Canned Red Tomatoes

For the past few years we've planted between 8-12 tomato bushes in our garden hoping to do some canning. The bushes have always flourished but we've never gotten a lot of fruit. The tomatoes we did get would go straight from green to rotten and we would end up throwing most of them away, which made me feel so wasteful! Along with not getting a lot of tomatoes, I haven't been brave enough to attempt canning on my own yet. I haven't canned since I was a kid with my Mom and honestly the whole botulism thing scares me. Being pregnant and lifting big, heavy pots of boiling water didn't sound too appealing, either.

Well, this time the stars aligned and I had no more excuses! We were pleasantly surprised to get a couple boxes full of beautiful, juicy red tomatoes, perfect for canning. And we were able to arrange a time with Richard's parents to come give us both a crash course in canning.

I wish I had taken more pictures but we were so busy that I only managed to snag a few.

Freshly picked tomatoes. Can you see the ones that Olivia helped to pick?

I couldn't have done it without this wonderful woman! And thanks to her, now I will be able to do it on my own in the years to come!!!

The bottles are filled and ready to can.

Canning on the camp stove!

And the beautiful result. . .23 quarts!