I planted my first outdoor garden ever this spring!!

I have been so happy with my little garden….my first foray into the world of gardening in the ground! In past years I have always grown my tomatoes and herbs in pots on my deck.  This year I decided I wanted a garden in the ground and Bluebell tilled me up a small 6×6 plot.  Of course I was overly ambitious it turns out and planted TOO much in such a small space, but who knew??

I planted three tomato plants, a yellow girl, a beefsteak and a Roma.  The yellow plant was diseased and we had to pull it up and throw it away pretty early in the season.  This made me very sad, since although I love tomatoes when I eat them I get blisters on my tongue from the acid content.  Yellow tomatoes have a lower acid content and don’t give me blisters.  Oh well, I knew blisters would abound, but I would enjoy my lovely tomatoes nonetheless!!

I also planted two green pepper plants and one yellow pepper plant.  In addition I have basil, chives, lavender, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, and thyme.

As the spring moved into summer, I was surprised by the early harvest of tomatoes.  The beefsteak tomato plant grew about 4 feet tall and two feet wide.  And the Roma plant grew the same !!  We have had tomatoes coming out of our ears, so I decided I wanted to can them so we can enjoy them all winter long!

I looked for ball jars and canning supplies at my local Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Target.  Nobody had a large canner, so I had to order it from Walmart online and have it delivered to the house.  I found a great website that walked me thorough the canning process and away we went!!

We blanched the tomatoes in boiling water for 45 seconds, then put them in an ice water bath. 

Tomatoes blanched on boiling water for 45 seconds and the skins removed

The skins came off very easily!  Skins in the canned tomatoes make the tomatoes tough.

The tomatoes were chopped and put into the sanitized jars, with 1 tbsp of lemon juice.

Blanched tomatoes being placed into prepared jars.

1 tbsp of lemon juice went into each jar to keep the tomatoes fresh after canning.

Jars filled to the top with tomatoes and lemon juice.

Lids on the jars, getting ready to place in canner

Once the lids were screwed on tightly, the jars went into the canner for 45 minutes.

Jars boiling in the canner for 45 minutes.

Jar “remover” tool and the jars after canning.

All done, ready to be eaten. YUM!

I will let you know how the resulting canned tomatoes taste!!