Drying Tomatoes

I don’t know about the rest of you gardeners, but our tomatoes are going like gangbusters this year. I’ve heard the same from friends — one who made 9 quarts of salsa a couple of weeks ago! While my husband will say there’s nothing like a fresh tomato, I prefer salsa or sauce. (And NEVER big chunks of tomato, thankyouverymuch.) I also love sun dried tomatoes. Added to pasta or pizza, or combined with some fresh mozzarella and basil, they give the perfect little zing to every bite.

While I’m sure our chickens wouldn’t mind if we gave them the tomatoes we can’t consume this year, I would rather do some canning and drying so we can enjoy them during those long, draggy months before the new planting season.

But lets face it, we’re not exactly in the optimal climate for true sun drying. Mold, you say? No thanks! I consulted the all-knowing internet:

Here is a writer who gets good results in his garage — but only after much experimentation and the eventual discovery and application of red wine vinegar.

I’m not sure I want to dry tomatoes in my garage. What about my food dehydrator? The Pick Your Own website has some easy instructions.

Oven drying is also an option, but keeping your oven on for that long might be a problem.

Whatever method you choose for drying, don’t let your seeds go to waste, especially not if you’re growing wonderful heirloom varieties. Here are some tomato seed saving instructions from the International Seed Saving Institute. I tried it last year and failed miserably, but it’s a new year and a new batch of tomatoes.

Lots and lots of tomatoes…