At the end of August, I tried an experiment: I pruned the tops of all my tomato plants. I hoped that would force the tomatoes to ripen the fruit already on the vines, but I wasn't sure it would work. The actual plants looked very forlorn after I finished topping them; I thought maybe I had made a mistake, and that would be the end of the tomato plants.
Well, I'm happy to report, THE EXPERIMENT WORKED. The huge green fruits have been ripening beautifully, and I've been able to preserve more salsa and more pureed tomato sauce for winter. Plus, we've been eating tomatoes every day in some form or another. Frankly, I think this might be the best thing I've ever done and plan to do it the end of every August, to get another big push of fruit.
Along with cucumbers, herbs, Malabar spinach, and both sweet and hot peppers, the tomatoes have continued to feed us. I miss having corn, watermelon, and cantaloupe, as well as pole beans, so I'm hoping to find a place for those next year. Meanwhile, leeks, shelling peas, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts are growing like mad for our fall garden. Early October will be time to plant garlic and shallots, and sow-in-place kale, chard, spinach, and braising greens to overwinter. Plus we'll be starting our winter wheat experiment.
You can tell I used a lot of orange tomatoes for this particular batch!
We've been through what seems like a million salsa recipes, and this is the one we have decided is our favorite. It's from the Ball Blue Book, I think this particular book is from four years ago (I believe they put out a new one every year). I will copy the original recipe here; I always double it. I've also made some substitution notes and additions, as well as simplified the instructions, because if you're interested in canning, you already know what to do. If you haven't canned before, please contact me for more explicit instructions! Or consult Ball online!
“Jalapeno Salsa
3 cups chopped tomato (blanched to remove skin and seeds)
3 cups chopped jalapeno peppers (or whatever you have on hand)(remove the seeds if you like)
1 cup chopped onion (I use shallot)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 T chopped cilantro (I usually use a bit more)
2 teaspoons oregano
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup cider vinegar (I usually use half cider vinegar and half lime juice)
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rims. Center lid on jar and adjust band to finger-tight. Place in canning ‘rig.’
Make sure you have at least an inch of water over the jars, and boil 15 minutes (rolling boil). Turn off heat and let jars sit in water 5 minutes. Then remove from rig and cool.”
If you don't want to can this salsa, you could freeze it in the jars. Just leave more headspace to allow for expansion in the freezer. Once open, store in fridge and use within a month.