A Sense of Achievement

Nice thread Hellon and right up my Tomato patch, studied Horticulture in my dark distant past and still love the garden. Though fighting the Melbourne summer, insects a d birds can be a problem. I now limit what i grow to a few things, Tomatoes which I grow a variety of, from Roma to a few Heritage ones for flavour. I normally make a stack of tomato sauce from my Gran's recipe, last year 64lb worth and some Pasta sauce wow, i have friends queuing up for it each year. I grow them from seed and plant early as the 40 degree days we get in mid summer suck the life out of them when they are young
I also grow strawberries which my daughter loves . one problem i had last year was root aphids which are farmed by ants for their honeydew, they killed half my runner beans before I knew it, they also attack my tomatoes and are hard to get rid of..

Abby i grow water and rock mellons which get Powery Mildew as well, it can be a bit unsightly a lot of the time and sometimes i dont worry about it as it affects old unproductive leaves and normally happens at the end of the growing season. i was in Bunnings a couple of weeks ago and almost brought some spray for it, it was called Eco something an organic spray ??

I also have two apple trees which the codling Moths love and now so do the Lorikeets and strip both trees in a couple of weeks, the apples are only half ready and bitter as hell. but its nice to have parrots in my back garden for a couple of weeks

I love hard rubbish... last night retrieved an old stand up house fan which i will convert into a air filter for my woodworking shed.. and some old wood shelves that is for the same project

I'm glad to see so many closet gardeners/scavengers coming forward here haha!!!

64lbs Nicko WOW!!! that's amazing. I only bottled 4 jars from my modest harvest but, now that I have more than doubled my seed collection I hope to have more next time round. Is your grandma's recipe a secret or are you willing to share it with me?

If my apple seeds take off I will be sure to net them before they get too tall. I have the same problem with my cherry tree, if the parrots see them then it's goodbye cherries...unfortunately this tree is too tall to net. Still, it's nice to see such colourful birds visiting the garden.

Yes i love cherry trees also cherry's are fantastic and birds are beautiful creatures but when you want a garden don't want birds lol but still beautiful

Hi Hellon

no.... happy to share my Gran's recipe, but this is off the top of my head, have it written down at home though...

6lb of tomatoes
1lb of onions
1oz garlic
3oz salt
600 mls dark Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
1oz cloves (in a small Muslin bag, or something similar)
1 1/4 pound sugar

Cut up your toms onions and garlic and bring to the boil then leave to simmer for an hour or so stirring to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan...
Add the vinegar, cumin, salt, and drop in the Cloves in the bag
Simmer for an other hour or so stirring to stop it sticking. I normally add the sugar near the end

you can simmer it for as long as you want depending on how thick you want your sauce
At the end i squeeze and remove the cloves then bottle it
I get about 2.2 litres from this mix. and just double or triple everything if i have more tomatoes

I'm not 100% sure on the volumes on some of the ingredients ie the garlic, cumin and cloves, the cloves being pretty critical

Also i have thrown a few old apples and red peppers if they are lying around and near there Use By date ..........

Cheers for that Nicko...it's very similar to the recipe I used. I used lemon juice instead of vinegar and, I also used fresh basil and a couple of bay leaves...no cumin or cloves but, I will add them next time round. My recipe never said how long you can store the jars...can you give me an idea, don't want to poison anyone haha!!!

Haha you two are making me hungry lol i might have stop in lol lemon juice is always better

Well...the lemons were off my tree so, that seemed like the best option :)

I'm going to have a go at making my own pasta. Anyone tried this out? I've watched it being made on TV and, it does look a little messy but, I'm inspired at the moment so...I'll give it a go haha!!! I don't have a food processor so it will be el natural!

I have before it is a mess but done right it's worth the mess lol good luck hope it works :)

Can't imagine using lemon juice instead of Vinegar ?? i think you need twice the amount of lemon juice to vinegar as a preservative if not more to get the same result ??? which will make it very sour? or add twice the amount of sugar?? It would become lemon sauce not tomato sauce??

My Tomato sauce will last a couple of years no probs

edit that, I think you would need to add a preservative of some type if you don't use vinegar if you want it to last, lemon juice might help but won't replace what the vinegar does...

Http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7996/basic+tomato+sauce

^^^^

This is the recipe I used Nicko and, as you can see, it doesn't mention how long it can be stored. This didn't bother me this time around because I used/gave away the batch I made but I did wonder how it would store with just these ingredients. Next time I'll definitely use your recipe if you can store it for that length of time....that's brilliant, thanks again.

Ok cool

I'll check out the recipe tonight just to confirm values

That would be great Nicko...I have planted another batch of tomatoes but, sometimes a little Asian shop near me sells bulk tomatoes quite cheap so I might making some more now that I have the proper recipe for long term storage.

Hi hellon besides gardening & cooking what else you enjoy doing?

That is good good you guys have something to offer whenever a raw vegan ends up in your side of town.

You are a vegan? wow

Haha I've quitted everything , smoke, alcohol, weed, coffee, sex , gender almost ego, I thought it is good time to quit food. So this was the way. My friend suggested that next I should quit living altogether.

Wow weed i understand even smoking i understand the rest i could never give up i love it to much lol how long ago was this?

Haha Smoke for good 10 years ago. Before quit drinking I was a true faithful alcoholic now I drink sometimes after decade fasting after I showed ((it)) who is the boss. Women 14 years. Vegan thing few month. Life, I haven't decided yet.

Lol your funny well i'm a body builder i don't drink much wine some beer but i have give you props on the women never can do that i like you :)

:) :)

maybe because you're too handsome, they wouldn't let you.

Lmao based off your picture you are to i love your poems :)

Haha that is very nice of you. It is my previous life : Federico Garcia Lurca

I'm guessing that's your name your welcome i'll try leave more comments on them my name is zack you should checkout mine my latest got nominate

Sorry Hellon forgot to look.... tonight

No worries Nicko...tomorrow is fine.

Hi Nicko..just wanted to let you know that I played around with your granny's recipe today and it's delicious!!! I just used smaller amounts while I'm waiting for the proper portions. I used the vinegar instead of lemon juice and also put some cumin seeds and cloves in a little bag along with some bay leaves....I also kept my fresh basil in this one....wow...it really is lovely so thanks for sharing. I'd still like the exact amounts because I will make a huge batch of this sauce....people, it's GORGEOUS!

I also made some fresh pasta today. Went with lasagne sheets for starters because they seemed easier to handle....dinner is almost ready...glass of wine is called for now :)

I wish i had some wine what do you like?

I like chardonnay and we have some fine drops right here in Australia...Margaret River has some beautiful wines. I also like Californian Wine and...Chile also has a few nice ones :)

Last night's dinner was pretty darn yummy I have to say...thanks Nicko's granny!!!!

Yeah those are good i make a wine cinnamon flavor i had some by the way my name is zack

Hi Hellon i made a small boo boo, it should be Cayenne pepper not Cumin not that it would make that much difference "what was i thinking" wow lol

Ok see below my official Gran's recipe

Gran's Tomato sauce

6lb of tomatoes
1lb of onions
1oz garlic
3oz salt
600 mls dark Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Tablespoon cloves (in a small Muslin bag, or something similar) note; the Cloves is one of the critical ingredients and can never be left out
1 1/4 pound sugar

Cut up your toms onions and garlic and bring to the boil then leave to simmer for 2 hours stirring to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan...

I then buzz it with a hand held kitchen wiz to break up the tomato skins and sometimes leave it overnight which adds flavour i think...

Add the vinegar, Cayenne pepper, salt, and drop in the Cloves in the bag
Simmer for an other hour or so stirring to stop it sticking. I normally add the sugar near the end

you can simmer it for as long as you want depending on how thick you want your sauce, I make mine pretty thick

At the end I squeeze and remove the cloves then bottle it
I get about 2.2 litres from this mix. and just double or triple everything if you have more tomatoes

Also i have thrown a few old apples and red peppers if they are lying around and near their Use By date ..........

Thanks for that Nicko. As I said, I played around with the recipe you gave me the other day (using cumin haha) and I'm
really quite happy with the result :) I put both the cumin seeds and cloves in a bag and also put two parts white vinegar and one part balsamic simply because didn't have any malt/dark vinegar...it really turned out lovely so I think I'll stick with it...thanks again...the vinegar is so much nicer than the lemon juice.

Hey Hellon

Can i just say White Vinegar is not normally used in cooking but more as a cleaner as it is distilled and has no flavour whereas Brown or Malt Vinegar is fermented from molasses and used in cooking for its flavour and its not as acidic

But what ever works

Cheerz

Hi hellon it is up to the cooker but what you did sounds so yummy :)

I'll definitely try the malt vinegar next time...it was very yummy this time but, there is always room for improvement :)

Yes MS...it was very yummy indeed!

That's your granny's recipe alright, who else would use lb and oz now for goodness sake? Besides the Americans, of course. They're special.

Can I just mention...some of the jars are making popping sounds as they cool...is this normal?

I've made some other stuff in the past..lemon butter..tomato relish etc but...I don't recall the popping sound?

Abby..in the UK..(I'm ancient remember) I was brought up with pounds and ounces so I could convert quite easily...in fact, I did it unconsciously ...

Yes, Americans and grannies use lb and oz. I stand uncorrected!

Did you put the lids on the jars while the sauce or jars were still warm? Gas condenses as it cools, which might make the lids suck inwards and make a pop sound? It's probably a good sign as it would create a vacuum seal.

How long does it last for before you have to make a fresh one?

I put my sauce in glass bottles, either the used glass Vinegar ones, although they've started making plastic ones now, or bottles from the $2 shop with the pull down rubber seals orrrr as is the case with my last batch used Drambuie bottles lol

I wash them out then put them in the oven at a high heat when the sauce is almost ready, then pore in when both are hot

The caps I soak in a weak dettol mix with water then rinse off

I agree with Abby about the vacuum seal on your jars Hellon

In all the years I've made it, I've never had any go off, but just, just as a precaution once opened i leave the bottle in the fridge

Yeah pounds and ounces my Grandmother was born in Perth in 1900 just a little before metric here......lol