Recommendations for jarring tomato For sauce

[hortstu]

Feb 28, 2010 8:04:25 GMT -5 @darthslater said:

The Victorio Sauce Pro skins and seeds at the same time no need to worry about pureeing them. Or pre-cooking them and runing them through a food mill. You just wash them and put them in and start grinding. After that you can reduce them down to the desired thickness. You also my want to look into earthboxes, you can make your own.

Darth,

Is this the one you're talking about?
www.kitchenemporium.com/cgi-bin/kitchen/prod/18vw200.html

I've seen the earth boxes before... are they really as good as everyone says. I have a couple raised beds... maybe an earth box would be a good gift for my grandmother... I probably would make my own... is it basically a hydroponic setup?

Feb 28, 2010 8:04:41 GMT -5 sorellina said:

If your family goes through 2-4 lbs of canned tomatoes per week year round, I would definitely want at least 12 big red paste plants to start with. In this case, it's better to err on the side of too little at the beginning. No sense overwhelming yourself from the get-go. Our family eats tomatoes like that, too, and my first year in this house, that's what I did, just jars of whole tomatoes and sauce from 16 San Marzanos. It was more than enough to get us through the winter. Then I decided to expand from there and make salsas, ketchup, paste, all sorts of things that required tomatoes, so I needed to plant more.

Sorrellina,
First off if you're a hockey fan or a proud Canadian or both congratulations on that gold today... What a game. Very exciting stuff.

Which of the varieties we've discussed would you describe as "big red paste plants?" I'm surprised you say 12, I figured I'd need at least 2 dozen to get close. Since these are indeterminate, I figure I'll jar as we go and a lot of them will be getting eaten too. If at any point I can't keep up they'll be given away... never seems to be a shortage of homes for extra tomatoes.

Eventually I'll move from this small property and hopefully be able to grow more tomatoes than I can use... I'd like to get into ketchup and salsa at some point but for now I'll settle for getting my family away from the BPA lined cans.

[darthslater]

Yes hort that is the one! And a very good price, dont forget the optional pumpkin screen, it also has a grape screen.

And earth boxes are not hydroponic, they are basically a dirt filled box with a water resevoir in the bottom, and a tube that goes to the res. so you can add water via the tube you put holes in the side so you do not over fill, and that is a real vague description.

Darth

[sorellina]

Ciao hortstu-

Romeo, Uncle Steve's Italian Plum, Prue, Franchi Pear, Matt d'Imperio are more or less similar-sized, very large red Italian pastes. Any of these will work very well for your needs.

Opalka and Uncle Charlie's also fall into the large red paste category.

[hortstu]

This thread has piqued my interest in San Marzano. After a little research though it seems that this is an F1... at least at johnnys selected anyway. SSE didn't have it. Is their an open pollinated version? If so what company carries it?

Yes hort that is the one! And a very good price, dont forget the optional pumpkin screen, it also has a grape screen.

Which screens do you use for the process? Seems to me it would have to be cleaned every few tomatoes?

And earth boxes are not hydroponic, they are basically a dirt filled box with a water resevoir in the bottom, and a tube that goes to the res. so you can add water via the tube you put holes in the side so you do not over fill, and that is a real vague description.

Vague but I get it... container plants with an auto watering system... I imagine only some varieties would do well with the limited root space. Does it limit yields at all?

Romeo, Uncle Steve's Italian Plum, Prue, Franchi Pear, Matt d'Imperio are more or less similar-sized, very large red Italian pastes. Any of these will work very well for your needs.

Opalka and Uncle Charlie's also fall into the large red paste category.

Thanks I'll look into those. At this point I think I'm going to go with the uncle charlies, some amish paste, an Italian pear that a friend recommends, and some Costoluto Genovese, opalka, and the cherokee purple for the slicing/ salads.

[darthslater]

Hortsu, Sam Marzano is not F1 it is op, I have never seen it offered other than op, Thw watering system in the earthbox only takes up about six inches, thaese boxes really do amazing things you can load them with good rich soil and the yeilds are fantastic. You still have to keep the res filled {manually} You can not go wrong with Sore's suggestions either, as She and I are Both Italian. You have some nice selections though. And good luck to you this year.

Darth

[sorellina]

Ciao hortstu-

There are many iterations of San Marzano out there..all the ones I've grown or seen grown have been OP. Seems to me there's a San Marzano out there with VFNT alphabet soup so-called disease-resistance out there and that could be the hybrid you're seeing. My favourite version of San Marzano is the big one..Gigante. There is also Redorta which is fairly long and Nano which looks a whole lot like Roma and is determinate. That's the one my family grows. All have been very prolific and tasty for me.

[landarc]

San Marzano was originally a geographic designation for several different tomato varieties, which were heavily grown in the D.O.C. of San Marzano in Italy. There are many varieties and some are hybrids. If you deal with a reputable seed dealer or other source, you can get whatever you are looking for. It is highly variable. The one I grow is a semi-determinate, OP, small fruited paste tomato. It is an excellent paste, sauce and soup tomato.

[PVP]

There are BOTH open pollinated and hybrid varieties of San Marzano. Usually, there will be a "subtitle" name appended to the San Marzano, such as Redorta, etc.

I have seeds for a good hybrid version if San Marzano from a reputable Italian seed company.

[hortstu]

Mar 1, 2010 14:37:22 GMT -5 @darthslater said:

Hortsu, Sam Marzano is not F1 it is op, I have never seen it offered other than op,

Darth, Check out this link.
www.johnnyseeds.com/search.aspx?SearchTerm=san+marzano

Thanks for all the San Marzano information... does anyone have any links to a dealer that sells their favorite OP version of the line?

Heirloom seeds sells this version...

#188 - SAN MARZANO 80 days – An excellent tasting Italian paste variety known for its high yields. The deep red, pear shaped fruits (3½ by 1½ inches) are solid and meaty and grow in clusters. Indeterminate vines.
PKT. – 20 seeds - $1.50
#O188 - PKT. – 20 seeds - $2.50 - CERTIFIED ORGANIC

[landarc]

I got mine from Tomato Growers Supply stock San Marzano #5380
tomatogrowers.com/

[hortstu]

Thanks for the link.