Preserving Your Harvest

[Birdsonghill]

IT does keep them looking better, but they keep acceptably well just placed in my veggie bin in the refrigerator a long time. I have had some keep several months, still eating them occasionally. They have kept ok in the ground here in the mid south, till late winter, before many rotted. I usually have them to eat from about November till about May in the garden or fridge. I get stingy with them in the fridge because of lack of space and eat them on special occasions, like Easter or my birthday. I am a fan of rutabagas because of ease to grow a large amount of food that is available in the winter. One large rutabaga will fill a good size serving bowl cut up and roasted and make servings for several people. A couple short rows (33 feet each)supply my home and my friends and family with all they ask for and that is frequently, with some of them being very disappointed when they run out!

 

[Birdsonghill]

I thought I might add, Rutabagas are harder to grow here from spring plantings, except very early plantings, if possible. when the weather is still "iffy" here. Plantings later in the spring suffer from the heat and pest attacks and seldom do well and quality of any harvested roots are often less desirable. I usually plant in August early September for most reliable results. West Tennessee area has hot and very humid summers and wet, and unpredictably cold weather sometimes in winters. Lows about 5 degrees F the last two winters, usually lowest about 12 to 15F, rarely below zero, but not to be unexpected a few times in a lifetime. Do not believe the new USDA climate zones baloney! They put us in zone 8 last year, after traditionally being zone 7. I have lived here all my life and we do not have a warmer climate! Hot and cold years have come and gone repeatedly with no trend one way or the other observable by me, plants or animals living here. WE had our hottest summers in the 1970's here and our coldest winters in the sixties and nineties here. Temps in my lifetime have ranged from about 109F down to about 10 below 0F. That low occurred about 1989 or 90 as I remember, in early winter, before Christmas. My fig trees and certain other plants that can or may not grow here successfully are good indicators of weather change. In zone 8 before the change some olive trees do ok, but will not survive in zone 7 of old. That is still the case this year. Cultivated Olive trees will not survive in west Tennessee now or in the recent past! Our climate has not changed , only an arrogance and the cherry picking of data supports a USDA climate zone change for west Tennessee! My Turkey figs in unsheltered locations burn to the ground every winter for decades here while my Celeste figs burn down some years and sometimes has not for seven or eight years in a row in the past. The last ten years they have burned down to the ground seven out of ten years! That indicates growing cold trend not a warming trend. Just an old gardeners view of this as he sees it recorded in his life of tending plants in the outdoor environment. This was a hot summer, but in the seventies we had even more sustained excessively hot days a few years. Hard to lie about the weather and crop zones to an old gardener. The record is in my life of lived experience and not from an academic making decisions based on select data that fits their objective, that they wish to find. Sorry about the rant, talking about crop and weather specs triggers me about the USDA and their decline into unreliability.

 

[Smokerbill]

OK, I think I'm finished making salsa. I just processed another 7 pints (plus one for the fridge). This batch is different... same proportions of onion, peppers and tomatoes, but it's a smoother texture.

I chopped the onions and jalapeno peppers (whole with seeds this time) in the food processor, down to 1/4" or less.

Instead of ripe tomatoes I used mostly half ripe tomatoes and a few green ones. I ran them through my Kitchen Aid veggie shredder attachment, cores, seeds and all. I strained out the bigger chunks and ran them through the food processor.

Combined it all with the vinegar, salt and black pepper, simmered, and processed. I have 26 pints now. Not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my tomatoes...

 

[Sammster]

IT does keep them looking better, but they keep acceptably well just placed in my veggie bin in the refrigerator a long time. I have had some keep several months, still eating them occasionally. They have kept ok in the ground here in the mid south, till late winter, before many rotted. I usually have them to eat from about November till about May in the garden or fridge. I get stingy with them in the fridge because of lack of space and eat them on special occasions, like Easter or my birthday. I am a fan of rutabagas because of ease to grow a large amount of food that is available in the winter. One large rutabaga will fill a good size serving bowl cut up and roasted and make servings for several people. A couple short rows (33 feet each)supply my home and my friends and family with all they ask for and that is frequently, with some of them being very disappointed when they run out!

Would like to ask, since you seem knowledgeable on all things Rutabaga - the best way to season and cook them. To me - it tastes a bit like a potato - but "wild", if that makes sense. Strong flavor - like a wild carrot. I liked it, but I think I'd prefer it a bit "toned down".

 

[Smokerbill]

Would like to ask, since you seem knowledgeable on all things Rutabaga - the best way to season and cook them. To me - it tastes a bit like a potato - but "wild", if that makes sense. Strong flavor - like a wild carrot. I liked it, but I think I'd prefer it a bit "toned down".

Rutabagas are close kin to turnips.

 

[Smokerbill]

I started in on making tomato paste at 4am this morning. I started out with 11.5 pounds of chopped tomatoes.

They were cooked in a stock pot for a while before straining out the seeds and skins. The juice went back into the stock pot for more reducing. After a couple hours I poured most of it into my crockpot and set it outside, set on high.

It's slow going. The level in the crockpot is dropping maybe 1/2 inch per hour. After 4 hours the consistency is similar to commercial canned tomato sauce. Maybe it'll be done in another 4 or 5 hours.

I'm guessing I'll end up with three or four 8oz jars worth, plus a few cups of concentrated juice that I put into the freezer. I think I'll just freeze the paste in ice cube trays when it's done instead of canning it in jars.

Never again. Too much effort, too little reward. LOL

 

[pennyJo1960]

Never did what I would call tomato paste just sauce.

 

[Smokerbill]

It's still thick sauce. I poured it out of the crockpot and put it in the fridge last night. Might just leave it as sauce. Same thing, just thinner. LOL

 

[Birdsonghill]

Would like to ask, since you seem knowledgeable on all things Rutabaga - the best way to season and cook them. To me - it tastes a bit like a potato - but "wild", if that makes sense. Strong flavor - like a wild carrot. I liked it, but I think I'd prefer it a bit "toned down".

I personally like the more pronounced flavor of rutabaga often served with potatoes ,carrots and cabbage in my home. Boiling them instead of roasting tones them down a little bit. I prefer them roasted more often than not, but still use them in a boiled beef dinner. Often in boiling the dinner, corned beef/beef roast, bay leaf, black pepper, a bit of pickling spice, garlic is in the seasoning mix. Roasted , I toss them in olive oil and herbs/spices, often oregano, a bit of garlic, rosemary, salt , red pepper flakes and black pepper. Experiment a bit and suit your own taste! They will always have more pronounced flavor than a plain potato but together they both compliment a dinner, for me. They are similar a turnip, but have their own thing/taste. I admit getting tired of them some winters, but I eat them often.

 

[Birdsonghill]

About tomato paste. The traditional way to make tomato paste is to use the over ripening fruits and only good ones, smeared out with the hand or a wooden spatula over a wooden board or table top out in the summer sun and monitor it and swish it around with a smearing action a time or two then collect it when the desired thickness/dryness achieved. I have watched this being done but never done it myself. I did not see any prep work, but they may have par boiled the fruits. They picked skins out of the paste as they smeared it. I think they covered it with olive oil in a crock afterwards. Being a kid and a long time ago details are unknown about storage or prep. I dehydrate mostly, make relish or make sauces with my tomatoes. I make and use a good bit of tomato /jalapeno sauce for tacos, enchilada sauce, red hot cayenne sauces with tomato and a variety of pasta sauces Italian styles. I have been having difficulty in growing good crops of organic tomatoes in recent years and seldom have as much as I want or expected in the past.