Welcome to my backyard city homestead

For years this quote was over my kitchen door leading out to the garden. Sadly I had to take it down a couple of years ago to repaint the wall, but its in the plan to replace it. It is an essential life truth.

Is there a difference between home grown tomatoes and store bought tomatoes?
Oh My! YES! The taste of a homegrown tomato is UNlike anything else this world has to offer. And a store bought tomato tastes nothing like it, even when grocer’s says they are “vine ripened” . . . . Let’s talk about “vine ripened” for a minute: what it is and what it is not. Ostensibly, that term should be clear right? It means ripened-on-the-vine. . . . Right? Allowing fruits to ripen on the plant before harvesting ensures the completion of its growing cycle, implying that all of nature’s nutrition is intact. But don’t be fooled; when you see a sign that says “vine ripened” with tomatoes that are together on a small branch. The whole truth is that those tomatoes ripened while still attached to that little branch. No one says that branch was on the plant or that the plant was still in the ground at the time they ripened, so yesssss, okay – by definition I guess we cannot dispute it, but by its truest definition – NO! They are NOT necessarily ripened on the plant. I hate when I see that term, because if we believe everything we read we’ll fall for the implication that THESE tomatoes are somehow better than other tomatoes we see on the shelf without the ‘sign’. I seriously doubt it. In most cases, the only difference is that little branch – those 4 or 5 tomatoes that are clustered together. And No, in most circumstances they were not ripened ON a plant which was still living.

In central Alberta even in our home gardens, it is not possible for all of our tomatoes to ripen on the plant before the season is over, so we pick the last of them green, allowing them to ripen in their own time. It’s the best we can do with approaching winter. Tomatoes naturally produce their own ethylene gas which causes them to slowly redden as they ripen at their own pace – even once they’re picked. This of course takes time. To speed up the process of ripening, many companies lock immature green tomatoes in an ethylene-filled chamber. This seems like a good solution on the surface, but it merely forces them to turn red, not affecting the “ripening” process enough. The result is that yes, they may be red, but they never had the chance to develop flavour – which is usually a natural companion to ripening AND an indicator of nutritional value. If like me, you have to pick some of your tomatoes not quite red or still green, allow them to ripen in their own time, the way nature designed. You will be richly rewarded by the homegrown tomato-taste, and its associated nutritional value.

Okay, thank you for the chance to rant a little – on one of my pet peeves. I’ll set that aside for now.

“A tomato may be a fruit, but it is a singular fruit. A savory fruit. A fruit that has ambitions far beyond the ambitions of other fruits.” – E. Lockhart

Several years ago I decided to put more effort into eating IN THE SEASON. The concept is encouraged by a directive in what I consider ‘scripture’. “All wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature and use of man – Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof . . . .” ¹ This is good counsel indeed, especially since we understand now that nutritional value begins to dissipate in the hour after harvest. The fresher the produce, the more nutrition it contains, so eating it in the season we are guaranteed to have the best that nature can offer. Keeping that tomato for months in it’s “fresh” state, gives us the outward impression that it is nutritional, but in actual fact it is impossible. In my opinion, we use the word “fresh” too loosely in this context.

Based on tomato retail sales, the average North American eats almost 30 pounds of tomatoes a year. If you like pizza or spaghetti, you probably eat more. If you like salsa, you probably eat even more. If you don’t like tomatoes, then I’m pretty sure I ate enough to make up for you. But what about those of us who grow and preserve our own? How would stats ever reflect that? I’m pretty sure no statistician keeps track of how many plants I grow (this year, 28 plants), or the fact that we eat FRESH tomatoes every single day from mid July through till the last one gets eaten in late November. I do not ever buy tomatoes from the produce department because they are almost always supremely disappointing. So based on sales of ‘fresh’ tomatoes, I wouldn’t even be counted, but make no mistake – our household consumes a LOT of tomatoes.

Let’s get it over with and off the table. Yes tomatoes are really ‘fruits’, and yes we eat them as vegetables. Why? Simply because their natural ‘sugar’ content is much less than other fruits, making it more suitable to be used in a salad or main dish rather than a dessert. In fact, because the seeds are inside (like a blueberry, gooseberry, currant or grape) the tomato is actually a ‘berry’. It doesn’t make any difference, we’re still gonna eat tomatoes as vegetables – but it is interesting.

where do tomatoes come from?

Tomatoes originated in South America where the indigenous people cultivated them to use in their cooking. Not surprisingly, it was the Spanish who brought them to Europe and ultimately to the rest of the world. Within a short time, they became very popular in Spain, and were distributed throughout the Spanish colonies in the New World, including the Caribbean, and Central America, even as far away as the Philippines. They grow easily in warm climates so it was an easy fruit to adopt, and it literally changed the way the world ate.

In Europe it took a little longer, as they were regarded with suspicion for a number of reasons. They were identified as part of the nightshade family, and though the fruit was edible, it was well understood that the plant itself was dangerous; that was hard for many to get over. As well, wealthy Europeans often ate off pewter plates. Pewter being a metal alloy includes tin, copper, sometimes lead, and sometimes silver. The acid in tomatoes reacts with many metals and lead poisoning could result when lead is present. It’s not the tomato’s fault, but the chemical reaction with tomato acid and the pewter dishware would definitely come to everyone’s attention. Consequently, in England and her colonies tomatoes were considered ‘unfit’ to eat. In fact in most of Europe (even Italy) for almost a century, tomatoes were grown primarily as an exotic ornamental plant in flower gardens. Ironically, the poorer people ate off wooden plates or pottery, so that chemical reaction would never have been an issue for the more common folk. Who could have guessed, that simply using clay dishes would make tomatoes wonderful, while using pewter dishes could make them deadly?

The plant’s ability to adapt and even to mutate, creating new and different varieties contributed to its spread throughout the warmer European countries. Still, it took a very long time for the fruit as a ‘food’, to gain favour among the general European population. Even in areas where the climate was perfect for growing them, the fact that they grew naturally along the ground suggested ‘low status’. Funny how people can be that way. Still it was a beautiful fruit, and for the rich, it became a tabletop decoration – not eaten, just enjoyed esthetically. Although tomatoes were embraced sooner in Spain and Portugal, it took nearly two hundred years before they were incorporated solidly into the bigger Mediterranean cuisine. But it was the invention of pizza in Naples, Italy in the late 19th century, that endeared tomatoes to Italians. By then, fears surrounding them had begun to fade, and tomatoes had grown immensely popular in America.

In the east, it was a very different story. From the Philippines (under Spanish colonialism), tomatoes spread to southeast Asian and then to the entire Asian continent. It was brought to India by Portuguese explorers and exploded in popularity as it was perfectly suited to the climate. Today, China is the highest consumer of tomatoes in the world, and India is second, but the sheer population of those two countries (being the most populace in the world) would account for that. Per capita, one might expect Italy to score the highest for consumption because we all have pizza, spaghetti, lasagna in mind, but in actual fact – Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Uzbekistan are all ahead of Italy. Yes, tomatoes play a big role in Mediterranean cuisine, but evidently they are pretty crucial in the cuisine of the Middle East as well. But the big surprise is the third highest consumer – the United States.
1. China
2. India
3. United States

and Now?

Tomatoes are the king of ‘versatility’, present in almost all cuisines. They can be used in soups and noodle dishes – like in China; curries – like in India; pasta dishes like in Italy; salads, grilled, gazpacho, and various stews in Europe and the Mediterranean; stewed – like in the Middle East; salsas – like in South and Central America; goulash in Eastern Europe – and an amazing cross over of all the above in our global adaptation to different cuisines. EVERYONE eats tomatoes.

Highly cultivated the world over – even in Russia and Scandinavia, tomatoes are one of the most popular backyard garden vegetables in North America. In northern climates like our own, they must be started indoors to extend the season long enough to make them viable, but that is not a problem when every commercial greenhouse grows thousands of them.

The varieties are endless, but there are essentially two distinct types of tomatoes: determinate and indeterminate. It’s easy to remember which is which because a ‘determinate‘ tomato is one that has a finite or ‘determined‘ size, and amount of fruit. It is a smaller plant, ‘determined‘ to grow to a ‘pre-determined’ height, with all its fruit coming on in a short amount of time – perfect for a climate like ours with a short growing season. Because of this, it is considered an annual even in its native land. It grows easily in a pot, or within the confines of a tomato cage, so for those who need something easily contained, it’s your best option.

An INdeterminate tomato on the other hand, will grow and grow and grow, continuing to produce new fruit until the winter kills it. In its native land or in warmer climates, it could grow for years, and left to its own it will be a trailing plant, continuing to grow along the ground. Everywhere the stem touches the ground is a potential spot for the plant to grow new roots, conceivably having innumerable new independent plants all along the trail. I have no idea how long it could grow, or how it would eventually die in its native Central and South America. In a temperate climate (with distinct seasonal changes) like our own, it is the winter that kills it, but during the growing season it never stops reaching to new heights.

are tomatoes good for you?

YES! In a word, they sure are! Tomatoes are nutrient-rich powerhouses, packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Their secret ingredient is the antioxidant LYCOPENE, to which we owe the beautiful strong red colour. They reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, improve eye health, digestive health, and the risk of osteoporosis. In the kitchen in they offer immense versatility and flavour.

* Fresh (as in uncooked) tomatoes are rich in vitamin C – a powerful antioxidant which is important for skin, bones, and connective tissue. It also promotes healing and helps the body absorb iron.
* Fresh tomatoes are rich in Potassium – needed to build proteins in the body, including muscle.
* Fresh tomatoes are rich in Vitamin K – required for blood to clot.

Like most fruits and vegetables, it is preferable to eat tomatoes FRESH, straight out of the garden to get the best nutrition and benefit. But that doesn’t mean that eating tomatoes grilled, fried, roasted, sauced, dried or juiced aren’t wonderfully good for us too. One of the best things about tomatoes is their versatility in adapting easily to an infinite number of different cooking styles, and using them in their many forms and styles opens up their full range of nutritional benefits.

There’s a very good reason they’re so popular in dishes ranging from Greek Salad to Thai Curry to Italian pasta to Mexican Pico de Gallo to toasted tomato sandwiches. Tomatoes have a unique flavour that isn’t found in any other vegetable. They are acidic, but less sour than other acidic fruits. That acid causes the colour to remain bright, but also contributes to the texture of the dish it is in, including acting as a tenderizer.

That’s at least — in part — why so many cultural cuisines such as Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern etc rely on tomatoes in such a wide array of dishes.  Foods like pasta and pizza sauces, stews, and casseroles rely on tomatoes. Because North American cuisine is made up of dishes and flavours from numerous immigrant cultures, it is no wonder we find ourselves reaching for tomatoes so often in the kitchen. 

Growing

In North America, we generally plant tomato plants outside after all danger of frost is over. Starting seedlings indoors months in advance, is a must in Alberta, and if we cannot personally do so, not to worry – every greenhouse has a huge assortment to pick from. In Alberta, plan to plant them indoors by mid to late March at the latest. If you plant in February, they’ll be bigger, but sometimes that gets difficult to handle in the house.
Expect to put them outside mid to late May, after all danger of frost has passed. You can grow them well into September in a typical year, but be prepared to cover up on cold nights, or to pick in a hurry if a cold front settles in.

Tomatoes love sun so pick the sunniest spot in your garden for them. Conventional wisdom suggests that crops be rotated every year, and for most vegetables I do that, but my one exception is tomatoes. In small backyard gardens its not always practical to change locations, and in mine, if they’re to have the sunniest spot, I am limited in my options. Growing in the same SPOT is not the same as growing in the same SOIL. My garden is set up for tomatoes to be in one spot, with a semi permanent trellis to tie them to. For this reason, my attention to soil amendment is important. Adding new compost and other organic matter every spring replenishes the soil’s fertility, and is my best line of defense against pests and disease.  Rotating faithfully without taking proper care of your soil is only half the job.

When I plant a new tomato plant, I dig a DEEP hole – deep enough to bury all but the top 6 inches of the plant if possible. I put a raw egg in the bottom of the hole, crack it with my trowel and place the plant in the hole, laying it slightly if necessary to get as much of the stem below the surface as I can. This gives the plant a stronger base especially if your stem has gotten a little spindly before transplanting outdoors. If you look closely at the stem of a tomato plant (from the main stem to the little stems at the very end of each branch), you’ll notice thousands of little ‘hairs’ called “trichomes’. These have a distinctive ‘smell’ which is repugnant to pests, and their texture makes it difficult for ants and other insects to climb. You’ll also notice numerous small bumps or nodules along the lower stem – among the trichomes. These are potential root starts which will grow roots if that part of the plant touches soil. Burying the stem will allow all these little nodules to develop into roots, strengthening the base of plant. The broken egg adds protein to nourish the new plant as it grows, and calcium as the shell breaks down – which is an important nutrient for tomatoes.

Throughout the growing season, adding crushed egg shells to the base of your tomatoes adds the “promise of future calcium”. Calcium is important and egg shells take an entire season to break down, so its a long term commitment. Sprinkling egg shells will deter soft bodied pests like slugs and cutworms and will eventually breakdown to add calcium, so plan to add them often and throughout the growing time. Mulching with dry grass or compost around the base of your plants will keep water from evaporating too quickly and will add nutrients as it breaks down.

Tomatoes are a vine, but unlike other vines they don’t naturally climb up. They want to trail. Gardeners want them growing up to keep free air flow and to make best use of ground space. Stake them and tie frequently as they grow, securing them. I trim all lower leaves as the plant grows, at least for the lower 6-8 inches. As the plant grows and I can spare the room, I prune the lower leaves higher – as high as 18 inches. This prevents water from splashing on the leaves (which may cause decay and introduce disease), and allows light penetration and free air flow making for a healthier environment.

The tomato usually has a single main stem, but every branch has the potential of having a new stem grow out of its ‘elbow’, creating many other stems and directions for the plant to take. These additional stems are rarely suitable for staking purposes, so clip them out when you can. If your plant was allowed to grow for years and take over your garden, you might want to leave many of those sub stems on, but because of our shortened season, it is advisable to reduce them – encouraging the plant to put more energy into fruiting rather than building an empire.

Indeterminate tomato plants can easily grow 8-10 feet high, even in an Alberta summer. About the end of July, I begin topping mine off – pruning the growth that comes from the top, encouraging growth on the existing plant. By mid August I begin pruning all branches without fruit and the ends of the branches with fruit – reducing the energy going to green growth and redirecting it to existing fruit.

I plant a few cherry type tomatoes that will start producing early, ripening by mid July for early eating, and then bigger tomatoes for later eating and eventual harvest. That way I stretch the season of eating tomatoes out as long as I can.

Harvesting when they’re ripe

Most of my earlier tomatoes are picked purely for eating out of hand or to add to garden salads. When the bigger ones start ripening and you’re picking to slice for a sandwich, look for firm texture and that beautiful red colour we all love. When the numbers increase and you can harvest more, then roast, grill or fry them to use as building blocks for pasta, soup, pizza, or to use as simple sides next to your favorite entrees. Two of our favourite ways to eat fresh tomatoes are on a toasted sandwich with pesto mayo, and in a fresh tomato bruschetta on focaccia or sour dough bread. Fresh tomato soup is a dish I wait all year for. For months not a single day goes by that tomatoes are not a major part of our meals. We’ve waited all year long for this season and I will not waste it.

When your tomatoes are ripening faster than you can use them – happy day. That’s when you look for ways to preserve the excess: can them in quarts or pints, make salsa to eat fresh or can, make roasted tomato sauce, freeze them whole to buy yourself some time, or freeze your roasted tomatoes, dry roast them in your oven with garlic, oil and a few herbs (my version of ‘sundried tomatoes’), or even dehydrate them in slices to use for tomato powder if you have enough.

Store at room temperature – in the kitchen – where you can see them and constantly pick out the ripe ones to use. They retain they’re distinctive acid-base flavour at room temperature. Never ever, ever store them in the refrigerator unless they’re ripening too fast and you intend to cook them right away anyway. Refrigerating them wrecks the taste of tomatoes and softens the texture. Once they’ve been refrigerated they’re only good for cooking.

On the other hand, a cut tomato must be refrigerated. Some say that storing it cut side down and wrapped in plastic is the best way, but time if of the essence. A day or two at most is all you can expect it to stay good.

Harvesting when they’re green

At the end of the season, covering your tomatoes with a big sheet for the night, is good protection for a short term frost. And its worth it, if there’s promise of another week or two of warm September weather. But if you have to do that every night, its time to give up and concede that summer is over. Get some big boxes out there and pick your tomatoes. Pull the plants out and turn upside down to see all the potential harvestable tomatoes. Twist and pull them off the stem and gently lay in the box. I separate the partially ripe ones so that I can keep a closer eye on them. Store them at room temperature.

Don’t waste anything: I prune the smaller branches off the main woody stalks and mow them up to add to our end-of-season compost. The big stalks I put in the city compost as they’ll take too long to decay in my little garden set up.

Saving seed

When you have a heritage tomato you’re in love with, do yourself a favour and save its seed for planting next late winter or early spring. Easy to do in a fully ripe tomato: simply use a spoon to scoop out some seed. Rinse in a fine sieve to get rid of additional pulp and lay the seed on a piece of paper towel in a single layer. Allow seeds to fully dry out on the paper towel, then roll it up, label the type and year with a black felt pen and store in in plastic or paper bag with your other seeds. That’s it. It really is that simple.
When you’re ready to plant, gently remove the seed from the paper towel. If it doesn’t want to come off, no problem – just bury the piece of paper with the seed. It will germinate just fine.

Preserving tomatoes

CANNING: See my post Stocking Up: Food Preserving – Canning 101 for suggestions on canning tomatoes. Specifics: Blanching is important to help you peel them. The time table for canning tomatoes in a hot water bath is 35 minutes for a pint, 45 minutes for a quart. Use 1 teaspoon salt in a quart and 1/2 teaspoon in a pint. I also use 1 tablespoon lemon juice for quarts and 1/2 tablespoon for pints to up the acid level just a little. A friend told me this year that she adds coarsely ground peppercorns to her canned tomatoes which I think is a wonderful idea. I plan to do that. Might be my new thing.

FREEZING: When I freeze tomatoes I’m usually in a hurry – so I don’t prep them at all. I just put them whole in a freezer bag and try to lay them flat in the freezer till they freeze. I label them with a date of course, and I try to use them that first winter to free up freezer space and because freezing has a shorter shelf life than we might imagine.

DEHYDRATING: is not my first choice for preserving tomatoes, and I would only use it as a method if I had lots to spare. Slice fresh ripe tomatoes, remove excess water and seeds, lay slices flat on your dehydrator racks. I try to keep the temperature around 110 degrees. It will take a good 24 hours+ to dry fully. When they’re crisp enough that you can break in half, they’re done. Store in a glass container out of the light. Use in soups or chilies. Or put them into the blender to powder them. Use the powder in place of tomato paste in any recipe.

This post is too long to add tomato recipes, so I’ll create another post for my favourite recipes. I’d love to hear some of yours too.

Homegrown tomatoes are my favourite garden crop. I hope you’ll grow them and discover the value of them and how easy it is to add them to your life. I’d love to hear your comments and your experiences with tomatoes.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

footnotes

1. Doctrine and Covenants 89:10,11 ↩︎