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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 9, 2020 7:05:39 GMT -6
I sliced up 10 pounds of Heidi tomatoes yesterday morning and put them in the dehydrator. This morning, I'm off to go harvest 10 pounds more to refill my finished racks.
I've been dehydrating okra, Roselle, tomatoes, and peppers almost every day this week. I've also got my eye on a few pears that I see falling off the trees too early to be ripe. I'll be picking those up and storing them a few more weeks, so they can be ready for the dehydrator after the tomato rush has subsided. Lately, I've been as busy as a little squirrel, putting things away for winter. It's a 'feel-good' thing to do this time of year.
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Post by rdback on Sept 9, 2020 15:55:13 GMT -6
Great. Another tomato to add to my grow list for next year lol. We LOVE fresh salsa, and process what's left over.
Bon, you're gonna love dehydrating! Great way to preserve food. A little secret: I don't know if you have any nearby, but Thrift / Goodwill stores are an EXCELLENT source for gently used dehydrators. If you find one, most likely it has seen little use and may still be in the original box - just like new! But shhhh, don't tell anybody lol.
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Heidi
Sept 9, 2020 16:47:26 GMT -6
Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 9, 2020 16:47:26 GMT -6
Tahlequah has a second-hand store called, "RESTORE" it's part of Habitat for Humanity, and operates through donated items. I've bought several kitchen things there. It's like rdback mentioned above; many of the items look as good as new, probably things people had in storage and just decided to get rid of. Food processors, coffee makers, bread machines, pots, and pans, silverware, glasses, coffee mugs, plates, bowls, you name it. I've even bought furniture there.
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Heidi
Sept 10, 2020 8:58:50 GMT -6
Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 10, 2020 8:58:50 GMT -6
I know what you mean, Bon. After 16-years of using our old oven that baked about 35 degrees off, we finally bought one that can be hand calibrated at home, using a screwdriver and thermometer. It sure is nice not to have to guess at all our bake times anymore. The old oven was the ruin of many a baked dish.
The oven we have now, has a standing pilot light inside the insulated oven that keeps it about 90 to 100 degrees in there all the time. I use it to proof bread dough and to keep the dried tomatoes and dried okra moisture-free. I've dried several pounds of tomatoes and okra over the last few days. Today, it has been raining all morning, so I guess I'll bag off of that project for a while. It's hard to dry anything very well during a rainstorm.
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Post by glen on Sept 15, 2020 13:37:37 GMT -6
Today I am getting small pots ready to plant seedlings. I have some old Heidi seeds. They have been stored in the fridge. I have my fingers crossed that they will germinate. Heidi tomato's grow the best of any variety I have tried in Panama. I will let you know if they germinate and maybe I will start a new thread if I can just have luck with germination.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 15, 2020 21:03:20 GMT -6
Beautiful Heidi tomatoes, Bon. I love that color!
I sliced and dehydrated 30 pounds of those this week. They dried down to weigh one-pound, four-ounces, and only filled two, one-gallon freezer bags. I dried them crispy, like potato chips. We'll use them with olive oil, artichoke hearts, basil, and herbs, to flavor feta cheese for hors d'oeuvres this Autumn at Thanksgiving.
Drying enhances the sugars, I like them much better fresh but they won't keep long that way and then, they'll be gone ... A less than perfect tomato is better than no tomato come winter. I'll use them again at Christmas to make cheese balls and special things like that. In January, I'll use them in soups mostly. Some will be used in rice dishes.
I think George may have canned some for sauce recently. I need to get with him to see if he needs any more. I'm so busy drying Roselle right now, I hardly have time for other things.
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Post by glen on Sept 16, 2020 18:55:43 GMT -6
Beautiful dried tomato's Ron!! Rick,those are the prettiest Heidi tomato's I have ever seen. I have seen a lot of raggedy heidi fruits. The thing about heidi is that no matter how pathetic they may look, they are delicious. My climate is hard on tomato's. Heidi included. But, I have had some good luck with it and they taste better than anything I can buy here in Panama. I am planting a bunch of them. I hate to say this but I had some Virginia Tommy Toes for lunch today. They had no flavor to them at all. Nothing against that variety Rick. Tomato's are nearly impossible for me to grow except cherry tomato's. Heidi comes from Cameroon in Africa. Climate is harsh there just like in Panama.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 16, 2020 20:24:46 GMT -6
Crazy good guess, Bon. It is an Excalibur. I've had it for so many years, that I forgot what brand it was. I had to go out there with a flashlight to look at it and see. I've had it since about 2005. My wife and my daughter used to make beef jerky in it from tough cuts of cheap meat, so it has seen a lot of action. I make deer jerky with it, dry pears with sugar and cinnamon, dry apples, dry Roselle, dry tomatoes, dry okra ... I've even dried watermelon in it. I like it because I can work on it if it dies. Nothing on it is electronic, just manual dials.
I gave about $200.00 for it way back then. I don't know how much they cost anymore? It has probably had $200.00 worth of jerky run through it since then. I've run about 50 pounds of tomatoes through it in the last month. Right now, it has about 500 Roselle calyces in it. I core out the seeds using a homemade coring tool, made from a 1/2" inch copper pipe that I sharpened inside with a file. That thing will cut the crap out of you if you forget it's sharp and gouge your finger on the way through a calyx.
I've dried enough Roselle this week to fill three, half gallon pickle jars. I counted today, to see how many dried calyces it takes to fill a half gallon jar. I got 280 of them in a single jar. So, if you work at it consistently through the years, and keep a fairly large garden, the larger dehydrators like that one eventually pay-off in years to come.
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Heidi
Sept 17, 2020 20:06:28 GMT -6
Post by rdback on Sept 17, 2020 20:06:28 GMT -6
...I hate to say this but I had some Virginia Tommy Toes for lunch today. They had no flavor to them at all. Nothing against that variety Rick. Tomato's are nearly impossible for me to grow except cherry tomato's...
Sorry to hear that Glen. That tomato is from Bill Best's wife Virginia's family. I grow it every year lol. People do have different taste preferences when it comes to tomatoes, just like peppers. There's a red Tommy Toe that I don't care for - I just like the yellow one.
Perhaps it didn't like the rainy season. Maybe it would be more flavorful during the dry season. Dunno.
But I do agree - Ron's Heidi slices look delicious!
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Post by glen on Sept 17, 2020 21:39:05 GMT -6
Ok, I got it wrong. The so called tommy toes were red. So they were a different variety. Don't take it personal with the tomato's. In my climate almost no tomato's will grow. Only tropical acclimated tomato's can make it. I tried the yellow tomato's which are the tommy toes but got no germination. The other is a smaller red tomato. Now I don't know the variety. But, it didn't do well. The heidi tomato is an African tomato from Cameroon. It does better. I have grown it during the dry season and also the rainy season. Its not the most prolific tomato but more so than the others. Its not the most attractive tomato either but it makes up for it with very rich taste. My climate is so extreme that the only tomato's you usually see are cherry tomato's. On the other hand, African okra and certain peppers thrive. I will take photo's later of the Heidi planting if I get some germination.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 19, 2020 10:10:13 GMT -6
I traded all of the dried Heidi tomatoes I had on hand, for a winter's worth of homemade feta cheese yesterday, only to realize I saved no dried tomatoes to flavor the cheese with later, so I'm busy this morning dehydrating twenty more pounds of tomatoes for home use. When I'm done, I'll start working on putting away several containers of feta, olive oil, artichoke heart, basil, black olive, and dried tomato, cheese tubs, to start aging for the long, cold, days ahead.
Another thing I'll be working on today, are Bar-B-Qued ribs and Tomato Confit.
Heidi tomatoes lend themselves well to this dish.
Here's the recipe:
P.S. 180 degrees Celsius equals 350 degrees Fahrenheit ... It's an Australian cooking video.
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Post by macmex on Sept 19, 2020 11:20:14 GMT -6
Sounds,... mouth watering! I've done a couple canner loads of Heidi, in the form of tomato sauce. Hopefully I can get out and pick a load of Baker Family Heirloom tomatoes this afternoon and process them.
Canning is funny. It's always hard for me to get started, as I have to remember the details and rebuild my routine. But once I get going, it's so easy it's hard to stop.
For the very first time ever Heidi flopped in my garden, this year. That's because I was too far out, and was severely neglected. Johnson Grass took over. Next year I must pay more attention to Heidi. It's just too valuable.
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Post by glen on Sept 21, 2020 18:48:35 GMT -6
Bon, my Heidi tomato's are now germinating!!! Noticed today!! The seeds were over a year old, I forgot to label them. But, I have at least 6 out of 10 germinating. Its only been a few days. Looking forward to it. I even bought a 10 lb bag of organic tomato fertilizer today. You add a half cup of this stuff to the soil in each 5 gallon pot. Then, side dress when the plants get large. I am really looking forward to it.
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Heidi
Sept 21, 2020 19:51:05 GMT -6
Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 21, 2020 19:51:05 GMT -6
I only planted 14 Heidi tomatoes this Spring and got orange tomatoes, red tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, and pink tomatoes. I enjoyed the variety. They always amaze me. And they are so easy to process too!
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Heidi
Sept 21, 2020 20:05:04 GMT -6
Post by glen on Sept 21, 2020 20:05:04 GMT -6
Ron, It sounds like you are not isolating your Heidi? Did you get any that look like the original? You know, the peanut look? We need to try to keep it original. I will be looking for the original red and also the ugly peanut look when its time to save seed. I plan to save as many seeds as I can since I know now that the seed lasts for a long time in the fridge.
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