes? For recipes?

I'll put that in sauce and and chili.

Mmm. Putting this on pause. Lily can have a burner for breakfast. Lily, I'm not eating, but I bet everybody else is. Henry, we're gonna go, okay? Let's put on your shoes so you don't step on any more bees, huh? What do you need with your turkeys?

I need this thing still.

Okay, you need it. Well, shoot, how are you gonna get that over there? Oh yeah, we need to put it in the back of Sally. And did you patch it? Yeah. Hey, I would have maybe taped it from the inside. Oh, do you have tape down here?

Yeah.

All right, let's do that. Go get some tape. Pulling that from a failed waterer attempt. He tapes it here. I'm afraid all that pressure is going to push these. Wouldn't hurt to tape it from both sides. What's your idea with this thing? He's gonna have feed storage out on the field. Where the turkeys are. That's smart, Gideon. Have you not had your primetime TV yet? Doesn't look like it. Here's their scrap. Is it working, Gideon? Is it too grainy and not sticking? Okay, wipe it down, wipe it down. No, take one of those towels, look, and wipe the grain off the wall. It's not sticking because there's probably a little bit of grain residue on it. I divided my pig scraps into two buckets. I don't know, give them 4 or 6 pounds a day. So I got a couple good scraps, so maybe just 4 pounds of grain. And that's our adult pig ration. Get in there while he's eating to cover his poop. You carry all that all by yourself? Yeah, that's pretty impressive. I want to see it. That's a 50-pound bag, bud. Yeah, all right, let's get out of the way of the track loader. We're gonna do a little hay bomb. Harriet's posse, always trying to make chores easier. This is one way. Instead of hauling food out every day, haul food out I don't know, once a week. This big girl probably lasts more than a week. Just hold on, I'm gonna put it right here. They're going there tomorrow. Next time, central location. They're going there tomorrow, so it's where it needs to be. It's probably time for their breakfast. I hate coming back. I usually get called into all kinds of things, and I want to be up on the mountain moving the Harriet's Posse and hay bombing with those boys. And if we all just intermittent fast— waiting. That's a one-man job now. All right, thanks for breakfast, Lily. So get in, eat you some breakfast real quick. Here's your pan. All right, hopefully you can take it with him. You think you can? Come on, let's go eat. And Sally, all right, all right, we'll hurry up. All right, Mom, radio me when he changes his mind.

Okay, so I've got my jars in here. I'm gonna let it come to a rolling boil and And then I will start my timer. In, in my area it's 40 minutes. My timer just went off. Just turned off the stove. Got my thing over there. Oh, my timer. I shut that off. Okay, so I'm just going to kind of let this cool down and then I'm going to take them out and put them over there. All right, there they are. I'm gonna let them cool for— I think it's 24 hours you're supposed to let them sit, and then you can move them around.

Yeah, bail up there. You got the bail? Thank you. You want to ride with us then? Oh, why don't you come back, grab breakfast real quick. Henry came out sooner than later. I want to get up there, but we got to get eggs. You know, it used to be every day collecting eggs was a big excitement, and now it's becoming a chore. I mean, you've done it every day for 15 15 years. My God, how many times is that? Austin, can you do the math? 365 times 15. That's not going to be good. I didn't think he was coming down. Hey, did you get that ram back in? Yeah. Oh good. Did you move them? Okay, we want to talk about— you guys think they need more security, like another strand? I want to ask you, in your honest opinion, 3 strands, you got to walk You got to put up your post, you got to walk it 3 times for 3 strands, you got to get— connect all 3 strands so they're all 3 electrified. Do you think that's actually easier than just putting up a net?

What?

Maybe it isn't. I'm gonna let you decide. You get to decide, and you get to direct Jonah and I. If you think nets are easier, I'm happy to help. If you think 3 strands are easier, I'm happy to help. We find out you made a mistake, it's fine. We'll just learn from it. You can think about it if you want. You want to go eat breakfast? Okay, breakfast is ready. I probably looked to Jonah too much for making decisions like that, so I'm happy to look to Josiah and let him make a decision. Bring this up about the eggs, not to complain, but just to give y'all a reality. And if some of y'all are feeling bored and like you're afraid to admit it, or you think you're a lousy homesteader because of it, you're not. It's not always exciting doing the same thing over and over again every day. It's boring. I don't care how exciting it is. Although the moment you open up the pasture for new cows and, and have them go over, I have yet to get sick of that. I would collect these in the afternoon they wouldn't be dirty. So either make an extra trip out to the coop or wash eggs. The vlog I was approving today was from one week ago today. I could see the growth in these plants big time. I wasn't sure these plants were growing, but every day I come in, I kill these Japanese beetles, whatever they are, that are eating this squat— the plant. Organic pest control, it's finest. Let's do this whole plot. Don't feed the Three Little Pigs this morning. I don't think so. Their trough's empty this early. Y'all didn't feed the Three Little Pigs, did you? Look at all that from— what was it, Friday? We put in all that garden waste. Totally gone. I mean, there's some left, but it'll compost. Gonna trick these pigs. Pigs and they're letting me give them— they have such, they have such lack of delayed gratification. They will knock their feet out of the pan as you pour it in. They got a little poop corner right there. You got to put a little piece of tin here so that this material stops falling out. You can't keep an animal in one spot without deep bedding or else they're living in their manure. This is some residue here. You heard of pigsties they're just living in their own mud. Folks, that ain't mud, that's manure. And the mix of that carbon and that poop, that nitrogen, and then turning it around and messing with it turns into compost. Don't tell the beautiful one, I'm kind of relieved we don't have a garden project today. We've been going heavy in the garden lately, and I'm glad we're gonna 2 bugs mating. Great to catch them in the reproduction act. Won't be any babies from that. Where are your shoes?

Gideon took them?

Yes. All right, come on, let's go get them. Gideon, grab his shoes. Serve as your ride. Find some else's shoes.

Oh, you found them.

Trying to film a little more of everything today. Maybe Sunday seed day. Because we're— we like to stay busy on the farm. Could be more of a mega vlog, if you will. What do you guys think? A lot of you like longer vlogs. Maybe we could do that once a week. Every other day, not sustainable. Once a week, or once every once in a while on a Sunday. Yeah, what do you think? You guys like the tour videos so much too. I was thinking let's do one a quarter at least this year. Wood chips in here, it's all mostly dissolved in the compost, especially right here. So much of these wood chips have already broken down in the compost. Clean egg. You don't want a broody hen in the end of July. No time to be hatching chicks. You want chicks born in the spring, you want them to start laying by that fall, they lay all winter. They all lay all that next summer, and then the next summer after that, the next spring and summer after that. And then as the new chicks are starting to lay their eggs, your new chick replacements— a lot of folks ask me what's wrong with their chicken. You think the Apron Permaculture Chicken Ninja Master would know. In some cases I do, but for the most part, what's wrong with your chicken— or my approach to chicken health— what's wrong with your chicken is you they didn't get a replacement. So more than likely she's old, and then if she's not, more than likely it's a problem because you don't have replacement chickens coming down the line. So a few chickens die here and there is totally normal. It's not a bad situation if you have some replacements coming down the line. All right, y'all ready to go help the brothers? Yeah, yeah, up at Grandma's. Hey, you went with the net! Does Decide. Went with the net. I think that's a good decision.

That's taking a little far.

I'm the boss. I let you make the decision today, and I think you did a good one. I honestly think two strands electric probably easier than a net. You have to put up this— the post, you have to walk it twice with the strands, so that's actually three times. I don't know if that is easier. Certainly if you do 3 strands, you're walking it 4 times. With a net, you're only walking it once. The net though is a little cumbersome, you know, trying to get through woods. This feels right. This bare spot, let's put hay on it. They will put hay on this grassy spot after they eat it all. Donna, go get the track loader and the grapples. Let's clear where they were. Pile brush. Do you think that wood down there, that firewood, is rotten? I don't know. Sheep were just here. They just helped us underbrush it. So now we can get this firewood out of here, we can get this brush piled up, and it'll be a better paddock next time. More— we're nook and cranny farming, trying to get everything we can get. We need to take that hay bale and put it over this bare ground. Shoot, we should probably seed too, stop this erosion and build some soil. That's what these hay bales are for. We're gonna need the chainsaw. Get in. Just like the other day, I can go get the chainsaw. Yeah, we came for the chainsaw, but then I realized Sally was out of fuel. Here we go. Wow, made something of this in no time. You're in the way right there. I can't get this chainsaw— I'm not gonna be able to get them out of the way. Won't be able to roll the hay. The soil's just gonna keep eroding. It's just been sitting too long. Should have drained the gas. I don't want to work up a sweat before I start chainsawing. Tag on. I should have tested it when I was down there. Jonah's about to push down a giant pine tree with the track loader. It's caught on that branch, or otherwise he'd probably be doing it. One more time in the shade.

You can do it! Start that thing! Start it! Start it!

I haven't used that in so long. I left fuel in it and the— oh, you got that pine tree up! Wow, this one's got fuel in it too. Should have emptied that. Maybe it'll have better luck though. This bathtub firewood is gonna be covering this up, still letting air get to it. I think that'll work. It'll dry out nicely. Can y'all pick up in here while I help Lily with lunch? Look at that, Rebecca, you got 7 cans! We're gonna try something special today. This is our steer. Stuttmuffin has a really strong flavor. There's some gristle in in it. We're gonna hope these steers are a little more neutral in their flavor. A variety of meats and probably something that you would serve to the guests. I don't know if it's probably gonna be too rich in flavor for normal people. We're gonna hope these are fat enough to cook in their own fat. I hope they're fat enough to taste good. Yeah, it's a little dry. Beck, it's nice out here.

So nice.

Are we out of that streak?

I believe so. I mean, I think it can happen again in August.

You opted for leftover salmon. I'm gonna test this, guys.

Have you not had it yet?

I have not.

Well, I thought you would have it.

Oh boy, is it good? Yes, definitely more neutral in flavor, which is what you hope for.

I'm not concerned about that.

There's no gristle in this so far. Christopher only took one bite. I can't wait till we get into our house and we start processing our own meat just so we can get the perfect fat ratio.

Mmm.

Super pleased with that steer burger. It means when we don't have enough leftovers for lunch— that's normally what we do for lunch, we make enough for dinner and then we have leftovers for lunch— we could eat a steer burger. And if we forgot to plan that out, just lay it out in the morning in some water and it'll thaw out. On the other hand, going to get us some local seasonal peaches. And she told him she wanted 2 bushels. What do you say to you?

They don't store like apples.

She's like, you know they don't store like apples.

But between our kids, we have family coming into town. They don't get fresh peaches where they live. Oh, it's hard for them to get fresh peaches. No, they don't. I texted her and said don't buy peaches when you go to the store. I'm gonna give something to my parents. The kids can eat all they want, and whatever's left over I'm gonna freeze. It's raining.

I know. Here, here, give me that.

Did you put him in his car seat?

Kids just went swimming. It was hot all morning, and then when they had their free time, it started to rain. That's a bummer for them. All right, get us some peaches. I told him he could eat all the peaches he wanted.

Oh, he'll be—

and you don't need to buy any more sweet, sweet fruits. We'll get some raspberries because they are so good right now.

That's pretty much my favorite.

Look at these peaches! This is 2 bushels. Yes, everybody, let's eat one. Organic North Carolina peaches. How is it, Josiah? Get a paper towel, bro. They're not apples, they're juicy. Local peaches, they need to be ripened a little bit. Get a paper towel, bro. Not yet. Towel. We're out of towels. I'll let you flip the laundry.

We're gonna make so much peach cobbler.

Where are you going?

I texted Lauren and I said don't buy any peaches because we have peaches. She says we never get free fresh peaches.

No.

I said you guys can eat all that you want. So my thought is I'm gonna let the kids eat all that they want.

Oh yeah.

And then whatever's left over I'm gonna freeze.

And that was only $40.

He doesn't know what's coming this August.

We're gonna—

because I'm gonna be buying 2 bushels a month until December when I buy 6 bushels of apples. Them in cold storage or something? No, he grew these.

At the cabin now to check on things. Lily's been hard at work all day. We gotta tidy up this porch. Testing. Oh, she's mopped! You guys missed this home. It's cozy cabin. Ah, I need these for this dirty eggs. We should probably do something about that. Very important that we have something nice for our cousins. As nice as we can offer. Oh, we liked last Sunday's dinner so much— supper— we're making it again.

We're recreating it.

She's making fried green tomatoes.

We didn't make sweet tea though, did we?

Yeah, we did.

Oh, you did?

Yeah, we made it, baby. Sweet tea, biscuits, fried chicken. Here it comes. Brined in buttermilk, fried in our lard and tallow. I might actually eat a little bit of cucumber salad if we have that. I will not eat green beans. How about some greens with this meal?

We've got a cucumber salad and green tomatoes.

Tomatoes are looking nice. Chicken is good, it's now in the oven coming to temp. Biscuit, fried chicken, meat for the future, cucumber salad. My beautiful family, I'm very thankful for. Thank you all for all your hard work on on this, growing it and putting it on the table. We're glad you're feeling better. We're glad everybody's doing better. This is a point in our family where everybody's doing good and we're gonna enjoy that. Happy day.