Best tomatoes for passata

[mudpies]

Aha - this is my cunning plan - make my teenager into my domestic goddess so she can make all the preserves for me and I can do all the growing!! She's off to River Cottage soon to do her work experience - so the plan is coming together!!
Am suffering freezer envy now VC - would dearly love more freezer space

[veggiechicken]

How many cu ft would you like? Just send a SAE.
What a brilliant plan for your daughter and what a wonderful place to do work experience. Is there an upper age limit?

[mudpies]

We met Hugh FW after he gave a talk at a smallholders thingy we went to last year and he invited her down - really nice chap. She has already been once and is going back soon for another stint - having been brought up with the seasonal produce mantra she is in her element!
Agree with you about the age limit - I'd love to go!

[Alison]

Does it keep Ok Alison?

So long as you process properly will keep for at least a year but I've never managed to make enough to last that long. I make it up, pour into kilner jars and then pasturise for about 30 mins to kill all the bugs. You can also do it in a water bath but OH bought a pasturiser for his apple juice and cider so I thought I'd best make use of it.

My freezer is somewhat oversized these days so I have to fill it up with something. I'd like to be a kitchen goddess (no offence Alison) with a pantry full of preserves but I'm just not committed enough. Maybe one day.

Am deeply envious of your freezer space

[veggiechicken]

Lucky girl! You're on to a winner there.

[veggiechicken]

Am deeply envious of your freezer space

My husband was a meat eater so it was big enough for half a sheep and a quarter of a cow. Now that he is no more, I have all of that space to fill with fruit and veg - but I don't grow enough to fill it. Seems pointless buying a smaller one. Must grow more, keep saying over and over, must grow more....

[Alison]

My husband was a meat eater so it was big enough for half a sheep and a quarter of a cow. Now that he is no more, I have all of that space to fill with fruit and veg - but I don't grow enough to fill it. Seems pointless buying a smaller one. Must grow more, keep saying over and over, must grow more....

That's a bit of a rubbish way of getting loads of freezer space though, sorry

[veggiechicken]

Thanks Alison - he would have said the same.

[mudpies]

As a child I lived on the family farm with my great aunt...I remember the excitement in the winter as we defrosted the plums and mashed strawbs she froze in the summer.....so....must freeze more, must freeze more...my difficulty is that I just love eating it fresh, so maybe I should grow more too!

[veggiechicken]

Perhaps we should make this our mantra - Grow more, eat more, freeze more, preserve more, save more.....

[mudpies]

Sounds good! Time to get those seed packets out again then ( not that we need much excuse!)..

[taff]

I jar mine because I have a small-ish freezer and too much ther veg to freeze. It's handy in the vent of an electric failure too [never had one yet but there's always a first time]
I've been trying different varieties and doing about 4 of each type. I found the black tomatoes [yes really ] made the nicest passata so far, followed by cherry tomatoes, followed by plum tomatoes. There really is a difference in the taste, which stands ot reason if there's a difference when they're fresh, but there is aslo a large difference when cooked which I wouldnt have expected...maybe I'm just too dumb

[Newton]

Double or triple cordon. How do you do that? Just allow a side shoot to grow up a cane?

[chris]

I'm guessing two per pot (someone here uses those orange buckets from B&Q)?

[Thelma Sanders]

Double or triple cordon. How do you do that? Just allow a side shoot to grow up a cane?

yes, Rio Grande is only semi determinate and often carries on growing beyond a truss. the toms are so big/heavy that the plant just colapses if left to grow as a bush.
I choose 1 or 2 strong side shoots from near to the base and let them grow, tied to canes as you do a single cordon tom. Snap off anymore side shoots that try to grow.

I think It just makes them easier to control