Heirloom Tomatoes

Having read about Heirloom seeds for several years, my husband and I decided to try our hand with growing heirloom tomatoes in our garden this year. We bought several different varieties of plants, planted them in our small garden spot and watched them take off…


We were impressed with the amount of fruit we collected off the Yellow Submarine and finally had to start giving them away to family and friends as they are a little small for processing but have a wonderful flavor. They are great in a tomato salad.



My favorite was the Big Rainbow as they are not only a wonderful color but they made a great Tomato Jam. This tomato has a lot of meat and so I had some nice fruit in the jam. I finally picked and froze enough of them that my next batch of jam should be a nice amber color and will certainly share the photos on here when I get it done.

I recommend to all home gardeners to try out a few of these “new” old plants in your garden, not only for something different but for the flavor that so many of the newer varieties just don’t have.

SPICED TOMATO JAM

A bowl of Heirloom Tomatoes

This year I made our favorite jam with heirloom tomatoes that we grew; I combined yellow, orange and red tomatoes and my jam is beautiful dark amber color. Next batch I hope I have enough all yellow. Our house smelled wonderful (almost like Christmas Wassail) as I was making the jam and my daughter said it was strange because it was 100 degrees outside and it smelled like winter time!

I use good brand spices such as Spice Island or McCormick when making this and recommend that you do the same; I found a Saigon Cinnamon that is by Spice Island that smells like red hots and has a wonderful flavor, try it the next time you buy Cinnamon.

This jam is wonderful on a block of cream cheese served with crackers! But more on that later….

3 cups prepared tomatoes (about 2¼ pounds)

1½ teaspoon grated lemon zest/peel

½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
4½ cups sugar
1 box powdered pectin
¼ cup lemon juice

To Prepare Fruit: Wash firm-ripe tomatoes. Scald, peel and chop tomatoes. I chop what I can but the majority of my tomatoes I put in a piece of muslin and squeeze the juice through, that way I don’t have any seeds in my jam.

Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Measure 3 cups tomatoes into a sauce pot and add lemon peel, allspice, cinnamon and cloves.

To Make Jelly: Place prepared fruit into a sauce pot. Add lemon juice. Measure sugar and set aside. Stir powdered pectin into prepared fruit. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add sugar all at once. Stir and bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Then boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam. Pour hot jam immediately into hot, sterile canning jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids. Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

Yield: About 5 -6 half-pint jars


Spiced Tomato Jelly/jam

FRESH SALSA

2 cups chopped tomato
1 green pepper or 4 Serrano peppers minced
juice of 1 lime
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons cilantro (fresh if possible)
1 teaspoon cumin
8 tablespoons of water*


Combine all but water and only add it if extra juicy salsa is desired. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes before using, may be made 3 to 4 hours before needed