Passata Monday

After the Sunday of plasterboard hell, and then the Sunday of plasterboard clearing up that was even more hellish, I was determined to do something nice today.

So I went to the greenhouse and picked all the red tomatoes and made jars and jars of passata for the winter.

I call it passata because it is much runnier than a sauce.

Very simple to do, just throw your tomaotes in a pan, add whatever flavours you like and a splash of water, then bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and cooked through but still retain some of their shape - I especially like to keep the cherry toms looking like cherry toms in the jar and on the plate afterwards.  I don't skin mine as I like the added texture and I don't boil them to a mush and make a thick paste - ditto, I prefer a bit of bite to my sauces.

I don't think that the 10 jars I made today is anywhere near enough to see us through to the next harvest but it is a start!

I am making three different flavours this time:

A red tomato and fresh oregano passata

A plum tomato and roasted garlic passata

A cherry tomato and fresh basil passata


The whole house smells lovely, full of garlic-y, basil-y and tomato-y flavours.

Greenhouse spruce up

I grow most of my tomatoes in the greenhouse. Having had a year when we lost all the plants to mildew in the garden (being left with no tomatoes was awful, watching the plants rot away before your eyes), so now I don't take any chances.

I do still put a few in the garden but tend to just grow what I consider sauce tomatoes like moneymaker outside, and these are from seeds collected from shop bought tomatoes.

In the greenhouse I grow cherry and plum tomatoes for eating, and these are from purchased organic seeds, although this year I have a lot of 'rogue' tomato plants that have self seeded from last years spill of fruit on the ground.

This morning I gave the greenhouse a spruce up - removed the planting table and pulled all the stray weeds coming in at the sides.

As you can see I use growbags. We decided that this was the best way to preserve the soil in the greenhouse floor.

I grow through the grow bags, they have a long split underneath to allow the roots to push through into the soil below, but it means when I add my nettle fertiliser it is concentrated into the grow bag and not just dispersed throughout the soil so the plant gets a better hit. At the end of the year when the plants are done, the grow bags are split open and the soil dispersed, manure added and a fresh batch of compost starts to mature, keeping the soil in the greenhouse rich and healthy.

In one corner is my 'nursery' plot, with the last few pots of toms for growing on, as well as some basil and chili peppers. In the other far corners are my aubergine plants, and a lemon tree.

But the best thing of all this morning, was finding the first couple of cherry toms ready for eating.  Not exactly a standard breakfast but very yummy non the less.