Tomatoes for 2025

[Branching Out]

I am Thrilled to discover how useful the dehydrated tomatoes that I made a few months ago have become!
I Heartily recommend dehydrating them!
You could freeze them in bags if you like, or store in canning jars, which is what I did.
When I put them in a crock pot with a roast they end up dissolving and flavoring, even the seeds dissolved, which bowled me over!

We are finding dried tomatoes to be useful too! We dried some tomatoes a couple of years ago and they were so desiccated that they were almost like leather-- so this past summer we dried them a bit less. Then we froze them on a parchment-lined tray, and popped them in glass jars in the freezer; they shrink up so much once they're dry that they hardly take any room at all. Yesterday I thawed some out and ate them on toast, and they were tangy and delicious. I think there is potential for a good BLT, and certainly as a pizza topping.

I also believe selecting the right variety can make a big difference. Looking for cultivars that are described as 'drying tomatoes.' From our experience I can recommend Fiaschetto di Manduria, which is a prolific determinate cultivar. It produces a bumper crop all at once, and then you can pull the plants and flip the bed to something else (such as a crop of snap beans) in mid-summer. Zeedman's post re: Elfin tomatoes makes me think that Elfins may be good for drying as well, as they seem to dry down naturally rather than rotting in storage.

 

[ducks4you]

@Branching Out , I think you are right about dehydrating determinates, I just didn't grow any last year.
They Are on my schedule to grow this year, and I Will be dehydrating, since it was DH who asked for and received the most excellent Excalibur dehydrator a year ago.

 

[Zeedman]

Some dehydrated tomatoes can be ground into tomato powder, which is really good for turning a bland soup into something delicious (as are dried sweet peppers). This is also a good way to use tomatoes that have a tough skin when dry. When I dehydrate large numbers of "Elfin", I divide them into zippered snack bags & freeze them. They keep for a long time in the freezer (which is IMO the best way to store dried tomatoes). To add them to a soup, I just whiz them in a blender with a little purified water until finely chopped, then add them to the soup or casserole that I'm trying to improve.

 

[Dahlia]

Some dehydrated tomatoes can be ground into tomato powder, which is really good for turning a bland soup into something delicious (as are dried sweet peppers). This is also a good way to use tomatoes that have a tough skin when dry. When I dehydrate large numbers of "Elfin", I divide them into zippered snack bags & freeze them. They keep for a long time in the freezer (which is IMO the best way to store dried tomatoes). To add them to a soup, I just whiz them in a blender with a little purified water until finely chopped, then add them to the soup or casserole that I'm trying to improve.

That's a good idea - adding tomato powder to soup! I have added spinach powder to soup before and it thickens the soup and makes it extra good!

 

[Branching Out]

Today we made a Greek salad using dried tomatoes, and we were very pleased with the results. I cut the tomatoes into pieces.

 

[Dahlia]

Today we made a Greek salad using dried tomatoes, and we were very pleased with the results. I cut the tomatoes into pieces.

Yummy! I love Greek salad!!

 

[ducks4you]

I am Always a sucker for a gardening video! Here is an experiment with the 3 different planting methods.
The author doesn't prefer one over the others, BUT, it begs the question: how do you get early fruit from your plants?

 

[digitS']

Not catching all that was said in the video, what I did read seemed to make sense and suggest that the simple, 3 plant experiment was worthwhile.

My gardening neighbor used old tires in the garden to surround his tomatoes after they had been planted at an angle. They then sprawled through the season.

Without the tires, my experience with trying the angle planting was that they continued growing in the direction planted. I didn't want to use stakes and it was during those years when I had as many as 60 tomato plants, each year. What that meant was that they would sprawl along the bed towards their neighbor and crowd that plant. Or, if they were angled towards the path, they would quickly grow into it.

Each plant had very little circumference of growth. Sprawl continued for many more feet.

Deep planting presents the possibility of placing them into cooler soil, early in the season. Still, I plant my tomatoes a little deeper than they were growing in the starter pots, knowing that there will be some additional roots from that stem. These days, I don't have room for sprawling so they are caged with 3 stakes providing additional height.

Early tomatoes? Don't crowd them. They need that sunlight and not to be shaded by the neighboring plants.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

@digitS' , agreed! More space. I Think watching this video and this one, which I posted on my 2025 thread:

that the prospect of EARLY tomatoes suggests potting up a few of them.
I let my property and my pots And my plants tell me where and how to plant every year.
It makes it more like magic than reason, BUT, we garden for enjoyment, don't we?!?
I will probably use the Rubbermaid 100 gallon tank that cracked, so good drainage. I could plant two earlyish tomatoes in it and some companion plants this summer, and put it next to the house to keep an eye on it.
This will be my opportunity to see if carrots really DO love tomatoes!

Planting Carrots With Tomatoes: A Guide To Successful Companion Planting

Discover the advantages of planting carrots with tomatoes and how their symbiotic relationship can enhance growth and deter pests. Learn about succession planting and crop rotation techniques to optimize soil health and increase harvest yields for a bountiful garden.

veggieknowledge.com